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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-17 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the user terminal", “the tourist attraction” and “the trip” in lines 2, 3 and 5 respectively. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the task" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the task" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the task instruction templates" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 12 recites the limitation "the travel map" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the planning conditions" and “the AI model” in line 3 and 7 respectively. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the user terminal" and “the user” in lines 1 and 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 16 recites the limitation "the travel map" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 17 recites the limitation "the user terminal", “the tourist attraction”, “the trip” and “the user” in lines 6-7 and 8-10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claims 1, 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claims recite “Responding to a travel service request initiated by the user, and determining the tourist attractions requested by the user; Generating attraction descriptions for the user regarding the tourist attractions, for the user to learn about the attractions before starting the trip; For hotspots within the tourist attractions, generating photography guidance for the user, to instruct the user to take photos of the hotspots during the trip; Generating social media content creation guidance for the user regarding the tourist attractions, to guide the user to create targeted social media content corresponding to the attractions during or after the trip; Sending the attraction descriptions, photography guidance, and social media content creation guidance to the user terminal according to the user's needs, for the user's on-demand viewing.”
The recited limitations above are a process that, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation done by a human but for the recitation of generic computer components under mental steps (human using pen and paper). That is, other than reciting “processors”, nothing in the claim element precludes the steps from practically being performed by a human using generic computer component. For example, “responding”, “generating”, “generating”, “generating” and “sending” in the context of this claim encompasses the user to manually generate attraction and travel description.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claims only recite the following additional elements- a “processor”, “storage device” “server”, “interface” and a “user terminal” to perform the above recited steps. The computer elements recited at a high-level of generality (generic computer elements performing a generic computer function of receiving information, identifying solutions and determining what should be presented to a user) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Accordingly, the additional elements recited do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using the computer elements to perform the steps of claims 1, 15 and 17 amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept.
The limitations of the dependent claims 2-14 and 16, further describe the identified abstract idea. In addition, the limitations of claims 11, 12 and 14 define how the travel services and description are generated which further describes the abstract idea. The generic computer component of claims 2-10 and 13 (AI model, user terminal) merely serve as the generic computer component and the functions performed by the generic computer components essentially amount to the abstract idea identified above. None of the dependent claims when taken separately in combination with each dependent claims parent claim overcome the above analysis and are therefore similarly rejected as being ineligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wright (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0103442).
As to claims 1 and 17, Wright teaches a method and a device comprising:
Responding to a travel service request initiated by the user terminal, and determining the tourist attractions requested by the user; (para 5)
Generating attraction descriptions for the user regarding the tourist attractions, for the user to learn about the attractions before starting the trip; (fig. 4 and para 68)
For hotspots within the tourist attractions, generating photography guidance for the user, to instruct the user to take photos of the hotspots during the trip; (para 22)
Generating social media content creation guidance for the user regarding the tourist attractions, to guide the user to create targeted social media content corresponding to the attractions during or after the trip; (para 50)
Sending the attraction descriptions, photography guidance, and social media content creation guidance to the user terminal according to the user's needs, for the user's on-demand viewing. (para 42)
As to claim 2, Wright teaches the method of claim 1 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
Generating attraction descriptions for the user regarding the tourist attractions based on the target attraction type corresponding to the tourist attractions, using an Al model. (para 32)
As to claim 3, Wright teaches the method of claim 2 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
Creating a first task instruction set for the tourist attractions based on the task instruction template used for generating attraction descriptions under the target attraction type, wherein the first task instruction set is used to call the AI model to control the Al model to generate attraction descriptions for the tourist attractions; (fig. 6 and para 73)
Using part or all of the attraction descriptions generated by the Al model for the tourist attractions as the attraction descriptions generated for the user regarding the tourist attractions. (fig. 6 and para 73)
As to claim 4, Wright teaches the method of claim 3 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
wherein the first task instruction set contains a first task instruction group for generating user evaluation information, the first task instruction group specifies the user type and analysis rules to control the Al model to conduct an analysis of the evaluation data for the tourist attractions under the specified user type according to the analysis rules, in order to construct user evaluation information for the tourist attractions; (para 7)
Wherein the analysis rules include a balanced overview of positive and negative evaluation information. (para 7)
As to claim 5, Wright teaches the method of claim 3 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
wherein the first task instruction set contains a second task instruction group for generating nearby locations, the second task instruction group specifies popularity requirements for locations, to control the AI model to filter out nearby locations that meet the popularity requirements for the tourist attractions; Wherein the attraction descriptions generated for the user contain the filtered nearby locations, for display at the user terminal. (para 123)
As to claim 6, Wright teaches the method of claim 1 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
Generating photography guidance for the user for hotspots within the tourist attractions based on the target attraction type corresponding to the tourist attractions, using an AI model. (para 79)
As to claim 7, Wright teaches the method of claim 6 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
Creating a second task instruction set for the tourist attractions based on the task instruction template used for generating photography guidance under the target attraction type, the second task instruction set contains a third task instruction group for determining hotspot photography locations and a fourth task instruction group for generating photography guidance for the determined hotspot photography locations; (para 22)
Wherein the third task instruction group is used to control the AI model to determine hotspot photography locations for the tourist attractions, and the fourth task instruction group is used to generate photography guidance for the determined hotspot photography locations. (para 22)
As to claim 8, Wright teaches the method of claim 1 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
Generating social media content creation guidance for the user regarding the tourist attractions based on the target attraction type corresponding to the tourist attractions, using an AI model; (para 50)
Wherein the task instruction templates used to generate part or all of the social media content creation guidance under the target attraction type contain instruction fields for configuring the user type of concern, instruction fields for configuring the degree of attention to the user type, and/or instruction fields for configuring the style of the social media content. (para 50)
As to claim 9, Wright teaches the method of claim 8 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
Constructing social media content creation guidance for the tourist attractions based on the target attraction type corresponding to the tourist attractions, using the AI model; (para 87)
Obtaining the information attribute tags preferred by the user based on the user's historical travel information and personal attribute information; (para 87)
Selecting information matching the user's preferred information attribute tags from the constructed social media content guidance for the tourist attractions, to generate creative content guidance for the tourist attractions for the user. (para 87)
As to claim 10, Wright teaches the method of claim 1 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
Determining the user type and geographical location corresponding to the user; (fig. 5 and para 71)
Based on the user type and geographical location, determining the target attraction that the user is interested in from multiple presets; (fig. 5 and para 71)
Generating push notifications targeting the determined attraction for the user; Pushing the notifications to the user terminal for display. (fig. 5 and para 71)
As to claim 11, Wright teaches the method of claim 10 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
wherein If the attraction type corresponding to the target attraction is natural scenery, the corresponding push notification contains historical anecdotes and/or famous quotes related to the attraction; If the attraction type corresponding to the target attraction is humanistic or city exploration, the corresponding push notification contains description of recommended activities and/or brief introductions about the attraction. (para 38)
As to claim 12, Wright teaches the method of claim 1 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
Determining popularity levels for each of the preset attractions; (fig. 1A and para 112)
Marking attractions of different popularity levels distinctly in the travel map component, so that when the user calls up the travel map component, attractions of different popularity levels can be displayed differently via the travel map page. (fig. 1A and para 112)
As to claim 13, Wright teaches the method of claim 1 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
Responding to a travel route planning request initiated by the user terminal, determining the planning conditions provided by the user, wherein the conditions include one or more of: attraction type, user type, geographic region, attractions visited, travel duration; (para 67 and fig. 4)
Based on the planning conditions, constructing task instructions for generating travel routes; (para 67 and fig. 4)
Launching the task instructions to the AI model, to control the AI model to generate travel routes for the user; Sending the generated routes to the user terminal for display. (para 67 and fig. 4)
As to claim 14, Wright teaches the method of claim 1 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
wherein the formats of the attraction descriptions, photography guidance, and social media content creation guidance adopt single or combined formats of text, graphics, and video; (para 50)
The attraction descriptions contain one or more types of information including basic information, cultural knowledge, fun facts, tips, user reviews, recent activities, and nearby locations; (para 68 and fig. 4)
The photography guidance contains one or more types of information including landmark names, shooting times, and shooting techniques; (para 68 and fig. 4)
The social media content creation guidance contains one or more types of information including video titles & thumbnails, video scripts, content titles, tweet scripts, blog scripts, and hashtags. (para 68 and fig. 4)
As to claim 15, Wright teaches a method comprising:
Displaying a travel service interface;
In response to the travel attraction configuration operation executed by the user in the travel service interface, generating a travel service request; (para 5)
Sending the travel service request to the server; (para 42)
Receiving from the server the attraction descriptions, photography guidance, and social media content creation guidance generated for the user regarding the tourist attractions; (para 42)
Displaying the received attraction descriptions, photography guidance, and social media content creation guidance in the travel service interface as needed by the user. (para 42)
As to claim 16, Wright teaches the method of claim 15 as discussed above.
Wright further teaches:
Displaying a travel attraction input control in the travel service interface; Treating input operations executed by the user on the travel attraction input control as travel attraction configuration operations; and/or, Displaying push notifications from the server to the user via the travel service interface; Treating attraction selection operations executed by the user on the push notifications as travel attraction configuration operations;(para 30)
Sending a request to the server to invoke the travel map component, to display the travel map page provided by the travel map component via the travel service interface, wherein attractions of different popularity levels are distinctively marked on the travel map page; Treating attraction selection operations executed by the user on the travel map page as travel attraction configuration operations. (para 97)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZEINA ELCHANTI whose telephone number is (313)446-6561. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM-5:00 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Zimmerman can be reached at 571-272-4602. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ZEINA ELCHANTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3628