DETAILED ACTION
The present office action is responsive to the applicant’s filing on 10/09/2024.
The application has claims 1-20 present. All present claims have been examined.
IDS document and cited references filed 10/09/2024 and 05/06/2025 have been reviewed and considered by the examiner.
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 .
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns, paragraphs, figures and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner. The entire reference is considered to provide disclosure relating to the claimed invention. The claims & only the claims form the metes & bounds of the invention. Office personnel are to give the claims their broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the supporting disclosure. Unclaimed limitations appearing in the specification are not read into the claim. Prior art was referenced using terminology familiar to one of ordinary skill in the art. Such an approach is broad in concept and can be either explicit or implicit in meaning. Examiner's Notes are provided with the cited references to assist the applicant to better understand how the examiner interprets the applied prior art. Such comments are entirely consistent with the intent & spirit of compact prosecution.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-6 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ait-Mokhtar et al. (US 20110271173), in view of YANG PENG et al. (CN111222352) English translation of Specs and in view of Vityaz (US 20190188252).
In regards to claims 1 and 9, Ait-Mokhtar teaches a method implemented by one or more processors, the method comprising: determining that a user is accessing a fillable form document that is being rendered by an application of a computing device, wherein the fillable form document includes one or more input fields that are each configured to receive user input of a respective predefined format (a fillable form using user data with a predefined structure. See para 24 “method for populating paper forms 10 with user data that is stored electronically in a user data file”, On para 36: “The client computing device 94 may include a web browser which displays a user data file interface with a user data file creation component 98 of the system 30”. Also on para 54: “the user's data are stored in standardized data structure format, e.g., an XML-based format. XML is a tree-like data structure for a document, here, a user's data file, where XML nodes refer to the junction of branches of the tree-like structure”); processing image data to extract information that is encoded by a machine-readable identifier, wherein the image data characterizes an image that: includes the machine- readable identifier (Scanning a QR to extract data. See at least para 33 “The data file may be encoded as QR codes, Dataglyphs, Data matrix codes, barcodes, or the like or may simply be a printed XML file understandable by an XML reader. The paper/card may thus be provided to the system scanning device 14 along with the paper form 10 to be filled in”).
Ait-Mokhtar teaches using autofill formatting rules determining and using user data to fill form (see at least para 24 and claim 3), but doesn’t specifically teach, based on processing the image data, that a portion of the information encoded by the machine-readable identifier, when decoded, is not formatted according to a particular predefined format for a particular input field of the one or more input fields; processing, based on determining that the portion of the information is not formatted according to the particular predefined format, the portion of the information to convert the portion of the information into the particular predefined format; and causing, based on processing the portion of the information, the computing device to submit input data to the particular input field of the application, wherein the input data characterizes the portion of the information in the particular predefined format.
Yang teaches based on processing the image data, that a portion of the information encoded by the machine-readable identifier, when decoded, is not formatted according to a particular predefined format for a particular input field of the one or more input fields; processing, based on determining that the portion of the information is not formatted according to the particular predefined format, the portion of the information to convert the portion of the information into the particular predefined format; and causing, based on processing the portion of the information, the computing device to submit input data to the particular input field of the application, wherein the input data characterizes the portion of the information in the particular predefined format (see para 47-54, 56: teaches steps taken to obtain data from a scanned code where regular expressions are used to obtain the data to be input on form. The steps taken use predefined rules and formats to obtain the data, when one of the rules does not match, the system searches for another one and using the other searched rule/format, it applies it and the system is able to obtain the data to be input on the form field).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Yang in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have a process to properly obtain or correct when scanned data doesn’t match a format using regular expressions, since it enhances the method by making sure the system has the means to obtain data and that the data can be properly processed and used to complete forms and thus facilitate the process for a user that is scanning code (see para 56 “where users no longer need to worry about the content being scanned, as the system can identify it to the maximum extent”).
Ait-Mokhtar doesn’t specifically teach captured by a camera of the computing device or another computing device.
Vityaz teaches captured by a camera of the computing device or another computing device (see at least para 56: teaches that form elements can be configured to require a user to scan to fill form elements. “For example, in some embodiments, any fillable form element 713 (or subcomponent of a fillable form element) may be given an action property that triggers an action or process to be performed or executed during the execution of a fillable form. For example, a user may wish to have a particular selection within a “select” type fillable form element prompt a QR code scanner to be initiated when the particular selection is selected by a user during the execution of a fillable form within a communication session. To do so, the user can encode the particular selection with an action property. In some embodiments, such an encoded action property takes the form of: {“actions”: [{“oper”: “qrScan”}]}; wherein “actions” declares that an action is to be performed following selection of the particular selection by a user, “oper” defines the action that is to be performed, and “qrScan” is the ID of the particular action that is to be performed”. On para 57: “For example, both the qrScan and callPhone actions at least partially employ physical components of a communication device in order to execute their respective actions—a QR code scanner requires a camera”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Vityaz in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have means to scan/capture a QR to enter information into fields as taught by Vityaz, since it enhances the method by facilitating data entry and thus enhancing user experience.
In regards to claim 2, Ait-Mokhtar doesn’t specifically teach wherein processing the portion of the information to convert the portion of the information into the particular predefined format includes: selecting, by the computing device, one or more regular expressions for formatting the information encoded by the machine-readable identifier, wherein the formatted input data is generated based on processing the information using the one or more regular expressions.
Yang teaches wherein processing the portion of the information to convert the portion of the information into the particular predefined format includes: selecting, by the computing device, one or more regular expressions for formatting the information encoded by the machine-readable identifier, wherein the formatted input data is generated based on processing the information using the one or more regular expressions (see para 47-54, 56: teaches steps taken to obtain data from a scanned code where regular expressions are used to obtain the data to be input on form. The steps taken use predefined rules and formats to obtain the data, when one of the rules does not match, the system searches for another one to apply and be able to obtain the data to be input on the form field).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Yang in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have a process to properly obtain or correct when scanned data doesn’t match a format using regular expressions, since it enhances the method by making sure the system has the means to obtain data and that the data can be properly processed and used to complete forms and thus facilitate the process for a user that is scanning code (see para 56 “where users no longer need to worry about the content being scanned, as the system can identify it to the maximum extent”).
In regards to claim 3, Ait-Mokhtar doesn’t specifically teach wherein selecting the one or more regular expressions for formatting the information encoded by the machine-readable identifier includes: selecting a certain regular expression when a format of information encoded by the machine-readable identifier corresponds to a certain format, and selecting a different regular expression when the format of the information encoded by the machine-readable identifier corresponds to a different format
Yang teaches wherein selecting the one or more regular expressions for formatting the information encoded by the machine-readable identifier includes: selecting a certain regular expression when a format of information encoded by the machine-readable identifier corresponds to a certain format, and selecting a different regular expression when the format of the information encoded by the machine-readable identifier corresponds to a different format (see para 47-54, 56: teaches steps taken to obtain data from a scanned code where regular expressions are used to obtain the data to be input on form. The steps taken use predefined rules and formats to obtain the data, when one of the rules does not match, the system searches for another one to apply and be able to obtain the data to be input on the form field).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Yang in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have a process to properly obtain or correct when scanned data doesn’t match a format using regular expressions, since it enhances the method by making sure the system has the means to obtain data and that the data can be properly processed and used to complete forms and thus facilitate the process for a user that is scanning code (see para 56 “where users no longer need to worry about the content being scanned, as the system can identify it to the maximum extent”).
In regards to claim 5, Ait-Mokhtar teaches image of a document (see FIG. 1, abstract and at least para 14, 24-25), but doesn’t specifically teach further comprising: in response to determining that the user is accessing the fillable form document: causing, by the computing device, a graphical user interface (GUI) prompt to be rendered for directing the user to capture an image of the machine-readable identifier, wherein the image of the machine-readable identifier is captured responsive to the GUI prompt being rendered.
Vityaz teaches further comprising: in response to determining that the user is accessing the fillable form document: causing, by the computing device, a graphical user interface (GUI) prompt to be rendered for directing the user to capture an image of the machine-readable identifier, wherein the image of the machine-readable identifier is captured responsive to the GUI prompt being rendered (see at least para 56: teaches that form elements can be configured to require a user to scan to fill form elements. “For example, in some embodiments, any fillable form element 713 (or subcomponent of a fillable form element) may be given an action property that triggers an action or process to be performed or executed during the execution of a fillable form. For example, a user may wish to have a particular selection within a “select” type fillable form element prompt a QR code scanner to be initiated when the particular selection is selected by a user during the execution of a fillable form within a communication session. To do so, the user can encode the particular selection with an action property. In some embodiments, such an encoded action property takes the form of: {“actions”: [{“oper”: “qrScan”}]}; wherein “actions” declares that an action is to be performed following selection of the particular selection by a user, “oper” defines the action that is to be performed, and “qrScan” is the ID of the particular action that is to be performed”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Vityaz in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have means to scan a QR to enter information into fields as taught by Vityaz, since it enhances the method by facilitating data entry and thus enhancing user experience.
In regards to claim 6, Ait-Mokhtar teaches image of a document (see FIG. 1, abstract and at least para 14, 24-25), but doesn’t specifically teach further comprising: in response to determining that the user is accessing the fillable form document: causing, by the computing device, a graphical user interface (GUI) prompt to be rendered for directing the user to provide an image of an informational document, wherein the image of the machine-readable identifier is provided responsive to the GUI prompt being rendered.
Vityaz teaches further comprising: in response to determining that the user is accessing the fillable form document: causing, by the computing device, a graphical user interface (GUI) prompt to be rendered for directing the user to provide an image of an informational document, wherein the image of the machine-readable identifier is provided responsive to the GUI prompt being rendered (see at least para 56: teaches that form elements can be configured to require a user to scan to fill form elements. “For example, in some embodiments, any fillable form element 713 (or subcomponent of a fillable form element) may be given an action property that triggers an action or process to be performed or executed during the execution of a fillable form. For example, a user may wish to have a particular selection within a “select” type fillable form element prompt a QR code scanner to be initiated when the particular selection is selected by a user during the execution of a fillable form within a communication session. To do so, the user can encode the particular selection with an action property. In some embodiments, such an encoded action property takes the form of: {“actions”: [{“oper”: “qrScan”}]}; wherein “actions” declares that an action is to be performed following selection of the particular selection by a user, “oper” defines the action that is to be performed, and “qrScan” is the ID of the particular action that is to be performed”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Vityaz in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have means to scan a QR to enter information into fields as taught by Vityaz, since it enhances the method by facilitating data entry and thus enhancing user experience.
Claim(s) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ait-Mokhtar et al. (US 20110271173), YANG PENG et al. (CN111222352), Vityaz (US 20190188252) and further in view of Kan (US 20160328375).
In regards to claim 7, Ait-Mokhtar doesn’t specifically teach wherein the GUI prompt includes a first selectable element for rendering a camera interface.
Vityaz teaches wherein the GUI prompt includes a first selectable element for rendering a camera interface (see at least para 56: teaches that form elements can be configured to require a user to scan to fill form elements. “For example, in some embodiments, any fillable form element 713 (or subcomponent of a fillable form element) may be given an action property that triggers an action or process to be performed or executed during the execution of a fillable form. For example, a user may wish to have a particular selection within a “select” type fillable form element prompt a QR code scanner to be initiated when the particular selection is selected by a user during the execution of a fillable form within a communication session. To do so, the user can encode the particular selection with an action property. In some embodiments, such an encoded action property takes the form of: {“actions”: [{“oper”: “qrScan”}]}; wherein “actions” declares that an action is to be performed following selection of the particular selection by a user, “oper” defines the action that is to be performed, and “qrScan” is the ID of the particular action that is to be performed”. On para 57: “For example, both the qrScan and callPhone actions at least partially employ physical components of a communication device in order to execute their respective actions—a QR code scanner requires a camera”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Vityaz in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have means to provide an interface to use a camera to obtain data from a document, since it enhances the method by facilitating data entry, data acquisition and thus enhancing user experience.
Ait-Mokhtar doesn’t specifically teach a second selectable element for rendering a file selection interface.
Kan teaches a second selectable element for rendering a file selection interface (see para 25: teaches that in a system for form filling there can be fields where file selection can be use for that field “Filling out (240) the particular form may include inserting the files into the correct file selection fields in the form. In some embodiments, the files may be automatically placed into the correct fields. The user may wish to double-check any portions of the forms filled out automatically to ensure accuracy. In addition to the file selection fields”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Kan in combination with Ait-Mokhtar and Vityaz in order to have means to provide an interface for file selection, since by incorporating such feature, it enhances the process by facilitating data entry, data acquisition and thus enhancing user experience.
In regards to claim 8, Ait-Mokhtar teaches accessing user data files stored internally or external storage (para 33 “system 30 may access the user data 42 stored as a digital file either internally, e.g., in memory 54, or externally, e.g., accessible from a USB connection, Ethernet, Internet or any wireless connection (e.g., Bluetooth connection with the user's mobile phone where the user's data are stored in memory). For example, the data file 12 may be stored on portable data memory 68, such as a disk or USB memory device.”), also teaches creating, updating using user’s data file to fill form document (see abstract and at least para 27, 57-58), but does not specifically teach further comprising: determining, by the computing device, that the user selected the second selectable element at the GUI prompt; and causing, in response to determining that the user selected the second selectable element, the file selection interface to be rendered with one or more selectable icons corresponding to a set of filtered files, wherein the set of filtered files are filtered, from a set of files, based on each file of the set of filtered files being classified as an informational document image, and wherein the image is selected from the set of filtered files.
Kan teaches further comprising: determining, by the computing device, that the user selected the second selectable element at the GUI prompt; and causing, in response to determining that the user selected the second selectable element, the file selection interface to be rendered with one or more selectable icons corresponding to a set of filtered files, wherein the set of filtered files are filtered, from a set of files, based on each file of the set of filtered files being classified as an informational document image, and wherein the image is selected from the set of filtered files (see at least para 9, teaches that a file selection system filters files that are presented to a user to be tailored to the users specific or current task. Additionally see also para 25: teaches that in a system for form filling there can be fields where file selection can be use for that field “Filling out (240) the particular form may include inserting the files into the correct file selection fields in the form. In some embodiments, the files may be automatically placed into the correct fields. The user may wish to double-check any portions of the forms filled out automatically to ensure accuracy. In addition to the file selection fields”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Kan in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have means to provide filtered files presented to a uses associated to users specific context when form filling within the file selection interface, since by incorporating such feature, it enhances the process by facilitating data entry, data acquisition by facilitating steps for the user to avoid sifting through multiple unrelated files.
Claim(s) 4, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ait-Mokhtar et al. (US 20110271173), YANG PENG et al. (CN111222352), Vityaz (US 20190188252). and further in view of Brown (US9898655).
In regards to claims 4, 10, Ait-Mokhtar wherein processing image data to extract the information that is encoded by the machine-readable identifier includes: wherein the machine-readable identifier is included on a surface of the informational document (see para 4, 16 “a paper document is scanned and filled in digitally”).
Ait-Mokhtar doesn’t specifically teach wherein processing image data to extract the information that is encoded by the machine-readable identifier includes: determining a classification for an informational document that is included in the image with the machine-readable identifier; and wherein a process for extracting the information is selected based on the classification for the informational document.
Brown teaches wherein processing image data to extract the information that is encoded by the machine-readable identifier includes: determining a classification for an informational document that is included in the image with the machine-readable identifier; and wherein a process for extracting the information is selected based on the classification for the informational document (see at least Col 6 lines 13-35: teaches using text classification to identify and extract data, processed and used. “Upon receiving the electronic document 136 that has been subjected to OCR, the Text Identifier and Extractor 104 may process the electronic document 136 utilizing one or more patterns from a pattern store 128. For example, and as will be described later, the Text Identifier and Extractor 104 may utilize patterns according to one or more document classifications. For instance, if the Text Identifier and Extractor 104 is utilized to identify data from an academic transcript, the Text Identifier and Extractor 104 may utilize patterns identified for use with academic transcripts. As another example, if the Text Identifier and Extractor 104 is utilized to identify data from an insurance bill, the Text Identifier and Extractor 104 may utilize patterns identified for use with insurance bills. As another example, if the Text Identifier and Extractor 104 is utilized to identify data from a receipt, the Text Identifier and Extractor 104 may utilize patterns identified for use with receipts. As another example, if the Text Identifier and Extractor 104 is utilized to identify data from a credential, such as a certificate and/or license, the Text Identifier and Extractor 104 may utilize patterns identified for use with insurance bills. Moreover, the patterns may further be sub-classified based one or more logical groupings”. Also in Col 6 line 62 to Col 7 line 4: “Additionally, the process of identifying and extracting text from an electronic document 136 may further include an additional analysis where the process identifies and classifies negative space, in the electronic document 136, to determine if there is additional information in the electronic document 136 that has not been identified and/or extracted. For example, if there are text tokens that have not been matched to a particular pattern, these text tokens may be utilized to create a new pattern and/or may be marked as un-captured data”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Brown in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have a process for data classification and processing, since it enhances the method by making sure the system has the means to properly identify the data that its needed to complete a form or to be stored for further use and processing.
Claim(s) 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ait-Mokhtar et al. (US 20110271173), YANG PENG et al. (CN111222352), Vityaz (US 20190188252), Brown (US9898655), in view of Waful et al. (US 11748380).
In regards to claim 11, Ait-Mokhtar teaches using QR and decoding user data as provided above (see Ait-Mokhtar at least para 24, 33), doesn’t specifically teach wherein determining that the information encoded by the machine-readable identifier, when decoded, is missing certain information for the particular field of the one or more input fields includes: determining that the certain information is not included with the particular classification of documents, wherein the prompt is a graphical user interface (GUI) prompt includes natural language content that is associated with the certain information not included with the particular classification of documents.
Waful teaches wherein determining that the information encoded by the machine-readable identifier, when decoded, is missing certain information for the particular field of the one or more input fields includes: determining that the certain information is not included with the particular classification of documents, wherein the prompt is a graphical user interface (GUI) prompt includes natural language content that is associated with the certain information not included with the particular classification of documents (see FIG. 6 and at least Col 3 lines 10-27, Col 4 lines 40 to Col 5 line 14: teaches categorized stored data from users. The data is stored and retrieved to fill form fields. Col 5 line 63 to Col 6 line 1: teaches when the system determines that certain data from the categized data is not available it provides an indication for a user to enter the missing data).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Waful in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have provide means to obtain the user data that is not available, since it enhances the method by making sure the system has the means to properly identify the data that its needed to complete a form and providing a visual indication of the missing/needed information.
In regards to claim 12, Although Ait-Mokhtar teaches using QR and decoding user data as provided above (see Ait-Mokhtar at least para 24, 33), it doesn’t specifically teach wherein causing the prompt to be rendered for directing the user to provide the certain information for completing the particular field of the one or more input fields includes: causing the GUI prompt to be rendered with other content that identifies a separate classification of documents, wherein the separate classification of documents includes the certain information not included with the particular classification of documents.
Waful teaches wherein causing the prompt to be rendered for directing the user to provide the certain information for completing the particular field of the one or more input fields includes: causing the GUI prompt to be rendered with other content that identifies a separate classification of documents, wherein the separate classification of documents includes the certain information not included with the particular classification of documents (see FIG. 6 and at least Col 3 lines 10-27, Col 4 lines 40 to Col 5 line 14: teaches categorized stored data from users. The data is stored and retrieved to fill form fields based on the category of the data. Col 5 line 63 to Col 6 line 1: teaches when the system determines that certain data from the categized data is not available it provides an indication for a user to enter the missing data).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Waful in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to have provide means to obtain the user data that is not available, since it enhances the method by making sure the system has the means to properly identify the data that its needed to complete a form and providing a visual indication of the missing/needed information.
Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ait-Mokhtar et al. (US 20110271173), YANG PENG et al. (CN111222352), Vityaz (US 20190188252), in view of Gaither et al. (US 20170192950).
In regards to claim 13, Ait-Mokhtar doesn’t specifically teach wherein causing the prompt to be rendered for directing the user to provide the certain information for completing the particular field of the one or more input fields includes: causing the prompt to be rendered as an audible output that solicits the user to provide the certain information via a spoken utterance to an audio interface of the computing device or the separate computing device.
Gaither teaches wherein causing the prompt to be rendered for directing the user to provide the certain information for completing the particular field of the one or more input fields includes: causing the prompt to be rendered as an audible output that solicits the user to provide the certain information via a spoken utterance to an audio interface of the computing device or the separate computing device (see FIG. 3, abstract and also at least para 17: “providing the requests using audio output, use of the form is made accessible to users with visual impairments, users with devices lacking sufficient screen size, and users who prefer audio generally or in specific circumstances, such as while driving. Similarly, responses from users can be received in a manner that best suits the user. In one embodiment, user responses are verbal and voice recognition is used to translate the responses into text. This is useful, for example, to users with visual impairments, users with devices lacking a keyboard, mouse, and or other appropriate input mechanism, users with devices having keyboards that obscure a large portion of the screen during use of the keyboard (i.e., pop-up touch screen keyboards), users with manual impairments, and users who prefer to provide verbal responses generally or in specific circumstances, such as while exercising”. Also, para 39).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Gaither in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to provide means to obtain the user data via audible interaction, since it enhances the method by facilitating entering information into forms for many circumstances (see para 17).
In regards to claim 14, Ait-Mokhtar doesn’t specifically further comprising: receiving, from the user and in response to causing the prompt to be rendered, a particular spoken utterance that embodies additional information for completing the particular field of the one or more input fields; and causing, in response to receiving the spoken utterance, the additional information to be incorporated into the particular field of the one or more input fields according to a predefined format of the particular field.
Gaither teaches further comprising: receiving, from the user and in response to causing the prompt to be rendered, a particular spoken utterance that embodies additional information for completing the particular field of the one or more input fields; and causing, in response to receiving the spoken utterance, the additional information to be incorporated into the particular field of the one or more input fields according to a predefined format of the particular field. (see FIG. 3, abstract and also at least para 17: “providing the requests using audio output, use of the form is made accessible to users with visual impairments, users with devices lacking sufficient screen size, and users who prefer audio generally or in specific circumstances, such as while driving. Similarly, responses from users can be received in a manner that best suits the user. In one embodiment, user responses are verbal and voice recognition is used to translate the responses into text. This is useful, for example, to users with visual impairments, users with devices lacking a keyboard, mouse, and or other appropriate input mechanism, users with devices having keyboards that obscure a large portion of the screen during use of the keyboard (i.e., pop-up touch screen keyboards), users with manual impairments, and users who prefer to provide verbal responses generally or in specific circumstances, such as while exercising”. Also, para 39).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Gaither in combination with Ait-Mokhtar in order to provide means to obtain the user data via audible interaction to answer specific form fields, since it enhances the method by facilitating entering information into forms for many circumstances (see para 17).
Claim(s) 15-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe (US 20150248393).
In regards to claim 15, Watanabe teaches a method implemented by one or more processors, the method comprising: wherein the website includes a fillable form document that includes one or more input fields that are each configured to receive user input of a respective predefined format (see at least para 46, 68, 87-89: web access interface which includes user/patient profile (interpreted as a fillable form to be completed to have user data). The interface allows the user to fill information about the user which will later be used to fill other online form documents. Each information has a specific format e.g. address, name, SS, etc); causing, an interface of the computing device or a separate computing device to render a prompt for directing the user to provide an image of a particular classification of informational document; processing image data to extract information that is provided by the particular classification of informational document, wherein the image data characterizes a particular image that is captured by a camera of the computing device or another computing device (it teaches interface which provides display and requesting of data from the user and processing the data to be used to fill user information. See at least para 46, 62, 89, 116-117: “provide a scanned image of an already filled-in form document to cloud service system 190, and cloud service system 190 may convert the scanned image of the filled-in form document, identify personal information components in the form, extract the personal information components and the data text labels associated with the personal information components, and store the associations between the personal information and the corresponding labels of the personal information components in a storage device.”. Also in para 116: “Data capturing module 112 may be configured to capture data representing form document 150. Data capturing module 112 may be configured to operate a scanner and/or a camera, and facilitate scanning or taking a photograph of form document 150. The captured data may be further processed and stored in storage device 110, which may be implemented on mobile device 150, a remote storage device (not depicted in FIG. 2A), or cloud service system (not depicted in FIG. 2A)”. On para 117 teaches GUI to display and request data “a GUI implemented on mobile device 100, and use the GUI to display information for a user and receive information from the user. For example, data display module 114 may display on a display screen of the GUI various menu options for the user, and receive menu selections from the user. The GUI may be used to enter user personal information to mobile device 110. Furthermore, the GUI may be used to request form document data. Moreover, the GUI may be used to selecting a particular form document, filling in the particular form document, and sending filled form document data to storage device 110.”); processing at least a portion of the extracted information to convert at least the portion of the extracted information into a particular predefined format for a particular input field of the one or more input fields; and causing, based on processing at least the portion of the extracted information, input data to be submitted to the particular input field of the fillable form document, wherein the input data characterizes the portion of the information in the particular predefined format (see at least para 46, 62, 68, 87-89: the obtained data from the user is used to be match to specific field labels with its associated formatting for the specific data to be inserted based on the processing on the data entered by the user and the image of the form document).
However, Watanabe doesn’t specifically teach determining an identifier for a website that a user is accessing via a display interface of a computing device; causing based on the identifier for the website [to request document image].
Watanabe does teach webpage and web based accessible depositories where the user information is requested to the user, received and stored both manually and using images of documents having the information. The information which was acquired when the user entered the information and saved it from users document image is classified and later use for further processing on other form documents. Using identifiers to classify and enter data associated to different provides and companies that use user information. When the data is not available at the indicated URL, the system allows the user to enter the unavailable data (see at least para 86, 92, 100-103, 117, 194 and 264: “User interface 1210 may be implemented in mobile device 110, or other computer devices. User interface 1210 may allow entering user personal information in a new-patient registration form 1212 using an auto-fill approach. For example, by scanning a QR code (not depicted in FIG. 12) that contains an encoded URL address of a database that stores user personal information, an operator may initiate an auto-fill process of a new-patient form, and cause an automatic filling in of an insurance provider name 1214, an insurance plan identifier 1216, and so forth. If some of the data is unavailable, a user may enter the data using keyboard buttons 1219.”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Watanabe in order to determine and use the web service (website) identifier to request and process user data from an images of a document having the required user information, since it provides means to facilitate the attainment and association of the user information to be classified and stored by the web service for use with other online forms.
In regards to claim 16, Watanabe doesn’t specifically teach further comprising: determining, based on processing the image data, that the user provided a particular image of a different classification of informational document; and causing, based on processing the image data, a prompt to be rendered for directing the user to provide an additional image of the particular classification of informational document, wherein the extracted information is from the additional image submitted by the user.
However, Watanabe teaches processing user data for entering it to an online form. It provides teaching that the system provides user prompts when certain data in unavailable and allows the user manual entry of user data. Also provides interface which allow the user to scan an image of forms with user data in order to save that information into a profile to be use to fill other web forms (see at least para 46, 62, 80-81, 87-89, 116-117: On para 80-81 “cloud service system 190 may host a group of storage devices configured to store digital data of images of registration forms, form document data for the registration forms, as well as filled form document data for filled registration forms. Form document data and other information may be stored in a database managed or communicatively coupled to cloud service system 190. A database may be indexed using a variety of pointers, references and identifiers. For example, for each healthcare service provider that subscribes to cloud service system 190, cloud service system 190 may maintain one or more databases for storing form document data of various form documents used by the healthcare service provider. If a particular healthcare service provider maintains several departments, such as an emergency department, pediatrics, oncology, maternity, and an internal medicine department, and each of the above departments uses several form documents, then cloud service system 190 may create and maintain one or more databases for storing data for all the form documents, and index the databases using form identifiers, department identifiers and other identifiers”. On para 155 “In some situations, a mobile device application may be unable to determine user personal information for one or more data information components or for one or more data text labels. In such a situation, the mobile device application may generate an error notification, and cause displaying the error notification on a display of a mobile device. The error notification may indicate a data text label for which personal information data is unavailable. The mobile device application may also display a GUI on the display of the mobile device, and prompt the user to manually enter the personal information data. Upon receiving input from the user, the mobile device application may use the inputted data as a text string to be entered in a data text field labelled by the data text label. is stored in the database” and para 264: “User interface 1210 may be implemented in mobile device 110, or other computer devices. User interface 1210 may allow entering user personal information in a new-patient registration form 1212 using an auto-fill approach. For example, by scanning a QR code (not depicted in FIG. 12) that contains an encoded URL address of a database that stores user personal information, an operator may initiate an auto-fill process of a new-patient form, and cause an automatic filling in of an insurance provider name 1214, an insurance plan identifier 1216, and so forth. If some of the data is unavailable, a user may enter the data using keyboard buttons 1219.”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Watanabe in order to determine and use the web service (website) identifier to request and process user data and prompt the user to enter data not only manually but from another images of an associated document having the required information, since it provides means to facilitate the attainment and association of the user information to be classified and stored by the web service for use with other online forms.
In regards to claim 17, Watanabe teaches wherein processing at least the portion of the extracted information to convert at least the portion of the extracted information into the particular predefined format includes: determining that the particular image includes a particular type of machine-readable identifier, wherein at least the portion of the extracted information is converted into the particular predefined format based on the particular type of machine-readable identifier (teaches that all user information is stored in association with different form categories. An identifier entered by a user for different forms associated with user data and also when the identifier is entered and the user information is unavailable, its entered by the user for different formats required by the information as the examples provided like social security, name, last name, etc . See para 46, 68, 87-89. Also para 80-81 “cloud service system 190 may host a group of storage devices configured to store digital data of images of registration forms, form document data for the registration forms, as well as filled form document data for filled registration forms. Form document data and other information may be stored in a database managed or communicatively coupled to cloud service system 190. A database may be indexed using a variety of pointers, references and identifiers. For example, for each healthcare service provider that subscribes to cloud service system 190, cloud service system 190 may maintain one or more databases for storing form document data of various form documents used by the healthcare service provider. If a particular healthcare service provider maintains several departments, such as an emergency department, pediatrics, oncology, maternity, and an internal medicine department, and each of the above departments uses several form documents, then cloud service system 190 may create and maintain one or more databases for storing data for all the form documents, and index the databases using form identifiers, department identifiers and other identifiers”. On para 155 “In some situations, a mobile device application may be unable to determine user personal information for one or more data information components or for one or more data text labels. In such a situation, the mobile device application may generate an error notification, and cause displaying the error notification on a display of a mobile device. The error notification may indicate a data text label for which personal information data is unavailable. The mobile device application may also display a GUI on the display of the mobile device, and prompt the user to manually enter the personal information data. Upon receiving input from the user, the mobile device application may use the inputted data as a text string to be entered in a data text field labelled by the data text label. is stored in the database” and para 264: “User interface 1210 may be implemented in mobile device 110, or other computer devices. User interface 1210 may allow entering user personal information in a new-patient registration form 1212 using an auto-fill approach. For example, by scanning a QR code (not depicted in FIG. 12) that contains an encoded URL address of a database that stores user personal information, an operator may initiate an auto-fill process of a new-patient form, and cause an automatic filling in of an insurance provider name 1214, an insurance plan identifier 1216, and so forth. If some of the data is unavailable, a user may enter the data using keyboard buttons 1219.”).
In regards to claim 18, Watanabe doesn’t specifically teaches wherein the identifier for the website is a uniform resource locator (URL) or other uniform resource identifier (URI).
Watanabe does teach webpage and web based accessible depositories where the user information is requested to the user, received and stored both manually and using images of f documents having the information. The information which was acquired when the user entered the information and saved it from users document image is classified and later use for further processing on other form documents. Using identifiers to classify and enter data associated to different provides and companies that use user information. When the data is not available at the indicated URL, the system allows the user to enter the unavailable data (see at least para 86, 92, 100-103, 117, 194 and 264: “User interface 1210 may be implemented in mobile device 110, or other computer devices. User interface 1210 may allow entering user personal information in a new-patient registration form 1212 using an auto-fill approach. For example, by scanning a QR code (not depicted in FIG. 12) that contains an encoded URL address of a database that stores user personal information, an operator may initiate an auto-fill process of a new-patient form, and cause an automatic filling in of an insurance provider name 1214, an insurance plan identifier 1216, and so forth. If some of the data is unavailable, a user may enter the data using keyboard buttons 1219.”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Watanabe in order to determine and use the web service (website) identifier to request and process user data from an images of a document having the required user information, since it provides means to facilitate the attainment and association of the user information to be classified and stored by the web service for use with other online forms.
In regards to claim 19, Watanabe teaches further comprising: causing, based at least on the identifier for the website, the interface of the computing device or the separate computing device to render an additional prompt for directing the user to provide a textual input for completing at least one input field of the one or more input fields (see at least para 264: “User interface 1210 may be implemented in mobile device 110, or other computer devices. User interface 1210 may allow entering user personal information in a new-patient registration form 1212 using an auto-fill approach. For example, by scanning a QR code (not depicted in FIG. 12) that contains an encoded URL address of a database that stores user personal information, an operator may initiate an auto-fill process of a new-patient form, and cause an automatic filling in of an insurance provider name 1214, an insurance plan identifier 1216, and so forth. If some of the data is unavailable, a user may enter the data using keyboard buttons 1219.”).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe (US 20150248393), in view of Gaither et al. (US 20170192950).
In regards to claim 20, Watanabe teaches prompting the user to enter unavailable data (para 155: “a mobile device application may be unable to determine user personal information for one or more data information components or for one or more data text labels. In such a situation, the mobile device application may generate an error notification, and cause displaying the error notification on a display of a mobile device. The error notification may indicate a data text label for which personal information data is unavailable. The mobile device application may also display a GUI on the display of the mobile device, and prompt the user to manually enter the personal information data”). Watanabe doesn’t specifically teach causing, based at least on the identifier for the website, the computing device or the separate computing device to render an audible prompt that directs the user to provide a spoken input for completing at least one input field of the one or more input fields.
Gaither teaches causing, based at least on the identifier for the website, the computing device or the separate computing device to render an audible prompt that directs the user to provide a spoken input for completing at least one input field of the one or more input fields (see FIG. 3, abstract and also at least para 17: “providing the requests using audio output, use of the form is made accessible to users with visual impairments, users with devices lacking sufficient screen size, and users who prefer audio generally or in specific circumstances, such as while driving. Similarly, responses from users can be received in a manner that best suits the user. In one embodiment, user responses are verbal and voice recognition is used to translate the responses into text. This is useful, for example, to users with visual impairments, users with devices lacking a keyboard, mouse, and or other appropriate input mechanism, users with devices having keyboards that obscure a large portion of the screen during use of the keyboard (i.e., pop-up touch screen keyboards), users with manual impairments, and users who prefer to provide verbal responses generally or in specific circumstances, such as while exercising”. Also, para 39).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention these teachings of Gaither in combination with Watanabe in order to provide means to obtain the user data via audible interaction, since it enhances the method by facilitating entering information into forms for many circumstances (see para 17).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARIO M VELEZ-LOPEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-7971. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 10:30am-5:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Scott Baderman, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-3644. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARIO M VELEZ-LOPEZ/
Examiner, Art Unit 2118
/SCOTT T BADERMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2118
