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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed on March 25th, 2024; January 12th, 2025; May 25th, 2025; and August 27th, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 5, 12 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 5, 12 and 19 recite “wherein the state of the interaction prior to receipt of the interaction includes previous interaction input by the account device prior to the interaction from the account device.” The respective independent claims establish an “interaction” comprising an “interaction data,” but the dependent claims do not clearly indicate which element should precede the other.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claims recite a mental process that may be performed in the human mind or with the aid of pen and paper. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the recited generic computer elements do not add a meaningful limitation to the practice of the abstract idea, and describe applying the mental process with a computer. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because no element of the claims would preclude their performance as mental process.
Regarding claim 1, the claim recites “An apparatus comprising:a memory; anda processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to:execute an interaction between an account device about a first topic of interest and a chatbot within a chat element, wherein the interaction comprises an exchange of content between the account device and the chatbot within the chat element,receive an interaction data from the account device within the chat element,determine that the interaction data is a second topic of interest based on an execution of an artificial intelligence model on the interaction data and the first topic of interest,generate a chatbot response to the interaction data based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model on a state of the interaction prior to receipt of the interaction data, andoutput the chatbot response within the chat element.”The limitations of “execute an interaction…” “receive an interaction data…” “determine that the interaction data is of a second topic…” and “generate a chatbot response…” as drafted cover mental activities which can be performed in the mind or with the aid of pen and paper. Taken individually, or as a whole, these limitations describe acts which are equivalent to human mental work of carrying a conversation with varying subjects.The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the steps of the claimed invention can be performed mentally, and no additional features in the claims would preclude them from being performed as such. Accordingly, the claim is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim is not patent eligible.
Regarding claim 2, the claim depends from claim 1, and thus recites the limitations of claim 1, “wherein the processor is configured to generate the chatbot response with the content which attempts to guide the interaction back to the first topic of interest based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model.”Taken individually, or as a whole with claim 1, these limitations describe acts which are equivalent to human mental work of carrying a conversation with a preferred subject. Accordingly, the claim is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim is not patent eligible.
Regarding claim 3, the claim depends from claim 1, and thus recites the limitations of claim 1, “wherein the processor is further configured to determine the second topic of interest based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model on a first portion of the content exchanged between the account device and the chatbot at a start of the interaction within the chat element and store the second topic of interest within the memory.”Taken individually, or as a whole with claim 1, these limitations describe acts which are equivalent to human mental work of carrying a conversation and remembering previous exchanges. Accordingly, the claim is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim is not patent eligible.
Regarding claim 4, the claim depends from claim 1, and thus recites the limitations of claim 1, “wherein the processor is further configured to determine a topic of the interaction based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model and compare the topic of the interaction to the second topic of interest to determine that the interaction is unrelated to the second topic of interest.”Taken individually, or as a whole with claim 1, these limitations describe acts which are equivalent to human mental work of carrying a conversation and noting subjects. Accordingly, the claim is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim is not patent eligible.
Regarding claim 5, the claim depends from claim 1, and thus recites the limitations of claim 1, “wherein the state of the interaction prior to receipt of the interaction includes previous interaction input by the account device prior to the interaction from the account device.”Taken individually, or as a whole with claim 1, these limitations describe acts which are equivalent to human mental work of carrying a conversation and remembering previous exchanges. Accordingly, the claim is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim is not patent eligible.
Regarding claim 6, the claim depends from claim 1, and thus recites the limitations of claim 1, “wherein the processor is further configured to train the artificial intelligence model based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model on previous chat interactions between the chatbot and a plurality of other account devices and topics of interest assigned to the previous chat interactions.”Taken individually, or as a whole with claim 1, these limitations describe acts which are equivalent to human mental work of carrying a conversation and remembering previous exchanges. Accordingly, the claim is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim is not patent eligible.
Regarding claim 7, the claim depends from claim 1, and thus recites the limitations of claim 1, “wherein the processor is further configured to add an identifier of the second topic of interest within the interaction after the interaction has ended, store the interaction with the identifier within the memory, and re-train the artificial intelligence model based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model on the interaction and the identifier of the second topic of interest.”Taken individually, or as a whole, these limitations describe acts which are equivalent to human mental work of carrying a conversation and learning from previous exchanges. Accordingly, the claim is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim is not patent eligible.
Regarding claims 8-14, method claims 8-14 and apparatus claims 1-7 are related as a method and apparatus of using the same, with each apparatus element’s function corresponding to the method step. Accordingly, claims 8-14 are similarly rejected under the same rationale as applied to claims 1-7.
Regarding claims 15-20, computer-readable medium claims 15-20 and apparatus claims 1-6 are related as apparatus and computer-readable medium for performing the same, with each computer-readable medium element’s step corresponding to the apparatus element. Accordingly, claims 15-20 are similarly rejected under the same rationale as applied to claims 1-6.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0300716 to Sabharwal et al. (hereinafter, "Sabharwal").
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15, Sabharwal teaches an apparatus, method and computer-readable medium configured to execute an interaction between an account device about a first topic of interest and a chatbot within a chat element, wherein the interaction comprises an exchange of content between the account device and the chatbot within the chat element (paragraph [0032], "The method 200 begins with detecting a user access to a virtual agent, at operation 202. At operation 204, the virtual agent provides a question and a set of acceptable answers (choices) to the user. The virtual agent receives the user response to the question, at operation 206."),receive an interaction data from the account device within the chat element (paragraph [0032], "The virtual agent receives the user response to the question, at operation 206."),determine that the interaction data is a second topic of interest based on an execution of an artificial intelligence model on the interaction data and the first topic of interest (paragraph [0032], "At operation 208, the virtual agent determines whether the response provided by the user is, verbatim, one of the answers provided by the virtual agent... If the virtual agent determines, at operation 212, that the response is not in the answers, the virtual agent repeats the previous question and answers and the method 200 continues at operation 206."),generate a chatbot response to the interaction data based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model on a state of the interaction prior to receipt of the interaction data (paragraph [0032], "If the virtual agent determines, at operation 210, that the problem is not defined to the point where the virtual agent may suggest a solution, the virtual agent asks the net pre-defined question based on the pre-defined dialog (the 'if-then' dialog structure), at operation 214. If the virtual agent determines, at operation 210, that the problem is defined to the point where the virtual agent may suggest a solution, the virtual agent provides the user with the solution to the problem, at operation 216."), andoutput the chatbot response within the chat element (paragraph [0031], "If the virtual agent determines, at operation 210, that the problem is defined to the point where the virtual agent may suggest a solution, the virtual agent provides the user with the solution to the problem, at operation 216.").
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Sabharwal teaches an apparatus, method and computer-readable medium wherein the processor is configured to generate the chatbot response with the content which attempts to guide the interaction back to the first topic of interest based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model (paragraph [0032], "If the virtual agent determines, at operation 212, that the response is not in the answers, the virtual agent repeats the previous question and answers and the method 200 continues at operation 206.").
Regarding claims 3, 10 and 17, Sabharwal teaches an apparatus, method and computer-readable medium wherein the processor is further configured to determine the second topic of interest based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model on a first portion of the content exchanged between the account device and the chatbot at a start of the interaction within the chat element and store the second topic of interest within the memory (paragraph [0113], "The knowledge set 1320 is applied with model training, to enable a conversation engine 1330 to operate with the conversation model 1276 (see FIG. 12). The conversation engine 1330 selects appropriate inquiries, responses, and replies for the conversation with the human user, as the conversation engine 1330 uses information on various topics stored in the knowledge graph 1370.").
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 18, Sabharwal teaches an apparatus, method and computer-readable medium wherein the processor is further configured to determine a topic of the interaction based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model and compare the topic of the interaction to the second topic of interest to determine that the interaction is unrelated to the second topic of interest (paragraph [0032[], "If the virtual agent determines, at operation 208, that the response matches, exactly, one of the answers, the virtual agent may determine whether the problem is defined to the point where the virtual agent may suggest a solution, at operation 210. If the virtual agent determines, at operation 212, that the response is not in the answers, the virtual agent repeats the previous question and answers and the method 200 continues at operation 206.").
Regarding claims 5, 12 and 19, Sabharwal teaches an apparatus, method and computer-readable medium wherein the state of the interaction prior to receipt of the interaction includes previous interaction input by the account device prior to the interaction from the account device (paragraph [0073], "Embodiments may detect whether the conversation is in an offtrack state. Embodiments may then determine, in response to a determination that the conversation is in an offtrack state, to which taxonomy of offtrack the conversation corresponds. Embodiments may then either jump to a new dialog script or bring the user back on track in the current dialog script based on the type of offtrack.").
Regarding claims 6, 13 and 20, Sabharwal teaches an apparatus, method and computer-readable medium wherein the processor is further configured to train the artificial intelligence model based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model on previous chat interactions between the chatbot and a plurality of other account devices and topics of interest assigned to the previous chat interactions (paragraph [0106], "The virtual agent online processing system 1220 may be integrated with feedback and assistance mechanisms, to address unexpected scenarios and to improve the function of the virtual agent for subsequent operations. For instance, if the conversation engine 1230 is not able to guide the human user 1210 to a particular solution, an evaluation 1238 may be performed to escalate the interaction session to a team of human agents 1240 who can provide human agent assistance 1242. The human agent assistance 1242 may be integrated with aspects of visualization 1244, such as to identify conversation workflow issues or understand how an intent is linked to a large or small number of proposed solutions. In other examples, such visualization may be used as part of offline processing and training.").
Regarding claims 7 and 14, Sabharwal teaches an apparatus, method and computer-readable medium wherein the processor is further configured to add an identifier of the second topic of interest within the interaction after the interaction has ended (paragraph [0031], "Entity understanding is important in a conversation system. Entity understanding may improve system performance from many perspectives (e.g., intent identification, slot filling, dialog strategy design, etc.). In embodiments of virtual agents discussed herein, techniques are used to extract most common types of entities, such as date, age, time, nationality, name, version, family, etc., among other entities," and paragraph [0049], "Operation 502 may include identifying entities in a user response. An entity may include a date, monetary value, year, age, person, product, family, or other thing. The entity may be identified using a regular expression or parts of speech analysis. A number, whether in a numerical symbol form (e.g., “1”, “2”, “3”, etc.) or in an alphabetic representation of the symbol (e.g., “one”, “two”, “three”, etc.) may be considered an entity, such as a monetary, age, year, or other entity."),store the interaction with the identifier within the memory (paragraph [0112], "The data in the knowledge set 1320 for a variety of associated issues or topics (sometimes called intents), such as support topics, is organized into a knowledge graph 1370 as discussed below."), andre-train the artificial intelligence model based on the execution of the artificial intelligence model on the interaction and the identifier of the second topic of interest (paragraph [0113], "The knowledge set 1320 is applied with model training, to enable a conversation engine 1330 to operate with the conversation model 1276 (see FIG. 12).").
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
China Patent 108000526 to Wei et al.
Korea Invention Application 10-2024-0007888 to Lee et al.
WIPO Publication 2024/232973 to El Hattami et al.
U.S. Patent 9,875,494 to Kalns et al.
U.S. Patent 10,861,442 to Manoharan et al.
U.S. Patent 11,593,608 to Kuo et al.
U.S. Patent 11,757,807 to Bhardwaj et al.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0007380 to Chen et al.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0382450 to Vaughn et al.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0049237 to Demme et al.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0203623 to Zhou et al.
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/SEAN THOMAS SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 2659
/PIERRE LOUIS DESIR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2659