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 statement (IDS) submitted on 02/12/2025 was filed after the mailing date of the claim on 08/20/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claims does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because at least any part of the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception of an abstract idea of (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claims 1, 9 and 15 are directed to the abstract idea for receiving campaign and goals data, applying the data to models, generating recommendations and engineered prompts, evaluating creative data, generating feedback, and updating a recommendations model based on the feedback.
These limitations collectively amount to collecting information, analyzing the information using mathematical models, generating recommendations, and iteratively refining output based on feedback, which are mental processes and methods of organizing human activity that can be performed by a human using pen and paper or by generic computing equipment.
The recited “models,” “engineered prompts,” “recommendations,” and “feedback” represent results of data analysis, not technical mechanisms. Such data analysis and content recommendation concepts have been held abstract. See, e.g., Electric Power Group, LLC v. Alstom S.A., 830 F.3d 1350 (Fed. Cir. 2016).
Accordingly, claims 1, 9 and 15 are directed to an abstract idea.
The additional elements of claims 1, 9 and 15, whether considered individually or as an ordered combination, do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
The claim merely recites a memory for storing data, a processor for executing instructions, and functionally defined modules for receiving, applying, generating, evaluating, and providing data.
These components are generic computer elements performing routine and conventional functions, such as data storage, data processing, and data transmission.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the claim does not specify any particular model architecture, define how the models are trained or updated, describe a specific data structure or algorithm, improve the functioning of the computer itself, or
provide a technological improvement to content generation systems.
The recitation of “dynamically updating the recommendations model” is stated at a high level of generality and merely reflects the abstract idea of feedback-based refinement implemented on a generic computer.
Thus, taken alone, the additional elements do not amount to significantly more than the above identified judicial exception (the abstract idea). Looking at the claims limitations as whole adds nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually. There is no indication that the combination of elements improve the functioning of a computer or improve any other technology. Their collective function merely provide conventional computer implementation.
As to claims 2-8, 10-14 and 16-20, do not transform the character of the claims as a whole nor recite anything beyond routine computer functions necessary to perform the abstract idea. Therefore, claims 2-8, 10-14 and 16-20 are rejected with same analysis as the rejection of claims 1, 9 and 15.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “ goals and objectives module”, “recommendations module”, “creations module” in claims 1 and 15; “posting module” in claim 4; “onboarding module” in claim 5; “acquisition module” in claim 6; “acquisition module” and “preprocessing module” in claim 7; “campaign evaluation module” in claim 8.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zeng et al. Pub. No. 2021/0150541 (Hereinafter “Gurbuxan”) in view of Zeng et al. Pub. No. 2018/0040029 (Hereinafter “Zeng”).
Regarding Claim 1, Gurbuxan discloses a system for generating and posting tailored digital content (see abstract) comprising:
a memory configured to store (see paragraph [0082]: at least one database
system 105 implements a plurality of database engines to support storage, analysis, and reporting of different types of data collected through the platform 101.):
a campaign data (see paragraph [0082]: campaign data, campaign report data) ; and
model data (see paragraph [0478]: a machine learning model that receives, as inputs, data indicative of a profile and posts of a creator or influencer and generates an output identifying or classifying whether the authenticity of the data of the creator or influencer is suspicious and indicative of being fake.); and
a processor communicatively connected to the memory (see paragraph [0072]: physical processor with associated communications and data storage and database facilities) comprising:
a goals and objectives module (see paragraphs [0300] and [0573]: analytics engine or module 136) configured to:
acquire and apply goals application data to a goals application model (see paragraph [0591]: one or more machine learning (ML) models are accessed by the module 136 to estimate or predict gender, age, geographical location, religion, ethnicity, income, and interests of social media users.);
generate goals and objectives data via the goals application model based on the applied goals application data (see paragraphs [0589]: the platform 101 (including the analytics engine or module 136) enables a creator to utilize machine learning algorithms to generate reports, insights and analytics. The generated reports, insights and analytics enable the creator to help clients (marketers, brands, advertisers) better structure and optimize their marketing campaigns.); and
an evaluation module (see paragraph [0083]: a content review engine or module 150) configured to:
receive a creative data from the creations module (see paragraph [0552]: the platform 101 implements a content review engine or module 150 that is configured to leverage at least one machine learning model to automatically review all content created and submitted by a creator for approval by a marketer and for posting, launching or propagating to audiences in one or more social media channels.);
evaluate the creative data to determine a status of the creative data wherein the status indicates if a creative data is in progress (see paragraph [0528]: reporting protocol 216 is used to report the progress of the content after it is made live);
Gurbuxan fails to disclose:
provide the goals and objectives data to a recommendations module;
the recommendations module configured to:
receive and apply the goals and objectives data and, where provided, a creative feedback to a recommendations model;
generate a recommendations data via the execution of the recommendations model based on the applied goals data and, where received, the creative feedback, the recommendations data comprising at least one engineered prompt;
provide the recommendations data to a creations module; and
where a creative feedback is received, dynamically update the recommendations model based on the creative feedback;
where the status indicates that the creative data is progress, generate and provide to the recommendations modules, the creative feedback based on the status.
In analogous art, Zeng teaches:
provide the goals and objectives data to a recommendations module (see paragraph [0058]: The recommendation system 120 receives 620 user information and receives 630 action information, e.g., from the action log 335 or the user profile store 340. The user information describes the users, e.g., demographic and geographical region information of the users. The action information describes actions with the content items performed by the users on the online system 100);
the recommendations module (see fig.3: The recommendation system 120/ recommendation module 380) configured to:
receive and apply the goals and objectives data and, where provided, a creative feedback to a recommendations model (see paragraph [0058]: Based on the input, the creative score model 365 generates a creative score 420 and accompanying
feedback 425 for the creative in the context of the target user. For instance, the user features 410 indicate that the target user is a 20-30 year old male user. The creative features 415 indicate that the image creative includes an image of a basketball and a football (e.g., based on image processing techniques).);
generate a recommendations data via the execution of the recommendations model based on the applied goals data and (see paragraph [0077]:The recommendation system 120 generates 650 a score for a creative (e.g., an image type creative or a body of text type creative) to be included in a content item using a model, e.g., the creative score model 365, trained based on the feature sets. The creative score indicates the likelihood that the users will interact with a content item including the creative.), where received, the creative feedback, the recommendations data comprising at least one engineered prompt (see paragraph [0055]: the recommendation module 380 generates a recommendation suggesting that a creator (e.g., associated with a content provider system 170) who is designing the content item should provide a more descriptive media title, e.g., adding additional words such as adjectives to the media title…);
provide the recommendations data to a creations module ((see paragraph [0055]: the recommendation module 380 generates a recommendation suggesting that a creator (e.g., associated with a content provider system 170)); and
where a creative feedback is received, dynamically update the recommendations model based on the creative feedback (see paragraph [0070]: the creative score model 365 is most likely to generate an updated creative score for the image creative if the creator modifies the image creative according to the feedback provided because the high confidence score indicates that the recommendation associated with the call to action is highly applicable to the creative call to action. );
where the status indicates that the creative data is progress, generate and provide to the recommendations modules, the creative feedback based on the status (see paragraph [0072]: The creator—who used the content creation user interface
500 to design the content item—provided additional information and modified previously input information about the content item. Since the recommendations, error notifications, and creative scores (e.g., feedback) are displayed inline in the content creation user interface 500, the creator is able to review the feedback and modify the content item prior to submitting the content item for publishing.).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Gurbuxan in view of the teaching of Zeng such that content providers produce content targeted to specific audiences within online system by optimizing content item prior to submitting the content item for publishing.
Regarding Claim 2, Gurbuxan in view of Zeng teaches the system as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. Gurbuxan further discloses wherein the campaign data includes at least one of: the goals application data; the goals and objectives data; recommendations data; and creative feedback data (see paragraphs [0589] and [0591]).
Regarding Claim 3, Gurbuxan in view of Zeng teaches the system as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. Gurbuxan further discloses wherein the model data includes at least one of: the goals application model; and the recommendations model (see paragraph [0589]).
Regarding Claim 4, Gurbuxan in view of Zeng teaches the system as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. Gurbuxan further discloses wherein the processor further comprises a posting module configured to post creative content model (see paragraph [0392]).
Regarding Claim 5, Gurbuxan in view of Zeng teaches the system as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. Gurbuxan further discloses wherein the processor further comprises an onboarding module configured to onboard a client (see paragraph [0431]).
Regarding Claim 6, Gurbuxan in view of Zeng teaches the system as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. Gurbuxan further discloses wherein the processor further comprises an acquisition module configured to acquire data from various sources (see paragraph [0523]).
Regarding Claim 7, Gurbuxan in view of Zeng teaches the system as discussed in the rejection of claim 6. Gurbuxan further discloses wherein the acquisition module includes a preprocessing module configured to preprocess data acquired by the acquisition module (see paragraph [0523]).
Regarding Claim 8, Gurbuxan in view of Zeng teaches the system as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. Gurbuxan further discloses wherein the processor further comprises a campaign evaluation module configured to evaluate the success of a campaign, generate corresponding success data, and provide the success data to the goals and objectives module (see paragraphs [0589]).
Regarding Claim 9, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect to
the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding Claim 10, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect
to the rejection of claim 4.
Regarding Claim 11, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect
to the rejection of claim 5.
Regarding Claim 12, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect
to the rejection of claim 6.
Regarding Claim 13, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect
to the rejection of claim 7.
Regarding Claim 14, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect
to the rejection of claim 8.
Regarding Claim 15, Gurbuxan discloses a device (see paragraph [0059]: computing device) comprising: a network interface (see paragraph [0059]: communications interface); a processor (see paragraph [0059]: central processing unit); a non-transitory memory having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the processor ( see paragraph [0059]: the at least one processor is a computing device capable of receiving, executing, and transmitting a plurality of programmatic instructions stored on a volatile or non-volatile computer readable medium.), configure the device to perform the steps as discussed in the rejection of claims 1 and 9.
Regarding Claim 16, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect
to the rejection of claims 4 and 10.
Regarding Claim 17, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect
to the rejection of claims 5 and 11.
Regarding Claim 18, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect
to the rejection of claims 6 and 12.
Regarding Claim 19, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect
to the rejection of claims 7 and 13.
Regarding Claim 20, the limitation is being analyzed as discussed with respect
to the rejection of claims 8 and 14.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alazar Tilahun whose telephone number is (571)270-5712. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday, From 9:00 AM-6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin Bruckart can be reached at 571-272-3982. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALAZAR TILAHUN/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2424
/A.T/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424 l