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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This non-final action is in response to RCE filed on 10/28/2025. In this RCE, claims 1-6, 11-15 and 17-20 are amended, claim 21 is canceled and claim 22 is added. Claims 1-8, 10-21 are pending, with claims 1, 11 and 17 being independent.
Priority
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/538,744, filed on September 15, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/28/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Rejection of Claims Under§ 103
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Objections
Claims 22 is objected to because limitation “wherein the determining is performed only when both the user and the other users have activated location sharing within the interaction platform” is repeated.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 11 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The claims recite “wherein the user meets conditions to find the other users of the list of other users”; however, there is no clear explanation for this subject matter described in the specification. The closest description is figure 11 of the examined application which is indicated in Remarks page 7. However, at least paragraphs 146-150 which describe figure 11 indicate that these conditions are applied to other users for being included in the list of nearby users to display to the user. In the words, these do not show that the user meets conditions to find the other users of the list of other users.
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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-2, 7, 11-13 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zadeh et al. (US 2013/0145288, Pub. Date: Jun. 6, 2013), in view of Fu et al. (US 2019/0149630, Pub. Date: May 16, 2019), in view of Moscaritolo (NPL: Facebook Launches 'Nearby Friends' on IOS, Android, Pub. Date: Apr. 17, 2014).
As per claim 1, Zadeh discloses a computing device (Zadeh fig. 1 and para. [0026], The present invention may be implemented as computer software on a conventional computer system. Referring now to FIG. 1, a conventional computer system 150 for practicing the present invention is shown) comprising:
one or more processors (Zadeh fig. 1, Processor 160); and
one or more memories (Zadeh fig. 1, Storage 162) storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the one or more processors to perform operations (Zadeh fig. 1, Storage 162 and para. [0026], Processor 160 retrieves and executes software instructions stored in storage 162 such as memory, which may be Random Access Memory (RAM) and may control other components to perform the present invention) comprising:
accessing a location of a user system of a user (Zadeh para. [0039], location information, including the GPS coordinates of the user or the user's device, may be received on a regularly repeating basis whenever such information is available), the user being a member of an interaction platform (Zadeh para. [0037], social network access information received from the user as part of step 212 and with the user's permission may be used to access the user's social network account via the social networking website, and social networking data corresponding to the user's account may be retrieved,);
determining a list of other users (Zadeh para. [0057], The number of other users near the user may be identified using location information received from the selected user as well as other users; Zadeh para. [0015], The user may view a list of the displayed other users nearby to that user, along with information about that other user such as the distance between the user and the other user), the list of other users comprising other users have number of first-degree connections of with the user (Per specification of examined application, paragraph 23 indicated that the level or value of connectivity value is determined based on having a number of common connections; Zadeh para. [0072], If the selected other user ("second user") is not identified as a friend of the selected user 232, then a compatibility score and popularity score may be determined for the second user 238 … social networking data for both users may be used to determine if the two users share any mutual friends … the compatibility score for a user that shares interests and/or social network friends with the selected user may be higher than the compatibility score for a user that does not share any interests or mutual social network friends [first-degree connections] with the selected user), that are members of the interaction platform (Zadeh para. [0072], the second user's compatibility score may be determined by comparing the selected user's preference information with the second user's profile information to determine how well the selected other user matches the selected user's preferences … social networking data for both users may be used to determine if the two users share any mutual friends; Zadeh para. [0035], profile information received from the user may be made available to be viewed by other registered users of the web site, and preference information may not be made available to be viewed by any other users of the web site), and that are associated with other user systems that transgress a minimum threshold distance from the location of the user system (Zadeh para. [0060], Other users within the selected user's maximum distance or within a base or other maximum distance from a nearby public meeting space that is within the user's maximum distance are identified 226. In one embodiment, location information received for the user and for other users may be used to identify other users within such distance thresholds. [Within the selected user's maximum distance is understood as from 0 to the selected user's maximum distance. 0 is corresponding to the minimum threshold distance from the location of the user system]);
causing to be displayed, on a screen of the user system (Zadeh fig.5, handset user interface manager 570), indications of the other users of the list of other users (Zadeh para. [0015], The user may view a list of the displayed other users nearby to that user, along with information about that other user such as the distance between the user and the other user …. The user may click on a link for the other user to display the profile of the other user, a link to send a friend request to the other user) and user interface items for the user to send a friend request to a corresponding other user of the list of other users (Zadeh para. [0150], If the user requests to send a message to the selected nearby potential match, such clicking on a send message link provided by handset user interface manager 570).
Zadeh does not explicitly disclose:
other users that transgress a threshold number of first-degree connections with the user, wherein a minimum threshold number of first-degree connections is set by the interaction platform, and wherein the user meets conditions to find the other users ofthe list of other users;
wherein the indications indicate locations of the other users as named geographic areas.
Fu teaches:
other users that transgress a threshold number of first-degree connections with the user (Per specification of examined application, paragraph 23 indicates that the level or value of connectivity value is determined based on having a number of common connections. Fu para. [0027], the social correlation could be determined by comparing the user social network profile of the user to user profiles of friends to determine a number of friends the user has in common with each of the friends and if the number of friends in common is greater than a threshold, determining that the friend has a high social correlation with the user), wherein a minimum threshold number of first-degree connections is set by the interaction platform (Fu para. [0026], the method could define friends with "high social correlation" as being those people listed as friends of the user who have at least five friends in common [minimum threshold number of first-degree connections] with the user. [Implicitly the minimum threshold number of first-degree connections [e.g., five friends in common] is set by system in order to define friends with "high social correlation").
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Zadeh in view of Fu in order to incorporate applying transgressing a threshold number of first-degree connections with the user to determining a list of other users.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of determining social correlation between users (see Fu para. [0026]).
Zadeh-Fu does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the user meets conditions to find the other users of the list of other users;
wherein the indications indicate locations of the other users as named geographic areas.
Moscaritolo teaches:
the user meets conditions to find the other users of the list of other users (Moscaritolo pg. 2, Location sharing with Nearby Friends is a two-way street, meaning someone will only see that you're nearby if you share this information with them, and vice versa, Vaccari said. "You and your friends both have to turn on Nearby Friends and choose to share with each other [conditions] to see when you're nearby,"; Moscaritolo pg. 1, The social network on Thursday started rolling out a new mobile feature called Nearby Friends, which, as its name suggests, will let you see if any of your friends are in the area);
the indications indicate locations of the other users as named geographic areas (Moscaritolo pg. 3, figure displaying list of friends are near San Francisco, CA with named geographic areas e.g., Pierre Morrels [Castro] and Jason Jun Ge [Marina]; Moscaritolo pg. 2, The new feature can also help you easily share your exact location with friends, if you want. You can, for instance, share your particular location with a certain friend for a set period of time, like for the next hour. When you take advantage of this option, your friend will see exactly where you are on a map, so you can easily locate each other).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Zadeh in view of Moscaritolo for the user meets conditions to find the other users of the list of other users and displaying the indications indicate locations of the other users as named geographic areas.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of ensuring safety and providing insight about nearby friends.
As per claim 2, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the device according to claim 1, as set forth above, Fu also discloses wherein the threshold number of first-degree connections with the user is for the user and a corresponding other user of the other users to have at least a threshold of number of common friends (Fu para. [0027], the social correlation could be determined by comparing the user social network profile of the user to user profiles of friends to determine a number of friends the user has in common with each of the friends and if the number of friends in common is greater than a threshold, determining that the friend has a high social correlation with the user).
Similar rationale in claim 1 is applied.
As per claim 7, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the device according to claim 1, as set forth above, Zadeh also discloses wherein the operations further comprise: receiving an indication that the user is sharing location information (Zadeh para. [0117], GPS receipt manager 416 may receive location information for a user at regular intervals, such as every 5 seconds or any other interval, as conventional current location coordinates (i.e. latitude, longitude) from handset GPS manager 516 of user system 310, along with the user identifier of the user for which the location information is received. Handset GPS manager 516 may read such location coordinates from a conventional GPS receiver (not shown), at intervals or at any time, and handset GPS manager 516 may send such information to GPS receipt manager 416).
Per claims 11-12, they do not teach or further define over the limitations in claims 1-2 respectively. As such, claims 11-12 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 1-2 respectively.
As per claim 13, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11, as set forth above, Fu also discloses wherein the threshold number of connections with the user is for the user and a corresponding other user of the other users to have at least a threshold number of contacts in common, wherein the contacts are indications of people (Fu para. [0027], the social correlation could be determined by comparing the user social network profile of the user to user profiles of friends to determine a number of friends the user has in common with each of the friends and if the number of friends in common is greater than a threshold, determining that the friend has a high social correlation with the user).
Similar rationale in claim 11 is applied.
Per claims 17-18, they do not teach or further define over the limitations in claims 1-2 respectively. As such, claims 17-18 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 1-2 respectively.
As per claim 19, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 17, as set forth above, Fu also discloses wherein the threshold number of connections with the user is for the user and a corresponding other user of the other users to have at least a threshold number of contacts in common, wherein the contacts are indications of people (Fu para. [0027], the social correlation could be determined by comparing the user social network profile of the user to user profiles of friends to determine a number of friends the user has in common with each of the friends and if the number of friends in common is greater than a threshold, determining that the friend has a high social correlation with the user).
Similar rationale in claim 17 is applied.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zadeh et al. (US 2013/0145288, Pub. Date: Jun. 6, 2013), in view of Fu et al. (US 2019/0149630 Pub. Date: May 16, 2019), in view of Moscaritolo (NPL: Facebook Launches 'Nearby Friends' on IOS, Android, Pub. Date: Apr. 17, 2014), in view of Qian (US 2018/0129940, Pub. Date: May 10, 2018).
As per claim 3, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the device according to claim 1, as set forth above, Zadeh does not explicitly disclose wherein the threshold number of first-degree connections with the user is for the user and a corresponding other user of the other users to have at least a threshold number of contacts in common, wherein the contacts in common are indications of people outside the interaction platform.
Qian teaches:
the threshold number of connections with the user is for the user and a corresponding other user of the other users to have at least a threshold number of contacts in common (Qian para. [0038], The external social graph analysis module 206 can be configured to determine one or more accounts for inclusion in the set of potential accounts based on external social graph information … One or more accounts can be added to the set of potential accounts based on an external social networking system mutual friend threshold (e.g., if the account has at least one hundred friends in common with the target account), and/or an external social networking system mutual friend ranking threshold (e.g., the top twenty accounts based on number of mutual friends with the target account on the external social networking system)), wherein the contacts in common are indications of people outside the interaction platform (Qian para. [0038], a target account may have an account on a first social networking system and a corresponding account on an external social networking system that is different from the first social networking system).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Zadeh in view of Qian for the threshold number of first-degree connections with the user is for the user and a corresponding other user of the other users to have at least a threshold number of contacts in common and the contacts in common are indications of people outside the interaction platform.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of determining similar social network accounts (Qian para. [0038]).
Claims 4, 14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zadeh et al. (US 2013/0145288, Pub. Date: Jun. 6, 2013), in view of Fu et al. (US 2019/0149630 Pub. Date: May 16, 2019), in view of Moscaritolo (NPL: Facebook Launches 'Nearby Friends' on IOS, Android, Pub. Date: Apr. 17, 2014), in view of Jagadish et al. (US 2009/0271370, Pub. Date: Oct. 29, 2009).
As per claim 4, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the device according to claim 1, as set forth above, Zadeh does not explicitly disclose determining whether other users transgress the threshold number of first-degree connections with the user based on a number of common friends and an activity level between the user and the common friends.
Jagadish teaches:
determining whether other users transgress the threshold number of first-degree connections with the user based on a number of common friends (Jagadish fig. 5, block 503&508 and para. [0115], At block 503, the list of candidate friends may be ordered based on a most common friend of friends) and an activity level between the user and the common friends (Jagadish fig. 7, 700B and para. [0077], contact A includes within a contact list, contacts B-E, while contact B includes at least contacts F-G; contact C includes at least H-I; contact D includes at least contact F; and contact E includes at least H; Jagadish fig. 7, 700B and para. [0081], edges of the friends graph can be weighted by a normalized score of an amount of interactions between users and its friends, or by virtually any other criteria. Then, in one embodiment, the diffusion model can be applied to this graph where the energy is disseminated relative to the strength (edge weights) between users; Jagadish fig. 5, block 503&508 and para. [0118], At block 508, the list of ordered candidates may be further trimmed by inhibiting a display of those candidates that fall below the minimum threshold … for graph 700B, with the threshold at 0.1, all of contacts H, G, F, and contact I would be displayed to the requesting user).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Zadeh in view of Jagadish for determining whether other users transgress the threshold number of first-degree connections with the user based on a number of common friends and an activity level between the user and the common friends.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of inclusion of a candidate friend based on minimum threshold (see Jagadish para. [0103]).
Per claims 14 and 20, they do not teach or further define over the limitations in claim 4. As such, claims 14 and 20 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 4.
Claims 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zadeh et al. (US 2013/0145288, Pub. Date: Jun. 6, 2013), in view of Fu et al. (US 2019/0149630, Pub. Date: May 16, 2019), in view of Moscaritolo (NPL: Facebook Launches 'Nearby Friends' on IOS, Android, Pub. Date: Apr. 17, 2014), in view of Char et al. (US 12,315,085, Filed: Mar. 27, 2023).
As per claim 5, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the device according to claim 1, as set forth above, Zadeh does not explicitly disclose wherein the threshold number of first-degree connections is determined based on an age of the user.
Char teaches:
threshold number is determined based on an age of the user (Char col. 8 lines 30-32, the user-specific suggestion criteria include a respective age threshold (e.g., the user 115 and a suggested user are within a predetermined age range (e.g., within 2 years, 5 years, 10 years))).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Zadeh in view of Char for the threshold number of first-degree connections is determined based on an age of the user.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of identifying other users that are compatible with the user.
Per claim 15, it does not teach or further define over the limitations in claim 5. As such, claims 15 is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 5.
Claims 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zadeh et al. (US 2013/0145288, Pub. Date: Jun. 6, 2013), in view of Fu et al. (US 2019/0149630 Pub. Date: May 16, 2019), in view of Moscaritolo (NPL: Facebook Launches 'Nearby Friends' on IOS, Android, Pub. Date: Apr. 17, 2014), in view of Rusu et al. (US 10,212,555, Date of Patent: Feb.19,2019).
As per claim 6, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the device according to claim 1, as set forth above, Zadeh-Fu also discloses wherein the user is a first user (Zadeh para. [0011], With respect to a selected other user who is not a friend of the selected user), the user system is a first user system (Zadeh fig. 3, user system 310), the location is a first location (Zadeh para. [0039], location information, including the GPS coordinates of the user or the user's device, may be received on a regularly repeating basis whenever such information is available), and wherein the operations further comprise:
determine that the first user transgresses the minimum threshold distance of a second location of a system of a second user (Zadeh para. [0060], Other users within the selected user's maximum distance or within a base or other maximum distance from a nearby public meeting space that is within the user's maximum distance are identified 226. In one embodiment, location information received for the user and for other users may be used to identify other users within such distance thresholds. [Within the selected user's maximum distance is understood as from 0 to the selected user's maximum distance. 0 is corresponding to the minimum threshold distance from the location of the user system]) and that a number of first-degree connections between the first user and the second user transgresses the threshold number of first-degree connections (Fu para. [0027], the social correlation could be determined by comparing the user social network profile of the user to user profiles of friends to determine a number of friends the user has in common with each of the friends and if the number of friends in common is greater than a threshold, determining that the friend has a high social correlation with the user).
Similar rationale in claim 1 is applied.
Zadeh does not explicitly disclose:
in response to the first user not sharing location information, cause to be displayed on a screen of the first user system, a user interface item for the first user to share location information.
Rusu teaches:
in response to the first user not sharing location information, cause to be displayed on a screen of the first user system, a user interface item for the first user to share location information (Rusu fig. 4&6 and col. 11 lines 23-26, At 609, a recommendation to enable location sharing is provided to the device associated with the user. The recommendation 169 may be for the device to ask the user if they would like to enable location sharing).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Zadeh in view of Rusu in order to incorporate causing to be displayed on a screen of the first user system, a user interface item for the first user to share location information in response to the first user not sharing location information.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of enabling the user and others to view their proximities (see Rusu Fig. 5).
As per claim 16, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 11, as set forth above, Zadeh-Fu also discloses wherein the user is a first user (Zadeh para. [0011], With respect to a selected other user who is not a friend of the selected user), the user system is a first user system (Zadeh fig. 3, user system 310), the location is a first location (Zadeh para. [0039], location information, including the GPS coordinates of the user or the user's device, may be received on a regularly repeating basis whenever such information is available), and wherein the operations further comprise:
determine that the first user is within the threshold distance of a second location of a second user system (Zadeh para. [0060], Other users within the selected user's maximum distance or within a base or other maximum distance from a nearby public meeting space that is within the user's maximum distance are identified 226. In one embodiment, location information received for the user and for other users may be used to identify other users within such distance thresholds) and that there are at least the threshold number of connections between the first user and the second user (Fu para. [0027], the social correlation could be determined by comparing the user social network profile of the user to user profiles of friends to determine a number of friends the user has in common with each of the friends and if the number of friends in common is greater than a threshold, determining that the friend has a high social correlation with the user).
Similar rationale in claim 1 is applied.
Zadeh does not explicitly disclose:
in response to the first user not sharing location information, cause to be displayed on a screen of the first user system, a user interface item for the first user to share location information.
Rusu teaches:
in response to the first user not sharing location information, cause to be displayed on a screen of the first user system, a user interface item for the first user to share location information (Rusu fig. 4&6 and col. 11 lines 23-26, At 609, a recommendation to enable location sharing is provided to the device associated with the user. The recommendation 169 may be for the device to ask the user if they would like to enable location sharing).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Zadeh in view of Rusu in order to incorporate causing to be displayed on a screen of the first user system, a user interface item for the first user to share location information in response to the first user not sharing location information.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of enabling the user and others to view their proximities (see Rusu Fig. 5).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zadeh et al. (US 2013/0145288, Pub. Date: Jun. 6, 2013), in view of Fu et al. (US 2019/0149630 Pub. Date: May 16, 2019), in view of Moscaritolo (NPL: Facebook Launches 'Nearby Friends' on IOS, Android, Pub. Date: Apr. 17, 2014), in view of Snavely et al. (US 2010/0299060, Pub. Date: Nov. 25, 2010).
As per claim 8, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the device according to claim 1, as set forth above, Zadeh does not explicitly disclose wherein the operations further comprise:
determining based on the location of the user system whether the user system is within a restricted location; and
in response to the user system being within the restricted location, turning off sharing location information.
Snavely teaches:
determining based on the location of the user system (Snavely para. [0019], method 300 may advance to stage 320 where computing device 400 may receive information about the user. For example, cellular telephone 220 may receive a current location from a GPS component of cellular telephone 220) whether the user system is within a restricted location (Snavely para. [0020], Once computing device 400 receives the user information in stage 320, method 300 may continue to stage 330 where computing device 400 may determine whether to share the information according to the rule; Snavely para. [0018], The rule may comprise, for example, a parameter restricting sharing of the user's information according to a time duration, a distance and/or proximity to another user, and/or a distance and/or proximity to another location); and
in response to the user system being within the restricted location, turning off sharing location information (Snavely para. [0021], If, at stage 330, computing device 400 determines that the information should not be shared, method 300 may end at stage 365; Snavely para. [0028], rules may be created that restrict sharing of a user's location if the user is within a certain proximity of another user and/or another location … The rule may disable sharing of the attendee's location if they are in proximity to certain other locations, such as a restroom).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Zadeh in view of Snavely for determining based on the location of the user system whether the user system is within a restricted location; and in response to the user system being within the restricted location, turning off sharing location information.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of providing privacy options for user in sharing location.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zadeh et al. (US 2013/0145288, Pub. Date: Jun. 6, 2013), in view of Fu et al. (US 2019/0149630 Pub. Date: May 16, 2019), in view of Moscaritolo (NPL: Facebook Launches 'Nearby Friends' on IOS, Android, Pub. Date: Apr. 17, 2014), in view of Zhang et al. (US 2019/0095868, Pub. Date: Mar. 28, 2019).
As per claim 10, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the device according to claim 1, as set forth above, Zadeh does not explicitly disclose wherein the computing device is the user system.
Zhang teaches:
the computing device is the user system (Zhang fig. 2, Platform Server 206 and Sending Client 202-1 and para. [0073], FIGS. 3A-4 depict exemplary logic for carrying out the interactions described above. Although these figures describe exemplary operations as being performed on a server device, it is understood that any of the described steps may be performed on either the client or the server, as appropriate).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Zadeh in view of Zhang for the computing device is the user system.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of flexibility in implementing system.
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zadeh et al. (US 2013/0145288, Pub. Date: Jun. 6, 2013), in view of Fu et al. (US 2019/0149630 Pub. Date: May 16, 2019), in view of Moscaritolo (NPL: Facebook Launches 'Nearby Friends' on IOS, Android, Pub. Date: Apr. 17, 2014), in view of Jagadish et al. (US 2009/0271370, Pub. Date: Oct. 29, 2009), in view of Char et al. (US 12,315,085, Filed: Mar. 27, 2023).
As per claim 22, Zadeh-Fu-Moscaritolo discloses the device according to claim 1, as set forth above, Fu-Moscaritolo also discloses wherein a minimum threshold number of first- degree connections is set by the interaction platform (Fu para. [0026], the method could define friends with "high social correlation" as being those people listed as friends of the user who have at least five friends in common [minimum threshold number of first-degree connections] with the user. [Implicitly the minimum threshold number of first-degree connections [e.g., five friends in common] is set by system in order to define friends with "high social correlation"), and wherein the determining is performed only when both the user and the other users have activated location sharing within the interaction platform (Moscaritolo pg. 2, Location sharing with Nearby Friends is a two-way street, meaning someone will only see that you're nearby if you share this information with them, and vice versa, Vaccari said. “You and your friends both have to turn on Nearby Friends and choose to share with each other to see when you're nearby,"),
wherein the determining is performed only when both the user and the other users have activated location sharing within the interaction platform (Moscaritolo pg. 2, Location sharing with Nearby Friends is a two-way street, meaning someone will only see that you're nearby if you share this information with them, and vice versa, Vaccari said. “You and your friends both have to turn on Nearby Friends and choose to share with each other to see when you're nearby,"), and
wherein the determining of the list of other users is symmetric such that if the user appears on a nearby users list of a second user, then the second user appears on the nearby users list of the user (Moscaritolo pg. 2, Location sharing with Nearby Friends is a two-way street, meaning someone will only see that you're nearby if you share this information with them, and vice versa, Vaccari said. "You and your friends both have to turn on Nearby Friends and choose to share with each other to see when you're nearby," … The new feature can also help you easily share your exact location with friends, if you want. You can, for instance, share your particular location with a certain friend for a set period of time, like for the next hour. When you take advantage of this option, your friend will see exactly where you are on a map, so you can easily locate each other).
Similar rationale in claim 1 is applied.
Zadeh does not explicitly disclose:
wherein determining whether other users transgress the threshold number of connections with the user is based on a number of common friends and an activity level between the user and the common friends, wherein the threshold number of connections is determined based on an age of the user.
Jagadish teaches:
determining whether other users transgress the threshold number of connections with the user is based on a number of common friends (Jagadish fig. 5, block 503&508 and para. [0115], At block 503, the list of candidate friends may be ordered based on a most common friend of friends) and an activity level between the user and the common friends (Jagadish fig. 7, 700B and para. [0077], contact A includes within a contact list, contacts B-E, while contact B includes at least contacts F-G; contact C includes at least H-I; contact D includes at least contact F; and contact E includes at least H; Jagadish fig. 7, 700B and para. [0081], edges of the friends graph can be weighted by a normalized score of an amount of interactions [activity level] between users and its friends, or by virtually any other criteria. Then, in one embodiment, the diffusion model can be applied to this graph where the energy is disseminated relative to the strength (edge weights) between users; Jagadish fig. 5, block 503&508 and para. [0118], At block 508, the list of ordered candidates may be further trimmed by inhibiting a display of those candidates that fall below the minimum threshold … for graph 700B, with the threshold at 0.1, all of contacts H, G, F, and contact I would be displayed to the requesting user).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Zadeh in view of Jagadish for determining whether other users transgress the threshold number of connections with the user is based on a number of common friends and an activity level between the user and the common friends.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of inclusion of a candidate friend based on minimum threshold (see Jagadish para. [0103]).
Zadeh-Jagadish does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the threshold number of connections is determined based on an age of the user.
Char teaches:
threshold number is determined based on an age of the user (Char col. 8 lines 30-32, the user-specific suggestion criteria include a respective age threshold (e.g., the user 115 and a suggested user are within a predetermined age range (e.g., within 2 years, 5 years, 10 years))).
It would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to further modify Zadeh in view of Char for the threshold number of first-degree connections is determined based on an age of the user.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motived because it offers the advantage of identifying other users that are compatible with the user.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
He et al. (US20100191844) Cluster-based friend suggestion aggregator;
Juan et al. (US20120271722) Top Friend Prediction for Users in a Social Networking System;
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/VINH NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2453
/KAMAL B DIVECHA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2453