DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-3, 6, 8-9, 12, 14, 16-18, 22, 24-26 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Borenstein et al. (US 2008/0276179 A1, Applicant’s submitted IDS filed 1/13/2025), hereinafter “Borenstein”, and in view of Roskowski (US 2009/0210516 A1, Applicant’s submitted IDS filed 1/13/2025), hereinafter “Roskowski”.
As per claim 1, Borenstein teaches a method comprising:
“performing, via an application, an activity including an action using content associated with a content type; populating in a first memory location with data associated with the activity” at [0018];
(Borenstein teaches user using an application such as email application, document application or a web browser to perform activities such as reading, opening, scrolling, closing an email message or opening, modifying, saving a document. The activities are recorded in an activity log (i.e., “first memory location”))
“in response to performing the action, generating, via the application an object representing the activity by encoding the data from the first memory location into the object, the object including an action string specifying the action and content string specifying the content” at [0018], [0028]-[0029];
(Borenstein teaches a user perform an action such as “opening the email message, scrolling the message up and down, and closing the email message”. A record (i.e., “the object”) describing a user activity includes one or more attributes, each describing an aspect of the user activity. An activity logging module 160 that records user activities occurring in the heterogeneous system. For example, the activity logging module 160 of a mail system can be configured to record the source address, destination address, subject, and keyword of each email. A document management system that traces user activities (e.g., edit, check-in, check-out, print, and access) affecting document stored in the system. Web browser records user’s web browsing activity, mobile phones track phone call in a call logs)
“wherein the object conforms to a data format shared by a plurality of applications, and the application is one of the plurality of applications configured to generate objects conforming to the data format” at [0028]-[0029], [0062]-[0063];
(Borenstein teaches the activity records generated by different applications are in plain text format. The monitor module 312 then retrieves record of user activity from the heterogeneous systems and converts the plain text record into a generic XML format)
“storing, via the application, the object to a second memory location in accordance with the data format” at [0042];
(Borenstein teaches the monitor module 312 can be configured to store a record of monitored user activities in the data store 330 (i.e., “second memory location”))
“displaying
(Borenstein teaches displaying recorded user activities which include actions and contents)
Borenstein does not explicitly teach “displaying selectable affordance…” as claimed. However, Roskowski teaches a method for collecting event and event-related data to create an activity record, including a user interface configured to "displaying, via a client device, a user-selectable affordance associated with the action and the content" at [0023]-[0029] and Figs. 2-4. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Roskowski with Borenstein's teaching in order to present the activity records to the user and allow the user to interact with the activity record.
As per claim 2, Borenstein and Roskowski teach the method of claim 1 discussed above. Borenstein also teaches: wherein “the data format includes an action specification and a content specification, the method further comprising: generating, via the application, the action string according to the action specification and the content string according to the content specification” at [0056], [0061]-[0062], [0065].
As per claim 3, Borenstein and Roskowski teach the method of claim 1 discussed above. Borenstein also teaches: wherein “storing the object to the second memory location includes providing the object from the application to a logging module, the logging module configured to store the object to the second memory location” at [0041]-[0043].
As per claim 6, Borenstein and Roskowski teach the method of claim 1 discussed above. Roskowski also teaches: wherein “the selectable affordance includes displaying a chronological order list of a subset of a plurality of activities associated with the selectable affordance” at Figs. 2, 4.
As per claim 8, Borenstein and Roskowski teach the method of claim 1 discussed above. Roskowski also teaches: “generating the selectable affordance based on a mapping associating the content and a display name” at [0033]-[0045] and Figs. 2, 4.
As per claim 9, Borenstein and Roskowski teach the method of claim 1 discussed above. Roskowski also teaches: “generating the selectable affordance based on the action and a grouping associated with the action” at [0033]-[0045] and Figs. 2, 4.
Claims 12, 14, 16-18 recite similar limitations as in claims 1-3, 6, 8-9 above and are therefore rejected by the same reasons.
As per claim 22, Borenstein and Roskowski teach the method of claim 1 discussed above. Roskowski also teaches: “detecting an interaction with the selectable affordance; and in response to the interaction, re-establishing, via the application, the application state by using the data associated with the application state” at [0033]-[0045] and Figs. 2, 4.
As per claim 24, Borenstein and Roskowski teach the method of claim 1 discussed above. Borenstein also teaches: wherein “the plurality of applications includes the applications” at [0018], [0028]-[0029].
As per claim 25, Borenstein and Roskowski teach the method of claim 1 discussed above. Roskowski also teaches: “the object includes metadata associated with the content and reconstructing the action and the content includes selecting a graphical representation for the selectable affordance based on the metadata” at [0033]-[0045] and Figs. 2, 4.
As per claim 26, Borenstein and Roskowski teaches the method of claim 1 discussed above. Borenstein also teaches: wherein “the object includes a message reporting the action, the message including the action string and the content string” at [0068].
Claim 11 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Borenstein and Roskowski as applied to claims 1-3, 6, 8-9, 12, 14, 16-18 above, and further in view of Denoue et al. (US 2009/0006371 A1), hereinafter “Denoue”.
As per claim 11, Borenstein and Roskowski teach the method of claim 1 discussed above. Borenstein and Roskowski does not teach: “grouping the action with a plurality of previously logged actions based at least in part on a common key derived from a respective content string and according to a predefined key specification, wherein displaying the selectable affordance includes displaying a single selectable affordance representing the group” as claimed. However, Denoue teaches a similar method for logging user's online activity, grouping the activities based on common domain associated with the website visited by the user and display a single user's online activity representing the group at [0029]-[0034], [0052]-[0053] and Fig. 5. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Denoue with Borenstein's teaching in order to provide a cleaner user interface by grouping similar activity together.
Claims 23 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Borenstein and Roskowski as applied to claims 1-3, 6, 8-9, 12, 14, 16-18 above, and further in view of Morris (US 2006/0230058 A1, Applicant’s submitted IDS filed 1/13/2025), hereinafter “Morris”.
As per claim 23, Borenstein and Roskowski teach the method of claim 22 discussed above. Borenstein does not teach: “the data format includes a Uniform Resource Identifier syntax, the object is a Uniform Resource Identifier-encoded string including the action string and the content string, and re-establishing the application state includes extracting a target address from the Uniform Resource Identifier-encoded string and restoring the application to a resource location defined by the action string and the content string” as claimed. However, Morris teaches a method for tracking user activity related to network resource and to form an activity record object representing activity-resource pair, in a data format which includes “a Uniform Resource Identifier syntax, the object is a Uniform Resource Identifier-encoded string including the action string and the content string, and re-establishing the application state includes extracting a target address from the Uniform Resource Identifier-encoded string and restoring the application to a resource location defined by the action string and the content string” at [0030]-[0037]. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Morris with Borenstein-Roskowski’s teaching in order to provide an improved method for tracking user activity which “capable of tracking both user-initiated activities related to network resources in the browser as well as any corresponding results received by the browser as a result of the activities that are not accessible by servers”, as suggested by Morris at [0007].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/06/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The examiner respectfully traverses Applicant’s arguments.
Regarding claims, 1, 12, 16, Applicant argued that Borenstein does not teach or suggest “generating, via the application, an object representing the activity by encoding the data from the first memory location into the object” or “storing, via the application, the object into a second memory location in accordance with the data format”. On the contrary, Borenstein teaches at [0018], [0028]-[0029] user using an application such as email application, document application or a web browser to perform activities such as reading, opening, scrolling, closing an email message or opening, modifying, saving a document. The activities are recorded in an activity log (i.e., “first memory location”). A record (i.e., “the object”) describing a user activity includes one or more attributes, each describing an aspect of the user activity by including an action string (e.g., “opening”, “modifying”) and a content string (e.g., “email”, “document”). An activity logging module 160 that records user activities occurring in the heterogeneous system. For example, the activity logging module 160 of a mail system can be configured to record the source address, destination address, subject, and keyword of each email. A document management system that traces user activities (e.g., edit, check-in, check-out, print, and access) affecting document stored in the system. Web browser records user’s web browsing activity, mobile phones track phone call in a call logs. Borenstein teaches at [0028]-[0029], [0062]-[0063] the activity records generated by different applications, before converting to a generic XML format, are in plain text format (i.e., “a data format shared by a plurality of applications including the application). The monitor module 312 then retrieves record of user activity from the heterogeneous systems and converts the plain text record into a generic XML format. Borenstein then teaches at [0042] that teaches the monitor module 312 can be configured to store a record of monitored user activities in the data store 330 (i.e., “second memory location”))
In light of the foregoing arguments, the 35 U.S.C 103 rejection is hereby sustained.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHANH B PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-4116. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8am to 4pm.
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/KHANH B PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2166
August 10, 2026
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