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 action is in response to the claims filed 10/10/2025. Claims 2-19 are pending. Claims 2 (a machine), 8 (a method), and 14 (a non-transitory CRM) are independent.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 11, filed 10/10/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 2, 6-8, 12-14, 18 and 19 under Yin et al., US 8,898,751 (filed 2011-10), in view of Boutin “How to Make Phone Calls From Inside Gmail” (published 2010) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Boutin does not explicitly disclose GUI layout. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Yin et al., US 8,898,751 (filed 2011-10), in view of Gmail or Skype (as seen in YouTube videos posted by Perreault – “Chatting within Gmail” and Skype – “How to make a Skype to Skype video Call”, respectively).
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.
Claim(s) 2, 6-8, 12-14, and 18-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yin et al., US 8,898,751 (filed 2011-10), in view of Gmail or Skype (as seen in YouTube videos posted by Perreault – “Chatting within Gmail” and Skype – “How to make a Skype to Skype video Call”, Published 2012 and 2011 respectively).
As to claims 2, 8, and 14, Yin discloses a machine/method/CRM comprising:
A communication system connected, via a network, to a first terminal and a second terminal, the communication system providing a text chat service and a video conference service, the communication system comprising:
circuitry configured to:
in response to receiving a first request from the first terminal via the network, send, to the first terminal, an instruction to cause the first terminal to display a login screen displaying at least a button to login using an ID issued by an external system; (see Yin Fig. 3)
receive, from the first terminal via the network, a second request to perform a login using the ID issued by the external system, the second request being sent from the first terminal in response to the button displayed on the login screen being selected by a user; (“GUI 300 further includes a user selectable option 302 that may be selected by the user to indicate that the user wants to use a third-party authentication service to authenticate to the service provided by service provider subsystem 102.” Yin col. 6, Ln. 33)
in response to receiving the second request, cause the first terminal to redirect to a login page of the external system, (“this may be performed by service provider subsystem 102 generating and sending a redirect uniform resource locator ("URL") to user device subsystem 104 that is configured to direct user device subsystem 104 to send a request for a login page to third-party subsystem 108.” Yin col. 6, ln. 53) so that the user can input authentication information in order to login to the external system; (see Yin Fig. 5)
receive a third request from the first terminal via the network, the third request being sent in response to the authentication information input on the login page of the external system being authenticated by the external system; (“may transmit data representative of the login credentials entered by the user to third-party subsystem 108. Third-party subsystem 108 may use the login credentials, which are specific to the user and to third-party subsystem 108, to authenticate the user to the third-party authentication service provided by third-party subsystem 108.” Yin col. 7, ln. 8)
acquire, from the external system via the network, user profile information registered at the external system; (“may include an option configured to be selected by the user to grant third-party subsystem 108 permission to share information about the user (e.g., a unique user identifier associated with the user and maintained by third-party subsystem 108) with service provider subsystem 102. For example, FIG. 5” Yin col. 7, ln. 16)
send notification information indicating that login to the communication system was successful to the first device; (“FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary GUI 400 that may be provided by service provider subsystem 102 and displayed by user device subsystem 104 after the user has logged in to and been authenticated by service provider subsystem 102.” Yin col. 6, ln. 37)
after the notification information is sent and in response to receiving a fourth request (“FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary GUI 400 that may be provided by service provider subsystem 102 and displayed by user device subsystem 104 after the user has logged in to and been authenticated by service provider subsystem 102.” Yin col. 6, ln. 37)
Yin does not disclose:
request to start text communication from the first terminal, provide the text communication between the first terminal and the second terminal;
after the text chat communication between the first terminal and the second terminal is started, receive a fifth request for video communication from the first terminal via the network, the fifth request being sent from the first terminal in response to receiving a user operation on a text chat communication screen displayed by the first terminal during the text chat communication that has been started based on the fourth request, wherein the text chat communication screen includes a button to start the video communication; and
in response to receiving the fifth request for the video communication, start video communication between the first terminal and the second terminal.
Gmail and Skype disclose:
request to start text communication from the first terminal, provide the text communication between the first terminal and the second terminal;
after the text chat communication between the first terminal and the second terminal is started, receive a fifth request for video communication from the first terminal via the network, the fifth request being sent from the first terminal in response to receiving a user operation on a text chat communication screen displayed by the first terminal during the text chat communication that has been started based on the fourth request, wherein the text chat communication screen includes a button to start the video communication; and
in response to receiving the fifth request for the video communication, start video communication between the first terminal and the second terminal.
Google:
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Gmail @ 22 seconds, selecting a text chat with James Whitehouse.
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Gmail @ 1:52 seconds, illustrating a video call button within the chat window.
Skype:
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Skype @ 4 seconds, selecting a text chat with Charlie Kent.
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Skype @ 5 seconds, illustrating a video call button within the chat window.
A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have combined Yin with Gmail or Skype by providing a combined messaging service including video and text, that can be authenticated to using an identity provider (e.g. Yin). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Yin and Gmail or Skype in order to provide a convenient unified messaging system that allows user’s to authenticate with an identity provider for convenience and ease of use.
As to claims 6, 12, and 18 Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) discloses a machine/method/CRM of claims 2, 8, and 14 and further discloses:
wherein the first terminal is a smartphone. (“Examples of such user devices include, without limitation, a personal computer, a mobile phone device, a tablet computer, and any other computing device or combination of computing devices configured to access a service provided by service provider subsystem 102.” Yin Col. 3, ln. 8)
As to claims 7, 13, and 19 Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) discloses a machine/method/CRM of claims 2, 8, and 14 and further discloses:
wherein the first terminal is a tablet. (“Examples of such user devices include, without limitation, a personal computer, a mobile phone device, a tablet computer, and any other computing device or combination of computing devices configured to access a service provided by service provider subsystem 102.” Yin Col. 3, ln. 8).
As to claims 20 Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) discloses a machine/method/CRM of claims 2, 8, and 14 and further discloses:
wherein the text chat communication screen also includes a text chat available user display field on an edge of the text chat communication screen.
(see Gmail @ 22 seconds and Skype @ 4 seconds, the Green icon (circle or Skype branded mark) indicating that the respective user is online and available. This is a presence indicator common in the art.)
As to claims 21 Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) discloses a machine/method/CRM of claims 2, 8, and 14 and further discloses:
wherein the text chat communication screen also includes a name of a text chat partner next to the button to start the video communication.
(see Gmail @ 1:52 seconds and Skype @ 5 seconds, mouse cursor hovering over the video call button; which is itself next to the username within the text chat GUI box.)
Claim(s) 3-5, 9-11, and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yin et al., US 8,898,751 (filed 2011-10), in view of Gmail or Skype (as seen in YouTube videos posted by Perreault – “Chatting within Gmail” and Skype – “How to make a Skype to Skype video Call”, respectively), and Hoy et al., US 2015/0128242 (filed 2013-11).
As to claims 3, 9, and 15 Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) discloses a machine/method/CRM of claims 2, 8, and 14 and further discloses:
in response to receiving the third request, acquire an access token from the external system; and (“Third-party subsystem 108 may then identify and send an OpenID for the user to service provider subsystem 102 in step 1112.” Yin Col. 11, ln. 49)
Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) does not explicitly disclose:
acquire the user profile information from the external system using the access token that was acquired.
Hoy discloses:
acquire the user profile information from the external system using the access token that was acquired.
(“The use of OAuth is shown in FIG. 3” Hoy ¶ 41. “step 5, by which the browser makes a request to the service provider 304 to authorize the request token…. The protected resources are then returned from the service provider to the printing site at step 11 because the printing site has established that is has permission to read the user's photos.” Hoy ¶ 42).
A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have combined Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) with Hoy by incorporating an OAuth token to authorize and request user data. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) with Hoy in order to link account information between providers for providing services using data and services from both providers, e.g. Hoy ¶ 6 and fig. 3.
As to claims 4, 10, and 16, Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) and Hoy discloses a machine/method/CRM of claims 3, 9, and 15 and further discloses:
wherein a process of acquiring the user profile information using the acquired access token complies with OAuth 2.0.
As to claims 5, 11, and 17 Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) discloses a machine/method/CRM of claims 2, 8, and 14 but does not disclose:
wherein the circuitry is further configured to: in response to receiving the third request, acquire an access token from the external system.
Hoy discloses:
wherein the circuitry is further configured to: in response to receiving the third request, acquire an access token from the external system.
(“The use of OAuth is shown in FIG. 3” Hoy ¶ 41. “step 5, by which the browser makes a request to the service provider 304 to authorize the request token…. The protected resources are then returned from the service provider to the printing site at step 11 because the printing site has established that is has permission to read the user's photos.” Hoy ¶ 42).
A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have combined Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) with Hoy by incorporating an OAuth token to authorize and request user data. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Yin in view of (Gmail or Skype) with Hoy in order to link account information between providers for providing services using data and services from both providers, e.g. Hoy ¶ 6 and fig. 3.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL W CHAO whose telephone number is (571)272-5165. The examiner can normally be reached M, W-F 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rupal Dharia can be reached at (571) 272-3880. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL W CHAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2492