Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
1. This is a first non-final Office Action on the merits for application 18921896. Claims 1-21 are pending examination.
Double Patenting
2. 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.
Claims 1-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over Claim 1-19 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066, Claim 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435, Claim 1-17 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681, and Claim 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 10,438,243. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims are directed to the same subject matter, perform similar method steps and a person of ordinary skill in the art would not be free to practice one of the claimed inventions without infringing upon the other inventions.
Application number: 18921896
1. A method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising: receiving a request for advertising content associated with an advertisement tag; determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application; in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining an advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application.
Patent number: 12,125,0661. A method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising:
receiving a request for advertising content associated with an advertisement tag;
determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit, determining a confidence value associated with the technique, and determining whether to continue using the technique for determining the advertisement software development kit by comparing the confidence value with a threshold confidence value; and
transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment and, in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application.
Patent number: 11,017,435
1. A method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising:
receiving, using a hardware processor, a request for advertising content from an advertisement tag;
applying, using the hardware processor, one or more JavaScript objects to return a URL of an advertisement web view, wherein the advertisement website is generated by an advertisement software development kit to contain an advertisement responsive to the request;
extracting, using the hardware processor, keywords from the URL of the advertisement web view;
determining, using the hardware processor, whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application based on a comparison of the extracted keywords with known mobile application information;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining, using the hardware processor, the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by:
applying, using the hardware processor, a plurality of JavaScript objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit;
identifying, using the hardware processor, HTML elements that have been injected in the advertisement web view by the advertisement software development kit;
comparing, using the hardware processor, at least a portion of the identified HTML elements with document properties stored in the returned properties with a database of known software development kit information; and
continuing, using the hardware processor, to apply the plurality of JavaScript objects until a threshold confidence value has been met;
transmitting, using the hardware processor, an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment;
determining, using the hardware processor, advertisement traffic origination from each mobile application environment based on indications that advertisement tags were received from mobile web browsing applications and from mobile applications;
determining, using the hardware processor, a budget allocation for each mobile application environment; and
adjusting, using the hardware processor, an advertisement budget for advertisements presented within mobile applications based on the budget allocation.
Patent number: 11,620,6811. A method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising:
receiving, using a hardware processor, a request for advertising content from an advertisement tag;
determining, using the hardware processor, whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application based on a comparison of keywords associated with the advertisement tag with known mobile application information;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining, using the hardware processor, the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by:
using a first technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit;
identifying, using the hardware processor, elements that have been injected in an advertisement web view by the advertisement software development kit; and
comparing, using the hardware processor, at least a portion of the identified elements with document properties stored in a database of known software development kit information, wherein the comparing includes determining a confidence value associated with the first technique and determining whether to continue using the first technique for determining the advertisement software development kit by comparing the confidence value with a threshold confidence value;
transmitting, using the hardware processor, an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and
adjusting an advertisement budget for advertisements presented within mobile applications based on the transmitted indication.
Patent number: 10,438,2431. A method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising:
receiving, using a hardware processor, a request for advertising content from an advertisement tag;
applying, using the hardware processor, one or more JavaScript objects to return a URL of an advertisement web view, wherein the advertisement web view is generated by an advertisement software development kit to contain an advertisement responsive to the request;
extracting, using the hardware processor, keywords from the URL of the advertisement web view;
determining, using the hardware processor, whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application based on a comparison of the extracted keywords with known mobile application information;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining, using the hardware processor, the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by:
applying, using the hardware processor, a plurality of JavaScript objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit; and
comparing, using the hardware processor, the returned properties with a database of known software development kit information;
transmitting, using the hardware processor, a first indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting, using the hardware processor, a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application.
11. A system for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the system comprising: a hardware processor that: receives a request for advertising content associated with an advertisement tag; determines whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application; in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determines an advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that appliesone or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and transmits an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmits a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application.
10. A system for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the system comprising:
a hardware processor that:
receives a request for advertising content associated with an advertisement tag;
determines whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determines the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit, determining a confidence value associated with the technique, and determining whether to continue using the technique for determining the advertisement software development kit by comparing the confidence value with a threshold confidence value; and
transmits an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment and, in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmits a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application.
7. A system for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the system comprising:
a memory; and
a hardware processor that, when executing computer executable instructions stored in the memory, is configured to:
receive a request for advertising content from an advertisement tag;
apply one or more JavaScript objects to return a URL of an advertisement web view, wherein the advertisement website is generated by an advertisement software development kit to contain an advertisement responsive to the request;
extract keywords from the URL of the advertisement web view;
determine whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application based on a comparison of the extracted keywords with known mobile application information;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determine the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by:
applying a plurality of JavaScript objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit;
identifying HTML elements that have been injected in the advertisement web view by the advertisement software development kit;
comparing at least a portion of the identified HTML elements with document properties stored in a database of known software development kit information; and
continue to apply the plurality of JavaScript objects until a threshold confidence value has been met;
transmit an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment;
determine advertisement traffic origination from each mobile application environment based on indications that advertisement tags were received from mobile web browsing applications and from mobile applications;
determine a budget allocation for each mobile application environment; and
adjust an advertisement budget for advertisements presented within mobile applications based on the budget allocation.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the determining the advertisement software development kit from the plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running further comprises applying a JavaScript object that returns a string of a user agent header transmitted in the request to an advertisement server.
9. The system of claim 7, wherein the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in is determined using a first technique that includes the application of the plurality of JavaScript objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and the comparison of the returned properties with the database of known software development kit information and wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:
determine a confidence value associated with the first technique; and
determine whether to continue using the first technique for determining the advertisement software development kit by comparing the confidence value with the threshold confidence value.
9. A system for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the system comprising:
a memory; and
a hardware processor that, when executing computer executable instructions stored in the memory, is configured to:
receive a request for advertising content from an advertisement tag;
determine whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application based on a comparison of keywords associated with the advertisement tag with known mobile application information;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determine the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by:
using a first technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit;
identifying elements that have been injected in an advertisement web view by the advertisement software development kit; and
comparing at least a portion of the identified elements with document properties stored in a database of known software development kit information, wherein the comparing includes determining a confidence value associated with the first technique and determining whether to continue using the first technique for determining the advertisement software development kit by comparing the confidence value with a threshold confidence value;
transmit an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and
adjust an advertisement budget for advertisements presented within mobile applications based on the transmitted indication.
7. A system for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the system comprising:
a memory; and
a hardware processor that, when executing computer executable instructions stored in the memory, is configured to:
receive a request for advertising content from an advertisement tag;
apply one or more JavaScript objects to return a URL of an advertisement web view, wherein the advertisement web view is generated by an advertisement software development kit to contain an advertisement responsive to the request;
extract keywords from the URL of the advertisement web view;
determine whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application based on a comparison of the extracted keywords with known mobile application information;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determine the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by:
applying a plurality of JavaScript objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit; and
comparing the returned properties with a database of known software development kit information;
transmit a first indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmit a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application.
21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a hardware processor, cause the hardware processor to perform a method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising receiving a request for advertising content associated with an advertisement tag; determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application; in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining an advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that appliesone or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a hardware processor, cause the hardware processor to perform a method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising
receiving a request for advertising content associated with an advertisement tag;
determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit, determining a confidence value associated with the technique, and determining whether to continue using the technique for determining the advertisement software development kit by comparing the confidence value with a threshold confidence value; and
transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment and, in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application.
13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a hardware processor, cause the hardware processor to perform a method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising:
receiving a request for advertising content from an advertisement tag;
applying one or more JavaScript objects to return a URL of an advertisement web view, wherein the advertisement website is generated by an advertisement software development kit to contain an advertisement responsive to the request;
extracting keywords from the URL of the advertisement web view;
determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application based on a comparison of the extracted keywords with known mobile application information;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by:
applying a plurality of JavaScript objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit;
identifying HTML elements that have been injected in the advertisement web view by the advertisement software development kit;
comparing at least a portion of the identified HTML elements with document properties stored in a database of known software development kit information; and
continuing to apply the plurality of JavaScript objects until a threshold confidence value has been met;
transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment;
determining advertisement traffic origination from each mobile application environment based on indications that advertisement tags were received from mobile web browsing applications and from mobile applications;
determining a budget allocation for each mobile application environment; and
adjusting an advertisement budget for advertisements presented within mobile applications based on the budget allocation.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a hardware processor, cause the hardware processor to perform a method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising
receiving a request for advertising content from an advertisement tag;
determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application based on a comparison of keywords associated with the advertisement tag with known mobile application information;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by:
using a first technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit;
identifying elements that have been injected in an advertisement web view by the advertisement software development kit; and
comparing at least a portion of the identified elements with document properties stored in a database of known software development kit information, wherein the comparing includes determining a confidence value associated with the first technique and determining whether to continue using the first technique for determining the advertisement software development kit by comparing the confidence value with a threshold confidence value;
transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and
adjusting an advertisement budget for advertisements presented within mobile applications based on the transmitted indication.
13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a hardware processor, cause the hardware processor to perform a method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising:
receiving a request for advertising content from an advertisement tag;
applying one or more JavaScript objects to return a URL of an advertisement web view, wherein the advertisement web view is generated by an advertisement software development kit to contain an advertisement responsive to the request;
extracting keywords from the URL of the advertisement web view;
determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application based on a comparison of the extracted keywords with known mobile application information;
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by:
applying a plurality of JavaScript objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit; and
comparing the returned properties with a database of known software development kit information;
transmitting a first indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and
in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from a mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application.
As to the independent claims:
Limitations presented in claim 2 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 3 is an obvious variation of patented claim 2 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 4 is an obvious variation of patented claim 3 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 5 is an obvious variation of patented claim 4 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 6 is an obvious variation of patented claim 5 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 7 is an obvious variation of patented claim 6 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 8 is an obvious variation of patented claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 9 is an obvious variation of patented claim 8 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 10 is an obvious variation of patented claim 9 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Limitations presented in claim 12 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 10 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 13 is an obvious variation of patented claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 14 is an obvious variation of patented claim 12 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 15 is an obvious variation of patented claim 13 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 16 is an obvious variation of patented claim 14 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 17 is an obvious variation of patented claim 15 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 18 is an obvious variation of patented claim 16 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 19 is an obvious variation of patented claim 17 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 20 is an obvious variation of patented claim 18 of U.S. Patent No. 12,125,066.
Instant claim 2 is an obvious variation of patented claim 3 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 3 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 4 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 5 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 6 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 7 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Instant claim 8 is an obvious variation of patented claim 2 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Instant claim 9 is an obvious variation of patented claim 6 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Instant claim 10 is an obvious variation of patented claim 4 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.Instant claim 12 is an obvious variation of patented claim 8 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 13 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 14 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 15 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 16 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 17 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Instant claim 18 is an obvious variation of patented claim 8 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Instant claim 19 is an obvious variation of patented claim 12 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Instant claim 20 is an obvious variation of patented claim 10 of U.S. Patent No. 11,017,435.
Limitations presented in claim 2 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Instant claim 3 is an obvious variation of patented claim 2 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Instant claim 4 is an obvious variation of patented claim 3 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Limitations presented in claim 5 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Limitations presented in claim 6 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Limitations presented in claim 7 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Instant claim 8 is an obvious variation of patented claim 5 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Instant claim 9 is an obvious variation of patented claim 6 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Instant claim 10 is an obvious variation of patented claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Limitations presented in claim 12 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Instant claim 13 is an obvious variation of patented claim 10 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Instant claim 14 is an obvious variation of patented claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Limitations presented in claim 15 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 9 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Limitations presented in claim 16 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 9 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Limitations presented in claim 17 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 9 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Instant claim 18 is an obvious variation of patented claim 13 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Instant claim 19 is an obvious variation of patented claim 14 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.
Instant claim 20 is an obvious variation of patented claim 15 of U.S. Patent No. 11,620,681.Instant claim 2, and 12 is an obvious variation of patented claim 5 and 11 of U.S. Patent No. 10,438,243.
Limitations presented in claim 3 and 13 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 and 7 of U.S. Patent No. 10,438,243.
Limitations presented in claim 4 and 14 is an obvious variation of additional limitations presented in patented claim 1 and 7 of U.S. Patent No. 10,438,243.
Instant claim 5 and 15 is an obvious variation of patented claim 2 and 8 of U.S. Patent No. 10,438,243.
Instant claim 6 and 16 is an obvious variation of patented claim 4 and 10 of U.S. Patent No. 10,438,243.
Instant claim 7 and 17 is an obvious variation of patented claim 4 and 10 of U.S. Patent No. 10,438,243.
Instant claim 8 and 18 is an obvious variation of patented claim 3 and 9 of U.S. Patent No. 10,438,243.
Instant claim 9 and 19 is an obvious variation of patented claim 5 and 11 of U.S. Patent No. 10,438,243.
Instant claim 10 and 20 is an obvious variation of patented claim 6 and 12 of U.S. Patent No. 10,438,243.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to make the changes above in order to cover slightly broader limitations. Furthermore, the claimed elements perform the same function as before.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
3. 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claim(s) 1 is/are drawn to method (i.e., a process), claim(s) 11 is/are drawn to a system (i.e., a machine/manufacture), and claim(s) 21 is/are drawn to non-transitory computer readable medium (i.e., a machine/manufacture). As such, claims 1, 11, and 21 is/are drawn to one of the statutory categories of invention.
Claims 1-21 are directed to dynamically detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests based on tags running within a mobile application. Specifically, claim(s) 1, 11, and 21 recite(s) receiving a request for advertising content associated with an advertisement tag; determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application; in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining an advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application, which is grouped within the Methods Of Organizing Human Activity and is similar to the concept of (commercial or legal interactions including agreements in the form of contracts, legal obligations, advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors business relations) grouping of abstract ideas in prong one of step 2A of the Alice/Mayo test (See 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 50, 52, 54 (January 7, 2019)). Accordingly, the claims recite an abstract idea (See pages 7, 10, Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, et al., US Supreme Court, No. 13-298, June 19, 2014; 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 50, 53-54 (January 7, 2019)).
The Claim limitations are listed under Methods Of Organizing Human Activity, and grouped as following:
receiving a request for advertising content associated with an advertisement tag; which is similar to the concept of (advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors business relations),
determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application; in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining an advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, which is similar to the concept of (advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors business relations),
wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application; which is similar to the concept of (advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors business relations).
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because, when analyzed under prong two of step 2A of the Alice/Mayo test (See 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 50, 54-55 (January 7, 2019)), the additional element(s) of the claim(s) such as system, hardware, mobile, processor, non-transitory computer readable medium merely use(s) a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea and/or generally link(s) the use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment. Specifically, the system, hardware, mobile, processor, non-transitory computer readable medium perform(s) the steps or functions of receiving a request for advertising content associated with an advertisement tag; determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application; in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining an advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application. The use of a processor/computer as a tool to implement the abstract idea and/or generally linking the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it requires no more than a computer performing functions that correspond to acts required to carry out the abstract idea. The additional elements do not involve improvements to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technical field (MPEP 2106.05(a)), the claims do not apply or use the abstract idea to effect a particular treatment or prophylaxis for a disease or medical condition (Vanda Memo), the claims do not apply the abstract idea with, or by use of, a particular machine (MPEP 2106.05(b)), the claims do not effect a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing (MPEP 2106.05(c)), and the claims do not apply or use the abstract idea in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception (MPEP 2106.05(e) and Vanda Memo). Therefore, the claims do not, for example, purport to improve the functioning of a computer. Nor do they effect an improvement in any other technology or technical field. Accordingly, the additional elements do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea, and the claims are directed to an abstract idea.
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because, when analyzed under step 2B of the Alice/Mayo test (See 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 50, 52, 56 (January 7, 2019)), the additional element(s) of using a system, hardware, mobile, processor, non-transitory computer readable medium to perform the steps amounts to no more than using a computer or processor to automate and/or implement the abstract idea of dynamically detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests based on tags running within a mobile application. As discussed above, taking the claim elements separately, the system, hardware, mobile, processor, non-transitory computer readable medium perform(s) the steps or functions of receiving a request for advertising content associated with an advertisement tag; determining whether the advertisement tag is running within one of a mobile application and a mobile web browsing application; in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining an advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application. These functions correspond to the actions required to perform the abstract idea. Viewed as a whole, the combination of elements recited in the claims merely recite the concept of dynamically detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests based on tags running within a mobile application. Therefore, the use of these additional elements does no more than employ the computer as a tool to automate and/or implement the abstract idea. The use of a computer or processor to merely automate and/or implement the abstract idea cannot provide significantly more than the abstract idea itself (MPEP 2106.05(I)(A)(f) & (h)). Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
As for dependent claims 2-10, and 12-20 further describe the abstract idea of dynamically detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests based on tags running within a mobile application. Claim(s) 2-10, and 12-20 does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because, when analyzed under step 2B of the Alice/Mayo test (See 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 50, 52, 56 (January 7, 2019)), the additional element(s) of using a database, advertisement server, system to perform the steps amounts to no more than using a computer or processor to automate and/or implement the abstract idea of dynamically detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests based on tags running within a mobile application. As discussed above, taking the claim elements separately, the database, advertisement server, system perform(s) the steps or functions of determining a confidence value associated with the technique and determining whether to continue using the technique for determining the advertisement software development kit by comparing the confidence value with a threshold confidence value; applying the one or more objects to return a URL of an advertisement web view, wherein the advertisement website is generated by an advertisement software development kit to contain an advertisement responsive to the request; extracting keywords from the URL of the advertisement web view; adjusting an advertisement budget for advertisements presented within mobile applications based on the transmitted indication; wherein determining the advertisement software development kit from the plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in further comprises identifying elements that have been injected in an advertisement web view by the advertisement software development kit; wherein the method further comprises comparing at least a portion of the identified elements with document properties stored known software development kit information; wherein the determining the advertisement software development kit from the plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running further comprises applying an object that returns a string of a user agent header transmitted in the request; wherein the method further comprises comparing at least a portion of the string of the user agent header with values stored in a database of known software development kit information; extracting property information using the one or more objects; transmitting a query that includes the extracted property information of known software development kit information; and receiving a response to the query that includes one or more software development kits that match the extracted property information. These functions correspond to the actions required to perform the abstract idea. Viewed as a whole, the combination of elements recited in the claims merely recite the concept of dynamically detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests based on tags running within a mobile application. Therefore, the use of these additional elements does no more than employ the computer as a tool to automate and/or implement the abstract idea. The use of a computer or processor to merely automate and/or implement the abstract idea cannot provide significantly more than the abstract idea itself (MPEP 2106.05(I)(A)(f) & (h)). Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
Prior Art
4. In reference to independent claims 1, 11, and 21, the Office is unaware of any references that teach the combination of limitations found in the claims of:
“using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application.”
The most relevant prior art identified by the Examiner is/are WO2010034056A1, disclose ad broker which operates a server (not shown) that is connected to the mobile phone network 12 and is able to transmit a pre-selection of advertisements to the mobile phone 10. Each advertisement is associated with an advertisement descriptor (also referred to here as advertisement tag). In this example, a total of 10,000 separate advertisements are transmitted to the mobile phone 10, , but they do not explicitly disclose determining an advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile web browsing application, transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile web browsing application but do not teach using a technique for applying an object for the advertisement software development kit to return properties of advertisement software kit and transmitting indication that is associated with the advertisement within an application found on the phone device and also doesn’t teach the feature of a second indication from the mobile web browsing application. However, it lacks the combination of claimed elements as claimed by the independent claims.
Examiner note: none of the references or combined references teach the combination of limitations of claim 1, 11, and 21 or no reference found that would teaches the combination of limitations of claim 1, 11, and 21, especially claim limitations: using a technique that applies one or more objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit and transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag, wherein the advertisement tag is supplemented with information associated with the mobile application environment and the advertisement software development kit used within the mobile application environment; and transmitting a second indication that the advertisement tag was received from the mobile web browsing application, which is an idea of dynamically detecting mobile environment information are provided. In some implementations, a method for detecting mobile environment information for advertisement requests, the method comprising: receiving a request for advertising content from an advertisement tag; applying one or more JavaScript objects to return a URL of an advertisement web view, wherein the advertisement website is generated by an advertisement software development kit to contain an advertisement responsive to the request; extracting keywords from the URL of the advertisement web view; determining whether the advertisement tag is running within a mobile application based on a comparison of the extracted keywords with known mobile application information; in response to determining that the advertisement tag is running within the mobile application, determining the advertisement software development kit from a plurality of advertisement software development kits that the advertisement tag is running in by: applying a plurality of JavaScript objects that are made available by the advertisement software development kit to return properties of the advertisement software development kit; and comparing the returned properties with a database of known software development kit information; and transmitting an indication that associates the advertisement software development kit used within a mobile application environment with the advertisement tag.
When taken as a whole, the claims are not rendered obvious as the reference(s) found does/do not suggest or otherwise render obvious the noted features nor the reference(s) does/do suggest or otherwise render obvious further modification of the evidence at hand. Such modifications would require substantial reconstruction relying solely on improper hindsight bias, and thus would not be obvious. Therefore, the prior art rejection has been withdrawn.
NPL Reference
5. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The NPL “The ultimate guide to mobile advertising” describes “Mobile advertising is becoming the dominant channel in digital marketing, currently representing 68% of total digital ad spend in the U.S. and a huge 96% of display ad spend. As smartphones and tablets become increasingly ubiquitous, particularly in mobile first markets, advertisers are presented with exciting—and highly competitive—opportunities to reach and engage audiences through targeted, interactive, and measurable campaigns. Over the last decade, the shift toward mobile-centric advertising has revolutionized the way companies reach audiences, and paved the way for entirely new methods of approaching user acquisition (UA), engagement, and retention. This comprehensive guide explores the ins-and-outs of modern mobile advertising, offering insights for marketers, app developers, publishers, and businesses looking to harness its potential. We explore the fundamentals of mobile ad formats, examine the intricacies of mobile ad networks and programmatic buying, and discuss strategies for creating compelling mobile ad experiences—including how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the ecosystem. Whether you're new to mobile advertising or seeking to refine your existing campaigns, this resource provides the knowledge and tools needed to navigate this dynamic and rapidly evolving field.”.
Pertinent Art
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Reference#9436580 teaches similar invention which describes a tag delivery network is disclosed for delivering tags to collect analytics related to use of mobile applications. The tag delivery network may include multiple servers for communicating with mobile devices executing mobile applications. The mobile applications may be any mobile application that has been recompiled with, for example, a particular line of code and a static library. A recompiled mobile application may initiate a browser when executed by a mobile device. The tag delivery network may deliver a tag container to the browser. The tag container may load a bootstrap file which in turn may load one or more rule files and code files. These files may cause the mobile device to modify an appearance of the mobile application. The modification may be performed to carry out multivariate testing (e.g., A/B testing), content swapping, optimization of the mobile application, or personalization of the mobile application.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAREK ELCHANTI whose telephone number is (571) 272-9638. The examiner can normally be reached on Flex Mon - Thur 7-7:00 and Fri 7-4:00.
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, Waseem Ashraf can be reached on (571) 270-3948. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TAREK ELCHANTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621B
Prosecution Insights