DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
01. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
02. This action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed on 03/03/3026. Claims 2 – 21 are pending in the present application. This action is made FINAL, as necessitated by amendment.
Response to Arguments
03. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 2 – 21 have been considered, but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
04. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
05. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
06. Claims 2 – 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kau et al. (US PGPub 2014/0188810), hereinafter “Kau”, in view of Hern et al. (US PGPub 2015/0302098), hereinafter “Hern”.
Consider claim 2, Kau discloses a method for automated contact management based on content communications, the method comprising:
identifying a contact entry stored for a destination [account] in a contact database, wherein the contact entry corresponds to a source [account] (paragraphs [0024], [0027], a contact manager stores contact entries for a user. Examiner notes that Kau does not use the specific terminology of “database”, but the storing of contacts for a user at a contact manager is a type of storage, such as that shown in Fig. 4 – 8, which is understood to be a type of database storage);
retrieving a rule from a rules database, wherein the rule defines criteria for identifying contact archiving trigger-related data within a content item electronically communicated between the source [account] and the destination [account] (paragraphs [0028], [0029], a set of rules are stored that are then obtained in order to determine conditions that need to be satisfied in order for a contact entry to be archived);
generating, based at least in part on the rule, a contact archiving trigger for automatically archiving the contact entry, wherein the contact archiving trigger defines at least one criterion for archiving the contact entry (paragraphs [0030], [0031], Fig. 3, rules are utilized in order to determine a threshold that has to be satisfied in order to invoke the archiving process for contact entries);
determining whether the at least one criterion has been met (paragraphs [0028], [0030], a determination is made as to if a threshold has been satisfied);
based at least in part on determining that the at least one criterion has been met, automatically archiving the contact entry by moving the contact entry from the contact database to an archive contact database (paragraphs [0032], [0033], [0041], [0047], [0054], based on a threshold being satisfied, a contact entry is archived by way of storing it in a separate location, which can be an automatic process).
However, Kau does not specifically teach accounts that are utilized for the purpose of managing contact entries.
In the same field of endeavor, Hern discloses a method comprising:
destination account, source account (paragraphs [0014], [0097], accounts are generated and utilized for users, wherein the accounts include user accounts and accounts that stores contact information).
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 accounts taught by Hern into the contact entry management taught by Kau for the purpose of allowing the contact entries to be used by multiple accounts so that contact entries can be created and utilized by different accounts for increased functionality.
Consider claim 3, and as applied to claim 2 above, Kau discloses a method comprising:
the contact archiving trigger is a time-based trigger, and wherein the determining that the at least one criterion has been met is based on determining that a current time has reached a contact entry archiving time (paragraphs [0028], [0030], the criteria for the threshold can be a time threshold).
Consider claim 4, and as applied to claim 2 above, Kau discloses a method comprising:
the contact archiving trigger is an action-based trigger, and wherein the determining that the at least one criterion has been met is based on: identifying an action based at least in part on data within the content item; and determining that the action has occurred (paragraphs [0028] – [0030], the criteria for the threshold can be based on actions that are performed).
Consider claim 5, and as applied to claim 2 above, Kau discloses a method comprising:
the contact archiving trigger is an activity-based trigger, and wherein the determining that the at least one criterion has been met is based on: monitoring a number or frequency of content items electronically communicated between the source account and the destination account within a time period; and determining that the number or frequency of content items electronically communicated between the source account and the destination account within the time period is less than a particular number or frequency (paragraphs [0031], [0038], [0047], the criteria for the threshold can be based on a number of activities that occur during a given period of time, such that the determination as to whether or not the threshold has been met is based on the actions that are performed, such as how many actions in a given period of time).
Consider claim 6, and as applied to claim 2 above, Kau discloses a method comprising:
identifying contact-related data within a second content item electronically communicated between the source account and the destination account at a time after the contact entry has been archived (paragraphs [0034], [0046], [0051], the data relating to the contact entries is used to determine the archiving of the contact entries);
based at least in part on the identified contact-related data within the second content item: searching the archive contact database for the contact entry corresponding to the source account (paragraphs [0034], [0046], [0051], archived content is accessed);
retrieving at least a portion of the contact entry from the archive contact database (paragraphs [0034], [0046], [0051], archived content is obtained);
storing the retrieved at least a portion of the contact entry in the contact database paragraphs [0034], [0046], [0051], archived content is stored).
Consider claim 7, and as applied to claim 2 above, Kau discloses a method comprising:
identifying at least one of a date or a time within the content item; and wherein the at least one criterion for archiving the contact entry is based on the identified at least one of the date or the time (paragraphs [0024], [0034], date and time data is used in order to determine the archiving process).
Consider claim 8, and as applied to claim 2 above, Kau discloses a method comprising:
identifying, based on the rule, contextual information in the content item; based on the contextual information, searching at least one supplemental source for supplemental contact-related data corresponding to the source account; and storing the supplemental contact-related data in the contact entry (paragraphs [0057], [0058], additional data is obtained for the contact entries, which also include searching for the additional contact data).
Consider claim 9, and as applied to claim 2 above, Hern discloses a method comprising:
the archive contact database comprises a cloud-based archive (paragraphs [0064], [0231], [0232], a cloud is used for the purposes of storing contact data).
Consider claim 10, and as applied to claim 2 above, Kau discloses a method comprising:
the archive contact database comprises an archive stored on a local computing device (paragraphs [0023], [0067], the computing infrastructure can be an local or external storage device).
Consider claim 11, and as applied to claim 2 above, Kau discloses a method comprising:
the content item comprises at least one of a calendar event notice, a mobile application message, a text message, an email message, a chat-based message, or a social-media-based message (paragraphs [0034], [0040], the data for the contact entry can be calendar information or a text message);
wherein at least one of the source account or the destination account comprise at least one of a telephone account, an email account, a chat account, a mobile application account, or a social media account (paragraphs [0037], [0042], the data for the contact entry can be a telephone or email address).
Claims 12 – 21 recite the same claim limitations as claims 2 – 11, except that either a method or system is claimed. Since the same claim limitations are otherwise present, claims 12 – 21 are rejected under the same rational provided above with respect to claim 2 – 11.
Conclusion
07. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
08. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Christopher Raab whose telephone number is (571) 270-1090. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm.
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, Ajay Bhatia can be reached on (571) 272-3906. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER J RAAB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2156
May 28, 2026
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