Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice to Applicant
The following is a Final Office action to Application Serial Number 18/236,633, filed on August 22, 2023. In response to Examiner’s Office Action of May 5, 2025, Applicant, on August 5, 2025, amended claims 1, 4-11, 13-14, and 17-20. Claims 1-20 are pending in this application and have been rejected below.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments are acknowledged.
Regarding the 35. U.S.C. § 101 rejection, Applicant’s arguments have been
considered and is insufficient to overcome the rejection.
The 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejections are hereby amended pursuant to applicants’ amendments. Updated 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejections have been applied to amended claims. Please refer to the § 103 rejection for further explanation and rationale.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed August 5, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive and/or are moot in view of the revised rejections. Applicant’s arguments will be addressed herein below in the order in which they appear in the response filed August 5, 2025.
On Pg. 7-8 of the Remarks, regarding 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejections, Applicant states the claims recite server systems and specific configurations thereof that perform computer-specific operations over specific networking architectures with other computing devices and services. These computer-specific operations include predictive models trained against specific training data, the generation of log items descriptive of server system operations and third-party software tool usage, as well as the generation of string descriptions of attrition risk and related notifications to managed service providers. The claims do not recite a method of organizing human activity, nor any other abstract idea, for instance, as no human could reasonably perform the operations recited in the currently amended claims In response, Examiner respectfully disagrees. The amended claims under its broadest reasonable interpretation fall within the Abstract idea grouping of “Methods of Organizing Human Activity” – managing interactions. In the Step 2A analysis , Examiner found The claims primarily recite the additional element of using computer components to perform each step. The “server system”, “memory”, “processor”, “backend application”; “frontend application”; “client device”; “third-party system”, and “third-party software tool” is recited at a high-level of generality, such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a computer component. See MPEP 2106.05(f). Please review the updated 101 analysis for additional detail.
On Pg. 8 of the Remarks, regarding 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejections. Applicant states the cited references and respectfully notes that neither Jannak nor Koehler contemplate any manner in which a managed service provider may be provided with an attrition risk assessment for a particular licensee, much less any manner using helpdesk ticket information associated with a third-party tool as well as logs generated in respect of the licensee's use of the licensed third-party tool, as recited in the currently amended claims. In response, new ground(s) of rejection is made necessitated by amendment see MPEP 706.07a where Koehler in view of Biddle in further of Mann is now applied for Claims 1 and 14 to support attrition risk. Regarding the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection, Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims has been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1- 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. Claims 1-20 are directed to user access management analysis.
Claim 1 recites a system for user access management analysis and Claim 14 recites a system for user access management analysis, which include receive, from a frontend application instance operated by a managed service provider and instantiated by a client device in communication with the server system, a first request to issue a license to a third-party software tool on behalf of a licensee; provision the license in response to the first request; generate a first set of log items descriptive of operations performed by the server system while provisioning of the license; generate a second request to a third-party system, the third-party system configured to provide information in respect of use by the licensee of the third-party software tool in accordance with the license; submit the second request to the third-party system and, in response, obtain license information about use of the third-party software tool by the licensee in accordance with the license; generate a second set of log items descriptive of use of the third-party software tool by the licensee holding the license; retrieve licensee information descriptive of the licensee holding the license; provide the second set of log items and the licensee information as input to a predictive model trained against training data comprising: at least a portion of the first set of log items; previous log items generated in respect of use of the third-party software tool in accordance with other provisioned licenses; and helpdesk ticket information associated with the third-party software tool and at least one of the license or the other provisioned licenses; receive as output from the predictive model an attrition risk assessment; in response to receiving the output, generate with a string description of attrition risk in respect of the licensee; and cause to be generated to the managed service provider at the client device, a notification comprising the string description.(Claim 1). And, obtain a first set of log items descriptive of operations performed by the server system while provisioning a license to a third-party software tool on behalf of a licensee; generate a second request to a third-party system, the third-party system configured to provide information in respect of use by the licensee of the third-party software tool in accordance with the license; submit the second request to the third-party system and, in response, obtain license information about use of the third-party software tool by the licensee in accordance with the license; generate a second set of log items descriptive of use of the third-party software tool by the licensee holding the license; retrieve licensee information descriptive of the licensee holding the license; provide the second set of log items and the licensee information as input to a predictive model, trained against training data comprising: at least a portion of the first set of log items; previous log items generated in respect of use of the third-party software tool in accordance with other provisioned licenses; and helpdesk ticket information associated with the third-party software tool and at least one of the license or the other provisioned licenses; receive as output from the predictive model an attrition risk assessment; in response to receiving the output, generate with a string description of attrition risk in respect of the licensee; and cause to be generated to the managed service provider at the client device, a notification comprising the string description. (Claim 14).
As drafted, this is, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, within the Abstract idea grouping of “Methods of Organizing Human Activity” – managing interactions. The recitation of “server system”, “memory”, “processor”, “backend application”; “frontend application”; “client device”; “third-party system”, and “third-party software tool”, provide nothing in the claim elements to preclude the step from being “Methods of Organizing Human Activity”- interactions. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The claims primarily recite the additional element of using computer components to perform each step. The “server system”, “memory”, “processor”, “backend application”; “frontend application”; “client device”; “third-party system”, and “third-party software tool”, is recited at a high-level of generality, such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a computer component. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claims also fail to recite any improvements to another technology or technical field, improvements to the functioning of the computer itself, use of a particular machine, effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, and/or an additional element applies or uses the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception. See 84 Fed. Reg. 55. In particular, there is a lack of improvement to a computer or technical field in customer user access management analysis.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements when considered both individually and as an ordered combination do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements of “server system”, “memory resource”, “processing resource”, “third-party system”, and “third-party software tool”, is insufficient to amount to significantly more. (See MPEP 2106.05(f) – Mere Instructions to Apply an Exception – “Thus, for example, claims that amount to nothing more than an instruction to apply the abstract idea using a generic computer do not render an abstract idea eligible.” Alice Corp., 134 S. Ct. at 235). Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept.
The claim fails to recite any improvements to another technology or technical field, improvements to the functioning of the computer itself, use of a particular machine, effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, adding unconventional steps that confine the claim to a particular useful application, and/or meaningful limitations beyond generally linking the use of an abstract idea to a particular environment. See 84 Fed. Reg. 55. Viewed individually or as a whole, these additional claim element(s) do not provide meaningful limitation(s) to transform the abstract idea into a patent eligible application of the abstract idea such that the claim(s) amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. With regards to receiving data and step 2B, it is M2106.05(d)- Receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data, Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information) and Storing and retrieving information in memory, Versata Dev. Group, Inc. v. SAP Am., Inc., 793 F.3d 1306, 1334, 115 USPQ2d 1681, 1701 (Fed. Cir. 2015).
Examiner concludes that the additional elements in combination fail to amount to significantly more than the abstract idea based on findings that each element merely performs the same function(s) in combination as each element performs separately. The claim is not patent eligible. Thus, taken alone, the additional elements do not amount to significantly more than the above-identified judicial exception (the abstract idea). Looking at the limitations as an ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually.
Dependent Claims 2-13, and 15-20 recite wherein the license information includes license usage information describing usage of the license to the third-party software tool; wherein the license information includes pricing information related to the license; wherein the license information includes information about the managed service provider requesting provisioning of the license; wherein the first set of log items includes information about a provisioning of the license being succeeded and the third-party software tool being ready to use; wherein the first set of log items include information about the provisioning of the license having failed; wherein the second set of log items include information collected when operating the system; wherein the second set of log items include information about usage of the third-party software tool in the third-party system; wherein the second set of log items include information about a subscription record of the license of the third-party software tool; wherein the second set of log items include about a time period using the third-party software tool in the third-party system; wherein the second set of log items include information about users using one or more third-party software tools in the third-party system; wherein the attrition risk assessment comprises a numerical value; wherein the predicted risk includes a risk score about users unsubscribing the third-party software tool in the third-party system; wherein the errors during operation of the third-party software tool includes failures when users attempt to access the third-party software tool, and failures when users lose access during the operation of the third-party software tool; and further narrowing the abstract idea. These recited limitations in the dependent claims do not amount to significantly more than the above-identified judicial exceptions in Claims 1 and 14. Regarding Claims, 2, 5, 7-11, 13, 15, 17, 19-20 and the additional elements of “system” and “third party software tool” it is M2106.05(d)- Receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data, Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information).
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 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.
Claims 1-12 and 14- 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koehler, US Publication No. 20140379593A1, [hereinafter Koehler], in view of Biddle et al., US Publication No. 20020107809A1, [hereinafter Biddle], and in further view of Mann et al., US Publication No. 20150170049A1, [hereinafter Mann]
Regarding Claim 1,
Koehler teaches
A server system comprising: a memory; and a processor operably intercoupled with the memory and configured to instantiate an instance of backend application software configured to: (Koehler Par. 16-“Other embodiments include, without limitation, a computer-readable medium that includes instructions that enable a processing unit to implement one or more aspects of the disclosed methods as well as a system having a processor, memory, and application programs configured to implement one or more aspects of the disclosed methods.”; Par. 32)
receive, from a frontend application instance operated by a managed service provider and instantiated by a client device in communication with the server system, a first request to issue a license to a third-party software tool on behalf of a licensee (Koehler Par. 14-18-“receiving, from a customer, a selection of a partner from a plurality of partners of a vendor of computer products; prompting the partner to accept the selection. Upon receiving an acceptance from the partner, the selected partner is provided access to account information of the customer, wherein the account information identifies a set of one or more entitlements for computer products licensed to the customer by the vendor. In a particular embodiment, this method may further include receiving information indicating customer use for each of the computer products licensed to the customer by the vendor and retrieving the license entitlements for the computer product from one of the one or more license pools. Upon determining the customer use does not comply with license requirements based on the license entitlements, the selected partner is notified of the non-compliance.; Par. 32);
provision the license in response to the first request (Koehler Par. 27-“ Under the trust model, when an affiliated partner sells a vendor's product to a customer, the partner gains access to entitlement data 210 in the license pool corresponding to the particular product. In one embodiment, a partner associated with a particular customer account 200 may access the customer's aggregate license pool data. For example, if three different partners A, B, and C sell virtual switches to the customer, the customer's license pool may include license information of the virtual switches from each partner.”);
retrieve licensee information descriptive of the licensee holding the license; (Koehler Par. 34-36-FIG. 5 illustrates a method of including a designated partner in handling the license consumption overage of a customer, according to one embodiment. The method begins at 505, where the customer uses the purchased computer products. The vendor, through a license manager device, monitors the customer's usage (at 510) for whether the customer is using the product within the bounds of the license entitlements. Although the vendor license manager notifies the customer whenever the license manager detects an overage, in one embodiment, the license manager, on a defined periodic basis, generates a status report of the customer's usage to forward to the partner designated to handle the customer account (at 515). The partner, through a corresponding license manager device on a server computing system, uses the status report to determine whether the customer is consuming the license beyond the license entitlements (at 520). For instance, a customer might exceed license consumption by using software past an agreed-upon duration, using more than the allowed features, using a newer version than the version at activation, etc. ; Fig. 4-5)
Koehler teaches license management and the feature is expounded upon by Biddle:
generate a first set of log items descriptive of operations performed by the server system while provisioning of the license (Biddle Par. 60-“ FIG. 4 shows exemplary program features and various views available to the user 30 when using access tool 67, 68, 69 or 71. The service 72, in one exemplary aspect, listens for incoming requests on a specified port, determines how many license requests may be processed at one time and the length of time that a license request will run before being terminated; and processes license requests. In one embodiment of the present invention, when an inbound license request arrives, an instance of the script engine is spawned to process the request. The service keeps track of how long a request has been running and requests that exceed the timeout value are aborted. Requests are logged, for example, according to log settings after the request is completed. The log settings control the folder set up to receive log files and the level of detail captured in the log file. Information captured may include the originating IP address, the time the request arrived, the size of the request, the product ID/version number, the machine ID, the name of the script executed, the time taken to process the request, and the overall results of the request. In addition, the actual content of the request may be captured and used by, for example, an”) ;
generate a second request to a third-party system, the third-party system configured to provide information in respect of use by the licensee of the third-party software tool in accordance with the license (Biddle Par. 18; Par. 59-“The service 72, in one exemplary aspect, listens for incoming requests on a specified port, determines how many license requests may be processed at one time and the length of time that a license request will run before being terminated; and processes license requests.”);
submit the second request to the third-party system and, in response, obtain license information about use of the third-party software tool by the licensee in accordance with the license (Biddle Par. 18; Par. 59; Par. 97-“In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, before an application can be executed, the license monitor may communicate, for example, with the licensing API to determine if a license has been obtained for the application (step 230 of FIG. 19). When a license has been obtained, the license information may be stored in a file designated a “license file”.);
generate a second set of log items descriptive of use of the third-party software tool by the licensee holding the license (Biddle Par. 59-“The service keeps track of how long a request has been running and requests that exceed the timeout value are aborted. Requests are logged, for example, according to log settings after the request is completed. The log settings control the folder set up to receive log files and the level of detail captured in the log file. Information captured may include the originating IP address, the time the request arrived, the size of the request, the product ID/version number, the machine ID, the name of the script executed, the time taken to process the request, and the overall results of the request. In addition, the actual content of the request may be captured and used by, for example, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for debugging purposes.”);
provide the second set of log items and the licensee information as input… (Biddle Par. 49- Systems and methods in accordance with exemplary computer software implementations of the present invention may provide for, inter alia, a subscription-based, cost-effective, software licensing model enabling access to a variety of software applications over a computer network, such as, for example, the Internet. Referring now to FIG. 1 and 2, in one exemplary embodiment, a distribution system 20 is utilized to provide for the downloading of software from a distributor computer 25 to a user computer 30 and a licensing model is executed through secure, online transactions between the distributor 25 and the user 30. The distributor computer 25 and the user computer 30 are interconnected via respective data links 45, 50 and 55 to a network, such as Internet 35, for data communications. Thus, distribution system 20, namely the downloading of software and the secure online transactions enabling the purchase of a license to use the software on a subscription basis, can be conducted over the Internet 35. );
previous log items generated in respect of use of the third-party software tool in accordance with other provisioned licenses; (Biddle Par.7-6 68 The field support option 71 may be adapted to display a user-level view of the database 49 that allows the vendor's 40 field support staff to review user 30 history, identify user 30 leads, and provide product samples to prospective users 30. The field support option may include access to multiple predefined reports, such as product reports (i.e., name, version, license type, etc.), sales reports (i.e., sales by user, product, region, etc.), and user status reports (i.e., issued licenses by term, product level, termination date, etc.).”);
and helpdesk ticket information associated with the third-party software tool and at least one of the license or the other provisioned licenses(Biddle Par. 18-“ The licensing management system and method may provide the following advantages, features, improvements and services in the software application industry: … (5) support for customer self-service access to prepaid subscription offerings where the customer acquires additional licenses or other software titles over the internet without direct vendor contact; (6) comprehensive database tools that collect and maintain, for example, product, license, and user information and that provide reports and other services to assist in customer retention management programs; (7) support for extensible scripting that can be used to generate custom messages and gather information for marketing, field support, or other interested parties; (8) license portability in which licenses may be dynamically managed by end-users and transferred from one machine to another; and (9) multiple security layers to protect against unlicensed access.”; Par. 95)
in response to receiving the output, generate with a string description of attrition risk in respect of the licensee; and cause to be generated to the managed service provider at the client device, a notification comprising the string description (Biddle Par. 18- “(6) comprehensive database tools that collect and maintain, for example, product, license, and user information and that provide reports and other services to assist in customer retention management programs; (7) support for extensible scripting that can be used to generate custom messages and gather information for marketing, field support, or other interested parties; (8) license portability in which licenses may be dynamically managed by end-users and transferred from one machine to another; and (9) multiple security layers to protect against unlicensed access.”).
Koehler and Biddle are directed to license analysis. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have improve upon data analysis of Koehler, as taught by Biddle, by utilizing additional data analysis with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification to the teachings of Koehler with the motivation of improved system and method for managing licensing data that may be applied to any property, product and/or service licensing model (Biddle Abstract).
Koehler in view of Biddle teach access analysis and the feature is expounded upon by Mann;
… to a predictive model trained against training data comprising: at least a portion of the first set of log items (Mann Par. 10-12-“ In general, another aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods that include the actions of receiving over a network multiple sets of predictive modeling training data from a first set of multiple client computing systems. For each set of predictive modeling training data, the training data and multiple training functions obtained from the repository are used to train multiple predictive models. A score is generated for each of the trained predictive models, where each score represents an estimation of the effectiveness of the respective trained predictive model. A trained predictive model is selected from among the multiple trained predictive models based on the generated scores. Multiple trained predictive models are thereby generated. Access to the multiple trained predictive models is provided to a second set of multiple client computing systems. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.”):
and receive as output from the predictive model an attrition risk assessment (Mann Par. 10-11; Par. 29- “The process 400 and system 200 can be used in various different applications. Some examples include (without limitation) making predictions relating to customer sentiment, transaction risk, species identification, message routing, diagnostics, churn prediction, legal docket classification, suspicious activity, work roster assignment, inappropriate content, product recommendation, political bias, uplift marketing, e-mail filtering and career counseling.”).
Koehler and Biddle are directed to license data analysis. Mann improves upon the data analysis. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have improve upon data analysis of Koehler in view of Biddle, as taught by Mann, by utilizing prediction analysis with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification to the teachings of Koehler in view of Biddle with the motivation of improved the training, selection and/or prediction operations (Mann Abstract).
Regarding Claim 2 and Claim 15, Koehler in view of Jannak teach The server system of claim 1,…, and The server system of claim 14,…
wherein the license information includes license usage information describing usage of the license to the third-party software tool (Koehler; Par 33-34; Fig. 4-5 =the license manager, on a defined periodic basis, generates a status report of the customer's usage to forward to the partner designated to handle the customer account (at 515). The partner, through a corresponding license manager device on a server computing system, uses the status report to determine whether the customer is consuming the license beyond the license entitlements (at 520). For instance, a customer might exceed license consumption by using software past an agreed-upon duration, using more than the allowed features, using a newer version than the version at activation, etc.).
Regarding Claim 3 and Claim 16, Koehler in view of Jannak teach The server system of claim 1,…, and The server system of claim 14,…
wherein the license information includes pricing information related to the license. (Koehler Par 30- In one embodiment, the account information includes aggregate license pool and entitlement data associated with the purchases of customer 310. The account information includes the entitlement data of related purchases from other partners. Further, on a periodic basis, vendor 305 sends partner 315 status reports of the license consumption of customer 310. Partner 315 may use the status reports to generate pricing quotes and ensure that customer 310 does not exceed the license entitlements (or ensure that customer 310 comes into compliance if customer 310 exceeds the entitlements).).
Regarding Claim 4,
The server system of claim 1, wherein the license information includes information about the managed service provider requesting provisioning of the license. (Koehler Par 19- Advantageously, by associating a partner to a customer to manage the customer account and audit and track consumption overages, the vendor is not required to manage every license on an installation-by-installation basis. Further, allowing the partner to access the customer's license entitlement and consumption data enables the partner to assist the customer in complying with associated licenses as well as provides the partner with pursuable sales opportunities. Additionally, this approach allows a customer account to temporarily exceed license entitlements, allowing the customer to quickly provision computer products, e.g., additional software instances, on-demand. The vendor allows the customer to consume a product with appropriate protection and data transparency.; Par. 34-36; Fig. 4-5).
Regarding Claim 5 and Claim 17, Koehler in view of Jannak teach The server system of claim 1,…, and The server system of claim 14,…
wherein the first set of log items includes information about a provisioning of the license having succeeded and the third-party software tool being ready to use. (Koehler Par 36- if the customer chooses to remain in overage and has not deactivated within the allowable timeframe (at 530), the customer has a grace period (defined by the vendor) by which to comply with the trust model (at 535). During the grace period, the vendor, through the license manager, tracks the status of the overage to determine whether the customer has come into compliance within the period (at 540)).
Regarding Claim 6 and Claim 18, Koehler in view of Jannak teach The server system of claim 5,…, and The server system of claim 14,…
wherein the first set of log items includes information about the provisioning of the license having failed. (Koehler Par.13- Upon determining that the identified set of license entitlements is inadequate, a customer-designated partner of the vendor is notified of non-compliance.; Par 36- In one embodiment, the vendor may notify the customer and the partner of the overage and give the customer another opportunity to remedy the non-compliance and return to good standing within the trust model. At this point, the customer has the opportunity to increase entitlements or transfer entitlements (e.g., to a license pool that can accommodate the usage) within a defined timeframe. Past this timeframe, and once the vendor and the partner have exhausted all other remedies, then the vendor ejects the customer from the trust model and may relegate the customer to a traditional licensing model (e.g., by requiring that the customer use a product activation key (PAK) to operate the software).).
Regarding Claim 7, Koehler in view of Biddle in further view of Mann teach The server system of claim 1, wherein the second set of log information…
include information collected when operating the system. (Koehler Par 19- Advantageously, by associating a partner to a customer to manage the customer account and audit and track consumption overages, the vendor is not required to manage every license on an installation-by-installation basis. Further, allowing the partner to access the customer's license entitlement and consumption data enables the partner to assist the customer in complying with associated licenses.; Par. 34-36; Fig. 4-5).
Regarding Claim 8, Koehler in view of Biddle in further view of Mann teach The server system of claim 7, wherein the second set of log information…
include information about usage of the third-party software tool in the third-party system. (Koehler Par 19; Par. 22-23- A license manager 106 residing in memory of a server computing system of vendor 105 may monitor the usage of computer purchases 140 once customer 110 activates the computer purchase with the license manager 106. To activate a computer product, customer 110 registers the computer purchase 140 with license manager 106. A registration of a purchase 140 may include an identifier of a product (or instance of the product). After the license manager 106 receives purchase records and the product registrations, the license manager 106 associates the registration with a license pool 114. Once registered, the license manager may monitor the license consumption by customer 110 for each product..; Par. 34-36; Fig. 4-5).
Regarding Claim 9, Koehler in view of Biddle in further view of Mann teach The server system of claim 7, wherein the second set of log information…
include information about a subscription record of the license of the third-party software tool. (Koehler Par 25- Each license 220 includes an identifier 208 and entitlement data 210. An entitlement is a set of privileges associated with a particular computer software or hardware license. Examples of entitlement data 210 may include the right to use software or access software subscriptions, to enable specific features of a hardware/software product, specify a number of installation instances (or “seats”) for a software application, specify content that the customer may access, upgrades that the customer may make, the duration that the customer is allowed to use the product, among other rights.; Par. 34-36; Fig. 4-5).
Regarding Claim 10, Koehler in view of Biddle in further view of Mann teach The server system of claim 7, wherein the second set of log information…
include information about a time period using the third-party software tool in the third-party system. (Koehler Par 33- At step 425, the customer may decide whether to come back into compliance. Under the trust licensing model, the customer may choose to remain in an overage situation for a temporary period of time defined by the vendor or the computer product license. This period allows the customer to quickly provision additional instances of a computer product when needed and pay for the product later..; Par. 34-36; Fig. 4-5).
Regarding Claim 11, Koehler in view of Biddle in further view of Mann teach The server system of claim 7, wherein the second set of log information…
include information about users using one or more third-party software tools in the third-party system. (Koehler Par 17-18- Embodiments provide a trust model in a computer product licensing program where a customer and a partner of a vendor enter into an agreement with the vendor. Under this model, a customer purchases computer products (e.g., computer software or hardware) and agrees to allow the vendor to track and report on the use of licenses or other entitlements related to the products (e.g., through a license manager in the product or on a vendor-side server). A license manager device generates a customer account associated with the purchases. The customer account includes pools of licenses for the computer products. The license pools include entitlements that specify privileges the customer receives with respect to product use. Under this model, the customer is allowed to temporarily exceed license entitlements within a defined grace period. Once the vendor associates a partner to the customer account, the partner, on a periodic basis, receives data from the vendor that allows the partner to help the customer maintain compliance.; Par. 34-36; Fig. 4-5).
Regarding Claim 12, Koehler in view of Biddle in further view of Mann teach The server system of claim 1,…
Koehler in view of Biddle teach data analysis and the feature is expounded upon by Mann;
wherein the attrition risk assessment comprises a numerical value. (Mann Par. 36-“ In some implementations, the effectiveness of each trained predictive model is estimated by performing cross-validation to generate a cross-validation score that is indicative of the accuracy of the trained predictive model, i.e., the number of exact matches of output data predicted by the trained model when compared to the output data included in the test sub-sample. In other implementations, one or more different metrics can be used to estimate the effectiveness of the trained model. For example, cross-validation results can be used to indicate whether the trained predictive model generated more false positive results than true positives and ignores any false negatives.; Par. 39 ):
Koehler and Biddle are directed to license data analysis. Mann improves upon the data analysis. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have improve upon data analysis of Koehler in view of Biddle, as taught by Mann, by utilizing prediction analysis with a reasonable expectation of success of arriving at the claimed invention. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification to the teachings of Koehler in view of Biddle with the motivation of improved the training, selection and/or prediction operations (Mann Abstract).
Regarding Claim 14,
Koehler teaches
A server system comprising: a memory; and a processor operably intercoupled with the memory resource and configured to instantiate an instance of backend application software configured to: (Koehler Par. 16-“Other embodiments include, without limitation, a computer-readable medium that includes instructions that enable a processing unit to implement one or more aspects of the disclosed methods as well as a system having a processor, memory, and application programs configured to implement one or more aspects of the disclosed methods.”; Par. 32)
retrieve licensee information descriptive of the licensee holding the license; (Koehler Par. 34-36-FIG. 5 illustrates a method of including a designated partner in handling the license consumption overage of a customer, according to one embodiment. The method begins at 505, where the customer uses the purchased computer products. The vendor, through a license manager device, monitors the customer's usage (at 510) for whether the customer is using the product within the bounds of the license entitlements. Although the vendor license manager notifies the customer whenever the license manager detects an overage, in one embodiment, the license manager, on a defined periodic basis, generates a status report of the customer's usage to forward to the partner designated to handle the customer account (at 515). The partner, through a corresponding license manager device on a server computing system, uses the status report to determine whether the customer is consuming the license beyond the license entitlements (at 520). For instance, a customer might exceed license consumption by using software past an agreed-upon duration, using more than the allowed features, using a newer version than the version at activation, etc. ; Fig. 4-5)
Koehler teaches license management and the feature is expounded upon by Biddle:
obtain a first set of log items descriptive of operations performed by the server system while provisioning a license to a third-party software tool on behalf of a licensee; (Biddle Par. 60-“ FIG. 4 shows exemplary program features and various views available to the user 30 when using access tool 67, 68, 69 or 71. The service 72, in one exemplary aspect, listens for incoming requests on a specified port, determines how many license requests may be processed at one time and the length of time that a license request will run before being terminated; and processes license requests. In one embodiment of the present invention, when an inbound license request arrives, an instance of the script engine is spawned to process the request. The service keeps track of how long a request has been running and requests that exceed the timeout value are aborted. Requests are logged, for example, according to log settings after the request is completed. The log settings control the folder set up to receive log files and the level of detail captured in the log file. Information captured may include the originating IP address, the time the request arrived, the size of the request, the product ID/version number, the machine ID, the name of the script executed, the time taken to process the request, and the overall results of the request. In addition, the actual content of the request may be captured and used by, for example, an”) ;
generate a second request to a third-party system, the third-party system configured to provide information in respect of use by the licensee of the third-party software tool in accordance with the license; (Biddle Par. 18; Par. 59-“The service 72, in one exemplary aspect, listens for incoming requests on a specified port, determines how many license requests may be processed at one time and the length of time that a license request will run before being terminated; and processes license requests.”);
submit the second request to the third-party system and, in response, obtain license information about use of the third-party software tool by the licensee in accordance with the license (Biddle Par. 18; Par. 59; Par. 97-“In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, before an application can be executed, the license monitor may communicate, for example, with the licensing API to determine if a license has been obtained for the application (step 230 of FIG. 19). When a license has been obtained, the license information may be stored in a file designated a “license file”.);
generate a second set of log items descriptive of use of the third-party software tool by the licensee holding the license; (Biddle Par. 59-“The service keeps track of how long a request has been running and requests that exceed the timeout value are aborted. Requests are logged, for example, according to log settings after the request is completed. The log settings control the folder set up to receive log files and the level of detail captured in the log file. Information captured may include the originating IP address, the time the request arrived, the size of the request, the product ID/version number, the machine ID, the name of the script executed, the time taken to process the request, and the overall results of the request. In addition, the actual content of the request may be captured and used by, for example, an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for debugging purposes.”);
provide the second set of log items and the licensee information as input… (Biddle Par. 49- Systems and methods in accordance with exemplary computer software implementations of the present invention may provide for, inter alia, a subscription-based, cost-effective, software licensing model enabling access to a variety of software applications over a computer network, such as, for example, the Internet. Referring now to FIG. 1 and 2, in one exemplary embodiment, a distribution system 20 is utilized to provide for the downloading of software from a distributor computer 25 to a user computer 30 and a licensing model is executed through secure, online transactions between the distributor 25 and the user 30. The distributor computer 25 and the user computer 30 are interconnected via respective data links 45, 50 and 55 to a network, such as Internet 35, for data communications. Thus, distribution system 20, namely the downloading of software and the secure online transactions enabling the purchase of a license to use the software on a subscription basis, can be conducted over the Internet 35. );
previous log items generated in respect of use of the third-party software tool in accordance with other provisioned licenses; (Biddle Par.7-6 68 The field support option 71 may be adapted to display a user-level view of the database 49 that allows the vendor's 40 field support staff to review user 30 history, identify user 30 leads, and provide product samples to prospective users 30. The field support option may include access to multiple predefined reports, such as product reports (i.e., name, version, license type, etc.), sales reports (i.e., sales by user, product, region, etc.), and user status reports (i.e., issued licenses by term, product level, termination date, etc.).”);
and helpdesk ticket information associated with the third-party software tool and at least one of the license or the other provisioned licenses(Biddle Par. 18-“ The licensing management system and method may provide the following advantages, features, improvements and services in the software application industry: … (5) support for customer self-service access to prepaid subscription offerings where the customer acquires additional licenses or other software titles over the internet without direct vendor contact; (6) comprehensive database tools that collect and maintain, for example, product, license, and user information and that provide reports and other services to assist in customer retention management programs; (7) support for extensible scripting that can be used to generate custom messages and gather information for marketing, field support, or other interested parties; (8) license portability in which licenses may be dynamically managed by end-users and transferred from one machine to another; and (9) multiple security layers to protect against unlicensed access.; Par. 95”)
in response to receiving the output, generate with a string description of attrition risk in respect of the licensee; and cause to be generated to the managed service provider at the client device, a notification comprising the string description (Biddle Par. 18- “(6) comprehensive database tools that collect and maintain, for example, product, license, and user information and that provide reports and other services to assist in customer retention management programs; (7) support for extensible scripting that can be used to generate custom messages and gather information for marketing, field support, or other interested parties; (8) license portability in which licenses may be dynamically managed by end-users and transferred from one machine to another; and (9) multiple security layers to protect against unlicensed access.”).
Koehler and Biddle are directed to license analysis. It would have been obvious fo