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 .
This Office Action is responsive to: Application filed 26 Sep. 2023
Claims 1-20 are pending in this case. Claims 1, 17 and 20 are independent claims
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Monk et al. (Pub. No.: US 2013/0204785 A1; Filed: Jan. 31, 2012) (hereinafter “Monk”).
Regarding independent claim 1, Monk disclose a deployable customer self-service (CSS) system, comprising:
a plurality of user interfaces (0037; 0205; 0288);
a web portal configured to selectively load and display the plurality of user interfaces (0121; 0187; 0203; 0212; 0250);
a plurality of services each being configured to provide data to the user interfaces from a system of record or third party service, the services using a standard data format (0023-0024; 0054; 0098; 0099; 0105; 0204); and
an integration connector comprising one or more drivers selectable based on the system of record or third party service to convert data to the standard data format used by the plurality of services from a protocol or format of the system of record or third party service (0038; 0040; 0050; 0055).
Regarding dependent claim 2, Monk disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 1, wherein the one or more drivers comprises at least one driver configured to obtain data from a third party data center comprising a proprietary utility management data center run by a third party, the data being stored according to a proprietary format of the third party, and the at least one driver being configured to convert the data obtained from the proprietary utility management data center from the proprietary format of the third party into the standard data format used by the plurality of services of the deployable CSS system (0050; 0055; 0256; 0262-0263; 0288).
Regarding dependent claim 5, Monk disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of services comprises one or more from among:
an account management service;
a bill payment service (0023; 0043; 0048; 0106; 0119; 0215);
a stop or transfer service;
a billing and consumption service; and
a faults and enquiries service.
Regarding dependent claim 6, Monk disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of user interfaces comprises one or more from among:
an account management user interface;
a bill payment user interface (0023; 0043; 0048; 0106; 0119; 0215);
a stop or transfer user interface;
a billing and consumption user interface; and
a faults and enquiries user interface.
Regarding dependent claim 8, Monk disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 1, wherein the integration connectors communicate with the services via the standard format (0047; 0090).
Regarding dependent claim 9, Monk disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 1, wherein the portal is an end user portal to be accessed by an end user or an administration portal to be accessed by a company (0121; 0203; 0212).
Claims 17, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Anuff et al. (US 6,327,628 B1; Filed: May 19, 2000) (hereinafter “Anuff”)
Regarding independent claim 17, Anuff disclose a system comprising the deployable CSS system of claim 1, and further comprising a CSS base comprising one or more base web portals, base user interfaces and/or base services, wherein:
the web portal of the deployable CSS system extends the base web portal for the deployment (col 15 lines 6-38; col 1 lines 40-47),
the user interfaces of the deployable CSS system extend the base user interfaces for deployment (col 5 lines 29-39; col 15 lines 6-38; col 1 lines 40-47), and
the plurality of services deployable CSS system extend the base services for deployment (col 15 lines 11-45; col 1 lines 40-47).
Regarding dependent claim 18, Anuff disclose the system of claim 17, wherein the web portal, the user interfaces, and the plurality of services of the deployable CSS system are closed modules (col 4 lines 47-59; col 5 lines 29-39; col 6 line 59-col 7 line 4).
Regarding independent claim 20, Monk disclose a computer-implemented method for deploying a deployable CSS system, the deployable CSS system comprising:
a plurality of user interfaces (0037; 0205; 0288);
a web portal configured to selectively load and display the plurality of user interfaces (0121; 0187; 0203; 0212; 0250);
a plurality of services each being configured to provide data to the user interfaces from a system of record or third party service, the services using a standard data format (0023-0024; 0054; 0098; 0099; 0105; 0204); and
an integration connector comprising one or more drivers selectable based on the system of record or third party service to convert data to the standard data format used by the plurality of services from a protocol or format of the system of record or third party service (0038; 0040; 0050; 0055);
the method comprising:
receiving, from a computing device, specifications of the system of record or third party service (0055; 0256; 0262-0263; 0288);
selecting the one or more drivers specific to the system of record or third party service to convert data to the standard data format used by the plurality of services from a protocol or format of the system of record or third party service (0050; 0055; 0256; 0262-0263; 0288); and
deploying the deployable CSS system to a data centre (0158; 0245).
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 3, 7 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Monk in view of Lai (Pat. No.: US 7,698,398 B1; Filed: Aug. 18, 2003).
.
Regarding dependent claim 3, Monk disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 2, wherein the at least one driver comprises a customer care and billing driver configured to send requests to the proprietary utility management data center and to obtain data from a customer care and billing system hosted by the proprietary utility management data center via a customer care and billing API running on the proprietary utility management data center (0120-0121; 0123; 0239), and/or
Monk does not expressly disclose wherein the at least one driver comprises a meter data and management service driver configured to send requests to the proprietary utility management data center and to obtain data from a meter data and management system hosted by the proprietary utility management data center via a meter data and management system API running on the proprietary utility management data center.
Lai teach wherein the at least one driver comprises a meter data and management service driver configured to send requests to the proprietary utility management data center and to obtain data from a meter data and management system hosted by the proprietary utility management data center via a meter data and management system API running on the proprietary utility management data center (0219; 0257; 0391).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Lai with Monk for the benefit of providing support for different protocols and message formats, including a variety of industry standards and platforms (0141).
Regarding dependent claim 7, Monk does not expressly disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 1, comprising a plurality of services, wherein the services are selectively loaded to provide data to a selected user interface based on the system of record or third party service (0213; 0923).
Lai teach a plurality of services, wherein the services are selectively loaded to provide data to a selected user interface based on the system of record or third party service (0139; 0213; 0923).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Lai with Monk for the benefit of providing support for different protocols and message formats, including a variety of industry standards and platforms (0141).
Regarding dependent claim 11, Monk does not expressly disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 1, further comprising a caching service that controls retrieval of data from the system of record or third party service, wherein the caching service stores the retrieved data in a database.
Lai teach a caching service that controls retrieval of data from the system of record or third party service, wherein the caching service stores the retrieved data in a database (0213; 0308; 0318; 0923).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Lai with Monk for the benefit of providing support for different protocols and message formats, including a variety of industry standards and platforms (0141).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Monk in view of Lai (Pat. No.: US 7,698,398 B1; Filed: Aug. 18, 2003), further in view of Evans (US 2017/0250853 A1; Filed: Feb. 25, 2016).
Regarding dependent claim 4, Monk does not expressly disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 3, wherein the requests sent by the customer case and billing driver and/or the meter data.
Lai teach wherein the requests sent by the customer case and billing driver and/or the meter data (0219; 0257; 0391; 0923).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Lai with Monk for the benefit of providing support for different protocols and message formats, including a variety of industry standards and platforms (0141).
Evans teach management service driver are directed to a hypertext transfer protocol server at the proprietary utility management data center (0013).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Evans with Monk in view of Lai for the benefit of managing services provided by or through an application gateway, that can be accessed and manipulated through a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) protocol interface (0013).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Monk in view of Anuff et al. (US 6,327,628 B1; Filed: May 19, 2000) (hereinafter “Anuff”).
Regarding dependent claim 10, Monk does not expressly disclose the deployable CSS system of any of claim 1, wherein the web portal, the service, and the integration connector are closed modules that are not editable upon deployment.
Anuff teach wherein the web portal, the service, and the integration connector are closed modules that are not editable upon deployment (col 4 lines 47-59; col 5 lines 29-39; col 6 line 59-col 7 line 4).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Anuff with Monk for the benefit of providing a portal mechanism via which users gain access to resources at various network sites (col. 1 lines 9-11).
Claims 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Monk in view of Lai (Pat. No.: US 7,698,398 B1; Filed: Aug. 18, 2003), further in view Anuff.
Regarding dependent claim 12, Monk in view of Lai does not expressly disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 11, wherein the caching service includes configuration rules defining caching priorities for two or more categories of data, wherein the two or more categories of data include at least two from among: a first category of data that is required in real time, a second category of data that is required as soon as possible, and a third category of data that is cached periodically.
Anuff teach wherein the caching service includes configuration rules defining caching priorities for two or more categories of data, wherein the two or more categories of data include at least two from among: a first category of data that is required in real time, a second category of data that is required as soon as possible, and a third category of data that is cached periodically (col 8 lines 8-10; col 9 lines 9-22; col 10 lines 52-55; col 15 lines 6-14).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Anuff with Monk in view of Lai for the benefit of providing a portal mechanism via which users gain access to resources at various network sites (col. 1 lines 9-11).
Regarding dependent claim 13, Monk in view of Lai, further in view of Anuff disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 12, wherein the caching service is configured to retrieve data in the first category of data for the user interface or service from the system of record or third party service (col 8 lines 8-10; col 9 lines 9-22; col 10 lines 52-55; col 15 lines 6-14).
Regarding dependent claim 14, Monk in view of Lai, further in view of Anuff disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 13, wherein the caching service is configured to periodically retrieve data in the second category of data from the system of record or third party service and to cache the retrieved data to the database in the standard format (col 8 lines 8-10; col 9 lines 9-22; col 10 lines 52-55; col 15 lines 6-14).
Regarding dependent claim 15, Monk in view of Lai, further in view of Anuff disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 11, wherein the caching service invalidates one or more categories of data (col 8 lines 8-10; col 9 lines 9-22; col 10 lines 52-55; col 15 lines 6-14).
Regarding dependent claim 16, Monk in view of Lai, further in view of Anuff disclose the deployable CSS system of claim 15, wherein the caching service is configured to retrieve data in an invalidated category of data for the user interface or service from the system of record or third party service (col 8 lines 8-10; col 9 lines 9-22; col 10 lines 52-55; col 15 lines 6-14).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anuff in view of Monk.
Regarding dependent claim 19, Monk disclose the system of claim 17, wherein the base services include an account management core (0132; 0234).
NOTE
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES J DEBROW whose telephone number is (571)272-5768. The examiner can normally be reached on 09:00 - 06:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Bashore can be reached on 571-272-4088. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/James J Debrow/
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2174
571-272-5768