DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to application 18/940844 filed on 11/08/2024. Claims 1-3 are canceled by preliminary amendment. Claims 4-22 are pending.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/27/2025 has been acknowledged and is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
A rejection based on double patenting of the “same invention” type finds its support in the language of 35 U.S.C. 101 which states that “whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process... may obtain a patent therefor...” (Emphasis added). Thus, the term “same invention,” in this context, means an invention drawn to identical subject matter. See Miller v. Eagle Mfg. Co., 151 U.S. 186 (1894); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Ockert, 245 F.2d 467, 114 USPQ 330 (CCPA 1957).
A statutory type (35 U.S.C. 101) double patenting rejection can be overcome by canceling or amending the claims that are directed to the same invention so they are no longer coextensive in scope. The filing of a terminal disclaimer cannot overcome a double patenting rejection based upon 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claims 4-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as claiming the same invention as that of claims 1-19 of prior U.S. Patent No. 10,873,841. This is a statutory double patenting rejection. Please see the chart below that compares the independent claims. Dependent claims 5-13, 15-18, 20-22 of the instant application are similarly rejected with claims 2-10, 12-15, 17-19 of prior U.S. Patent No. 10,873,841.
Instant Application 18/940,844
Patent No. 10,873,841
4. An integrated computing system comprising:
one or more processors;
one or more memory units coupled with the one or more processors;
multiple Social Business Platform (SBP's) having Add-on Software Components (ASCs) downloaded from a global registry, distinct from the SBP's, that when loaded into the one or more memory units and executed on the one or more processors delivers configuration information and configures applications from diverse sources and services in accordance with the configuration information to work with the SBP's; and
an integration service associated with the SBP's to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBP's to create a computing environment that integrates the applications, services, and SBP's into an integrated computing environment having a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBP's that is accessible to a client platform integrated with the SBP's to use the services by the SBP's.
1. An integrated computing system comprising:
one or more processors;
one or more memory units coupled with the one or more processors;
multiple Social Business Platforms (SBPs) having Add-on Software Components (ASCs) downloaded from a global registry, distinct from the SBPs, that when loaded into the one or more memory units and executed on the one or more processors deliver configuration information and configures applications from diverse sources and services in accordance with the configuration information to work with the SBPs; and
an integration service associated with the SBPs to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBPs to create a computing environment that integrates the applications, services, and SBPs into an integrated computing environment having a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBPs that is accessible to a client platform integrated with the SBPs to use the services by the SBPs.
14. A computing system comprising:
a processor;
a memory unit coupled with the processor;
a registry service providing Add-on Software Components (ASCs) that when stored in the memory unit and executed on the processor deliver configuration information to configure a plurality of applications and services from unrelated sources in accordance with the configuration information to integrate with Social Business Platforms (SBP's);
an integration service associated with the SBP's to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBP's to integrate the applications, services, and SBP's within an integrated computing environment; and
a client platform integrated with the SBP's to use the integrated computer environment including the applications, services, and the SBP's, wherein the integrated computing environment provided by the integration service provides a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBP's for the client platform.
11. A computing system comprising:
a processor;
a memory unit coupled with the processor;
a registry service providing Add-on Software Components (ASCs) that when stored in the memory unit and executed on the processor deliver configuration information to configure a plurality of applications and services from unrelated sources in accordance with the configuration information to integrate with Social Business Platforms (SBPs);
an integration service associated with the SBPs to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBPs to integrate the applications, services, and SBPs within an integrated computing environment; and
a client platform integrated with the SBPs to use the integrated computer environment including the applications, services, and the SBPs, wherein the integrated computing environment provided by the integration service provides a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBPs for the client platform.
19. A computer-implemented method of configuring applications, the method comprising:
accessing Add-on Software Components (ASCs) from a global registry, distinct from a Social Business Platforms (SBP's);
executing the ASCs to deliver application configuration information;
configuring the plurality of the applications from diverse sources and services with the
ASCs in accordance with the delivered application configuration information;
using an integration service associated with the SBP's to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBP's to create a computing environment that integrates the applications, services, and SBP's into an integrated computing environment having a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBP's that is accessible to a client platform integrated with the SBP's to use the services by the SBP's.
16. A computer-implemented method of configuring applications, the method comprising:
accessing Add-on Software Components (ASCs) from a global registry, distinct from Social Business Platforms (SBPs);
executing the ASCs to deliver application configuration information;
configuring the plurality of the applications from diverse sources and services with the ASCs in accordance with the delivered application configuration information;
using an integration service associated with the SBPs to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBPs to create a computing environment that integrates the applications, services, and SBPs into an integrated computing environment having a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBPs that is accessible to a client platform integrated with the SBPs to use the services by the SBPs
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 §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) 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 USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The 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/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claims 4-16, 19-22 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-8, 10, 11-14, 20, of U.S. Patent No. 11,523,260 (Patent ‘260) in view of Behrens et al. (US 2010/0050093).
Regarding claim 4, Patent ‘260 discloses:
An integrated computing system comprising (Patent ‘260, claim 1, preamble. See also using limitation, client platform integrated with SBPs):
multiple Social Business Platform (SBP's) having Add-on Software Components (ASCs) downloaded from a global registry, distinct from the SBP's, delivers configuration information and configures applications from diverse sources and services in accordance with the configuration information to work with the SBP's (Patent ‘260, claim 1, accessing, executing, and configuring limitations); and
an integration service associated with the SBP's to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBP's to create a computing environment that integrates the applications, services, and SBP's into an integrated computing environment having a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBP's that is accessible to a client platform integrated with the SBP's to use the services by the SBP's (Patent ‘260, claim 1, using an integration service limitation. The limitation discloses ‘having a single user interface to the applications and SBPs that is accessible to a client platform and is therefore equated to the claimed ‘each’ of the SBPs).
While Patent ‘260 discloses executing code in a computer system (Patent ‘260, claim 1, executing limitation), Patent ‘260 did not explicitly disclose one or more processors; one or more memory units coupled with the one or more processors; and that ASCs are loaded into the one or more memory units and executed on the one or more processors.
However, in an analogous art, Behrens discloses one or more processors (Paragraph 93, performing the steps when executed on the…processor);
one or more memory units coupled with the one or more processors (Paragraphs 93-94, performing steps when executed on the…processor, the computer system including a memory device);
ASCs are loaded into the one or more memory units and executed on the one or more processors (Paragraph 43, an instrument may be a software program (i.e., ASCs) that gets downloaded (i.e., in a memory unit), installed, and run (e.g., by the processor)).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Patent ‘260 with Behrens because the references involve integrating services into a platform, and as such, are within the same environment.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the processor, memory, and ASCs loaded into memory and executed by a processor of Behrens with the teachings of Patent ‘260 in order to allow the plugging in of various instrument types in order to help a team make collaborative decisions (Behrens, Paragraph 41).
Regarding claims 14, 19, the claims are substantially similar to claim 4 and are therefore rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claim 5, the limitations of claim 4 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein applications and services provided by the SBP's and the client platform are integrated with applications and services provided by remote third party providers (Patent ‘260, claim 5).
Regarding claim 6, the limitations of claim 4 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein the SBP's are configured to provide social networking services including at least one of user profiles, user pictures, user social contacts, and contact search functions configured to connect with social contacts of other users (Patent ‘260, claim 6).
Regarding claim 7, the limitations of claim 4 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein the SBP's are configured to assign a trust level to each of social contacts of a user (Patent ‘260, claim 7).
Regarding claim 8, the limitations of claim 4 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein the applications and services are associated with at least one of the client platform applications and third-party service providers' applications and services (Patent ‘260, claim 8).
Regarding claim 9, the limitations of claim 4 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein the ASCs include one of a plug-in and a browser extension component (Patent ‘260, claim 4).
Regarding claim 10, the limitations of claim 4 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein the ASCs are provided by sources unassociated with sources providing the applications and services (Behrens, Paragraph 41, downloading extension points for plugging in a variety of instrument types through links or URLs in order to become part of the collaboration workspace. Paragraph 59, the CPA allows for different panels associated with different knowledge domains. The CPA provides a general framework for interacting with external…services. The CPA is kept separate from the services and each external service needs to register with the Service Registry of the CPA (i.e., unassociated, as the services are not connected to the CPA until after they register)).
For motivation, please refer to claim 4.
Regarding claim 11, the limitations of claim 4 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein the ASCs are listed, published, and stored by the global registry (Patent ‘260, claim 10).
Regarding claim 12, the limitations of claim 4 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein the global registry is configured to register instances of the SBP's to authenticate the SBP's (Patent ‘260, claim 11 discloses ‘an instance.’ Behrens, Paragraph 58, the service registry provides a listing of all services currently registered with the CPA (i.e., instances of the CPA) in addition to basic service operations).
For motivation, please refer to claim 4.
Regarding claim 13, the limitations of claim 4 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein each ASC is a type configured to serve at least one of SBP application, storage facility, data tile, security credentials, alerts, localized resources, and search tags (Patent ‘260, claim 3).
Regarding claim 15, the limitations of claim 14 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein the registry is a global registry configured to authenticate an instance of the SBP's (Patent ‘260, claim 11) at the time of installation of an ASC (Behrens, Paragraph 43, an instrument may be a software program (i.e., ASCs) that gets downloaded, installed, and run).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Patent ‘260 with Behrens because the references involve integrating services into a platform, and as such, are within the same environment.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the time of installation of an ASC of Behrens with the teachings of Patent ‘260 in order to allow for the leveraging of tools within the framework (Behrens, Paragraph 50).
Regarding claim 16, the limitations of claim 14 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein the registry is configured to publish a list of available ASCs via the registry (Patent ‘260, claim 20).
Regarding claim 20, the limitations of claim 19 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
further comprising registering the SBP's with the global registry to access the ASCs (Patent ‘260, claim 2).
Regarding claim 21, the limitations of claim 19 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein each ASC is a type configured to serve at least one of SBP application, storage facility, data tile, security credentials, alerts, localized resources, and search tags (Patent ‘260, claim 13).
Regarding claim 22, the limitations of claim 19 have been addressed. Patent ‘260 and Behrens disclosed:
wherein the ASCs include one of a plug-in and a browser extension component (Patent ‘260, claim 14).
Claims 4-19, 21-22, are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-15 of U.S. Patent No. 12,167,307 (Patent ‘307). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each for the reasons noted below.
Instant Application 18/940,844
Patent No. 12,167,307
4. An integrated computing system comprising:
one or more processors;
one or more memory units coupled with the one or more processors;
multiple Social Business Platform (SBP's) having Add-on Software Components (ASCs) downloaded from a global registry, distinct from the SBP's, that when loaded into the one or more memory units and executed on the one or more processors delivers configuration information and configures applications from diverse sources and services in accordance with the configuration information to work with the SBP's; and
an integration service associated with the SBP's to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBP's to create a computing environment that integrates the applications, services, and SBP's into an integrated computing environment having a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBP's that is accessible to a client platform integrated with the SBP's to use the services by the SBP's.
1. An integrated computing system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more memories, coupled to the one or more processors, storing code that when executed causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
loading Add-on Software Components (ASCs) included in multiple Social Business Platform (SBP's) and downloaded from a global registry, distinct from the SBP's;
executing the ASCs to deliver configuration information and configure applications from diverse sources and services in accordance with the configuration information to work with the SBP's; and
utilizing an integration service associated with the SBP's to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBP's to create a computing environment that integrates the applications, services, and SBP's into an integrated computing environment having a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBP's that is accessible to a client platform integrated with the SBP's to use the services by the SBP's.
14. A computing system comprising:
a processor;
a memory unit coupled with the processor;
a registry service providing Add-on Software Components (ASCs) that when stored in the memory unit and executed on the processor deliver configuration information to configure a plurality of applications and services from unrelated sources in accordance with the configuration information to integrate with Social Business Platforms (SBP's);
an integration service associated with the SBP's to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBP's to integrate the applications, services, and SBP's within an integrated computing environment; and
a client platform integrated with the SBP's to use the integrated computer environment including the applications, services, and the SBP's, wherein the integrated computing environment provided by the integration service provides a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBP's for the client platform.
11. A computing system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more memories, coupled to the one or more processors, storing code that when executed causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
executing a registry service providing Add-on Software Components (ASCs) that when stored in the one or more memories and executed on the one or more processors deliver configuration information to configure a plurality of applications and services from unrelated sources in accordance with the configuration information to integrate with Social Business Platforms (SBP's);
executing an integration service associated with the SBP's to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBP's to integrate the applications, services, and SBP's within an integrated computing environment; and
providing a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBP's for a client platform integrated with the SBP's to use the integrated computer environment including the applications, services, and the SBP's.
19. A computer-implemented method of configuring applications, the method comprising:
accessing Add-on Software Components (ASCs) from a global registry, distinct from a Social Business Platforms (SBP's);
executing the ASCs to deliver application configuration information;
configuring the plurality of the applications from diverse sources and services with the
ASCs in accordance with the delivered application configuration information;
using an integration service associated with the SBP's to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBP's to create a computing environment that integrates the applications, services, and SBP's into an integrated computing environment having a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBP's that is accessible to a client platform integrated with the SBP's to use the services by the SBP's.
1. An integrated computing system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more memories, coupled to the one or more processors, storing code that when executed causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
loading Add-on Software Components (ASCs) included in multiple Social Business Platform (SBP's) and downloaded from a global registry, distinct from the SBP's;
executing the ASCs to deliver configuration information and configure applications from diverse sources and services in accordance with the configuration information to work with the SBP's; and
utilizing an integration service associated with the SBP's to plug in the ASCs into the applications and the SBP's to create a computing environment that integrates the applications, services, and SBP's into an integrated computing environment having a single user interface to the applications and to each of the SBP's that is accessible to a client platform integrated with the SBP's to use the services by the SBP's.
As shown above, the comparison between claims 1, 14, 19, of the instant Application and claims 1, 11, of the Patent ‘307 reveals that claims 1, 11, of Patent ‘307 are simply a species of the broader genus claims 1, 14, 19, of the instant Application and thus claims 1, 11, of Patent ‘037 anticipates the claims of the instant application.
Hence, claims 1, 14, 19, of the instant application are generic to the species of the invention covered by claims 1, 11, of the Patent ‘307. Thus, the broader generic invention is anticipated by the narrower species of the Patent ‘307. Without a terminal disclaimer, the species claims preclude issuance of the generic application. See In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Dependent claims 5-13, 15-18, 21-22 of the instant application are also anticipated by dependent claims 2-10, 12-15 of Patent ‘307.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: On line 7, “configures applications from diverse sources” should be –configure[[s]] applications from diverse sources--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities: On line 6, “configure a plurality of applications” should be –configure applications--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 13 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 13, the claim depends upon claim 1. However, claims 1-3 have been canceled by the preliminary amendment filed on 11/08/2024. For purposes of examination, the examiner will construe claim 13 to depend on claim 4.
Regarding claim 19, the claim recites ‘the plurality of the applications’ in line 6. It is unclear to the examiner if this ‘plurality of applications’ is the same ‘applications’ in the preamble or if they are a different ‘plurality of applications’ from the ‘diverse sources and services.’ For purposes of examination, the examiner will construe the ‘plurality of applications’ to be the ‘applications’ in the preamble.
Conclusion
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/S.C.N/Examiner, Art Unit 2451
/Chris Parry/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2451