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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/18/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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) 1-6, 8-14, and 16-20, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication NO. 20180232742, hereinafter “Zhao” and further in light of hereinafter U.S. Patent Application Publication NO. 20170364866, hereinafter “Steplyk”.
Claim 1:
Zhao teaches a computing platform comprising: a network interface (i.e. para. [0031], the customer service dashboard 100 is implemented by a network application); at least one processor; at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium (i.e. para. [0115] the computing device 2000 may include at least one processing unit 2002 and system memory 2004); and program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor (i.e. para. [0115], the system memory 2004 may include an operating system 2006, one or more program modules 2008, and may include program data) such that the computing platform is configured to: cause a first client station associated with a first user to launch a first software module of a given application (i.e. para. [0101], “Each module pane may be repositionable by the CSA relative to the graphical customer interface. Examples of module panes include: a cost summary pane; a memo pane; a reminder pane; an activity log pane; and a quick links pane”, wherein the BRI for a first software module encompasses a quick links pane of a graphical administrative interface application) and thereby display an action item that has been assigned to the first user (i.e. para. [0074], Fig. 14, “The in-progress task list 1404 comprises hyperlinks to the most recently viewed pages of active tasks”, wherein the BRI for an action item encompasses a task to be completed by a user), the action item including
(i) a required action (i.e. para. [0077], in this example, the list 1404 includes a first item 1404(a), corresponding to the currently active “Refill Account” task) and
(ii) an embedded link that is selectable to launch a second software module of the given application in order to create a new data entity based on the required action (i.e. para. [0079], “given the example of FIG. 14, the CSA could navigate back to the “Add New Line” task by selecting the item 1404(b), complete the “Add New Line” task, and then move back to the partially completed “Refill Account” task by selecting the item 1404(a)”, wherein the user could be on a different page and by selecting 1404(a), a second software module of the same application will launch and navigate the user to the “Refill Account” page, which has controls that enable the user to create a new data entry to refill their account); receive, from the first client station, an indication that the first user has selected the embedded link (i.e. para. [0079], “move back to the partially completed “Refill Account” task by selecting the item 1404(a)”, wherein the user selects the embedded hyperlink 1404(a)); and based on the indication that the first user has selected the embedded link, cause the first client station to launch the second software module (i.e. para. [0079], “move back to the partially completed “Refill Account” task by selecting the item 1404(a)”, wherein the BRI for launching the second software module encompasses navigating to the designated page) and thereby display one or more data fields for receiving user input defining at least one new data entity for completing the required action (i.e. para. [0080], “the “Add one-time payment” control 1408,”, wherein it is noted that a user may input a payment defining a new payment data entry to complete the refill account task), wherein the one or more data fields are pre-populated with embedded data comprising one or more of: data about the action item, data about an existing data entity with which the action item is associated, data about the first user, data about a second user that created the action item, or data about the embedded link (i.e. para. [0080], Fig. 14, “The in-progress task list 1404 is also updated in real time to reflect processes that are newly initiated in response to user navigation within the account view 102.”, wherein it is noted that the Refill account page is pre-populated with data bout the user, such as a payment date and available funds, data about the existing status with which the task item is associated with, such as the account status, and data about the embedded link, such as the name of the embedded link being a Refill account software module page).
While Zhao teaches a first front end module that contains task based action items that contain links that open into a second front end module pre-populated with data and affordances for completing said action item, Zhao may not explicitly teach,
Display an action item that has been assigned to the first user;
However, Steplyk teaches
Display an action item that has been assigned to the first user (i.e. para. [0085], Fig. 5, “task list 426 may be interactive. For example, hyperlinks may be established within task list 426 for associating various tasks with content… this functionality within the task list enables Kat and Stacy to more quickly find and complete the portions of document 432 assigned to them”, wherein it is noted that selection of the hyperlink within the assigned action item automatically opens a second word front end within the mail application and pre-populates the second front end particular section (e.g., “intro slides” section) of document).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add to display an action item that has been assigned to the first user, to Zhao’s assignment interface of embedded links, with the embedded links may be part of tasks assigned to a first user, as taught by Steplyk. One would have been motivated to combine Steplyk with Zhao, and would have had a reasonable expectation of success in doing so that users may quickly review the work of others and easily distinguish between various collaborative objects.
Claim 2:
Zhao and Steplyk teach the computing platform of claim 1.
Steplyk teaches further comprising program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing platform is configured to: receive, from the first client station, data defining the at least one new data entity (i.e. para. [0058], At receive update operation 208, an update may be received to the document that completes the at least one task); after receiving the data defining the at least one new data entity, determine that the required action has been completed (i.e. para. [0058], An update to a document may include an edit to an existing portion of the document, an addition to the document, a deletion from the document, and the like…. in order to complete the task, Joey must complete the introductory slides and Kat must add the conclusion); and cause at least the first client station to display an indication that the required action has been completed (i.e. para. [0059], At update operation 210, the task list may be updated to reflect completion of the at least one task… the status of the task may automatically be updated to reflect completion).
Claim 3:
Zhao and Steplyk teach the computing platform of claim 1.
Steplyk further teaches wherein:
the at least one new data entity comprises a first new data entity and a second new data entity (i.e. para. [0052], “the expanded UI element may provide details regarding the updates to the document (e.g., Joey made 2 updates to the conclusion section”, wherein it is noted that a single user may define at least a first and second update corresponding to the respective first and second assigned tasks); the action item further comprises (i) a second required action (i.e. para. [0055], “Method 200 begins with receive task list operation 202, where a collaboration application such as collaboration application 110 (or an application in communication with the collaboration application 110) may receive a list of tasks”, wherein the BRI for the action item encompasses a list of tasks, wherein the BRI for a second required action encompasses a second task in the list of tasks) and (ii) a second embedded link that is selectable to launch a third software module of the given application in order to create the second data entity based on the second required action (i.e. para. [0057], “By clicking the link, the user may automatically advance to the section of the document referenced by the at least one task”, wherein a second task would have a respective link to a respective second section of the document window with the task to be completed. Wherein the BRI or a third software module of the given application encompasses a second view of a document window within the given collaboration application); and the computing platform further comprises program instructions stored on the at least one non- transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing platform is configured to: before determining that the required action has been completed, receive data defining the second new data entity (i.e. para. [0058], Fig. 4c, “ At receive update operation 208, an update may be received to the document that completes the at least one task”, wherein before determining that all a user’s required tasks in the task list have been completed, the system receives data defining the completion of at least a second task within the list of required tasks).
Claim 4:
Zhao and Steplyk teach the computing platform of claim 1.
Zhao teaches further comprising program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing platform is configured to: before causing the first client station to launch the first software module, cause a second client station associated with the second user to launch the first software module and thereby display one or more interface views for creating the action item and assigning the action item to the first user (i.e. para. [0113], If a user is authorized to assign activities to individuals, known as Doers', the values in the ‘Assigned’ column are to be displayed as hyperlinks. On a desktop computer, the Serving System is to display a hint, such as a ‘Hand’ icon, when the mouse hovers over a hyperlink in the ‘Assigned’ column as shown in FIG. 4-C. Clicking on a hyperlink in the ‘Assigned’ column by a user is to cause the Serving System to display a view that enables the user to assign the activity to a Doer as shown in FIG. 7-A.); receive, from the second client station, an indication of (i) the existing data entity selected by the second user with which the action item is to be associated (i.e. para. [0113], Fig. 7-a, “Clicking on a hyperlink in the ‘Assigned’ column by a user is to cause the Serving System to display a view that enables the user to assign the activity to a Doer”, wherein the BRI for the existing data entry encompasses an open activity of a task within a project), (ii) an identification of the first user (i.e. para. [0121], The process of assigning an activity starts by a user selecting the name of an individual from a pool of Doers available to the organization of the user.), (iii) the required action (i.e. para. [0113], Fig. 7-a, “Clicking on a hyperlink in the ‘Assigned’ column by a user is to cause the Serving System to display a view that enables the user to assign the activity to a Doer”, wherein the BRI for the required action encompasses the open activity to be completed by a Doer), and (iv) the second software module that is to be launched to create the new data entity based on the required action (i.e. para. [0123], “After all necessary notifications are completed, the Serving System is to add a record in the ‘Assignment’ table containing the ID of the activity being assigned, the ID of the new assignee, and ‘Assigned’ as the value of the ‘Action’ field”, wherein the BRI for the second software module encompasses the notification that is sent to the assigned user that acts as an embedded link that directs the user to a secondary window the collaboration data pre-populated with the assigned task information and affordances used to complete the assigned task as seen in Fig 15-a); based on the indication of the second software module, cause the embedded link that is selectable to launch the second software module in order to create the new data entity based on the required action to be included in the action item, wherein the action item also includes the embedded data that is to be pre-populated into the one or more data fields of the second software module when the embedded link is selected (i.e. para. [0123]. Clicking on the notification message by the Doer is to cause the Serving System to display the view shown in FIG. 12, which displays the name of the Doer as the assignee as well as the ‘Comment’ and ‘Action’ buttons); and based on the indication of the first user, cause the action item to be assigned to the first user (i.e. para. [0132], Upon user clicking on a notification, the Serving System is to fetch user role from user device memory for later processing. After fetching user role, the Serving System is to fetch pertinent notification from the ‘Notification’ table).
Claim 5:
Zhao and Steplyk teach the computing platform of claim 4.
Zhao further wherein: the one or more interface views for creating the action item enable the second user to input a textual description of the action item comprising one or more characters that cause the second client station to display a respective visual representation of one or more software modules of the given application that each facilitates creation of a respective type of data entity (i.e. para. [0083], Fig. 4c, “second task 428 specifying: “@kat please review the intro slides”, wherein it is noted that a second user may describe the task assigned toa first user ‘kat’, and establish a hyperlink to the particular section that facilitates the creation of data the completes the intro slides); and the indication of the second software module that is to be launched to create the new data entity based on the required action is based on user input selecting the respective visual representation of the second software module (i.e. par. [0085], As illustrated, a first hyperlink 436 may link second task 428 to a particular section (e.g., “intro slides” section) of document 432… this functionality within the task list enables Kat and Stacy to more quickly find and complete the portions of document 432 assigned to them).
Claim 6:
Zhao and Steplyk teach the computing platform of claim 5.
Steplyk further teaches wherein the one or more characters that cause the second client station to display the respective visual representations of the one or more software modules comprise a given symbol followed by one or more text characters that describe a type of data entity that is to be created for the required action (i.e. para. [0082-0083], Fig 4C, “In the third view, Joe has completed a task list 426 in email 408… third task 430 specifying: “@stacy, once Kat and I are done, please fill in the final results so we can turn everything in”, wherein an ‘@’ symbol is followed by text characters that describe who should be filling in the ‘final results’ type of data entry that is to be created for the action).
Claim 8:
Zhao and Steplyk teach the computing platform of claim 1.
Steplyk further teaches wherein the embedded data that is pre-populated into the one or more data fields of the second software module further includes one or more of: data describing the at least one new data entity (i.e. para. [0085], Fig. 5, “A second hyperlink 438 may link third task 430 to another section (e.g., “final results” section) of document”, wherein it is noted that a Final results section is prepopulated with data describing the at least one new data entry), data indicating a given line item for the at least one new data entity, or data indicating a given cost associated with the at least one new data entity.
Claim 9:
Claim 9 is the medium claim reciting similar limitations to claim 1 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 10:
Claim 10 is the medium claim reciting similar limitations to claim 2 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 11:
Claim 11 is the medium claim reciting similar limitations to claim 3 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 12:
Claim 12 is the medium claim reciting similar limitations to claim 4 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 13:
Claim 13 is the medium claim reciting similar limitations to claim 5 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 14:
Claim 14 is the medium claim reciting similar limitations to claim 6 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 16:
Claim 16 is the medium claim reciting similar limitations to claim 8 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 17:
Claim 17 is the method claim reciting similar limitations to claim 1 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 18:
Claim 18 is the method claim reciting similar limitations to claim 2 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 19:
Claim 19 is the method claim reciting similar limitations to claim 3 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 20:
Claim 20 is the method claim reciting similar limitations to claim 4 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Claim(s) 7 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication NO. 20180232742 , hereinafter “Zhao” and further in light of hereinafter U.S. Patent Application Publication NO. 20170364866, hereinafter “Steplyk”, and further in light of U.S. Patent Application Publication NO. 20190138587, hereinafter Silk.
Claim 7:
Zhao and Steplyk teach the computing platform of claim 4.
Zhao and Steplyk may not explicitly teach
wherein the existing data entity selected by the second user comprises a given data-entry region selected by the second user within a spreadsheet view displayed within the one or more interface views.
However, Silk teaches
wherein the existing data entity selected by the second user comprises a given data-entry region selected by the second user within a spreadsheet view displayed within the one or more interface views (i.e. para. [0121], spreadsheet 900 stored in a collaborative content management system 130 from a first device and selects cells A1 through A5 in the spreadsheet 900 to include a set of tasks).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add wherein the existing data entity selected by the second user comprises a given data-entry region selected by the second user within a spreadsheet view displayed within the one or more interface views, to Zhao-Steplyk’s assignment interface of embedded links, with how task assignment may include adding content from a spreadsheet view, as taught by Silk. One would have been motivated to combine Steplyk with Zhao, and would have had a reasonable expectation of success as doing so result in data management in documents being simplified, resulting in a better user experience.
Claim 15:
Claim 15 is the medium claim reciting similar limitations to claim 7 and is rejected for similar reasons.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Application Publication NO. 20180253194 , hereinafter “Javadi” in para. [0091], the notification may include a button or embedded link that can be selected by the user in order to purchase the correct components needed to performed the protocol.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID H TAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7433. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Cesar Paula can be reached at (571) 272-4128. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/D.T./ Examiner, Art Unit 2145
/CESAR B PAULA/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2145
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