DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
The following is a Final Office Action in response to amendments and remarks filed 02 March 2026.
Claims 1, 8, and 15 have been amended.
Claims 2, 9, and 16 have been cancelled.
Claims 1-6, 8-13, and 15-20 are pending and have been examined.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicants argue that the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection under the Alice Corp. vs. CLS Bank Int’l be withdrawn and in light of the amendments, are persuasive. As such, the claims are integrated into a practical application and the rejection has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s remarks with respect to the references have been fully considered and addressed below in the updated rejections. The Examiner refers Applicant to the updated rejections below, as necessitated by amendments.
In response to arguments in reference to any depending claims that have not been individually addressed, all rejections made towards these dependent claims are maintained due to a lack of reply by the Applicants in regards to distinctly and specifically pointing out the supposed errors in the Examiner's prior office action (37 CFR 1.111). The Examiner asserts that the Applicants only argue that the dependent claims should be allowable because the independent claims are unobvious and patentable over the prior art.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 8, 10-13, 15, and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Altmaier et al. (US PG Pub. 2010/0274848) and further in view of Pringle (US PG Pub. 2024/0031367).
As per claims 1, 8, and 15, Altmaier discloses a method, a system, comprising: an out-of-band collaboration network; a collaboration and integration platform in communication with the in-band network and the out-of-band collaboration network; and a plurality of user electronic devices, each user electronic device executing a CRM program instance and a collaboration application, wherein the CRM program instance communicates with the in-band network and the collaboration application communicates with the out-of-band collaboration network; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, including instructions stored thereon, which when read and executed by one or more computer processors, cause the one or more computer processors to perform steps comprising:; the method comprising (The communications applications 28, 32 and the server node 16 together provide a platform (referred to herein as "the platform") for managing communications between communicants operating on the network nodes 12, 14 in accordance with a stream transport protocol that supports remote management of client communication sessions, remote configuration and execution of stream processing engines, and remote controlled switching of realtime data streams as specified by a server application 38 that is hosted by the server node 16. The network 20 may include any of a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), and a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., the internet). The network 20 typically includes a number of different computing platforms and transport facilities that support the transmission of a wide variety of different media types (e.g., text, voice, audio, and video) between network nodes, Altmaier ¶58; service is out-of-band, ¶149-¶150; to create virtual service areas, ¶254):
receiving, at a collaboration and integration platform executed by a CRM program network and from a CRM program instance for a user executed on a user electronic device, a unique identification of a collaboration between a plurality of users on an out-of-band collaboration network, the collaboration comprising at least two of a telephone call, a short message system ("SMS"), a video conference, an email, and an instant message (In accordance with the method of FIG. 8, the account service receives from the client communications application 28 a login message containing a source address of the client node 12 (FIG. 8, block 140). The source address typically is embedded in a header of the packet containing the login message. The login message typically includes a Station ID that was assigned to the client node 12 at the time the communications application 28 was installed on the client node 12. The communication between the login service and the client communications application 28, 32 typically is an out-of-band communication via a Web Services exchange (e.g., SOAP), or over another session, Altmaier ¶150; both the session definitions and the station definitions were received by the network nodes out-of-band beforehand, ¶164; each session definition includes a Session ID that uniquely identifies a respective session, ¶162; synchronous conferencing communications, including instant messaging, text chat, audio conferencing, video conferencing, application sharing, and file sharing technologies, ¶44; real-time streams, ¶45);
wherein each user electronic device executes a collaboration application providing a user interface to the out-of-band collaboration network, wherein the communication between the CRM program instance and the out-of-band network is bi-directional (Sessions between the network nodes can be established over any type of serial communications protocol stream (e.g., UDP, TCP, HTTP, and PPP). In some embodiments, a stream is a bi-directional UDP socket between two network nodes defined by two IP address/port pairs, and a transport GUID. A stream supports sessions of channels. A session is a logical node-to-node connection. Sessions transport channels for the two nodes. Sessions may pass through one or more proxy nodes and are transported over streams that may contain multiple sessions, Altmaier ¶122; synchronous conferencing communications, including instant messaging, text chat, audio conferencing, video conferencing, application sharing, and file sharing technologies, ¶44; real-time streams, ¶45; see also Fig. 1-Fig. 2 wherein all communication is indicated as “bi-directional” with the arrows as well as ¶245-¶246, ¶253-¶254 and ¶258 discussing the communications through a virtual area),
wherein the collaboration and integration platform associates the unique identification of the collaboration with a client or a project (each session definition includes a Session ID that uniquely identifies a respective session, Altmaier ¶162; both the session definitions and the station definitions were received by the network nodes out-of-band beforehand, ¶164;);
associating, by the collaboration and integration platform, the unique identification of the collaboration with a client or a project (each session definition includes a Session ID that uniquely identifies a respective session, Altmaier ¶162; both the session definitions and the station definitions were received by the network nodes out-of-band beforehand, ¶164)
subscribing, by the collaboration and integration platform, the collaboration including the user to the collaboration to the out-of-band collaboration network (becomes in-band, Altmaier ¶151; These client processes 74 implementing the local API communicate with the stream transport service 72 in order to publish messages containing definitions of user inputs on the appropriate sessions and channels and to subscribe to data received from remote network nodes on the appropriate sessions and channels, ¶64);
exposing, by the collaboration and integration platform, an application programming interface ("API") that the communication between the CRM program instance communicates with the out-of-band collaboration network (The network infrastructure service environment 306 manages sessions of the first and second client nodes 12, 14 in a virtual area 308 in accordance with a virtual area application 310. The virtual area application 310 is hosted by the virtual area 308 and includes a description of the virtual area 308. The communications applications 26 operating on the first and second client network nodes 12, 14 present respective views of the virtual area 308 in accordance with data received from the network infrastructure service environment 306 and provide respective interfaces for receiving commands from the communicants and providing a spatial interface that enhances the realtime communications between the communicants as described above. The communicants typically are represented in the virtual area 308 by respective avatars, which typically move about the virtual area 308 in response to commands that are input by the communicants at their respective network nodes. Each communicant's view of the virtual area 308 typically is presented from the perspective of the communicant's avatar, which increases the level of immersion experienced by the communicant. Each communicant typically is able to view any part of the virtual area 308 around his or her avatar. In some embodiments, the communications applications 28, 32 establish realtime data stream connections between the first and second client network nodes 12, 14 and other network nodes sharing the virtual area 308 based on the positions of the communicants' avatars in the virtual area 308. The network infrastructure service environment 306 also maintains a relationship database 309 that contains the records 311 of interactions between communicants. Each interaction record 311 describes the context of an interaction between a pair of communicants, Altmaier ¶245-¶246; For example, in some embodiments, an interaction record contains an identifier for each of the communicants, an identifier for the place of interaction (e.g., a virtual area instance), a description of the hierarchy of the interaction place (e.g., a description of how the interaction room relates to a larger area), start and end times of the interaction, and a list of all files and other data streams that are shared or recorded during the interaction. Thus, for each realtime interaction, the interaction service tracks when it occurred, where it occurred, and what happened during the interaction in terms of communicants involved (e.g., entering and exiting), objects that are activated/deactivated, and the files that were shared, ¶258; and ¶253-¶254 discussing the governance of the virtual areas);
receiving, by the collaboration and integration platform and from the out-of-band collaboration network, a message for the subscribed collaboration (data is shared by the network nodes in accordance with publish/subscribe model, which typically is connectionless. In these embodiments, the client nodes 12, 14 subscribe to only the data they need. The server node 16 determines what channels are needed by each of the client nodes 12, 14 based on the respective states (i.e., active or inactive) of their sources and sinks. The server application 38 sends to each of the client nodes 12, 14 respective publish messages indicating what information streams are available for that client, tagging each stream with a GUID handle. Each of the client processes 74 operating on each client node may subscribe to zero or more of the channels. A client process 74 that subscribes to a channel registers with the local stream transport service 72 to receive notification of channel state changes and channel records as they arrive. Each of the client nodes then subscribes to the desired channels from the other client nodes using well-known channel GUIDs that are specified by the server application 38. Any changes to server data for a particular channel will be sent as definition records to all the clients that have subscribed to that channel, Altmaier ¶69);
communicating, by the collaboration and integration platform, the message to the CRM program network through an in-band CRM activity (The area service also manages network connections that are associated with the virtual area subject to the capabilities of the requesting entities, maintains global state information for the virtual area, and serves as a data server for the client network nodes participating in a shared communication session in a context defined by the virtual area 308. The global state information includes a list of all the objects that are in the virtual area and their respective locations in the virtual area. The area service sends instructions that configure the client network nodes. The area service also registers and transmits initialization information to other client network nodes that request to join the communication session. In this process, the area service may transmit to each joining client network node a list of components (e.g., plugins) that are needed to render the virtual area 308 on the client network node in accordance with the virtual area application 310. The area service also ensures that the client network nodes can synchronize to a global state if a communications fault occurs. The area service typically manages communicant interactions with virtual areas via governance rules that are associated with the virtual areas, Altmaier ¶254);
associating and archiving, by the collaboration and integration platform, the message with the unique identification of the collaboration (session definition, StreamStats, indexed, Altmaier ¶169-¶170);
forwarding, a collaboration integration tool of the collaboration and integration platform, the message to one or more subscribed collaborations including the subscribed collaboration (The area service also manages network connections that are associated with the virtual area subject to the capabilities of the requesting entities, maintains global state information for the virtual area, and serves as a data server for the client network nodes participating in a shared communication session in a context defined by the virtual area 308. The global state information includes a list of all the objects that are in the virtual area and their respective locations in the virtual area. The area service sends instructions that configure the client network nodes. The area service also registers and transmits initialization information to other client network nodes that request to join the communication session. In this process, the area service may transmit to each joining client network node a list of components (e.g., plugins) that are needed to render the virtual area 308 on the client network node in accordance with the virtual area application 310. The area service also ensures that the client network nodes can synchronize to a global state if a communications fault occurs. The area service typically manages communicant interactions with virtual areas via governance rules that are associated with the virtual areas, Altmaier ¶254).
While Altmaier discloses the ability to have synchronous collaboration from out-of-band networks (Altmaier ¶44) and a virtual area for communicants (Altmaier ¶245), Altmaier does not expressly disclose the in-band network be a “customer relationship management (CRM) network.”
However, the Examiner asserts that in-band network being a customer relationship management network is simply a label for the components and adds little, if anything, to the claimed acts or steps and thus does not serve to distinguish over the prior art. Any differences related merely to the meaning and information conveyed through labels (i.e., the specific type of in-band network) which does not explicitly alter or impact the steps of the method does not patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art in terms of patentability (MPEP 2144.04).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the data to include the in-band network be a “customer relationship management (CRM) network” since the specific type of in-band network does not functionally alter or relate to the steps of the method and merely labeling the information differently from that in the prior art does not patentably distinguish the claimed invention.
Furthermore, the recitation of "for facilitating collaboration and integration across customer relationship management (CRM) program instances " and the in-band network being a “customer relationship management (CRM) network” merely recite the intended use or result of a method step positively claimed and are not considered positive method steps or system elements.
Altmaier does not expressly disclose wherein the collaboration and integration platform identifies the collaboration by using a machine learning model trained on prior collaborations of the user, wherein the CRM program network enriches the message for the subscribed collaboration with CRM insights with an enrichment comprising data about the client, a potential client, or the project, the collaboration comprising at least two of a telephone call, a short message system ("SMS"), a video conference, an email, and an instant message; predicting, by the collaboration and integration platform, collaborations to which the CRM program for the user should subscribe; governing, by the machine learning model, a duration for which the collaboration exists; and displaying the predicted collaborations on the collaboration application through a distribution to the out-of-band collaboration network for the plurality of users.
However, Pringle teaches:
wherein the collaboration and integration platform identifies the collaboration by using a machine learning model trained on prior collaborations of the user, wherein the CRM program network enriches the message for the subscribed collaboration with CRM insights with an enrichment comprising data about the client, a potential client, or the project, the collaboration comprising at least two of a telephone call, a short message system ("SMS"), a video conference, an email, and an instant message (The machine learning (ML) module 115d may be configured to execute one or more machine learning models, based on current and/or historic user data (e.g., relating to one or more users having similar profile characteristics), to develop advanced behavior /tendency analytics, predict and suggest current and/or future users' interactions based on the analytics, and generate and/or revise user-specific interactions with the integration platform 110. This includes, for example, generating and revising user-specific user-adaptive interactive GUIs to reflect of each user's tendencies, and creating anticipatory links and/or connections to services, functions, applications, resources, etc. on behalf of each user, Pringle ¶40; in order to access external systems, ¶92; for collaboration, ¶31 and ¶50; text, chat sessions, video sessions, ¶107-¶108);
predicting, by the collaboration and integration platform, collaborations to which the CRM program for the user should subscribe (The machine learning (ML) module 115d may be configured to execute one or more machine learning models, based on current and/or historic user data (e.g., relating to one or more users having similar profile characteristics), to develop advanced behavior /tendency analytics, predict and suggest current and/or future users' interactions based on the analytics, and generate and/or revise user-specific interactions with the integration platform 110. This includes, for example, generating and revising user-specific user-adaptive interactive GUIs to reflect of each user's tendencies, and creating anticipatory links and/or connections to services, functions, applications, resources, etc. on behalf of each user, Pringle ¶40; in order to access external systems, ¶92; for collaboration, ¶31 and ¶50);
governing, by the machine learning model, a duration for which the collaboration exists (This resource 305 may also include functionality to launch one or more other resources available through the user-adaptive interactive GUI 301, directly from within the secure chat resource 305 interface. For example, a chat between multiple users may mention a need to ‘e-sign’ a document. The integration platform may, by monitoring the chat (e.g., via data monitor) and modeling information from the chat (e.g., via a machine learning engine), determine that a document needs to be e-signed, and in response, automatically initiate an e-signature resource 306 (discussed below), provide access to the e-signature resource directly from the secure chat resource 305 interface, and/or generate a prompt or request to upload the documents that is to be e -signed, for example. Alternatively or additionally, simply adding or uploading a digital file or the document to the chat conversation (e.g., via a drag-and-drop, cut-and-paste, or other function(s)) may cause the integration platform to launch the e-signature resource 306. Other features, such as securely sending documents, receiving confirmations, scheduling an appointment, co-browsing, making a call, etc., may also be initiated directly from within this resource 305. All of the communications may be secured via enhanced (e.g., government grade) encryption protocols, ensuring data in flight and at rest is protected, Pringle ¶95-¶96) (Examiner interprets the ability to launch certain resources for a task or schedule an appointment from the modeling information from the chat as the governing by the machine learning model a duration for which collaboration exists); and
displaying the predicted collaborations on the collaboration application through a distribution to the out-of-band collaboration network for the plurality of users (The machine learning (ML) module 115d may be configured to execute one or more machine learning models, based on current and/or historic user data (e.g., relating to one or more users having similar profile characteristics), to develop advanced behavior /tendency analytics, predict and suggest current and/or future users' interactions based on the analytics, and generate and/or revise user-specific interactions with the integration platform 110. This includes, for example, generating and revising user-specific user-adaptive interactive GUIs to reflect of each user's tendencies, and creating anticipatory links and/or connections to services, functions, applications, resources, etc. on behalf of each user, Pringle ¶40; in order to access external systems, ¶92; for collaboration, ¶31 and ¶50).
Both the Altmaier and Pringle references are analogous in that both are directed towards/concerned with managing communications across a wide range of computing devices and networks. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use Pringle’s ability to utilize AI/machine learning with respect to user collaboration in Altmaier’s system to improve the system and method with reasonable expectation that this would result in a communication management system that is able to provide internal and external services to users.
The motivation being that there currently does not exist a system, apparatus or computer program product that is able to integrate and/or leverage multiple independent systems, computer software programs, data sources and/or resources, intelligently model data and information obtained therefrom, intelligently provide user-personalized experiences and access thereto via a single interface, and orchestrate complex business-to-business relationships. This is due, in part, because existing systems and technology in the art are deficient on many levels. Such deficiencies include (without limitation): an inability to access and procure data from disparate data sources and repositories in a system-resource efficient manner; an inability to capture and model all types of user interaction data to intelligently predict and efficiently obtain user-specific data and information; limitations of existing artificial intelligence (AI) based interfaces to process and/or respond to complex user inquiries and demands (e.g., limitations of existing recommendation engines and chat bots); an inability to recognize user tendencies; an inability to provide simultaneous and integrated access to multiple, independent applications, services and/or resources (e.g., accessing and utilizing a data source from within an unrelated, independent software application); security deficiencies relating to document sharing; an inability to provide access to independent systems without multiple instances of user authentication/authorization; a lack of connectivity and integration for executing multi-party communications and/or multi-system interactions and/or transactions; an inability of system and/or interactive graphic user interfaces to automatically evolve in accordance with shifts in user preferences and/or tendencies; and others (Pringle ¶3).
As per claims 3, 10, and 17, Altmaier discloses as shown above with respect to claims 1, 8, and 15. Altmaier further discloses wherein the collaboration comprises a plurality of messages between the plurality of users over the out-of-band collaboration network (For example, in some embodiments, an interaction record contains an identifier for each of the communicants, an identifier for the place of interaction (e.g., a virtual area instance), a description of the hierarchy of the interaction place (e.g., a description of how the interaction room relates to a larger area), start and end times of the interaction, and a list of all files and other data streams that are shared or recorded during the interaction. Thus, for each realtime interaction, the interaction service tracks when it occurred, where it occurred, and what happened during the interaction in terms of communicants involved (e.g., entering and exiting), objects that are activated/deactivated, and the files that were shared, Altmaier ¶258).
As per claims 4, 11, and 18, Altmaier discloses as shown above with respect to claims 1, 8, and 15. Altmaier further discloses wherein the collaboration integration tool provides a messaging address to the out-of-band collaboration network and receives the message at the messaging address (The network connection is now authenticated and the communicant is identified as the owner of the private key. In some embodiments, as part of the login process, the account service sends the client network node 12 a set of encryption keys, including the cipher, purpose, and encryption keys, over a secure connection (e.g., an SSL or encrypted in-band link), Altmaier ¶151).
As per claims 5, 12, and 19, Altmaier discloses as shown above with respect to claims 1, 8, and 15. Altmaier further discloses wherein the collaboration and integration platform identifies the subscribed collaboration based on a collaboration identifier associated with the message (For example, in some embodiments, an interaction record contains an identifier for each of the communicants, an identifier for the place of interaction (e.g., a virtual area instance), a description of the hierarchy of the interaction place (e.g., a description of how the interaction room relates to a larger area), start and end times of the interaction, and a list of all files and other data streams that are shared or recorded during the interaction. Thus, for each realtime interaction, the interaction service tracks when it occurred, where it occurred, and what happened during the interaction in terms of communicants involved (e.g., entering and exiting), objects that are activated/deactivated, and the files that were shared, Altmaier ¶258).
As per claims 6, 13, and 20, Altmaier discloses as shown above with respect to claims 1, 8, and 15. Altmaier further discloses further comprising: receiving, by the collaboration and integration platform the enriched message; and communicating, by the collaboration and integration platform, the enriched message to the out-of-band collaboration network, wherein the out-of-band collaboration network communicates the enriched message to the plurality of users (For each of the determined pairs of client network nodes, the server network node also typically generates the respective session definition to include an encryption identifier (or a set of Cipher definitions) associated with an encryption process for encrypting data transported on the network connection between the constituent client network nodes of the pair. In some embodiments, each session definition includes a Session ID that uniquely identifies a respective session, the Station ID of a first one of the constituent client nodes, the Station ID a second one of the constituent client nodes, a Transport ID that identifies the transport protocol to be used by the constituent client nodes for the respective session, and an Encryption ID that identifies an encryption protocol to be used by the constituent client nodes for the respective session. In some embodiments, the Encryption ID is replaced by a set of Cipher definitions. The server node 16 also typically sends to each of the constituent client network nodes definitions of the channels that are available on the session, Altmaier ¶160) (Examiner interprets the encryption as the enrichment of the message).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW B WHITAKER whose telephone number is (571)270-7563. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F, 8am-5pm, EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lynda Jasmin can be reached on (571) 272-6782. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW B WHITAKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3629