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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claim
1. Applicant's amendment dated 01/22/2026 responding to the Office Action 10/22/2025 provided in the rejection of claims 1-20.
2. Claims 1-15 and 18-20 have been amended.
3. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application, of which claims 1, 8 and 15 in independent form and which have been fully considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendments
4. (A). Regarding Abstract objection: Abstract objection has been maintained as below.
(B). Regarding claim objections: Claim objections have been withdrawn in view of Applicants’ amendments.
(C) Regarding art rejection: Applicants’ amendment necessitated new grounds of rejections presented in the following art rejection. Please Bao et al. (US Patent No. 12,230,278 B1) and Kannan et al. (US Pub. No. 2017/0055145 A1).
Examiner Notes
5. Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Abstract
6. Line 1 of Abstract recites “Techniques for filtering…”
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
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.
7. Claims 3, 10 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Additionally, claims 3, 10 and 17 recites “determining, by the server, an indication of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device based on data provided by a mobile application store or provider accessed by the mobile computing device” as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretations, covers performance of the limitation in the mind. That is, nothing in the claim elements precludes the step from practically being performed in the mind or with a pen and paper, i.e. “determining” can be performed in the human mind through observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion with the aid of pen and paper. As such, this limitation falls within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract idea. Accordingly, these limitations do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea or provide an inventive concept and thus do not amount to significantly more that the abstract idea. As such, these claims fail both Step 2A prong 2 and Step 2B. Therefore, claims 3, 10 and 17 are ineligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
8. Claim(s) 1-4, 8-11 and 15-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (WO 2021206976 A1 – art of record -- herein after Zhang) in view of Bao et al. (US Patent No. 12,230,278 B1 – herein after Bao).
Regarding claim 1.
Zhang discloses
A computer-implemented method, comprising:
executing, by a server, a third-party content filtering application to determine (a determination that detecting the request to invoke the first application occurred in a first context (e.g., location information detected via GPS, object identifier information accessed from an external server – See paragraph [0387]), a set of one or more candidate mobile applications, including a first mobile application and a second mobile application (the plurality of applications include a first application with first usage information and a second application with second usage information; after the plurality of applications have been downloaded automatically, receiving, via the one or more input devices, a request to display representations of automatically downloaded applications that are available on the computer system; and in response to receiving the request, displaying, via the display generation component…the subset of the plurality of automatically downloaded applications includes the first application; in accordance with a determination that the first usage information does not meet the respective usage criteria, the subset of the plurality of automatically downloaded applications excludes the first application; in accordance with a determination that the second usage information meets the respective usage criteria, the subset of the plurality of automatically downloaded applications includes the second application; and in accordance with a determination that the second usage information does not meet the respective usage criteria, the subset of the plurality of automatically downloaded applications excludes the second application – see paragraph [0017]), each associated with respective third-party content presentable on a mobile computing device (user interface element 1104 includes a representation 1104A of a first vendor (e.g., “Food King”) for a first lite-version application that corresponds to a first developer (e.g., “Food Reviews”), a representation 1104B of a second vendor (e.g., “Burger Queen”) for the first lite-version application that corresponds to the first developer (e.g., “Food Reviews”), and a representation 1104C of a third vendor (e.g., “Cafe Mocha”) for a second lite-version application that corresponds to a second developer (e.g., “Cafe Mocha”), where the third vendor is the same as (e.g., is the same entity as; is the same company as) the second developer (e.g., “Cafe Mocha”) – See paragraph [0401]);
in response to determining that the first mobile application is absent from a set of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device (the displayed user interface (e.g., 1102, 1106, 1124) for accessing the automatically downloaded application includes (e.g., shows or is enabled to show) the subset of the plurality of applications which do not include (e.g., does not show and is not enabled to show) the first application. Excluding the first application in the subset of the plurality of automatically downloaded applications in accordance with the determination that the first usage information does not meet the respective usage criteria prevents unnecessary controls and/or information related to the first application from being presented to the user (e.g., where the user is not likely or less likely to access the first application) – See paragraph [0440]):
sending, by the server to the mobile computing device (“displaying” content includes causing to display the content (e.g., video data rendered or decoded by display controller 156) by transmitting, via a wired or wireless connection, data (e.g., image data or video data) to an integrated or external display generation component to visually produce the content – See paragraph [0052].), first third-party content associated with the first mobile application (a first user interface corresponding to the first application, wherein: in accordance with a determination that detecting the request to invoke the first application occurred in a first context, displaying the first user interface includes displaying, in the first user interface, first content in a respective region of the first user interface – See paragraph [0011-0012]), the first third-party content containing a first link for installing the first mobile application (connected display via external port 124), send an e-mail with a link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage online videos in one or more file formats – See paragraph [0109]. A link-based (e.g., hyperlink-based) method) for initiating a process for enabling an activity on computer system 700 – See paragraph [0236-0237]); and
in response to determining that the second mobile application is included in the set of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device (a determination that the second application was installed on the computer system – see paragraphs [0021-0022]):
Zhang does not disclose
refraining from sending second third-party content associated with the second mobile application to the mobile computing device, the second third-party content containing a second link for installing the second mobile application.
Bao discloses
refraining from sending second third-party content associated with the second mobile application to the mobile computing device (If the supplemental content selection component 170 determines none of the scores/values satisfy the condition, the supplemental content selection component 170 may send (step 12 in FIGS. 1 and 3), to the controller component 160, data representing supplemental content is not to be output. In response to receiving said data, the controller component 160 may send (step 13 in FIG. 1) said data to the supplemental content skill component 130, thereby causing the supplemental content skill component 130 to cease processing – See col. 17, lines 43-52. If the supplemental content skill component 130 is unable to validate that the (max) software/application version, represented in the selected supplemental content presentation data, conforms to the (max) software/application version of the device 110, the supplemental content skill component 130 may cease processing, resulting in supplemental content not being output – See col. 18, lines 15-21. Examiner respectfully notes that application version is a second application), the second third-party content containing a second link for installing the second mobile application (a “skill component” may refer to software… a music skill may provide a link to audio data of a song, a weather skill may provide weather information – See col. 5, lines 26-35. Each payload corresponds to a different instance of supplemental content of the supplemental content presentation data. A payload may be text and/or a link to content (e.g., an image(s), graphics, icon(s), text, video, etc.) to be visually presented as supplemental content – See col. 9, lines 56-61).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use Bao’s teaching into Zhang’s invention because incorporating Bao’s teaching would enhance Zhang to enable to cease processing if the content component is unable to validate the software/application version, represented in the selected supplemental content presentation data, conforms to the software/application version of the device as suggested by Bao (col. 18, lines 11-20).
Regarding claim 2, the computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
Zhang discloses
receiving, by the server from the mobile computing device, an indication of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device (in response to detecting activation 701 of affordance 706B, in accordance with a determination that an application of a second type (e.g., a full-version / a regular version of an application) of the developer (indicated via indication 706D) is already installed on (and thus already available on) computer system 700 – See paragraph [0191]).
Regarding claim 3, the computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
Zhang discloses
determining, by the server, an indication of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device based on data provided by a mobile application store or provider accessed by the mobile computing device (in response to receiving the request, displaying, via the display generation component, a user interface for accessing the automatically downloaded applications, wherein the user interface provides access to a subset of the plurality of automatically downloaded applications that excludes one or more applications that do not meet respective usage criteria, wherein: in accordance with a determination that the first usage information meets the respective usage criteria, the subset of the plurality of automatically downloaded applications includes the first application – See paragraphs [0016-0017]. A determination that an application of a second type (e.g., a full-version / a regular version of an application) of the developer (indicated via indication 706D) is already installed on (and thus already available on) computer system 700, computer system 700 displays, via display generation component 702, a user interface 708 of the application of the second type that is already installed on computer system – See paragraph [0191]).
Regarding claim 4, the computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising:
Zhang discloses
sending, by the server, an indication of the set of one or more candidate mobile applications to the mobile computing device (In FIG. 7D, in response to detecting activation 701 of affordance 706B, in accordance with a determination that an application of a second type (e.g., a full-version / a regular version of an application) of the developer (indicated via indication 706D) is already installed on (and thus already available on) computer system 700, computer system 700 displays, via display generation component 702, a user interface 708 of the application of the second type that is already installed on computer system – See paragraph [0191]. A determination that detecting the request to invoke the first application occurred in a first context (e.g., location information detected via GPS, object identifier information accessed from an external server – See paragraph [0387]); and
receiving, by the server, an indication of one or more of: (i) the first mobile application being absent from the set of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device or (ii) the second mobile application being included in the set of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device (detecting the occurrence of a triggering condition for initiating an activity that is associated with a first application; while the first application is not installed on the computer system – See paragraphs [0022]).
Regarding claim 8.
A system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory, storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
Regarding claim 8, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 9, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 10, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 11, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 4 above.
Regarding claim 15.
A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
Regarding claim 15, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 16, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 17, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 18, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 4 above.
9. Claim(s) 5, 12 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Bao as applied to claims 1, 8 and 15 respectively above, and further in view of Chauhan et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0198844 A1 – art of record -- herein after Chauhan) in view of Kannan et al. (US Pub. No. 2017/0055145 A1 – herein after Kannan).
Regarding claim 5, the computer-implemented method of claim 1,
Chauhan discloses
wherein the set of one or more candidate mobile applications further includes a third mobile application (they may increase the reliability of the operational systems (e.g., mobile applications executing on a mobile device) – See paragraph [0018]. Examiner respectfully notes that mobile applications may include the first application, second application, third application and etc.), and further comprising:
receiving, by the server from the mobile computing device, an updated indication of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device (transmit a module update indication indicating the current one or more modules to be configured with the mobile application to the mobile application on the user's device – See paragraphs [0016-0018]. A mobile application, including one or more modules, may be installed on a user device, such as the user device 110. At block 404, an activation (e.g., execution, bring to foreground, etc.) of the mobile application may be detected – See paragraph [0057]), indicating that the first mobile application was installed on the mobile computing device prior to the mobile computing device receiving the first third-party content associated with the first mobile application ( A mobile application 120 may be installed on the user device 110. The mobile application 120 may be configured with a subset of features and functions that the mobile application is capable of providing. These functions and features may be facilitated by mobile applications modules 126 that may include any number of modules – See paragraph [0021]. The mobile application module updater 122 may generate and send a current state message and/or module query to a mobile application module service periodically and/or in response to one or more detected activities as described herein – See paragraph [0021-0022]); and
sending, by the server to the mobile computing device, in response to determining that the third mobile application is absent from the set of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device (the mobile application may be configured to detect the condition of deactivating the mobile application – See paragraphs [0062-0064]), third third-party content associated with the third mobile application (If the mobile application is to be deactivated or otherwise is not to continue executing, the process 400 continues to block 420 where the mobile application is deactivated and then returns to block 404 to await the next activation of the mobile application. In various embodiments, the mobile application may be activated for the purposes of performing a module update query – See paragraph [0062-0064]), [[the third third-party content containing a third link for installing the third mobile application.]]
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use Chauhan’s teaching into Zhang’s and Bao’s inventions because incorporating Chauhan’s teaching would enhance Zhang and Bao to enable to perform a module/content update query as suggested by Chauhan (paragraphs [0062-0063]).
Chauhan does not disclose
the third third-party content containing a third link for installing the third mobile application.
Kanna discloses
the third third-party content containing a third link for installing the third mobile application (serving the selected third content item to the mobile device responsive to the received request – See paragraph [0005]. the content items may also include embedded information such as hyperlinks, metadata, links – See paragraph [0036]).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use Kanna’s teaching into Zhang’s and Bao’s and Chauhan’s inventions because incorporating Kanna’s teaching would enhance Zhang and Bao and Chauhan to enable to manage the selection and serving of content items by content item selection system as suggested by Kannan (paragraph [0039]).
Regarding claim 12, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 5 above.
Regarding claim 19, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 5 above.
10. Claim(s) 6, 13 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Bao as applied to claims 1, 8 and 15 respectively above, and further in view of Chauhan et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0198844 A1 – art of record -- herein after Chauhan).
Regarding claim 6, the computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising:
Chauhan discloses
receiving, by the server from the mobile computing device, an updated indication of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device (a mobile application is installed as a complete software component capable of performing all of the functions of that application, even if such functions are not available or appropriate to the user of the device – See paragraphs [0008]), indicating that the first mobile application was installed on the mobile computing device within a threshold period of time (the mobile application may be configured to determine a current mobile application state and transmit a module update request at preconfigured time intervals – See paragraph [0013]. The mobile application may be configured to perform a module update query at those activations that occur after a threshold amount of time has passed since the most recent previous module query update – See paragraph [0058]), subsequent to the mobile computing device presenting the first third-party content associated with the first mobile application (facilitate the generation of user interfaces that include streaming product images and information – See paragraphs [0035-0037]. The mobile application may be configured to perform a module update query in response to activation of the application if more than an hour has passed since the last module update query (e.g., do not perform a module update query in response to activation of the application if less than an hour has passed since the last module update query) – See paragraphs [0056-0060]).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use Chauhan’s teaching into Zhang’s and Bao’s invention because incorporating Chauhan’s teaching would enhance Zhang and Bao to enable to perform a module/content update query at those activations that occur after a threshold amount of time has passed since the most recent previous module query update as suggested by Chauhan (paragraph [0058]).
Regarding claim 13, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 6 above.
Regarding claim 20, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 6 above.
11. Claim(s) 7 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang and Bao as applied to claims 1 and 8 respectively above, and further in view of Decrop et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0111056 A1 – art of record -- herein after Decrop).
Regarding claim 7, the computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
Decrop discloses
receiving, by the server from the mobile computing device, an updated indication of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device (the use of available application storefront data and data analytics techniques to recognize patterns of use and/or metrics that indicate satisfaction of users accessing software applications… alternative software applications with similar functionality to the application associated with an under-performing metric of user satisfaction may be proposed to a user or installed automatically. For example, an installed application for GPS navigation having a metric of user satisfaction below a threshold level – See paragraphs [0017-0018]), indicating that the second mobile application was uninstalled from the mobile computing device (periodic re-evaluations of installed applications and/or previously uninstalled applications and/or applications accessed or previously accessed by a user device may occur at configured intervals of time. For example, re-evaluations may occur daily, weekly, monthly, etc. During periods of the periodic re-evaluation, embodiments of the present disclosure may compare the user’s applications to the current metrics of user satisfaction published by an application storefront, including metrics of user satisfaction for previously uninstalled applications that may have been removed for falling below a configured threshold level of user satisfaction – See paragraphs [0017-0019]); and
sending, by the server to the mobile computing device, in response to determining that the second mobile application is absent from the set of one or more mobile applications installed on the mobile computing device (The reporting module 215 may perform the functions, tasks and/or processes of the application management module 203 of transmitting, reporting and/or displaying notifications to the user device 205 from the application management module 203. Reporting module 215 may present the analysis, determinations, managing actions and/or recommendations from the analysis module 211, and may further include a detailed analysis or report explaining the recommendations, actions or other determinations for managing applications 219 of the user device 205. For example, upon initial setup and identification of applications 219 installed or accessible by the user device 205, and/or at period intervals of re-evaluation of applications 219, reporting module 215 may generate a list installed applications that are recommended for uninstallation and/or have been subject to a managing action by the application management module 203 that automatically uninstalled the application(s) 219 – See paragraph [0086]), the second third-party content associated with the second mobile application (Analysis module 211 may select an alternative application for recommendation to a user based on a balance between the highest metrics of user satisfaction and/or how closely similar in functionality the alternative application is to the application being recommended for removal – See paragraph [0082]).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use Decrop’s teaching into Zhang’s and Bao’s inventions because incorporating Decrop’s teaching would enhance Zhang and Bao to enable to present the analysis, determinations, managing actions and/or recommendations from the analysis module, and include a detailed analysis or report explaining the recommendations, actions or other determinations for managing applications of the user device as suggested by Decrop (paragraph [0086]).
Regarding claim 14, recites the same limitations as rejected claim 7 above.
Conclusion
11. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Darak et al. (US Patent No. 10963568 B1) discloses A second instance of the same mobile device security application is also downloaded and installed on a clean device, with the first and second instances of the mobile device security application being covered under a single license. An instruction is generated on the mobile device security application on the clean device and transmitted to the infected device. Based on the received instruction, the mobile device security app is initiated and at least one access setting is modified on the infected device to enable user access – See Abstract and specification for more details.
Oh et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0065440 A1) discloses managing an application executed in a user terminal according to an embodiment of this disclosure includes executing a launcher application on the user terminal, displaying a first application list within a first GUI of the launcher application, installing, in the user terminal, a first application selected by a user from applications included on the first application list, displaying a second application list within a second GUI of the launcher application and executing a second application selected by the user from applications included on the second application list – See Abstract and specification for more details.
Wu (CN 114968390 A) discloses the zero-trust service module is inserted into the modified, zero-trust network system is provided with a plug-in management module, so as to manage the plug-in, based on this, can realize the flexible scheduling of each zero-trust plug-in – See Abstract and specification for more details.
12. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hyung S. Sough can be reached at 571-272-6799. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MONGBAO NGUYEN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2192
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