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 .
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 11-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Talwar et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0157626) in view of Engstrom et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0137884).
Regarding claim 11, Talwar discloses a system to provide one or more communication types from one or more communication sources as unified messages, the system comprising [see para. 0045; the mobile application replaces conventional mobile device phone applications controlling dialing, email, SMS text messaging, picture messaging, instant messaging, voicemail, etc. into a unified messaging client, mobile devices having an associated user identifier with the social networking system or messaging service, as well as a unified messaging application replacing traditional mobile device messaging applications and maintaining an always-on notification/data channel to the social networking system or messaging service]:
an initialization circuitry configured to: receive one or more selections of one or more communication sources, and prompt authentication of one or more selected communication sources [see para. 0026; the messaging service applies or more policies to messages transmitted from or to client devices dictating the mode of transmission for a particular device, where policies dictate transmitting a message via SMS, a MS server of the messaging service transmits the SMS to the carrier recipient via a special bind, allowing the message to appear as if it initiated from the transmitting device rather than the SMS server. In particular embodiments, the transmitting client device transmits the message via SMS after explicit instruction from the messaging service; which corresponds to a unified messaging system];
a communication circuitry configured to: receive one or more communications from one or more authenticated communication services [see abstract para. 0041-0044; Messages between a user and a particular contact are threaded together, regardless of their format or protocol in order to provide the user with a quick history of all communications with his or her contacts and mobile devices associated with a unique user identifier for a messaging service or social networking system, mobile devices associate with a particular user identifier the first time a user of mobile devices log into the messaging service or social networking system, users with access to accounts on the messaging service or social networking system associated with the user identifiers access the service/system through web clients from any terminal having access to Internet], a unified message circuitry configured to: determine a type for each of the one or more communications; and generate a reply option for each thread [see abstract. para. 0051 and figures 4A-4B; Mailbox server is also responsible for organizing all messages into individual conversation threads. For example, if user A and user B communicate over the course of their relationship via a plurality of communication methods, such as email, phone, text, etc., mailbox server aggregates all the messages exchanged between user A and user B into a single thread. Thus both users A and B may quickly access all their interactions with each other from their mobile device or through a web interface without concerning themselves as to what service was used to deliver or send the message; which corresponds to communicate methods such as email, text and phone and the message exchanged into single thread];
and a display circuitry configured to: generate a thread selection for each thread corresponding to each sender of each of the one or more communications, and display each thread selection [see para. 0052 and figures 5A; thread database comprise multiple distributed servers to cope with the requirements of storing a large number of messages for potentially hundreds of millions of users, conversation threads are organized by the participants in the conversation, a conversation between users A and B would constitute a unique thread having a unique thread identifier (thread ID). A conversation between users A, B, and C constitute another unique thread (and similarly having its own unique thread ID). The conversation participants are identified by their unique social networking user identifier, the conversation participants are identified by their phone number. Particular exemplary methods of sorting messages and associating them with conversation threads; which corresponds to a conversations view that lists threads by contacts and senders from particular conversation]; however, Talwar fails to explicitly teach generate a unified communication thread having a unified message format and corresponding to each sender of each of the one or more communications.
Engstrom discloses generate a unified communication thread having a unified message format and corresponding to each sender of each of the one or more communications [see para. 0019, 0027-0035 and figures 3A-3B; a unified threaded of communication including messages of different message formats with a communication partner or a group of communication partners. For instance, the earlier described unified message box particularized for a single communication partner or a group of communication partners, effectively transforming the unified message box into a unified thread of communication with the communication partner or group of communication partners. As with the unified message box, the unified thread comprise of messages from the particular communication partner or group of communication partners of various message types, voice messages, emails, text messages; which corresponds to unified communication thread for a communication partner that includes messages of different types].
It would have been obvious to one of an ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Talwar and Engstrom before the affective filing date of the claimed invention to modify, generating conversation threads for a unified message system of Talwar to incorporate unified communication thread for wireless mobile communication devices, as taught by Engstrom.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to enable secure user-controlled aggregation of message from selected accounts.
Regarding claim 12, Talwar discloses wherein the display circuitry is further configured to, in response to selection of one thread selection, display a corresponding thread [see para. 0064 and figures 4A-4B; The first conversation represents a conversation between six users (all members of the social network)--Joel Seligstein, Dan Hield, Joe Lei, and 2 others. Conversations represent conversations with individual contacts, in these examples, Grace O'Malley, Alex Chang, and James White. For each conversation, a brief summary of the conversation is presented in the interface, the summary includes the names of the conversation participants, pictures of the conversation participants, and an excerpt from the most recent message in the conversation].
Regarding claim 13, Talwar discloses wherein the communications circuitry is further configured to, in response to a selection of the reply option: format a reply to a corresponding communication; format the reply based on a type of the corresponding communication [see para. 0097 and figures 6-12; If policy dictates that the message be transmitted over SMS channe the messaging client on mobile device requests its mobile carrier SMSC to transmit the message, this request is transmitted over the SS7 protocol, recipient mobile device receives an SMS message from transmitting mobile device mobile phone number via its cellular carrier. The messaging client on mobile device requests mailbox server to save the message, this request is a REST API call, and in mailbox server stores the message in the transmitting user's mailbox, the new message received by mobile device is pulled and stored in the recipient user's mailbox on mailbox server upon the next synchronization operation. The message is stored in mailbox upon delivery].
Engstrom discloses transmit the reply, via application program interface of a corresponding communication source, to a corresponding sender [see para. 0040-0042; Messages are received and stored in physical memory in any of a number of ways. For each message, regardless of protocol, an indication of the message is written to the unified message stack/box. Each indication includes a pointer to the message in memory. Each indication may also include other information about the message including an identifier of the type of message (email, text, voice, etc.), an identifier of the sender, the time and date sent and/or received].
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to enable secure user-controlled aggregation of message from selected accounts.
Regarding claim 14, Talwar discloses wherein the one or more communication sources comprises one or more of a text message based cellular application, an electronic mailing application, a social media account, an electronic message board, a website comments section, an electronic calendar application, or a virtual meeting application [see para. 0101 and figure 10; all flow for transmitting an outgoing message from a messaging client device to a phone number via SMS. The phone number may, without limitation: that of a non-messaging client device, a land line that accepts SMS messages, a VoIP number provided by a service such as Google Voice, any phone number not linked on the transmitting device or the social networking system with a user identifier, or another SMS short code, the messaging client on mobile device requests its carrier SMSC to send the message via SMS].
Regarding claim 15, Talwar discloses wherein the display circuitry is configured to, in response to selection of a thread selection, displaying a thread corresponding to the thread selection [see para. 0052 and figures 5A; thread database comprise multiple distributed servers to cope with the requirements of storing a large number of messages for potentially hundreds of millions of users, conversation threads are organized by the participants in the conversation, a conversation between users A and B would constitute a unique thread having a unique thread identifier (thread ID). A conversation between users A, B, and C constitute another unique thread (and similarly having its own unique thread ID). The conversation participants are identified by their unique social networking user identifier, the conversation participants are identified by their phone number. Particular exemplary methods of sorting messages and associating them with conversation threads; which corresponds to a conversations view that lists threads by contacts and senders from particular conversation].
Regarding claim 16, Engstrom discloses wherein the display circuitry is configured to enable a highlight or sticky option for each message in each thread, and wherein the highlight or sticky option causes a selected message to be displayed at a beginning of a corresponding thread [see para. 0018, 0019; a single stack or message box for messages in multiple message formats. For instance, rather than having one inbox for calls received, another inbox for voice mail, another inbox for email, and yet another inbox for text messages, embodiments of the present invention list two or more types (e.g. all types) of incoming messages in a single inbox similarly list two or more types of outgoing messages in a single outbox and list two or more types of incoming/outgoing messages in a single message box, to provide a unified threaded of communication including messages of different message formats with a communication partner or a group of communication partners].
Regarding claim 17, Talwar discloses a computing device for compiling messages of different communication types, formats, and/or communication sources into unitary communication threads for presentation in a centralized inbox, the computing device comprising : [see para. 0045; the mobile application replaces conventional mobile device phone applications controlling dialing, email, SMS text messaging, picture messaging, instant messaging, voicemail, etc. into a unified messaging client, mobile devices having an associated user identifier with the social networking system or messaging service, as well as a unified messaging application replacing traditional mobile device messaging applications and maintaining an always-on notification/data channel to the social networking system or messaging service]: a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing software instructions that, when executed by the processor [see para. 0135; computer system load instructions from storage or another source to memory. Processor then load the instructions from memory to an internal register or internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor retrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cache and decode them. Processor then write one or more of those results to memory]:
receive one or more user selections of one or more communication types, communication
sources, attachment types, or combinations thereof, for messages to be included in each unitary communication thread [see abstract para. 0041-0044; Messages between a user and a particular contact are threaded together, regardless of their format or protocol in order to provide the user with a quick history of all communications with his or her contacts and mobile devices associated with a unique user identifier for a messaging service or social networking system, mobile devices associate with a particular user identifier the first time a user of mobile devices log into the messaging service or social networking system, users with access to accounts on the messaging service or social networking system associated with the user identifiers access the service/system through web clients from any terminal having access to Internet];
prompt authentication of one or more selected communication sources; receive one or more communications from one or more authenticated communication sources [see para. 0026; the messaging service applies or more policies to messages transmitted from or to client devices dictating the mode of transmission for a particular device, where policies dictate transmitting a message via SMS, a MS server of the messaging service transmits the SMS to the carrier recipient via a special bind, allowing the message to appear as if it initiated from the transmitting device rather than the SMS server, the transmitting client device transmits the message via SMS after explicit instruction from the messaging service; which corresponds to a unified messaging system]; determine a communication type for each of the one or more communications; format each one or more communication based on the communication type for each of the one or more communications [see abstract. para. 0051 and figures 4A-4B; Mailbox server is also responsible for organizing all messages into individual conversation threads. For example, if user A and user B communicate over the course of their relationship via a plurality of communication methods, such as email, phone, text, etc., mailbox server aggregates all the messages exchanged between user A and user B into a single thread. Thus both users A and B may quickly access all their interactions with each other from their mobile device or through a web interface without concerning themselves as to what service was used to deliver or send the message; which corresponds to communicate methods such as email, text and phone and the message exchanged into single thread];
generate a reply option for each thread; and display each thread selection [see para. 0052 and figures 5A; thread database comprise multiple distributed servers to cope with the requirements of storing a large number of messages for potentially hundreds of millions of users, conversation threads are organized by the participants in the conversation, a conversation between users A and B would constitute a unique thread having a unique thread identifier (thread ID). A conversation between users A, B, and C constitute another unique thread (and similarly having its own unique thread ID). The conversation participants are identified by their unique social networking user identifier, the conversation participants are identified by their phone number. Particular exemplary methods of sorting messages and associating them with conversation threads; which corresponds to a conversations view that lists threads by contacts and senders from particular conversation]; however, Talwar fails to explicitly teach generate a unified communication thread corresponding to each sender of each of the one or more messages.
Engstrom discloses generate a unified communication thread corresponding to each sender of each of the one or more messages [see para. 0019, 0027-0035 and figures 3A-3B; a unified threaded of communication including messages of different message formats with a communication partner or a group of communication partners. For instance, the earlier described unified message box particularized for a single communication partner or a group of communication partners, effectively transforming the unified message box into a unified thread of communication with the communication partner or group of communication partners. As with the unified message box, the unified thread comprises of messages from the particular communication partner or group of communication partners of various message types, voice messages, emails, text messages; which corresponds to unified communication thread for a communication partner that includes messages of different types].
It would have been obvious to one of an ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Talwar and Engstrom before the affective filing date of the claimed invention to modify, generating conversation threads for a unified message system of Talwar to incorporate unified communication thread for wireless mobile communication devices, as taught by Engstrom.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to enable secure user-controlled aggregation of message from selected accounts.
Regarding claim 18, Engstrom discloses wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium further stores software instructions that, when executed by the processor: generate a thread selection for each thread corresponding to each sender of each of the one or more messages [see para. 0040-0042; Messages are received and stored in physical memory in any of a number of ways. For each message, regardless of protocol, an indication of the message is written to the unified message stack/box. Each indication includes a pointer to the message in memory. Each indication may also include other information about the message including an identifier of the type of message (email, text, voice, etc.), an identifier of the sender, the time and date sent and/or received].
Regarding claim 19, Talwar discloses wherein authentication includes one or more of two factor authentication, multi factor authentication, or other key or token based authentication [see para. 0036; These users may be shared and balanced among multiple channel servers to be serviced, a hash algorithm may be applied to the user identifier (e.g., the username or account number) of each user to determine to which channel server a specific user is assigned, channel servers placed at different physical locations around the world, and a user assigned to a channel server that is relatively close (e.g., in terms of physical distance) to the user's device. For example, a user located in Japan assigned to a channel server located in Japan or China; while a user located in England assigned to a channel server located in France].
Regarding claim 20, Talwar discloses wherein each thread includes one or more
communication types, and wherein the one or more communication types includes one or more of a text message based cellular application, an electronic mailing application, a social media account, an electronic message board, or a website comments section [see para. 0105 and figure 12; call flow for transmitting an outgoing message to multiple recipients or via multiple communication channels, the messaging client on mobile device instructs mailbox server over data channel to transmit the message to multiple users, mailbox server stores the message in the transmitting user's mailbox, mailbox server delivers the messages to the mailboxes of multiple messaging service recipients, who may view the message through their mobile device or over a web client].
Regarding claim 21, Talwar discloses wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium further stores software instructions that, when executed by the processor: in response to a reply from a user via selection of the reply option for a selected thread: format the reply based on the type of a selected message being replied to [see para. 0097 and figures 6-12; If policy dictates that the message be transmitted over SMS channel the messaging client on mobile device requests its mobile carrier SMSC to transmit the message, this request is transmitted over the SS7 protocol, recipient mobile device receives an SMS message from transmitting mobile device mobile phone number via its cellular carrier. The messaging client on mobile device requests mailbox server to save the message, this request is a REST API call, and in mailbox server stores the message in the transmitting user's mailbox, the new message received by mobile device is pulled and stored in the recipient user's mailbox on mailbox server upon the next synchronization operation. The message is stored in mailbox upon delivery].
Engstrom discloses transmit the reply to a selected sender via an application program interface of a selected communication source [see para. 0040-0042; Messages are received and stored in physical memory in any of a number of ways. For each message, regardless of protocol, an indication of the message is written to the unified message stack/box. Each indication includes a pointer to the message in memory. Each indication may also include other information about the message including an identifier of the type of message (email, text, voice, etc.), an identifier of the sender, the time and date sent and/or received].
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to enable secure user-controlled aggregation of message from selected accounts.
Regarding claim 22, Engstrom discloses wherein the reply is transmitted to the user via the application program interface of the selected communication source as a sent message [see para. 0032; Emails and text messages may not be received at the time and day as they are sent. In which case, display the date and time sent for emails and/or text messages].
Regarding claim 23, Engstrom discloses wherein additional threads correspond to a plurality of senders [see para. 0040-0042; regardless of protocol, an indication of the message is written to the unified message stack/box. Each indication includes a pointer to the message in memory. Each indication may also include other information about the message including an identifier of the type of message (email, text, voice, etc.), an identifier of the sender, the time and date sent and/or received].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 are allowed over prior art of record.
Claims 24-26 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (See PTO-892).
Gailloux (US 8,819,145) discloses the method involves receiving messages that are translated by a consolidated message gateway into a generic message format having an Extensible markup language, Hypertext markup language or a Standard generalized markup language. The messages are indexed using an index field. A database is searched using index fields and based on threading fields. The messages in the database, which have a common value in the threading fields are threaded into multiple threads. The threads are sent to a client device for display in a consolidated user interface.
A reference to specific paragraphs, columns, pages, or figures in a cited prior art reference is not limited to preferred embodiments or any specific examples. It is well settled that a prior art reference, in its entirety, must be considered for all that it expressly teaches and fairly suggests to one having ordinary skill in the art. Stated differently, a prior art disclosure reading on a limitation of Applicant's claim cannot be ignored on the ground that other embodiments disclosed were instead cited. Therefore, the Examiner's citation to a specific portion of a single prior art reference is not intended to exclusively dictate, but rather, to demonstrate an exemplary disclosure commensurate with the specific limitations being addressed. In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33,216 USPQ 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006,1009, 158 USPQ 275, 277 (CCPA 1968)). In re: Upsher-Smith Labs. v. Pamlab, LLC, 412 F.3d 1319, 1323, 75 USPQ2d 1213, 1215 (Fed. Cir. 2005); In re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1264, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1782 (Fed. Cir. 1992); Merck & Co. v. Biocraft Labs., Inc., 874 F.2d 804, 807, 10 USPQ2d 1843, 1846 (Fed. Cir. 1989); In re Fracalossi, 681 F.2d 792,794 n.1,215 USPQ 569, 570 n.1 (CCPA 1982); In re Lamberti, 545 F.2d 747, 750, 192 USPQ 278, 280 (CCPA 1976); In re Bozek, 416 F.2d 1385, 1390, 163 USPQ 545, 549 (CCPA 1969).
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/CAO H NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2171
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