DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to amendments filed 12/1/2025. Claims 1,2, 4-9, 11-16 and 18-20 are pending with claims 1, 2, 4-9, 11-16 and 18-20 having been amended.
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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been received.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/1/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant's arguments that Henry does not teach “wherein the first communication interface is configured to prevent the plurality of candidate service providers from accessing the set of messages exchanged between the member and the representative” have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Henry teaches the first communication interface is enhanced telecom service in paragraph 0169 and that the second communication interface is Links 720, 730 and 740 provide two way communications, e.g., in XML, directly between the concierge server and vendors in paragraph 0067 therefore since the first communication interface and second communication interface are separate communication interface the candidate service providers cannot access the set of messages exchanged between the member and the representative.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4-6, 8, 9, 11-13, 15, 16, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henry (US 2009/0074168) in view of Kurapati (US 2016/0086222).
With respect to claim 1 Henry teaches a computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, over a first communication interface, a set of messages exchanged between a member and a representative, wherein the representative is assigned to the member for performance of tasks on behalf of the member (See Henry paragraph 0169 i.e. In this example, the caller is at John F. Kennedy airport in New York calling a friend (called party) in San Diego using the enhanced telecom service. While the caller and called party on a phone conversation, the caller suggests to have dinner with the called party at a vegetarian restaurant in "Cardiff by the Sea" near San Diego. Taking advantage of the enhanced telecom service feature which allows either the caller or called party to invoke information assistance during a call, the caller in this instance presses a predetermined telephone key to invoke information assistance. In a manner described before, an operator is conferenced in to the call to provide the necessary information assistance which includes in this instance a concierge-type service. It should be appreciated however, that a restaurant reservation service is but one type of service that the concierge-type service may be able to provide. Other areas of use may include, but are not limited to: information, reservation and ticketing for events, accommodation, transportation and travel, information regarding news, stock prices and weather, and providing access to other services such as grocery or flower delivery, etc.);
determining a set of tasks performable on behalf of the member (See Henry paragraph 0169 i.e. In a manner described before, an operator is conferenced in to the call to provide the necessary information assistance which includes in this instance a concierge-type service. It should be appreciated however, that a restaurant reservation service is but one type of service that the concierge-type service may be able to provide. Other areas of use may include, but are not limited to: information, reservation and ticketing for events, accommodation, transportation and travel, information regarding news, stock prices and weather, and providing access to other services such as grocery or flower delivery, etc.));
transmitting, over the first communication interface, the set of tasks for identifying a set of service providers through a second communication interface, wherein the second communication interface is separate from the first communication interface (see Henry paragraph 0171 i.e. If the caller knew the name of the restaurant he/she wanted he/she may make a specific reservation request (step 208) directly on connection to the operator. In such a case or as per our example, the operator then prompts the caller for reservation details (step 214) such as the restaurant name (if the operator did not locate it, supra), the caller's name, a second choice of restaurant, a required reservation date and time, alternative times, contact details and any additional preferences such as smoking or non-smoking, type of credit card to be used, restaurant views, etc. These details are input into a browser type graphical user interface (GUI) as shown in FIG. 4. The reservation details are then stored in the caller profile database along with a reservation request or ticket while the caller is on hold (step 215) and wherein the first communication interface is configured to prevent the plurality of candidate service providers from accessing the set of messages exchanged between the member and the representative (see Henry figures 2 and 9 and paragraphs 0067 i.e. Fulfillment agents fill the requests for concierge services received by the operators. Fulfillment agents are provided similar web browser and telephone facilities to those provided to the operators… A fulfillment agent preferably is an individual with specialized knowledge of the regional coverage area and the services provided therein so they can effectively fulfill the requests for local concierge services. The fulfillment agent may be a call center supervisor, an underutilized operator or a task specific employee in a particular information assistance center and paragraph 0167 i.e. Concierge Provider Interfaces Directly to Vendors - Links 720, 730 and 740 provide two way communications, e.g., in XML, directly between the concierge server and vendors which, in a preferred embodiment. Because there are likely to be vendors which would like to support real time transactions but for which there is no supporting ORS or CDRS, it may be preferable in some circumstances to provide for direct electronic communication between the Concierge Provider and one or more vendors);
transmitting, over the second communication interface, one or more requests (see Henry paragraph 0174 i.e. The fulfillment agent then attempts to contact the restaurant (step 222). Should the fulfillment agent be able to contact the restaurant he/she will attempt to make a reservation (step 223));
monitoring, over the second communication interface, for response messages associated with a plurality of candidate service providers, wherein the response messages indicate availabilities of the plurality of candidate service providers to perform the set of tasks (see Henry paragraph 0174-0175 i.e. he fulfillment agent then updates the status of the ticket (step 224) on the system irrespective of whether he/she was, in fact, successful in making the reservation or not, indicating last action performed, result, reservation details etc. (as seen in FIGS. 6 through 8). After each change of status the fulfillment agent or the system automatically sets a next action time for his/her attention sometime in the future. The request then slots into the appropriate place in a fulfillment queue. The fulfillment agent cannot set nonsensical time periods like zero minutes or two years. New tickets are prioritized so as to be dealt with in a timely manner on a first-in-first-out basis);
identifying, based on the response messages, the set of service providers (see Henry paragraph 0175 i.e. After a set amount of unsuccessful tries, the fulfillment agent is automatically prompted to try the second restaurant choice. After a set amount of time, say for example thirty minutes, the fulfillment agent retrieves the status of the request (step 228) and contacts the caller informing him/her of the status of his/her request (step 230)); and
generating a report that includes the set of service providers (see Henry paragraph 0177 i.e. The system may generate reports such as the number of calls processed by a particular center or by the system as a whole. Other reports may include reports indicating the average time spent on each ticket, the time spent fulfilling a ticket request and the time taken to contact a customer) wherein the report facilitates a selection of a service provider from the set of service providers to perform the set of tasks (see Henry paragraph 0175 i.e. After a set amount of unsuccessful tries, the fulfillment agent is automatically prompted to try the second restaurant choice. After a set amount of time, say for example thirty minutes, the fulfillment agent retrieves the status of the request (step 228) and contacts the caller informing him/her of the status of his/her request (step 230)).
Henry does not teach one or more requests that exclude at least part of the information associated with the set of tasks.
Kurapati teaches one or more requests that exclude at least part of the information associated with the set of tasks (Kurapati paragraph 0059 i.e. The method includes steps of receiving an authorization request from a merchant for a user transaction by a first remote computer and paragraph 0330 i.e. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction while protecting the user from losing their privacy due to PII data being released without permission (see Kurapati paragraph 0328-0330). Therefore one would have been motivated to have modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction.
With respect to claim 2, Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the one or more requests to each service provider further includes: accessing task data from each of the set of tasks (see figure 9 and paragraph 0034 i.e. A user may access information assistance for the aforementioned concierge-type service, whereby the user may make restaurant reservations, purchase goods and services, obtain movie listings, etc. with an agent's (or operator's) assistance. The agent may suggest a vendor for providing the goods or services requested by the user, and attempt to fulfill the user request and paragraph 0059 i.e. One or more information hubs 10 are also included in the WAN 30. An information hub 10 contains one or more databases including concierge database 20 and one or more servers including concierge server 28 which are accessible by the operators, and fulfillment agents in system 100 and paragraph 0067 i.e. Fulfillment agents fill the requests for concierge services received by the operators. Fulfillment agents are provided similar web browser and telephone facilities to those provided to the operators… A fulfillment agent preferably is an individual with specialized knowledge of the regional coverage area and the services provided therein so they can effectively fulfill the requests for local concierge services. The fulfillment agent may be a call center supervisor, an underutilized operator or a task specific employee in a particular information assistance center).
Henry does not disclose identifying personally identifiable information (PII) data from the task data; excluding the PII data from the task data to generate PII-protected data, wherein excluding the PII data includes: anonymizing the PII data; encrypting the PII data; or deleting the PII data from the task data; and generating the one or more requests based on the PII-protected data.
Kurapati teaches disclose identifying personally identifiable information (PII) data from the task data (see Kurapati paragraph 0328 i.e. Thus, while traditional on-line banking has focused on a user at home or in an office using a personal computer, mobile communications are now easily handled by both users and financial institutions. These channels may help the user in his or her daily tasks and may also provide more opportunities for communicating savings opportunities. Merchants and third party service providers also now have additional channels for communicating these savings opportunities to users, customers, and potential customers, and paragraph 0330 i.e. The transaction data used in analyzing the purchasing behavior of individual users, however, is limited. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users );
excluding the PII data from the task data to generate PII-protected data, wherein excluding the PII data includes: anonymizing the PII data; encrypting the PII data; or deleting the PII data from the task data (Kurapati paragraph 0330 i.e. The transaction data used in analyzing the purchasing behavior of individual users, however, is limited. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users); and
generating the one or more requests based on the PII-protected data (see Kurapati paragraph 0059 i.e. The method includes steps of receiving an authorization request from a merchant for a user transaction by a first remote computer and paragraph 0330 i.e. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction while protecting the user from losing their privacy due to PII data being released without permission (see Kurapati paragraph 0328-0330). Therefore one would have been motivated to have modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction.
With respect to claim 4 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second communication interface is configured to: generating a plurality of status indicators for the plurality of candidate service providers; receiving, over the second communication interface, a response message from a candidate service providers; modifying a status indicator associated with the candidate service provider such that the status indicator visually indicates an availability of the candidate service provider to perform the set of tasks; and presenting the modified status indicator on the second communication interface (see Henry paragraph 0110-0111 i.e. the ORS could permit the Concierge Provider to identify a subscriber by a subscriber identifier (such as the caller's MIN), rather than require the operator to enter the name, address, phone number etc. of the subscriber via the ORS user interface. The ORS would then use this subscriber identifier to track hotel reservations, car rental reservations and other concierge service requests made by any such subscriber and the status of same. The ORS could also maintain a database of subscriber identifiers and information about the subscribers associated with them (e.g. name, address, phone number, fax number, wireless device number, pager number, Short Message Service device information, e-mail address etc.) which can be used to bill subscribers directly, notify subscribers about concierge request status etc. The subscriber identifier can also be used to report information about the subscriber's concierge requests back to the Concierge Provider, such as information which would permit the Concierge Provider to bill the subscriber for the services used, information which would permit the Concierge Provider to notify subscribers about concierge request status, information from which reports to the subscriber can be generated etc).
With respect to claim 5 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, over the second communication interface, the one or more requests to additional candidate service providers, wherein the additional candidate service providers are identified from a resource library; and monitoring, over the second communication interface, for additional response messages from the additional candidate service providers, wherein the set of service providers are identified from both the plurality of candidate service providers and the additional candidate service providers (see Henry paragraph 0152 i.e. Information contained in the caller's profile could include, for example, preferred types of food (e.g. Italian, Chinese), preferred restaurants, preferred restaurants for each different type of food (e.g., Giambellis for Italian food, Shun Lee Palace for Chinese food etc.), preferred restaurants by city, preferred seating (e.g. smoking or non-smoking), review requirements (e.g. the caller may be interested only in restaurants with a food rating over "20" in the Zaggat guide), preferred seating time, accepted credit card requirements, preferred number in party, preferred seating time, preferred price range, child seat requirements etc. and paragraph 0116 i.e. The ORS user interface could be customized to filter out non-commissionable vendors (i.e. don't give the operator the option to use or refer a subscriber to a vendor which has not agreed to pay referral fees to the Concierge Provider) or to otherwise modify which vendors can be used based on circumstances. The order in which vendors are displayed to the operator can also be customized (e.g. display in order from highest commissions paid to the Concierge Provider to the lowest). Other customizations to the user interface might include currency conversion, European style dates, screens in different languages etc. for Concierge Providers that wish to provide service to subscribers in countries other than the United States).
With respect to claim 6 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein monitoring further includes modifying the one or more requests to include instructions for the additional candidate service providers to be registered in the resource library (see Henry paragraph 0132 i.e. The information regarding each such vendor in the information assistance database could be flagged, using a "flag field," to indicate that this listing represents a vendor that accepts reservations or other concierge requests from the Concierge Provider. Other fields can be used to indicate other information about the types of services the vendor supports (e.g. real time concierge requests, changes or modifications, off-line concierge requests, changes or modifications etc.).
With respect to claim 8 Henry teaches a system, comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing thereon instructions that, as a result of being executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
receiving, over a first communication interface, a set of messages exchanged between a member and a representative, wherein the representative is assigned to the member for performance of tasks on behalf of the member (See Henry paragraph 0169 i.e. In this example, the caller is at John F. Kennedy airport in New York calling a friend (called party) in San Diego using the enhanced telecom service. While the caller and called party on a phone conversation, the caller suggests to have dinner with the called party at a vegetarian restaurant in "Cardiff by the Sea" near San Diego. Taking advantage of the enhanced telecom service feature which allows either the caller or called party to invoke information assistance during a call, the caller in this instance presses a predetermined telephone key to invoke information assistance. In a manner described before, an operator is conferenced in to the call to provide the necessary information assistance which includes in this instance a concierge-type service. It should be appreciated however, that a restaurant reservation service is but one type of service that the concierge-type service may be able to provide. Other areas of use may include, but are not limited to: information, reservation and ticketing for events, accommodation, transportation and travel, information regarding news, stock prices and weather, and providing access to other services such as grocery or flower delivery, etc.);
determining a set of tasks performable on behalf of the member (See Henry paragraph 0169 i.e. In a manner described before, an operator is conferenced in to the call to provide the necessary information assistance which includes in this instance a concierge-type service. It should be appreciated however, that a restaurant reservation service is but one type of service that the concierge-type service may be able to provide. Other areas of use may include, but are not limited to: information, reservation and ticketing for events, accommodation, transportation and travel, information regarding news, stock prices and weather, and providing access to other services such as grocery or flower delivery, etc.));
transmitting, over the first communication interface, the set of tasks for identifying a set of service providers through a second communication interface, wherein the second communication interface is separate from the first communication interface (see Henry paragraph 0171 i.e. If the caller knew the name of the restaurant he/she wanted he/she may make a specific reservation request (step 208) directly on connection to the operator. In such a case or as per our example, the operator then prompts the caller for reservation details (step 214) such as the restaurant name (if the operator did not locate it, supra), the caller's name, a second choice of restaurant, a required reservation date and time, alternative times, contact details and any additional preferences such as smoking or non-smoking, type of credit card to be used, restaurant views, etc. These details are input into a browser type graphical user interface (GUI) as shown in FIG. 4. The reservation details are then stored in the caller profile database along with a reservation request or ticket while the caller is on hold (step 215) and wherein the first communication interface is configured to prevent the plurality of candidate service providers from accessing the set of messages exchanged between the member and the representative (see Henry figures 2 and 9 and paragraphs 0067 i.e. Fulfillment agents fill the requests for concierge services received by the operators. Fulfillment agents are provided similar web browser and telephone facilities to those provided to the operators… A fulfillment agent preferably is an individual with specialized knowledge of the regional coverage area and the services provided therein so they can effectively fulfill the requests for local concierge services. The fulfillment agent may be a call center supervisor, an underutilized operator or a task specific employee in a particular information assistance center and paragraph 0167 i.e. Concierge Provider Interfaces Directly to Vendors - Links 720, 730 and 740 provide two way communications, e.g., in XML, directly between the concierge server and vendors which, in a preferred embodiment. Because there are likely to be vendors which would like to support real time transactions but for which there is no supporting ORS or CDRS, it may be preferable in some circumstances to provide for direct electronic communication between the Concierge Provider and one or more vendors);
transmitting, over the second communication interface, one or more requests (see Henry paragraph 0174 i.e. The fulfillment agent then attempts to contact the restaurant (step 222). Should the fulfillment agent be able to contact the restaurant he/she will attempt to make a reservation (step 223));
monitoring, over the second communication interface, for response messages associated with a plurality of candidate service providers, wherein the response messages indicate availabilities of the plurality of candidate service providers to perform the set of tasks (see Henry paragraph 0174-0175 i.e. he fulfillment agent then updates the status of the ticket (step 224) on the system irrespective of whether he/she was, in fact, successful in making the reservation or not, indicating last action performed, result, reservation details etc. (as seen in FIGS. 6 through 8). After each change of status the fulfillment agent or the system automatically sets a next action time for his/her attention sometime in the future. The request then slots into the appropriate place in a fulfillment queue. The fulfillment agent cannot set nonsensical time periods like zero minutes or two years. New tickets are prioritized so as to be dealt with in a timely manner on a first-in-first-out basis);
identifying, based on the response messages, the set of service providers (see Henry paragraph 0175 i.e. After a set amount of unsuccessful tries, the fulfillment agent is automatically prompted to try the second restaurant choice. After a set amount of time, say for example thirty minutes, the fulfillment agent retrieves the status of the request (step 228) and contacts the caller informing him/her of the status of his/her request (step 230)); and
generating a report that includes the set of service providers (see Henry paragraph 0177 i.e. The system may generate reports such as the number of calls processed by a particular center or by the system as a whole. Other reports may include reports indicating the average time spent on each ticket, the time spent fulfilling a ticket request and the time taken to contact a customer) wherein the report facilitates a selection of a service provider from the set of service providers to perform the set of tasks (see Henry paragraph 0175 i.e. After a set amount of unsuccessful tries, the fulfillment agent is automatically prompted to try the second restaurant choice. After a set amount of time, say for example thirty minutes, the fulfillment agent retrieves the status of the request (step 228) and contacts the caller informing him/her of the status of his/her request (step 230)).
Henry does not teach one or more requests that exclude at least part of the information associated with the set of tasks.
Kurapati teaches one or more requests that exclude at least part of the information associated with the set of tasks (Kurapati paragraph 0059 i.e. The method includes steps of receiving an authorization request from a merchant for a user transaction by a first remote computer and paragraph 0330 i.e. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction while protecting the user from losing their privacy due to PII data being released without permission (see Kurapati paragraph 0328-0330). Therefore one would have been motivated to have modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction.
With respect to claim 9 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the system of claim 8, wherein transmitting the one or more requests includes: accessing task data from each of the set of tasks (see figure 9 and paragraph 0034 i.e. A user may access information assistance for the aforementioned concierge-type service, whereby the user may make restaurant reservations, purchase goods and services, obtain movie listings, etc. with an agent's (or operator's) assistance. The agent may suggest a vendor for providing the goods or services requested by the user, and attempt to fulfill the user request and paragraph 0059 i.e. One or more information hubs 10 are also included in the WAN 30. An information hub 10 contains one or more databases including concierge database 20 and one or more servers including concierge server 28 which are accessible by the operators, and fulfillment agents in system 100 and paragraph 0067 i.e. Fulfillment agents fill the requests for concierge services received by the operators. Fulfillment agents are provided similar web browser and telephone facilities to those provided to the operators… A fulfillment agent preferably is an individual with specialized knowledge of the regional coverage area and the services provided therein so they can effectively fulfill the requests for local concierge services. The fulfillment agent may be a call center supervisor, an underutilized operator or a task specific employee in a particular information assistance center).
Henry does not disclose identifying personally identifiable information (PII) data from the task data; excluding the PII data from the task data to generate PII-protected data, wherein excluding the PII data includes: anonymizing the PII data; encrypting the PII data; or deleting the PII data from the task data; and generating the one or more requests based on the PII-protected data.
Kurapati teaches disclose identifying personally identifiable information (PII) data from the task data (see Kurapati paragraph 0328 i.e. Thus, while traditional on-line banking has focused on a user at home or in an office using a personal computer, mobile communications are now easily handled by both users and financial institutions. These channels may help the user in his or her daily tasks and may also provide more opportunities for communicating savings opportunities. Merchants and third party service providers also now have additional channels for communicating these savings opportunities to users, customers, and potential customers, and paragraph 0330 i.e. The transaction data used in analyzing the purchasing behavior of individual users, however, is limited. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users );
excluding the PII data from the task data to generate PII-protected data, wherein excluding the PII data includes: anonymizing the PII data; encrypting the PII data; or deleting the PII data from the task data (Kurapati paragraph 0330 i.e. The transaction data used in analyzing the purchasing behavior of individual users, however, is limited. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users); and
generating the one or more requests based on the PII-protected data (see Kurapati paragraph 0059 i.e. The method includes steps of receiving an authorization request from a merchant for a user transaction by a first remote computer and paragraph 0330 i.e. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction while protecting the user from losing their privacy due to PII data being released without permission (see Kurapati paragraph 0328-0330). Therefore one would have been motivated to have modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction.
With respect to claim 11 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the system of claim 8, wherein monitoring further includes: generating a plurality of status indicators for the plurality of candidate service providers; receiving, over the second communication interface, a response message from a candidate service providers; modifying a status indicator associated with the candidate service provider such that the status indicator visually indicates an availability of the candidate service provider to perform the set of tasks; and presenting the modified status indicator on the second communication interface (see paragraph 0110-0111 i.e. the ORS could permit the Concierge Provider to identify a subscriber by a subscriber identifier (such as the caller's MIN), rather than require the operator to enter the name, address, phone number etc. of the subscriber via the ORS user interface. The ORS would then use this subscriber identifier to track hotel reservations, car rental reservations and other concierge service requests made by any such subscriber and the status of same. The ORS could also maintain a database of subscriber identifiers and information about the subscribers associated with them (e.g. name, address, phone number, fax number, wireless device number, pager number, Short Message Service device information, e-mail address etc.) which can be used to bill subscribers directly, notify subscribers about concierge request status etc. The subscriber identifier can also be used to report information about the subscriber's concierge requests back to the Concierge Provider, such as information which would permit the Concierge Provider to bill the subscriber for the services used, information which would permit the Concierge Provider to notify subscribers about concierge request status, information from which reports to the subscriber can be generated etc.).
With respect to claim 12 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the system of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the system to perform operations comprising: transmitting, over the second communication interface, the one or more requests to additional candidate service providers, wherein the additional candidate service providers are identified from a resource library; and monitoring, over the second communication interface, for additional response messages from the additional candidate service providers, wherein the set of service providers are identified from both the plurality of candidate service providers and the additional candidate service providers (see Henry paragraph 0152 i.e. Information contained in the caller's profile could include, for example, preferred types of food (e.g. Italian, Chinese), preferred restaurants, preferred restaurants for each different type of food (e.g., Giambellis for Italian food, Shun Lee Palace for Chinese food etc.), preferred restaurants by city, preferred seating (e.g. smoking or non-smoking), review requirements (e.g. the caller may be interested only in restaurants with a food rating over "20" in the Zaggat guide), preferred seating time, accepted credit card requirements, preferred number in party, preferred seating time, preferred price range, child seat requirements etc. and paragraph 0116 i.e. The ORS user interface could be customized to filter out non-commissionable vendors (i.e. don't give the operator the option to use or refer a subscriber to a vendor which has not agreed to pay referral fees to the Concierge Provider) or to otherwise modify which vendors can be used based on circumstances. The order in which vendors are displayed to the operator can also be customized (e.g. display in order from highest commissions paid to the Concierge Provider to the lowest). Other customizations to the user interface might include currency conversion, European style dates, screens in different languages etc. for Concierge Providers that wish to provide service to subscribers in countries other than the United States).
With respect to claim 13 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the system of claim 12, wherein monitoring further includes modifying the one or more requests to include instructions for the additional candidate service providers to be registered in the resource library (see Henry paragraph 0132 i.e. The information regarding each such vendor in the information assistance database could be flagged, using a "flag field," to indicate that this listing represents a vendor that accepts reservations or other concierge requests from the Concierge Provider. Other fields can be used to indicate other information about the types of services the vendor supports (e.g. real time concierge requests, changes or modifications, off-line concierge requests, changes or modifications etc.).
With respect to claim 15 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing thereon executable instructions that, as a result of being executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising: receiving, over a first communication interface, a set of messages exchanged between a member and a representative, wherein the representative is assigned to the member for performance of tasks on behalf of the member (See Henry paragraph 0169 i.e. In this example, the caller is at John F. Kennedy airport in New York calling a friend (called party) in San Diego using the enhanced telecom service. While the caller and called party on a phone conversation, the caller suggests to have dinner with the called party at a vegetarian restaurant in "Cardiff by the Sea" near San Diego. Taking advantage of the enhanced telecom service feature which allows either the caller or called party to invoke information assistance during a call, the caller in this instance presses a predetermined telephone key to invoke information assistance. In a manner described before, an operator is conferenced in to the call to provide the necessary information assistance which includes in this instance a concierge-type service. It should be appreciated however, that a restaurant reservation service is but one type of service that the concierge-type service may be able to provide. Other areas of use may include, but are not limited to: information, reservation and ticketing for events, accommodation, transportation and travel, information regarding news, stock prices and weather, and providing access to other services such as grocery or flower delivery, etc.);
determining a set of tasks performable on behalf of the member (See Henry paragraph 0169 i.e. In a manner described before, an operator is conferenced in to the call to provide the necessary information assistance which includes in this instance a concierge-type service. It should be appreciated however, that a restaurant reservation service is but one type of service that the concierge-type service may be able to provide. Other areas of use may include, but are not limited to: information, reservation and ticketing for events, accommodation, transportation and travel, information regarding news, stock prices and weather, and providing access to other services such as grocery or flower delivery, etc.));
transmitting, over the first communication interface, the set of tasks for identifying a set of service providers through a second communication interface, wherein the second communication interface is separate from the first communication interface (see Henry paragraph 0171 i.e. If the caller knew the name of the restaurant he/she wanted he/she may make a specific reservation request (step 208) directly on connection to the operator. In such a case or as per our example, the operator then prompts the caller for reservation details (step 214) such as the restaurant name (if the operator did not locate it, supra), the caller's name, a second choice of restaurant, a required reservation date and time, alternative times, contact details and any additional preferences such as smoking or non-smoking, type of credit card to be used, restaurant views, etc. These details are input into a browser type graphical user interface (GUI) as shown in FIG. 4. The reservation details are then stored in the caller profile database along with a reservation request or ticket while the caller is on hold (step 215) and wherein the first communication interface is configured to prevent the plurality of candidate service providers from accessing the set of messages exchanged between the member and the representative (see Henry figures 2 and 9 and paragraphs 0067 i.e. Fulfillment agents fill the requests for concierge services received by the operators. Fulfillment agents are provided similar web browser and telephone facilities to those provided to the operators… A fulfillment agent preferably is an individual with specialized knowledge of the regional coverage area and the services provided therein so they can effectively fulfill the requests for local concierge services. The fulfillment agent may be a call center supervisor, an underutilized operator or a task specific employee in a particular information assistance center and paragraph 0167 i.e. Concierge Provider Interfaces Directly to Vendors - Links 720, 730 and 740 provide two way communications, e.g., in XML, directly between the concierge server and vendors which, in a preferred embodiment. Because there are likely to be vendors which would like to support real time transactions but for which there is no supporting ORS or CDRS, it may be preferable in some circumstances to provide for direct electronic communication between the Concierge Provider and one or more vendors);
transmitting, over the second communication interface, one or more requests (see Henry paragraph 0174 i.e. The fulfillment agent then attempts to contact the restaurant (step 222). Should the fulfillment agent be able to contact the restaurant he/she will attempt to make a reservation (step 223));
monitoring, over the second communication interface, for response messages associated with a plurality of candidate service providers, wherein the response messages indicate availabilities of the plurality of candidate service providers to perform the set of tasks (see Henry paragraph 0174-0175 i.e. he fulfillment agent then updates the status of the ticket (step 224) on the system irrespective of whether he/she was, in fact, successful in making the reservation or not, indicating last action performed, result, reservation details etc. (as seen in FIGS. 6 through 8). After each change of status the fulfillment agent or the system automatically sets a next action time for his/her attention sometime in the future. The request then slots into the appropriate place in a fulfillment queue. The fulfillment agent cannot set nonsensical time periods like zero minutes or two years. New tickets are prioritized so as to be dealt with in a timely manner on a first-in-first-out basis);
identifying, based on the response messages, the set of service providers (see Henry paragraph 0175 i.e. After a set amount of unsuccessful tries, the fulfillment agent is automatically prompted to try the second restaurant choice. After a set amount of time, say for example thirty minutes, the fulfillment agent retrieves the status of the request (step 228) and contacts the caller informing him/her of the status of his/her request (step 230)); and
generating a report that includes the set of service providers (see Henry paragraph 0177 i.e. The system may generate reports such as the number of calls processed by a particular center or by the system as a whole. Other reports may include reports indicating the average time spent on each ticket, the time spent fulfilling a ticket request and the time taken to contact a customer) wherein the report facilitates a selection of a service provider from the set of service providers to perform the set of tasks (see Henry paragraph 0175 i.e. After a set amount of unsuccessful tries, the fulfillment agent is automatically prompted to try the second restaurant choice. After a set amount of time, say for example thirty minutes, the fulfillment agent retrieves the status of the request (step 228) and contacts the caller informing him/her of the status of his/her request (step 230)).
Henry does not teach one or more requests that exclude at least part of the information associated with the set of tasks.
Kurapati teaches one or more requests that exclude at least part of the information associated with the set of tasks (Kurapati paragraph 0059 i.e. The method includes steps of receiving an authorization request from a merchant for a user transaction by a first remote computer and paragraph 0330 i.e. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction while protecting the user from losing their privacy due to PII data being released without permission (see Kurapati paragraph 0328-0330). Therefore one would have been motivated to have modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction.
With respect to claim 16 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein transmitting the one or more requests further includes: accessing task data from each of the set of tasks (see figure 9 and paragraph 0034 i.e. A user may access information assistance for the aforementioned concierge-type service, whereby the user may make restaurant reservations, purchase goods and services, obtain movie listings, etc. with an agent's (or operator's) assistance. The agent may suggest a vendor for providing the goods or services requested by the user, and attempt to fulfill the user request and paragraph 0059 i.e. One or more information hubs 10 are also included in the WAN 30. An information hub 10 contains one or more databases including concierge database 20 and one or more servers including concierge server 28 which are accessible by the operators, and fulfillment agents in system 100 and paragraph 0067 i.e. Fulfillment agents fill the requests for concierge services received by the operators. Fulfillment agents are provided similar web browser and telephone facilities to those provided to the operators… A fulfillment agent preferably is an individual with specialized knowledge of the regional coverage area and the services provided therein so they can effectively fulfill the requests for local concierge services. The fulfillment agent may be a call center supervisor, an underutilized operator or a task specific employee in a particular information assistance center).
Henry does not disclose identifying personally identifiable information (PII) data from the task data; excluding the PII data from the task data to generate PII-protected data, wherein excluding the PII data includes: anonymizing the PII data; encrypting the PII data; or deleting the PII data from the task data; and generating the one or more requests based on the PII-protected data.
Kurapati teaches disclose identifying personally identifiable information (PII) data from the task data (see Kurapati paragraph 0328 i.e. Thus, while traditional on-line banking has focused on a user at home or in an office using a personal computer, mobile communications are now easily handled by both users and financial institutions. These channels may help the user in his or her daily tasks and may also provide more opportunities for communicating savings opportunities. Merchants and third party service providers also now have additional channels for communicating these savings opportunities to users, customers, and potential customers, and paragraph 0330 i.e. The transaction data used in analyzing the purchasing behavior of individual users, however, is limited. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users );
excluding the PII data from the task data to generate PII-protected data, wherein excluding the PII data includes: anonymizing the PII data; encrypting the PII data; or deleting the PII data from the task data (Kurapati paragraph 0330 i.e. The transaction data used in analyzing the purchasing behavior of individual users, however, is limited. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users); and
generating the one or more requests based on the PII-protected data (see Kurapati paragraph 0059 i.e. The method includes steps of receiving an authorization request from a merchant for a user transaction by a first remote computer and paragraph 0330 i.e. In general, the transaction data furnished to a third party service provider has been anonymized or depersonalized (that is, disassociated with information that identifies a specific individual). The data are typically stripped of all personally identifiable information (“PII”), as described above or by another technique, such as furnishing a copy from which the personally identifiable information has been deleted. Anonymized data thus does not include the personally identifiable information, some of which would likely make it easier to target a marketer's desired audience. Personally identifiable information may include various items, such as name and address, or even just postal code (e.g. ZIP code), which may be sufficient to uniquely identify most users).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction while protecting the user from losing their privacy due to PII data being released without permission (see Kurapati paragraph 0328-0330). Therefore one would have been motivated to have modify Henry with Kurapati’s PII-protected data for the purpose of completing a task transaction.
With respect to claim 18 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein monitoring further includes: generating a plurality of status indicators for the plurality of candidate service providers; receiving, over the second communication interface, a response message from a candidate service providers; modifying a status indicator associated with the candidate such that the status indicator visually indicates an availability of the candidate service provider to perform the set of tasks; and presenting the modified status indicator on the second communication interface (see paragraph 0110-0111 i.e. the ORS could permit the Concierge Provider to identify a subscriber by a subscriber identifier (such as the caller's MIN), rather than require the operator to enter the name, address, phone number etc. of the subscriber via the ORS user interface. The ORS would then use this subscriber identifier to track hotel reservations, car rental reservations and other concierge service requests made by any such subscriber and the status of same. The ORS could also maintain a database of subscriber identifiers and information about the subscribers associated with them (e.g. name, address, phone number, fax number, wireless device number, pager number, Short Message Service device information, e-mail address etc.) which can be used to bill subscribers directly, notify subscribers about concierge request status etc. The subscriber identifier can also be used to report information about the subscriber's concierge requests back to the Concierge Provider, such as information which would permit the Concierge Provider to bill the subscriber for the services used, information which would permit the Concierge Provider to notify subscribers about concierge request status, information from which reports to the subscriber can be generated etc).
With respect to claim 19 Henry in view of Kurapati teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein instruction further cause the computer system to perform operations comprising: transmitting, over the second communication interface, the one or more requests to additional candidate service providers, wherein the additional candidate service providers are identified from a resource library; and monitoring, over the second communication interface, for additional response messages from the additional candidate service providers, wherein the set of service providers are identified from both the plurality of candidate service providers and the additional candidate service providers (see Henry paragraph 0152 i.e. Information contained in the caller's profile could include, for example, preferred types of food (e.g. Italian, Chinese), preferred restaurants, preferred restaurants for each different type of food (e.g., Giambellis for Italian food, Shun Lee Palace for Chinese food etc.), preferred restaurants by city, preferred seating (e.g. smoking or non-smoking), review requirements (e.g. the caller may be interested only in restaurants with a food rating over "20" in the Zaggat guide), preferred seating time, accepted credit card requirements, preferred number in party, preferred seating time, preferred price range, child seat requirements etc. and paragraph 0116 i.e. The ORS user interface could be customized to filter out non-commissionable vendors (i.e. don't give the operator the option to use or refer a subscriber to a vendor which has not agreed to pay referral fees to the Concierge Provider) or to otherwise modify which vendors can be used based on circumstances. The order in which vendors are displayed to the operator can also be customized (e.g. display in order from highest commissions paid to the Concierge Provider to the lowest). Other customizations to the user interface might include currency conversion, European style dates, screens in different languages etc. for Concierge Providers that wish to provide service to subscribers in countries other than the United States).
Claims 7, 14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Henry (US 2009/0074168) in view of Kurapati (US 2016/0086222) in view of Rao Karikurve et al (US 12,131,358).
With respect to claim 7 Henry and Kurapati teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1. Henry further teaches wherein identifying the set of services providers includes; receiving the selection of the service provider to perform the set of tasks (See Henry paragraph 0169 i.e. In this example, the caller is at John F. Kennedy airport in New York calling a friend (called party) in San Diego using the enhanced telecom service. While the caller and called party on a phone conversation, the caller suggests to have dinner with the called party at a vegetarian restaurant in "Cardiff by the Sea" near San Diego. Taking advantage of the enhanced telecom service feature which allows either the caller or called party to invoke information assistance during a call, the caller in this instance presses a predetermined telephone key to invoke information assistance. In a manner described before, an operator is conferenced in to the call to provide the necessary information assistance which includes in this instance a concierge-type service. It should be appreciated however, that a restaurant reservation service is but one type of service that the concierge-type service may be able to provide. Other areas of use may include, but are not limited to: information, reservation and ticketing for events, accommodation, transportation and travel, information regarding news, stock prices and weather, and providing access to other services such as grocery or flower delivery, etc.).
Henry and Kurapati do not disclose wherein identifying the set of service providers from the plurality of candidate service providers includes: applying a machine-learning model to the response messages to identify the set of service providers, wherein the machine-learning model is trained using the resource data of the plurality of candidate service providers and historical data associated with other service providers and modifying, based on the selection of the service provider from the set of service providers, one or more parameters of the machine-learning model.
Rao Karikurve teaches wherein identifying the set of service providers from the plurality of candidate service providers includes: applying a machine-learning model to the response messages to identify the set of service providers, wherein the machine-learning model is trained using the resource data of the plurality of candidate service providers and historical data associated with other service providers and modifying, based on the selection of the service provider from the set of service providers, one or more parameters of the machine-learning model (see Rao Karikurve column 2 lines 9-65 i.e. the online concierge system trains the trained machine-learning model based on stored information describing prior fulfillment of orders for different users using different retail locations. For example, the online concierge system applies a label indicating whether a previously fulfilled order was incompletely fulfilled or was completely fulfilled to characteristics of the previously fulfilled order, characteristics of the retail location that fulfilled the previously fulfilled order, and characteristics of a shopper who fulfilled the previously fulfilled order. From the labeled characteristics of the previously fulfilled order, characteristics of the shopper who fulfilled the previously fulfilled order, and characteristics of the retail location that fulfilled the previously fulfilled order, the online concierge system trains the trained machine learning model using any suitable training method or combination of training methods. After training, the online concierge system applies the trained machine-learned model to characteristics of a received order, characteristics of a candidate retail location for fulfilling the received order).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Henry in view of Rao Karikurve to have used a machine-learned model to help select service provider based on based on stored information describing prior fulfillment of orders and characteristics of the retail location that fulfilled the previously fulfilled order as a way to train the model the selection criteria (see Rao Karikurve column 2 lines 9-65). Therefore one would have been motivated to have used a machine-learned model to help select service provider.
With respect to claim 14 Henry and Kurapati teach the system of claim 8. Henry further teaches Henry further teaches wherein identifying the set of services providers includes; receiving the selection of the service provider to perform the set of tasks (See Henry paragraph 0169 i.e. In this example, the caller is at John F. Kennedy airport in New York calling a friend (called party) in San Diego using the enhanced telecom service. While the caller and called party on a phone conversation, the caller suggests to have dinner with the called party at a vegetarian restaurant in "Cardiff by the Sea" near San Diego. Taking advantage of the enhanced telecom service feature which allows either the caller or called party to invoke information assistance during a call, the caller in this instance presses a predetermined telephone key to invoke information assistance. In a manner described before, an operator is conferenced in to the call to provide the necessary information assistance which includes in this instance a concierge-type service. It should be appreciated however, that a restaurant reservation service is but one type of service that the concierge-type service may be able to provide. Other areas of use may include, but are not limited to: information, reservation and ticketing for events, accommodation, transportation and travel, information regarding news, stock prices and weather, and providing access to other services such as grocery or flower delivery, etc.).
Henry and Kurapati do not disclose wherein identifying the set of service providers from the plurality of candidate service providers includes: applying a machine-learning model to the response messages to identify the set of service providers, wherein the machine-learning model is trained using the resource data of the plurality of candidate service providers and historical data associated with other service providers and modifying, based on the selection of the service provider from the set of service providers, one or more parameters of the machine-learning model.
Rao Karikurve teaches wherein identifying the set of service providers from the plurality of candidate service providers includes: applying a machine-learning model to the response messages to identify the set of service providers, wherein the machine-learning model is trained using the resource data of the plurality of candidate service providers and historical data associated with other service providers and modifying, based on the selection of the service provider from the set of service providers, one or more parameters of the machine-learning model (see Rao Karikurve column 2 lines 9-65 i.e. the online concierge system trains the trained machine-learning model based on stored information describing prior fulfillment of orders for different users using different retail locations. For example, the online concierge system applies a label indicating whether a previously fulfilled order was incompletely fulfilled or was completely fulfilled to characteristics of the previously fulfilled order, characteristics of the retail location that fulfilled the previously fulfilled order, and characteristics of a shopper who fulfilled the previously fulfilled order. From the labeled characteristics of the previously fulfilled order, characteristics of the shopper who fulfilled the previously fulfilled order, and characteristics of the retail location that fulfilled the previously fulfilled order, the online concierge system trains the trained machine learning model using any suitable training method or combination of training methods. After training, the online concierge system applies the trained machine-learned model to characteristics of a received order, characteristics of a candidate retail location for fulfilling the received order).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Henry in view of Rao Karikurve to have used a machine-learned model to help select service provider based on based on stored information describing prior fulfillment of orders and characteristics of the retail location that fulfilled the previously fulfilled order as a way to train the model the selection criteria (see Rao Karikurve column 2 lines 9-65). Therefore one would have been motivated to have used a machine-learned model to help select service provider.
With respect to claim 20 Henry teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, Henry further teaches wherein identifying the set of services providers includes; receiving the selection of the service provider to perform the set of tasks (See Henry paragraph 0169 i.e. In this example, the caller is at John F. Kennedy airport in New York calling a friend (called party) in San Diego using the enhanced telecom service. While the caller and called party on a phone conversation, the caller suggests to have dinner with the called party at a vegetarian restaurant in "Cardiff by the Sea" near San Diego. Taking advantage of the enhanced telecom service feature which allows either the caller or called party to invoke information assistance during a call, the caller in this instance presses a predetermined telephone key to invoke information assistance. In a manner described before, an operator is conferenced in to the call to provide the necessary information assistance which includes in this instance a concierge-type service. It should be appreciated however, that a restaurant reservation service is but one type of service that the concierge-type service may be able to provide. Other areas of use may include, but are not limited to: information, reservation and ticketing for events, accommodation, transportation and travel, information regarding news, stock prices and weather, and providing access to other services such as grocery or flower delivery, etc.).
Henry does not disclose wherein identifying the set of service providers from the plurality of candidate service providers includes: applying a machine-learning model to the response messages to identify the set of service providers, wherein the machine-learning model is trained using the resource data of the plurality of candidate service providers and historical data associated with other service providers and modifying, based on the selection of the service provider from the set of service providers, one or more parameters of the machine-learning model.
Rao Karikurve teaches wherein identifying the set of service providers from the plurality of candidate service providers includes: applying a machine-learning model to the response messages to identify the set of service providers, wherein the machine-learning model is trained using the resource data of the plurality of candidate service providers and historical data associated with other service providers and modifying, based on the selection of the service provider from the set of service providers, one or more parameters of the machine-learning model (see Rao Karikurve column 2 lines 9-65 i.e. the online concierge system trains the trained machine-learning model based on stored information describing prior fulfillment of orders for different users using different retail locations. For example, the online concierge system applies a label indicating whether a previously fulfilled order was incompletely fulfilled or was completely fulfilled to characteristics of the previously fulfilled order, characteristics of the retail location that fulfilled the previously fulfilled order, and characteristics of a shopper who fulfilled the previously fulfilled order. From the labeled characteristics of the previously fulfilled order, characteristics of the shopper who fulfilled the previously fulfilled order, and characteristics of the retail location that fulfilled the previously fulfilled order, the online concierge system trains the trained machine learning model using any suitable training method or combination of training methods. After training, the online concierge system applies the trained machine-learned model to characteristics of a received order, characteristics of a candidate retail location for fulfilling the received order).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Henry in view of Rao Karikurve to have used a machine-learned model to help select service provider based on based on stored information describing prior fulfillment of orders and characteristics of the retail location that fulfilled the previously fulfilled order as a way to train the model the selection criteria (see Rao Karikurve column 2 lines 9-65). Therefore one would have been motivated to have used a machine-learned model to help select service provider.
Related Art
Kahn et al (US 2024/0095544) titled “Augmenting Conversational Response With Volatility Information For Assistant Systems”.
Rodriquez et al (US 8,731,984) titled “Global Concierge”.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEVIN E ALMEIDA whose telephone number is (571)270-1018. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday from 7:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. The examiner can also be reached on alternate Fridays from 7:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Rupal Dharia can be reached on 571-272-3880. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEVIN E ALMEIDA/Examiner, Art Unit 2492 /RUPAL DHARIA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2492