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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 19 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 19, line 14, “in an order different from the” is an incomplete statement/sentence.
Appropriate correction is required.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/22/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Gruber does not disclose reordering a series of outputs based on domains and/or categorization relative to the order in which corresponding inputs are received (Amendment, pages 9 – 11).
The examiner disagrees, since Gruber et al. disclose “nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. The actionable intent nodes related to travel can include “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,” and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain (e.g., the “travel” super domain) can have many property nodes in common. For example, the actionable intent nodes for “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” and “find points of interest” can share one or more of the property nodes “start location,” “destination,” “departure date/time,” “arrival date/time,” and “party size.”” (nodes hierarchy is an ordered structure; paragraph 228).
Applicant’s arguments, see page 9, filed 01/22/26, with respect to claims 1 – 19 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 1 – 19 under 35 U.S.C 101 has been withdrawn.
Applicant argue that the specific recital of structure, the transformative operations performed on the inputs received, and the control of the claimed device to output a specific result based on said transformative operations, all combine to implement the alleged abstract ideas into a practical application (Amendment, page 9).
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 – 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gruber et al. (US PAP 2018/0350353).
As per claim 1, Gruber et al., teach an electronic device comprising:
an input device comprising at least one of a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard, a button, a digital pen, or a touch screen (paragraph 54);
an output device comprising at least one of a speaker or a display (paragraph 54);
at least one processor; and a-memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to (“The one or more processors 220 run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in memory 202 to perform various functions for device 200 and to process data.”; paragraph 52):
receive a user input through the input device, the user input comprising a plurality of components received in an order; (“Speech input can be received from a user”; Abstract; paragraphs 226 - 228);
generate a plurality of text inputs corresponding to the plurality of components; extract a first intent, a second intent, and a third intent from the plurality of text inputs in an order that is the same as the order in which the plurality of components are received (“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760…a first intent associated with the first candidate substring and a second intent associated with the second candidate substring can be determined.”; paragraphs 226 – 228; 264 – 266, 271);
extract a plurality of domains from the plurality of text inputs; retrieve response information; generate, based on the response information, a plurality of responses comprising a first response corresponding to the first intent, a second response corresponding to the second intent, and a third response corresponding to the third intent (“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. The actionable intent nodes related to travel can include “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,” and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain (e.g., the “travel” super domain) can have many property nodes in common.”; paragraphs 226 – 228); and
output the plurality of responses, through the output device, by arranging the plurality of responses in an order different from the order in which the plurality of components are received based on respective domains, from among the plurality of domains, of the first intent, the second intent, and the third intent (“A text string can be generated based on the speech input using a speech transcription process. The text string can be parsed into multiple candidate substrings. Probabilities can be determined for each of the candidate substrings indicating whether they are likely to correspond to actionable commands. In response to the probabilities exceeding a threshold, user intents can be determined for each of the candidate substrings. Processes associated with the user intents can then be executed. An acknowledgment can also be provided to the user associated with the various user intents… An actionable intent node, along with its linked concept nodes, can be described as a “domain.” In the present discussion, each domain can be associated with a respective actionable intent, and refers to the group of nodes (and the relationships there between) associated with the particular actionable intent… nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760.”; paragraphs 6 – 9; 225 – 233).
As per claim 2, Gruber et al., further disclose the instructions further cause the electronic device to: group the first response and the third response into a first group and group the second response into a second group by determining whether the domains of the first intent, the second intent, and the third intent are comprised in a first domain list or a second domain list, and wherein the first domain list comprises one or more domains for rearranging an output order of responses, and wherein the second domain list comprises one or more domains for preventing an output order of responses from being rearranged (“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. The actionable intent nodes related to travel can include “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,” and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain (e.g., the “travel” super domain) can have many property nodes in common. For example, the actionable intent nodes for “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” and “find points of interest” can share one or more of the property nodes “start location,” “destination,” “departure date/time,” “arrival date/time,” and “party size.””; paragraphs 226 -228).
As per claim 3, Gruber et al., further disclose the instructions further cause the electronic device to: rearrange an order of the first response and the third response in the first group based on a priority (“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. …the probabilities can be used to select the parse and its associated substrings that may be most likely to accurately reflect the user's intention (e.g., accurately split up a single utterance into distinct actionable commands)”; paragraphs 226 -228, 250 - 252).
As per claim 4, Gruber et al., further disclose the first domain list or the second domain list is based on a usage history of a user, a user response preference, or an attribute of a domain or an association among domains (“The various processes discussed herein can also be modified in various other ways according to user preferences, contacts, text, usage history, profile data, demographics, or the like. In addition, such preferences and settings can be updated over time based on user interactions (e.g., frequently uttered commands, frequently selected applications, etc.).”; paragraphs 226 – 228, 297).
As per claim 5, Gruber et al., further disclose the instructions cause the electronic device to consecutively output the first response and the third response, and output the second response later than a pair of the first response and the third response that are consecutively output (“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. …the probabilities can be used to select the parse and its associated substrings that may be most likely to accurately reflect the user's intention (e.g., accurately split up a single utterance into distinct actionable commands)”; paragraphs 226 -230, 250 - 252).
As per claim 6, Gruber et al., further disclose only the domain of the first intent and the domain of the third intent correspond to a domain for rearranging an output order of responses (“Ontology 760 can be a hierarchical structure containing many nodes, each node representing either an “actionable intent” or a “property” relevant to one or more of the “actionable intents” or other “properties.” As noted above, an “actionable intent” can represent a task that the digital assistant is capable of performing, i.e., it is “actionable” or can be acted on…nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel.”; paragraphs 135 – 137, 222 - 230).
As per claim 7, Gruber et al., further disclose the domain of the first intent and the domain of the third intent are different from the domain of the second intent, and wherein the domain of the first intent and the domain of the third intent are different or same(“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. The actionable intent nodes related to travel can include “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,” and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain (e.g., the “travel” super domain) can have many property nodes in common. For example, the actionable intent nodes for “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” and “find points of interest” can share one or more of the property nodes “start location,” “destination,” “departure date/time,” “arrival date/time,” and “party size.””; paragraphs 226 -228, 250 -252).
As per claim 8, Gruber et al., further disclose the third response is output prior to the first response based on a priority (paragraphs 135 – 137, 222 - 230).
As per claim 9, Gruber et al., further disclose the priority is determined on an intent-by-intent or domain-by-domain basis (paragraphs 135 – 137, 222 - 230).
As per claims 10, Gruber et al., teach an electronic device comprising:
an input device comprising at least one of a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard, a button, a digital pen, or a touch screen (paragraph 54);
an output device comprising at least one of a speaker or a display (paragraph 54);
at least one processor; and a-memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to (“The one or more processors 220 run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in memory 202 to perform various functions for device 200 and to process data.”; paragraph 52):
receive a user input through the input device, the user input comprising a plurality of components received in an order; (“Speech input can be received from a user”; Abstract; paragraphs 226 - 228);
generate a plurality of text inputs corresponding to the plurality of components; extract a first intent, a second intent, and a third intent from the plurality of text inputs in an order that is the same as the order in which the plurality of components are received (“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760…a first intent associated with the first candidate substring and a second intent associated with the second candidate substring can be determined.”; paragraphs 226 – 228; 264 – 266, 271);
extract a plurality of domains from the plurality of text inputs; retrieve response information; generate, based on the response information, a plurality of responses comprising a first response corresponding to the first intent, a second response corresponding to the second intent, and a third response corresponding to the third intent (“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. The actionable intent nodes related to travel can include “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,” and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain (e.g., the “travel” super domain) can have many property nodes in common.”; paragraphs 226 – 228); and
group the plurality of domains based on domain information for arranging an output order of responses;
arrange an order of the plurality of responses based on the grouped domains; and output the plurality of responses, through the output device, based on the arranged order of the plurality of responses (“A text string can be generated based on the speech input using a speech transcription process. The text string can be parsed into multiple candidate substrings. Probabilities can be determined for each of the candidate substrings indicating whether they are likely to correspond to actionable commands. In response to the probabilities exceeding a threshold, user intents can be determined for each of the candidate substrings. Processes associated with the user intents can then be executed. An acknowledgment can also be provided to the user associated with the various user intents… An actionable intent node, along with its linked concept nodes, can be described as a “domain.” In the present discussion, each domain can be associated with a respective actionable intent, and refers to the group of nodes (and the relationships there between) associated with the particular actionable intent… nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760.”; paragraphs 6 – 9; 225 – 233).
As per claim 11, Gruber et al., further disclose the domain information comprises:
a first domain list for rearranging an output order of responses; a second domain list for preventing an output order of responses from being rearranged; and a priority (“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. The actionable intent nodes related to travel can include “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,” and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain (e.g., the “travel” super domain) can have many property nodes in common. For example, the actionable intent nodes for “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” and “find points of interest” can share one or more of the property nodes “start location,” “destination,” “departure date/time,” “arrival date/time,” and “party size.””; paragraphs 226 -228).
As per claim 12, Gruber et al., further disclose the first domain list or the second domain list is based on a usage history of a user, a user response preference, or an attribute of a domain or an association among domains (“The various processes discussed herein can also be modified in various other ways according to user preferences, contacts, text, usage history, profile data, demographics, or the like. In addition, such preferences and settings can be updated over time based on user interactions (e.g., frequently uttered commands, frequently selected applications, etc.).”; paragraphs 226 – 228, 297).
As per claim 13, Gruber et al., further disclose the priority is determined on an
intent-by-intent or domain-by-domain basis (paragraphs 135 – 137, 222 - 230).
As per claim 14, Gruber et al., further disclose group the first response and the third response into a first group and group the second response into a second group by determining whether domains of the first intent, the second intent, and the third intent are comprised in the first domain list or the second domain list (“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. The actionable intent nodes related to travel can include “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” “find points of interest,” and so on. The actionable intent nodes under the same super domain (e.g., the “travel” super domain) can have many property nodes in common. For example, the actionable intent nodes for “airline reservation,” “hotel reservation,” “car rental,” “get directions,” and “find points of interest” can share one or more of the property nodes “start location,” “destination,” “departure date/time,” “arrival date/time,” and “party size.””; paragraphs 226 -228).
As per claim 15, Gruber et al., further disclose the instructions further cause the electronic device to: rearrange an order of the first response and the third response in the first group based on the priority(“nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. …the probabilities can be used to select the parse and its associated substrings that may be most likely to accurately reflect the user's intention (e.g., accurately split up a single utterance into distinct actionable commands)”; paragraphs 226 -228, 250 - 252).
As per claim 16, Gruber et al., further disclose only the domain of the first intent and the domain of the third intent correspond to a domain for rearranging an output order of responses (“Ontology 760 can be a hierarchical structure containing many nodes, each node representing either an “actionable intent” or a “property” relevant to one or more of the “actionable intents” or other “properties.” As noted above, an “actionable intent” can represent a task that the digital assistant is capable of performing, i.e., it is “actionable” or can be acted on…nodes associated with multiple related actionable intents can be clustered under a “super domain” in ontology 760. For example, a “travel” super-domain can include a cluster of property nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel.”; paragraphs 135 – 137, 222 - 230).
As per claim 17, Gruber et al., further disclose outputting the second group later than the first group (paragraphs 135 – 137, 222 - 230).
As per claim 18, Gruber et al., further disclose output the third response prior to the first response based on the priority (paragraphs 135 – 137, 222 - 230).
As per claim 19, Gruber et al., teach a method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising:
receiving a user input through an input device of the electronic device, wherein the input device comprises at least one of a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard, a button, a digital pen, or a touch screen, and wherein the user input comprises a plurality of components received in an order (“Speech input can be received from a user”; Abstract, paragraph 54);
generating a plurality of text inputs corresponding to the plurality of components; extracting a plurality of intents from the plurality of text inputs in an order that is the same as the order in which the plurality of components are received (“a first intent associated with the first candidate substring and a second intent associated with the second candidate substring can be determined… user speech 920 can be parsed into two substrings: first candidate substring 922 and second candidate substring 924. Such parsing can be done in a variety of ways. For example, domain keywords can be identified in the text string, and the string can be parsed based on their location.”; paragraphs 264 – 266, 248, 271); and
retrieving response information; generating, based on the response information, a plurality of responses corresponding to the plurality of intents; and outputting, through an output device of the electronic device, the plurality of responses in an order different from the order in which the plurality of components are received, wherein the output device comprises at least one or a speaker or a display (“A text string can be generated based on the speech input using a speech transcription process. The text string can be parsed into multiple candidate substrings. Probabilities can be determined for each of the candidate substrings indicating whether they are likely to correspond to actionable commands. In response to the probabilities exceeding a threshold, user intents can be determined for each of the candidate substrings. Processes associated with the user intents can then be executed. An acknowledgment can also be provided to the user associated with the various user intents… An actionable intent node, along with its linked concept nodes, can be described as a “domain.” In the present discussion, each domain can be associated with a respective actionable intent, and refers to the group of nodes (and the relationships there between) associated with the particular actionable intent.”; paragraphs 6 – 9; 54, 225 – 233).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/LEONARD SAINT-CYR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2658
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