CTNF 18/905,084 CTNF 78044 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Double Patenting 08-33 AIA The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg , 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman , 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi , 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum , 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel , 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington , 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969). A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b). The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13. The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA/25, or PTO/AIA/26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer. 08-34 AIA Claim s 1-8 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,219,097 . Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,219,097 recites “A method comprising: obtaining one or more audio files comprising a recording of one or more verbal statements provided by a first participant of a conference call; determining that the recorded one or more verbal statements comprise a question associated with audio-based polling of a plurality of second participants of the conference call … and generating a report indicating … at least the question and the one or more responses to the question indicated by the obtained response data”, and claim 1 of the present application recites “A method comprising: obtaining one or more audio files comprising a recording of one or more verbal statements provided by a plurality of participants of a conference call; determining, based on the one or more verbal statements, a question provided by a first participant of the plurality of participants and one or more responses to the question provided by one or more second participants of the plurality of participants; and generating a report associated with the conference call, wherein the report indicates at least the question and the one or more responses to the question determined based on the one or more verbal statements.” U.S. Patent No. 12,219,097 A method comprising: obtaining one or more audio files comprising a recording of one or more verbal statements provided by a first participant of a conference call; determining that the recorded one or more verbal statements comprise a question associated with audio-based polling of a plurality of second participants of the conference call … Application 18/905,084 A method comprising: obtaining one or more audio files comprising a recording of one or more verbal statements provided by a plurality of participants of a conference call; determining, based on the one or more verbal statements, a question provided by a first participant of the plurality of participants and one or more responses to the question provided by one or more second participants of the plurality of participants … U.S. Patent No. 12,219,097 … and generating a report indicating … at least the question and the one or more responses to the question indicated by the obtained response data Application 18/905,084 … and generating a report associated with the conference call, wherein the report indicates at least the question and the one or more responses to the question determined based on the one or more verbal statements Claims 9 and 16, of the present application, recite similar limitations as claim 1, therefore, claims 9 and 16 are also rejected under this nonstatutory double patenting rejection, based on claims 9 and 16 of U.S. Patent Application 12,219,097, respectively . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable by Maheshwari et al. (US Patent Application, Pub. No.: US 2021/0064680 A1) . In regards to claims 1, 9, and 16, Maheshmwari discloses a method, a system, and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising: obtaining one or more audio files comprising a recording of one or more verbal statements provided by a plurality of participants of a conference call (See [0040]); determining, based on the one or more verbal statements, a question (i.e., query/contextual information) provided by a first participant of the plurality of participants and one or more responses (i.e., outcome) to the question provided by one or more second participants of the plurality of participants (See [0006] and [0056]); and generating a report (i.e., record) associated with the conference call, wherein the report indicates at least the question and the one or more responses to the question determined based on the one or more verbal statements (See [0006]). In regards to claims 2, 10, and 17, Maheshwari discloses the method, system, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium, wherein determining the question provided by the first participant comprises: providing data associated with the obtained one or more audio files as an input to a trained machine learning model; and extracting, from one or more outputs of the trained machine learning model, a first verbal statement of the one or more verbal statements that corresponds to the question provided by the first participant (See [0024] and [0044]). In regards to claims 3, 11, and 18, Maheshwari discloses the method, system, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium, wherein the one or more outputs of the trained machine learning model comprise, for each of the one or more verbal statements, an indication of a level of confidence that the respective verbal statement corresponds to a polling question, and wherein extracting the first verbal statement from the one or more outputs of the trained machine learning model comprises: determining that the first verbal statement is associated with a level of confidence that satisfies one or more confidence criteria (See [0007] and [0042]). In regards to claims 4, 12, and 19, Maheshwari discloses the method, system, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium, wherein determining the one or more responses to the question provide by the one or more second participants extracting, from the one or more outputs of the trained machine learning model, a second statements of the one or more verbal statements that corresponds to a response to the question provided by the first participant (See [0024] and [0044]). In regards to claims 5, 13, and 20, Maheshwari discloses the method, system, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium, wherein the data associated with the obtained one or more audio files comprises one or more text strings comprising a textual form of the one or more verbal statements, and wherein the method further comprises: converting the one or more audio files comprising the recording of the one or more verbal statements into a set of text strings comprising the one or more text strings (See [0044] – [0045]). In regards to claims 6 and 14, Maheshwari discloses the method and system, wherein the one or more audio files comprising the recording of the one or more verbal statements are obtained responsive to a user selection of an element on a client device associated with the first participant, wherein the element is associated with initiating audio-based polling of participants of the conference call (See [0007] and [0042]). In regards to claims 7 and 15, Maheshwari discloses the method and system, wherein the client device comprises a telecommunication component, and wherein the element on the client device corresponds to a key of a keypad for the telecommunication component (See [0035]). In regards to claim 8, Maheshwari discloses the method, further comprising: providing the generated report to at least one of a client device associated with the first participant or a client device associated with an organizer of the conference call (See [0037]) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure Fitzsimmons et al. (US Patent Application, Pub. No.: US 2015/0181020 A1) teach a system and method for utilizing metadata associated with audio files in a conversation management system . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THJUAN KNOWLIN ADDY whose telephone number is (571)272-7486. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM - 5:00PM Mon-Fri. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ahmad Matar can be reached at (571) 272-7488. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /THJUAN K ADDY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693 Application/Control Number: 18/905,084 Page 2 Art Unit: 2693 Application/Control Number: 18/905,084 Page 3 Art Unit: 2693 Application/Control Number: 18/905,084 Page 4 Art Unit: 2693 Application/Control Number: 18/905,084 Page 5 Art Unit: 2693 Application/Control Number: 18/905,084 Page 6 Art Unit: 2693 Application/Control Number: 18/905,084 Page 7 Art Unit: 2693 Application/Control Number: 18/905,084 Page 8 Art Unit: 2693
Prosecution Insights