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 action is in response to a restriction requirement that was mailed March 2, 2026. An election was made without traverse, April 30, 2026, electing examination of group I, consisting of claims 1-3. Group II, consisting of claims 4-8 was NOT elected, and have been cancelled. Claims 9-21 have been newly added to Group I. Claims 1-3 and 9-21 are now pending in this application.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 14-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chakravarthy et al. (US 2018/0129648 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Chakravarthy discloses a method of interacting with a student via an automated assistant (Abstract), the method comprising:
receiving, via an interface of an email system, a query from the student, the query being in a first form compatible with the email system ([0054], user uses text messaging or client side application to compose a query);
providing, via the interface of the email system, a response to the query, the response being in the first form ([0058], automated assistant receives query and generate a response to user’s query);
automatically transforming the response in the first form to a second form compatible with a chat system ([0072], automated assistant can service user queries using chatbot from a messaging platform); and
transmitting, via the chat system, the response to the student in the second form ([0072], automated assistant can service user queries using chatbot from a messaging platform; response to message queries are returned in a chatbot format).
With respect to claim 2, Chakravarthy discloses the method of claim 1, wherein providing the response to the query further comprises:
generating, via a processor, a plurality of possible responses to the query from the student using natural language processing ([0040]);
receiving, via the email system, the plurality of possible responses to the query from the student from the processor ([0040]); and
selecting receiving, via the interface of the email system, a selection by an administrator of the response from among the plurality of possible responses ([0040]).
With respect to claim 3, Chakravarthy discloses the method of claim 1, wherein automatically transforming the response in the first form comprises:
generating a mailto link addressed to the chat system ([0041]); and
presenting the mailto link to an administrator for responding to the query from the student ([0041]).
With respect to claim 14, Chakravarthy discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the query from the student relates to financial aid ([0036]).
With respect to claim 15, Chakravarthy discloses the method of claim 2, wherein providing the response to the query further comprises:
assigning a confidence value to each response in the plurality of possible responses to the query ([0061]),
wherein selecting, via the interface of the email system, the response from among the plurality of possible responses is based on the confidence values ([0061]).
With respect to claim 16, Chakravarthy discloses the method of claim 2, wherein providing the response to the query further comprises:
receiving, from the administrator, a revision to the response ([0065]).
With respect to claim 17, Chakravarthy discloses the method of claim 16, further comprising:
updating the natural language processing executed by the processor based on the revision to the response ([0065]).
With respect to claim 18, Chakravarthy discloses the method of claim 16, wherein providing the response to the query further comprises:
adding, by the administrator, the query from the student and the response to a knowledge base ([0061]).
With respect to claim 19, Chakravarthy discloses the method of claim 2, further comprising:
providing a log of interactions between the chat student and the student to the administrator ([0066]).
With respect to claim 20, Chakravarthy discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the query from the student arrives via short message service (SMS) ([0029]).
With respect to claim 21, Chakravarthy discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the query from the student arrives via a social media account ([0035]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 9-13 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ESTHER B. HENDERSON whose telephone number is (571)270-3807. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6a-2p ET.
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/ESTHER B. HENDERSON/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458 July 10, 2026
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