DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Status of Claims
Due to communications filed 2/9/26, the following is a non-final office action. Claims 1-7 are
cancelled. Claims 8, 19, and 30 are amended. Claim 31 is new. Claims 8-31 are pending in this application and are rejected as follows. The previous Office Action has been modified to reflect claim amendments.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/9/26 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC §101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title,
Claims 8-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C, 101 because the claimed invention is directed toa
judicial exception (l.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly
more.
In addition, the claim recites a judicial exception. The claims as a whole recite a method of "Mental
Processes". The claimed invention is a method that allows for access, analysis, update and
communication of electronic content records, which are concepts performed in the human mind
(including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion). The mere nominal recitation of a generic
computer/computer network does not take the claim out of the" Mental Processes" grouping. Thus, the
claim recites an abstract idea.
Furthermore, the claims are not integrated into a practical application. The claim as a whole merely
describes how to generally "apply" the concept of accessing, analyzing, updating and communicating
content information in a computer environment. The claimed computer components are recited at a
high level of generality and are merely invoked as tools to perform an existing content records update
process. Simply implementing the abstract idea on a generic computer is not a practical application of
the abstract idea.
Finally, the claims do not recite an inventive concept. As noted previously, the claim as a whole merely
describes how to generally "apply" the concept of accessing, analyzing, updating and communicating
information related to content records in a computer environment. Thus, even when viewed as a whole,
nothing in the claim adds significantly more (i.e., an inventive concept) to the abstract idea. The claim is
ineligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102
and 103 (or as subject to pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory
basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of
rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same
under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections
set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is
not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention
and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the
claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 8-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wood (US
20210208744 A1), and further in view of HOLT (EP 3373235 A2).
As per claim 8, Wood discloses:
providing, to the user, an interaction interface, wherein the interaction interface includes at least an
interface element to select at least one of: adding new content from one or more external accounts of
the user, and displaying to the user stored content from the one or more external social media
accounts, (Wood (US 20210208744 A1): ((0017] Exemplary embodiments of a user interface 100
includes an administrative area 106. The administrative area 106 may include one or more user interface locations, such as text inputs, buttons, links, drop down selections, and combinations thereof for a user to select for searching, adding, or managing content of the user interface and/or the account associated with the user interface; [0055] In an exemplary embodiment, the system may be configured to permit a user to add information to the system. The system may therefore receive an input from the user indicating a content type to be added. The input may be through a selection from, for example, the
content creation section 12 of the user interface If the content is indicated as published, the content
may be saved as a single data package and sent to a remote server for storage on a database; Before
posting a data package or information related to the data package, the system may be configured to
search the other displayed content items to remote [0085] The system may receive and/or display the
information after communication to or from a remote server 1003 or database 1005. );)
when the user selects the interface element to display the stored content, transmitting, to the user...to input date information, ([0056] In an exemplary embodiment, the system may be configured
to permit a user to add information to the system. The system may be configured to report that a data
package has been received by a user. The data package may include one or more attributes identifying
the data package. The one or more attributes may include the date and/or time of data package
upload. [0085] The system may receive and/or display the information after communication to or from
a remote server 1003 or database 1005. ); and
identifying content from the one or more external social media accounts associated with the date information; and displaying, to the user, the identified content in response to receiving the imputed date information, ([0056] In an exemplary embodiment, the system may be configured to permit a user to add information to the system The data package may include one or more attributes identifying the data package. The one or more attributes may include a source of the data package, the content type, the date and/or time of data package upload The system may be configured to display information related to the data package based on the type of content contained in the data package.); and
when the user selects the interface element to add the new content, transmitting, to the user, a prompt
to provide the new content from the one or more external social media accounts, ([0056] In an
exemplary embodiment, the system may be configured to permit a user to add information to the
system); and
obtaining descriptive information including at least date information
associated with the new content, ([0045], Exemplary embodiments described herein may permit the
creator of the content to describe or tag the content and make the page immediately accessible or
available for searching; [0056] In an exemplary embodiment, the system may be configured to permit a
user to add information to the system. The data package may include one or more attributes identifying
the data package. The one or more attributes may include a source of the data package, the content
type, a date and or time of a data package upload, a subject matter of the data package, etc); and
Wood does not disclose the following, however, HOLT discloses:
adding new content from one or more external social media accounts of the user, (HOLT (EP 3373235
A2) Exemplary user interfaces for creating one or more digital memories or digital mementos with
digital content are shown in Figures 7A, 7B, 7C, 8, and 9. Digital memories and digital mementos can be
images, sequences of images, videos, audio, digital notes, and similar media or files.. The page for
adding digital memories or digital mementos allows a user to upload media and metadata related to the
media from a user's device, or an external network or database, such as a social media network);
transmitting, to the user, a prompt to input date information, (HOLT discloses: “It can also be determined that information of a digital will component exists in a social media network. Upon confirming that information of a digital will component exists in a database or social media network, the information of the digital will component can be automatically incorporated into the information of the digital will component and into the digital will; In some embodiments of the invention, when a user has left the digital will in a stage of incompletion for an extended period of time, reminders can be sent to the user prompting him or her to finish the digital will...Notifications and reminders can also be sent when triggering events occur, when assets get distributed, or significant dates, such as for example an anniversary of a memory; the digital will can prompt...if the user would like to add or delete additional rules or events; Notifications and reminders can also be sent when triggering events occur, when assets get distributed, or significant dates, such as for example an anniversary of a memory);
and updating stored memories associated with the user by adding the new content to the stored memories in accordance with the descriptive information associated with the new content in response to receiving the new content, (HOLT (EP 3373235 A2) “In some embodiments, users can add to and modify the digital memories and digital content over the course of their lifetime, enabling users to create compilations of memories representing significant milestones and cherished moments in sync with the creation and maintenance of a digital will. As described in more detail below, digital memories or digital mementos can be incorporated from third party networks or databases. For example, as a user browses through media on a social media network digital will (e.g., Facebook), the user can add the media to the digital wallets a digital memory or digital memento”; “the digital will can prompt...if the user would like to add or delete additional rules or events; Notifications and reminders can also be sent when triggering events occur, when assets get distributed, or significant dates, such as for example an anniversary of a memory”.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include the above limitations as taught by HOLT in the systems of Wood, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
As per claim 9, Wood discloses:
providing an interface element, to the user, to select one of: a timeline based view that displays based
on the date information associated with the content, and a newsfeed view, ([0083] Illustrated herein are
exemplary user interface according to embodiments described herein. In an exemplary embodiment,
the user may change the user interface or layout.. The user may be permitted to display a timeline of
events... The user may be permitted to change the priority of display from chronological to subject,
author, specific keyword, filter criteria, or combinations thereof).
As per claim 10, Wood discloses:
when the user selects the timeline based view and the interface element to add the new content, the
method further comprises: sending, to the user, a prompt to provide date information for the new
content, ([0056] In an exemplary embodiment, the system may be configured to permit a user to add
information to the system. );
when the date information for the new content is not received from the user, determining an estimated
date range for the new content; when the date information for the new content is received from the
user or the estimated date range is determined, graphically positioning, on the timeline based view, the
new content relative to existing content based on the received date information or the estimated date
range for the new content, and respective date or date range of the existing content. [0085] By way of
example only, the processing unit may receive user inputs via a keyboard, touchscreen, mouse, scanner,
button, or any other data input device and may provide graphical displays to the user via a display unit,
which may be, for example, a conventional video monitor. The system may also include one or more
large area networks, and/or local networks for communicating data from one or more different
components of the system. The one or more electronic devices may therefore input a user interface for
displaying information to a user and/or one or more input devices for receiving information from a user.
The system may receive and/or display the information after communication to or from a remote server
1003 or database 1005.
As per claim 11, Wood discloses: wherein, when the user selects the interface element to display the
stored content, the date information comprises one or more of: a particular date on which the stored
content was created, a date range during which the stored content was created, and a date or date
range during which the content was stored, ([0056] In an exemplary embodiment, the system may be
configured to permit a user to add information to the system. The system may be configured to report
that a data package has been received by a user. The data package may include one or more attributes
identifying the data package. The one or more attributes may include the date and/or time of data
package upload).
As per claim 12, Wood discloses: wherein the descriptive information associated with the new content
further includes at least one of: a title and/or sub-title, a bio, metadata for facilitating timeline based
navigation, information for setting privacy parameters and one or more tags associated with the new
content. ({0027] privacy settings).
As per claim 13, Wood discloses:
wherein the interaction interface further includes the at least an interface element to further select at
least one of: posting content, the content comprising media content, creating or updating a profile of
the user, refreshing a page being viewed by the user, and reviewing a notification directed to the user,
([0021] Exemplary embodiments of the user interface includes the main area 112. The main area may be
configured to provide a high level summary of a plurality of posts, similar to the feeds area 114, or may
display the full content of a selected post. For example, FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary main area 112
displaying a plurality of posts in which each post comprises a summary of content of a more complete
post, while FIG. 1B illustrates an exemplary main area 112A in which a post is selected and the entire
content from the selected post is displayed in full to the user).
As per claim 14, Wood discloses: when the user selects the posting content, the method further
comprising: creating a new post and setting parameters for the new post, the parameters including one
or more of parameters for: a date range, content for the new post, a title for the new post, privacy
setting for the new post; creating metadata for the new post for facilitating timeline navigation to view
the new content; positioning the new post on the timeline of the user according to the created
metadata and privacy settings; and publishing posts of the user including the new post, ({0021]
Exemplary embodiments of the user interface includes the main area 112. The main area may be
configured to provide a high level summary of a plurality of posts, similar to the feeds area 114, or may
display the full content of a selected post. For example, FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary main area 112
displaying a plurality of posts in which each post comprises a summary of content of a more complete
post, while FIG. 1B illustrates an exemplary main area 112A in which a post is selected and the entire
content from the selected post is displayed in full to the user).
As per claim 15, Wood discloses:
performing at least one of: tagging other users, creating bios and/or media in the memory, editing
privacy setting for the new post according to privacy settings of the user and any other users
associated with the new post, and adding the new post to timelines of the user, corresponding
newsfeeds, bios and/or media pages, ([0019] related users such as from those that showed interest in
content through a user tag or comment; [0027] privacy settings).
As per claim 16, Wood discloses: receiving, from the user, a selection for updating the profile or an entry
for creating a new profile, a date or date range and a description associated with the updating of the
profile or creation of the new profile; updating the profile by modifying or adding a text, body or picture,
or creating the new profile; providing, to the user, a preview of an updated or newly created profile for
approval; when the user accepts the modified or added profile, publishing the updated or newly created
profile, ([0027] If a user selects to update a user profile, the system may present the user a template
having a plurality of fields available to the user to create and populate a database for the user profile.
For example, the fields in dashed boarders may expand from the user profile to permit the user to enter
text, or make selections or other inputs through text fields, button selections, drop down menus, or
other user input methods. Exemplary fields associated with a user profile may be a user name, profile
name, profile image, account level, security setting, opt in or opt out selections, privacy settings,
notification settings, email, phone, job title, employer name, residence city, residence state, residence
zip code, gender, relationship status, school name, level of education, or other personal attribute the
system may use to make selections and/or suggestions to a user and/or in which the system may use to
match or search criteria and/or in which the user may wish to share with other users).
As per claim 17, when the user selects refreshing the page being viewed by the user, the method further
comprising:
receiving a data or date range and a selection of one or more of: a post, a newsfeed, bio, media, and a
page, to be refreshed and displayed; displaying the post, the newsfeed, the bio, the media, and/or the
page in a timeline view based on the dates of creation of the content; posting a refreshed page for the
user; and when the user chooses to interact with the posted page by deleting the post, commenting on
the post, and/or tagging the post, continuing the refreshing of the displayed page, ({0083] Illustrated
herein are exemplary user interface according to embodiments described herein. In an exemplary
embodiment, the user may change the user interface or layout The user may be permitted to display a
timeline of events The user may be permitted to change the priority of display from chronological to
subject, author, specific keyword, filter criteria, or combinations thereof).
As per claim 18, Wood discloses: receiving or generating the notification, and directing the received or
generated notification to the user. [0028] For example, the system may inform a user when new posts
are available for content according to selected filters, search criteria, followings, etc. The system may
also provide notices when new content is directed at a user, such as in receiving a communication from
another user. In an exemplary embodiment, a user may make a user input selection from the first
content area to provide content regarding notifications in the third content area 112E. The notifications
may include posts or content regarding predefined criteria set by the user, posts or content directed at
the user, such as through sharing by other users, requests directed at a user, chats or other
communications for the user, and combinations thereof. The displayed content in the third content area
112E may permit a user to provide input into the system, such as confirming the content has been
reviewed, or in selecting to accept a request or follow another user or content type based on a set of
criteria. The third content area 112E may include other user input selections to further filter the
displayed content. For example, the selected filter for notifications from the first content area 110 may
further be filter based on all available notifications, new notifications, notifications concerning specific
criteria or content type (such as following, feeds, searches, chats, etc.), notifications occurring in a
specific time frame, outstanding requests from other users, and combinations thereof.
As per claim 19, this claim recites limitations similar to independent claim 1 and is therefore rejected for
similar reasons.
As per claim 20: See rejection of claim 9.
As per claim 21: See the rejection of claim 10.
As per claim 22: See rejection of claim 11.
As per claim 23: See rejection for claim 12.
As per claim 24: See rejection for claim 13.
As per claim 24: See rejection for claim 14.
As per claim 26: See rejection for claim 15.
As per claim 27: See rejection for claim 16.
As per claim 28: See rejection for claim 17.
As per claim 29: See rejection for claim 18.
As per claim 30, this claim recites limitations similar to those disclosed in independent claim 1 and is therefore rejected for similar reasons.
As per claim 31, Wood discloses:
providing, to the user, a privacy settings interface element associated with the new content, Wood discloses in (Wood [0027] Exemplary fields associated with a user profile may be a user name, profile name, profile image, account level, security setting, opt in or opt out selections, privacy settings);
Wood does not disclose the following:
receiving, from the user, a privacy selection comprising at least one of: a selection to make the new content visible only to the user, a selection to make the new content visible only to connections of the user, and a selection to make the new content visible to all users; and storing the privacy selection as part of the descriptive information associated with the new content.
However, HOLT discloses: (“In some embodiments, the digital will can be stored in a vault. The vault can be electronic or physical. Where the vault is physical, paper copies of the digital will can be stored for safekeeping. Where the vault is electronic, it can be secured with encryption, password protection, two factor authentication, and similar security measures. Access to the vault can be provided to individuals specified by the user. For example, the user can determine that certain beneficiaries can have access to the vault, and as such, an account is created for these beneficiaries. The vault can store the entire contents of the digital will or a subset of information, such as that only pertaining to the asset bequeathed to the beneficiary. The vault can be configured such that the user can view the information pertaining to the asset, and this information would not be visible to anyone else. In some embodiments, the vault can be held by a custodian. Custodians can be third parties, qualified custodians, designated custodians, and other such third parties set forth in applicable laws”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include the above limitations as taught by HOLT in the systems of Wood, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Prior Art Considered
The following art has been considered by Examiner, however not used in the present Office Action:
Schwartz (US 10652180 B11)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/9/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant amends the claims to overcome the 101 rejection, and specifically argues that independent claim 8 recites an “interaction interface”, a “display”, and “add new content”, which applicant argues are not methods of “Mental Processes”. However, Examiner respectfully disagrees. The interaction interface and display merely reflects generic computer components performing conventional input and output functions. These additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application nor amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. With regard to adding new content, this step merely represents information management and organizing/categorizing data which are mental processes that could be performed conceptually.
Applicant further argues that amended claim 8 is integrated into a practical application since the claim describes improving the user’s ability to retrieve and organize cross-platform social content by date, eliminating manual, platform-by platform lookups and enabling consistent “stored memories”, updates governed by descriptive metadata, including dates. However, Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claim is directed to collecting content from external social media accounts, associating the content with date information, storing the content, retrieving the content based on date information, and displaying the retrieved content. Such activities constitute collecting, organizing, analyzing, and presenting information, which are abstract ideas (Mental Processes). The alleged improvement relates to user convenience and information accessibility, rather than to an improvement in computer functionality. The additional elements including an interaction interface, transmitting prompts, obtaining content, associating metadata, storing content, and displaying content are recited at a high level of generality ad amount to generic computer functions performing routine input, output, storage and retrieval operations. The claims do not recite a specific improvement to the computer itself, or any other technological solution. Accordingly the abstract idea is not integrated into a practical application.
Applicant also argues that the Examiner has improperly generalized the claimed operations as conventional, asserting that the claims rely on (a) external social media accounts as a source of record, (b) date-prompted retrieval tied to user input, an d(c) descriptive-information-governed updating to a unified storied memories structure. However, this argument is not persuasive. The Examiner’s characterization of the additional elements as conventional is not based on overgeneralization, but on the level of technological specificity actually recited in the claims.
With regard to the 103 rejection, Applicant argues that the "providing" feature of amended independent claim 8, is not disclosed by Wood since, according to Applicant, the providing feature includes an interface element which allows a user to select between: adding new content from one or more external social media accounts associated with the user or displaying stored content from one or more external social media accounts. However, Examiner respectfully disagrees. Wood discloses in [0035] “In an exemplary embodiment, the system is configured to permit a user to create unique content for display within the system. The user may select or provide a user input to create new content. For example, from the administrative area 106, the user may select to create content by selecting user input 104. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary user interface for creating content 200.”. Here, Wood shows a user interface for the creation of new content. In [0035], Wood also shows “The user interface for creating content also provides a selection option for selecting a template. The template may include a positioning of images/video, and/or written text. The templates may permit the inclusion of multiple images and/or videos within the same posting. In an exemplary embodiment, the templates are provided for easy display in a larger and condensed or summary format for display within the different content areas according to embodiments described herein.”. Here, Wood’s disclosure of providing a user input to create new content, and providing a selection option for selecting a template for display represents the “providing” feature of the present invention.
Applicant further argues that Wood does not disclose or suggest, "when the user selects the interface element to display the stored content, transmitting, to the user, a prompt to input date information, and identifying content from the one or more external social media accounts associated with the date information, and displaying, to the user, the identified content in response to receiving the inputted date information," as recited in amended independent claim 8.
Applicant further argues that regarding the "transmitting" feature of amended independent claim 8, Wood fails to disclose a prompt for a user to input date information and then identifying content associated with the date information, where in amended independent claim 8, the identified content is based on the inputted date information. However, as now disclosed in the Office Action, HOLT discloses: “the digital will can prompt...if the user would like to add or delete additional rules or events; Notifications and reminders can also be sent when triggering events occur, when assets get distributed, or significant dates, such as for example an anniversary of a memory”. Here, HOLD discloses prompting the user to add events, where events are linked to significant dates.
Furthermore, Applicant argues that with regard to the “obtaining” and “updating” features of claim 8, the Office Action at pp. 6-7. The Office Action only asserts Figures 7A, 7B, 7C, 8, and 9 for allegedly disclosing "obtaining" and "updating" features of independent claim 8. The Office Action fails to provide a citation to address the updating feature and does not provide any citations to where Holt allegedly teaches that the updating includes storing memories "by adding the new content to the stored memories in accordance with the descriptive information associated with the new content.". However, Examiner respectfully disagrees. Similar to the argument in the preceding paragraph, HOLT discloses: “the digital will can prompt...if the user would like to add or delete additional rules or events; Notifications and reminders can also be sent when triggering events occur, when assets get distributed, or significant dates, such as for example an anniversary of a memory”. Here, HOLD discloses prompting the user to add events, where events are linked to significant dates, such as for example an anniversary of a memory.”.
Lastly, Applicant argues that even if, one of ordinary skill in the art would combine the teachings of Wood and Holt (Applicant does not believe that such a combination is even proper), the combined teachings would not disclose or suggest, inter alia, "providing the interaction interface includes at least an interface element to select at least one of: adding new content from one or more external social media accounts of the user, and displaying, to the user, stored content from the one or more external social media accounts," as recited in amended independent claim 8 for the reasons proffered above. In addition, the combination would fail to disclose the other features of amended independent claim 8 as proffered above. However, Examiner respectfully disagrees. Wood discloses a system that allows a user to select, filter, display, (access, update and display) content (digital data) on a digital device. HOLT discloses systems and methods for the access, update and display of digital will components (digital data) and corresponding digital content (digital data). Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would combine the teachings of Wood and Holt to disclose the features of the present invention.
Independent claims 19 and 30, recite features similar to those of claim 8, and therefore, are also
rejected for similar reasons.
Each of claims 9-18, 20-29, and new claim 31 includes all of the features of claim 8 or 19, and are therefore still rejected at least based on dependency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Akiba Robinson whose telephone number is 571-272-6734 and email is Akiba.Robinsonboyce@USPTO.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 6:30am-4:30pm.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner's supervisor, Nathan Uber can be reached on 571-270-3923. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is (703) 305-3900.
March 3, 2026
/AKIBA K ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3628