DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Applicant’s filing dated 02/25/2025 has been received and made of record.
Application 19/062,517 is a continuation of Application 18/536,720, which in turn is a continuation of PCT/CN2022/105909, which claims priority to CN202110833147.9, filed 07/22/2021.
Claims 1-18 are currently pending in Application 19/062,517.
Double Patenting
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 1-18 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1-17 of copending Application No. 18/536,720 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the reference application claims anticipate the instant application claims; that is, the limitations of the instant application claims are taught by the reference application claims with differences amounting to matters of drafting choice.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 9-12, and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fulay (US 9723242 B1).
Regarding claims 1, 11, and 15, Fulay discloses A method/An electronic device, comprising at least one memory and at least one processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the at least one memory and executable on the at least one processor, to perform operations comprising/A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor (Fulay: Claim 11, “A computing system including a processor and memory configured to perform operations comprising…”):
providing at least one function control for a function of a group chat (Fulay: Figure 3: video conference 152 app, Figure 4: video conference app comprising chat box, Column 4 L41-46: specialized app, Column 6 L10-28: video conference process or application executed various viewer application utilized by viewers such as feedback submission app, file submission app, chat app, etc.);
receiving input of a message in the group chat (Fulay: Figure 4: item #194 for receiving input, Column 6 L57-67: celebrity chose to address or answer highly ranked question in form of text or video);
determining a recipient of the message based on an event related to the function, wherein the recipient is at least one group member participating in the event (Fulay: Column 6 L57-67: celebrity choses to address specific question from the viewer and invites the viewer);
and sending the message based on the recipient, wherein the event in the group chat is an interaction of group members based on the at least one function control in the group chat (Fulay: Column 6 L10-67, Column 8 L39-60: inviting the user and answering user’s question in form of text or videoconference, Column 9 L15-21: question answered by celebrity).
Fulay teaches 2/12/16. The method according to claim 1/device according to claim 11/non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the determining the recipient of the message comprises:
receiving event information input by a current user (Fulay: Column 6 L57-67: celebrity choses to address specific question from the viewer and invites the viewer);
and determining the recipient of the message based on the event information (Fulay: Column 6 L57-67: celebrity choses to address specific question from the viewer and invites the viewer).
Fulay teaches 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the event comprises an event that occurs in the group chat and is associated with a target user in the group chat (Fulay: Column 6 L57-67: celebrity choses to address specific question from the viewer and invites the viewer).
Fulay teaches 10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
for each preset recipient of recipients, displaying that the recipient of the message is a current preset recipient in a message receiving interface corresponding to the current preset recipient (Fulay: Column 6 L57-67: celebrity choses to address specific question from the viewer and invites the viewer).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 3-7, 13-14, and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fulay as applied to claims 1, 11, and 15 above, and further in view of Shuo (applicant provided prior art CN109981304A, English translation provided by Espacenet).
Fulay teaches 3/13/17. The method according to claim 1/device according to claim 11/non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15.
Fulay does not explicitly disclose that the determining the recipient of the message comprises:
displaying a member combination list in a group chat interface, wherein the member combination list comprises at least one member combination, a member combination of the at least one member combination comprising a group member participating in a same event;
determining a target member combination based on a selection operation on the member combination list;
and determining the recipient of the message based on the group member comprised in the target member combination.
However, Shuo teaches that the determining the recipient of the message comprises:
displaying a member combination list in a group chat interface, wherein the member combination list comprises at least one member combination, a member combination of the at least one member combination comprising a group member participating in a same event (Shuo: Figure 4 and Page 5 Paragraph 4, “Send message reminders and group chat messages to specific group members by specifying the role name or group nickname being displayed”, “when the pre-set special character "@" is written in the message sending box of the chat group, the role names of multiple roles are displayed in a window bar popped up in the chat window”);
determining a target member combination based on a selection operation on the member combination list (Shuo: Figure 4 and Page 5 Paragraph 4, “Send message reminders and group chat messages to specific group members by specifying the role name or group nickname being displayed”);
and determining the recipient of the message based on the group member comprised in the target member combination (Shuo: Figure 4 and Page 5 Paragraph 4, “Send message reminders and group chat messages to specific group members by specifying the role name or group nickname being displayed”).
Fulay and Shuo are analogous art in the same field of endeavor as the instant invention as all are drawn to message interaction systems. 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; that is, it would have been obvious to incorporate Shuo’s group attributes into the system of Fulay so that particular users could be listed and targeted more efficiently.
Fulay-Shuo teaches 4/14/18. The method according to claim 3/device according to claim 11/non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the member combination is a subset of all group members in the group chat (Shuo: Figure 3 and Page 6 Paragraph 3, “Zhang San (product) specifies the role of the group chat message desired to be sent for iOS development by writing "@iOS development" in the message sending box of the chat group. Of course, it is also possible to specify the role of the group chat message that is desired to be sent as an iOS development and product by writing "@iOS Development Product" in the message box of the chat group”, and Figure 4 and Page 5 Paragraph 4, “Send message reminders and group chat messages to specific group members by specifying the role name or group nickname being displayed”; all group members may be selected).
Fulay-Shuo teaches 5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising, before displaying the member combination list in the group chat interface:
receiving a preset instruction input by a current user, the preset instruction being configured to specify a plurality of recipients for receiving a message (Shuo: Figure 4 and Page 5 Paragraph 4, “Send message reminders and group chat messages to specific group members by specifying the role name or group nickname being displayed”, “when the pre-set special character "@" is written in the message sending box of the chat group, the role names of multiple roles are displayed in a window bar popped up in the chat window”).
Fulay-Shuo teaches 6. The method according to claim 3, further comprising, before displaying the member combination list in the group chat interface:
determining group identity information of a current user in the group chat (Shuo: Page 5 Paragraph 10, “Receive an incoming request for each group member. After each group member joins the chat group, according to the operation of each group member, for example, in the group setting, the roles of each group member are selected from the plurality of roles established by the group owner, and the roles corresponding to each group member are obtained”);
and determining the member combination list based on the group identity information (Shuo: Figure 4 and Page 5 Paragraph 4, “when the pre-set special character "@" is written in the message
sending box of the chat group, the role names of multiple roles are displayed in a window bar popped up in the chat window”).
Fulay-Shuo teaches 7. The method according to claim 3, further comprising, before displaying the member combination list in the group chat interface:
receiving filtering condition information input by a current user (Shuo: Figure 3 and Page 6 Paragraph 3, “Zhang San (product) specifies the role of the group chat message desired to be sent for iOS development by writing "@iOS development" in the message sending box of the chat group. Of course, it is also possible to specify the role of the group chat message that is desired to be sent as an iOS development and product by writing "@iOS Development@Product" in the message box of the chat group”);
and determining the member combination list based on the filtering condition information (Shuo: Figure 3 and Page 6 Paragraph 3, “Zhang San (product) specifies the role of the group chat message desired to be sent for iOS development by writing "@iOS development" in the message sending box of the chat group. Of course, it is also possible to specify the role of the group chat message that is desired to be sent as an iOS development and product by writing "@iOS Development@Product" in the message box of the chat group”).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fulay and Shuo as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Koolwal (US 2016/0173436 A1).
Fulay-Shuo teaches 8. The method according to claim 3.
Fulay-Shuo does not explicitly disclose before displaying the member combination list in the group chat interface:
obtaining at least one of a target event based on historical chat content of the group chat within a preset time period;
and determining the member combination list based on the at least one of the target event.
However, Koolwal teaches before displaying the member combination list in the group chat interface:
obtaining at least one of a target event based on historical chat content of the group chat within a preset time period (Koolwal: Paragraphs [0033] and [0053], “suggested invitees provided to an event organizer may be determined based on one or more of the following factors: the location or availability of a candidate invitee at the time the event is scheduled to occur; the affinity between the event organizer and a candidate invitee; the frequency that the suggested candidate invitee has joined previous events; or the history of the candidate user attending events that the event organizer also attended… the invitee's history in relationship to previous event proposals (e.g., an invitee who has accepted previous similar events may be more likely to accept); or social-networking information, such as for example the social-graph coefficient between the invitee and the event organizer or one or more of the other invitees (e.g., an invitee having a strong social-graph coefficient with one or more invitees who have accepted the event proposal may be more likely to also accept the event proposal)”);
and determining the member combination list based on the at least one of the target event (Koolwal: Paragraphs [0033] and [0053], “suggested invitees provided to an event organizer may be determined based on one or more of the following factors: the location or availability of a candidate invitee at the time the event is scheduled to occur; the affinity between the event organizer and a candidate invitee; the frequency that the suggested candidate invitee has joined previous events; or the history of the candidate user attending events that the event organizer also attended… the invitee's history in relationship to previous event proposals (e.g., an invitee who has accepted previous similar events may be more likely to accept); or social-networking information, such as for example the social-graph coefficient between the invitee and the event organizer or one or more of the other invitees (e.g., an invitee having a strong social-graph coefficient with one or more invitees who have accepted the event proposal may be more likely to also accept the event proposal)”).
Fulay-Shuo and Koolwal are analogous art in the same field of endeavor as the instant invention as all are drawn to messaging systems. 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; that is, it would have been obvious to incorporate Koolwal’s historical event information into the system of Fulay-Shuo to improve message targeting.
Claim(s) 1, 9-12, and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deselaers (US 10346411 B1) in view of O’Sullivan (US 2014/0164947 A1) .
Regarding claims 1, 11, and 15, Deselaers discloses A method (Deselaers: Figure 2, Column 6 Lines 18-24, and Column 2, Lines 18-22)/An electronic device, comprising at least one memory and at least one processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the at least one memory and executable on the at least one processor, to perform operations comprising (Deselaers: Claim 17, “A system comprising: one or more processors; and a machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations”)/A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor (Deselaers: Claim 9, “A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions stored therein, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising”):
receiving input of a message in the group chat (Deselaers: Column 11 Lines 1-14, identifies the list of recipients 416 for message 414 in a target recipient suggestion 408; the target recipient “Mary” was suggested because an entity with whom the user 402 is connected had “Mary” as an audience in a previously shared message about tennis; i.e. participated in an interaction event);
determining a recipient of the message (Deselaers: Column 3 Lines 35-56, Identifying a groups of recipients with whom the user previously interacted (step 206); an example of target recipients suggestion for a message, Figure 4 shows a user message (404) "I really want to watch Federer and Djokovich battle for a Grand Slam victory", determining based on an event related to tennis suggested recipients, e.g. tennis coach Mike, Robbie … as one or more recipients (408), 10/38-30; identifies a group of recipients with whom the user has previously interacted, i.e. any recipient who has previously received a message from the user or a recipient from whom the user has received a message is identified by the system, "event occurring in the application");
and sending the message based on the recipient (Deselaers: Claim 9, providing, for transmission, a target recipient recommendation to the user in response to the received message, the target recipient recommendation comprising a list identifying the one or more target recipients), wherein the event in the group chat is an interaction of group members based on the at least one function control in the group chat (Deselaers: Column 6 Lines 18-24 and Column 3 Lines 35-56, a message from a user is received… may include… a social network post, a chat session, or any other kind of an electronic message that may be composed, generated or created by a user for sharing with other users, event occurring as described above).
Deselaers does not explicitly disclose providing at least one function control for a function of a group chat; or that the target determination is based on an event related to the function.
However, O’Sullivan teaches that the interaction event comprises an event occurring in a group chat of the preset application, wherein the event occurring in the group chat is a voting event in the group chat (O’Sullivan: Figures 2 and 3 and Claim 2, “receiving additional poll results from another collaborator in the select group in a reply to the new message; extracting the additional poll results from the reply to the new message; aggregating the additional poll results with existing poll results for the poll to produce an aggregated set of poll results; placing the poll within an even newer message along with the aggregated set of poll results; and, sending the even newer message to the select group”; NB: The example provided in the instant application of determining a recipient of the target message and sending the target message is simply feedback that the vote has been accepted and/or results of the vote, which is taught here by O’Sullivan).
Deselaers and O’Sullivan are analogous art in the same field of endeavor as the instant invention as all are drawn to group messaging systems. 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; that is, it would have been obvious to incorporate O’Sullivan’s voting to allow forum (and forum message) access into the system of Deselaers so that group members could assure the security of private and confidential data.
Deselaers-O’Sullivan teaches 2/12/16. The method/device/medium according to claim 1/11/15, wherein the determining the recipient of the message comprises:
receiving event information input by a current user(O’Sullivan: Figures 2 and 3 and Claim 2, “receiving additional poll results from another collaborator in the select group in a reply to the new message; extracting the additional poll results from the reply to the new message; aggregating the additional poll results with existing poll results for the poll to produce an aggregated set of poll results; placing the poll within an even newer message along with the aggregated set of poll results; and, sending the even newer message to the select group”; NB: The example provided in the instant application of determining a recipient of the target message and sending the target message is simply feedback that the vote has been accepted and/or results of the vote, which is taught here by O’Sullivan);
and determining the recipient of the message based on the event information (O’Sullivan: Figures 2 and 3 and Claim 2, “receiving additional poll results from another collaborator in the select group in a reply to the new message; extracting the additional poll results from the reply to the new message; aggregating the additional poll results with existing poll results for the poll to produce an aggregated set of poll results; placing the poll within an even newer message along with the aggregated set of poll results; and, sending the even newer message to the select group”; NB: The example provided in the instant application of determining a recipient of the target message and sending the target message is simply feedback that the vote has been accepted and/or results of the vote, which is taught here by O’Sullivan).
Deselaers-O’Sullivan teaches 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the event comprises an event that occurs in the group chat and is associated with a target user in the group chat (O’Sullivan: Figures 2 and 3 and Claim 2, “receiving additional poll results from another collaborator in the select group in a reply to the new message; extracting the additional poll results from the reply to the new message; aggregating the additional poll results with existing poll results for the poll to produce an aggregated set of poll results; placing the poll within an even newer message along with the aggregated set of poll results; and, sending the even newer message to the select group”; NB: The example provided in the instant application of determining a recipient of the target message and sending the target message is simply feedback that the vote has been accepted and/or results of the vote, which is taught here by O’Sullivan).
Deselaers-O’Sullivan teaches 10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
for each preset recipient of recipients, displaying that the recipient of the message is a current preset recipient in a message receiving interface corresponding to the current preset recipient (O’Sullivan: Figures 2 and 3 and Claim 2, “receiving additional poll results from another collaborator in the select group in a reply to the new message; extracting the additional poll results from the reply to the new message; aggregating the additional poll results with existing poll results for the poll to produce an aggregated set of poll results; placing the poll within an even newer message along with the aggregated set of poll results; and, sending the even newer message to the select group”; NB: The example provided in the instant application of determining a recipient of the target message and sending the target message is simply feedback that the vote has been accepted and/or results of the vote, which is taught here by O’Sullivan).
Claim(s) 3-7, 13-14, and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deselaers and O’Sullivan as applied to claims 1, 11, and 15 above further in view of Bader-Natal (US 9521170 B2).
Deselaers-O’Sullivan teaches 3/13/17. The method/device/medium according to claim 1/11/15.
Deselaers-O’Sullivan does not explicitly disclose that the determining the recipient of the message comprises:
displaying a member combination list in a group chat interface, wherein the member combination list comprises at least one member combination, a member combination of the at least one member combination comprising a group member participating in a same event;
determining a target member combination based on a selection operation on the member combination list;
and determining the recipient of the message based on the group member comprised in the target member combination.
However, Bader-Natal teaches that the determining the recipient of the message comprises:
displaying a member combination list in a group chat interface, wherein the member combination list comprises at least one member combination, a member combination of the at least one member combination comprising a group member participating in a same event (Bader-Natal: Column 9 Line 15 – Column 10 Line 36, breakout groups may be formed by an indication or a trigger from a participant or moderator (e.g. selection of a button, voice activated, col. 8 L48-67). Based on the trigger or indication, the breakout group comprising members is formed, the members of breakout group will be put in sub-group conference);
determining a target member combination based on a selection operation on the member combination list (Bader-Natal: Column 9 Line 15 – Column 10 Line 36, breakout groups may be formed by an indication or a trigger from a participant or moderator (e.g. selection of a button, voice activated, col. 8 L48-67). Based on the trigger or indication, the breakout group comprising members is formed, the members of breakout group will be put in sub-group conference);
and determining the recipient of the message based on the group member comprised in the target member combination (Bader-Natal: Column 9 Line 15 – Column 10 Line 36, breakout groups may be formed by an indication or a trigger from a participant or moderator (e.g. selection of a button, voice activated, col. 8 L48-67). Based on the trigger or indication, the breakout group comprising members is formed, the members of breakout group will be put in sub-group conference).
Deselaers-O’Sullivan and Bader-Natal are analogous art in the same field of endeavor as the instant invention as all are drawn to communication systems. 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; that is, it would have been obvious to incorporate Bader-Natal’s voice-based selection mechanism into the system of Deselaers-O’Sullivan to allow for ease of subdividing participants into smaller groups for productive discussion (Bader-Natal: Column 3 Lines 12-15).
Deselaers-O’Sullivan-Bader-Natal teaches 4/14/18. The method/device/medium according to claim 3/13/17, wherein the member combination is a subset of all group members in the group chat (Bader-Natal: Column 9 Line 15 – Column 10 Line 36, breakout groups may be formed by an indication or a trigger from a participant or moderator (e.g. selection of a button, voice activated, col. 8 L48-67). Based on the trigger or indication, the breakout group comprising members is formed, the members of breakout group will be put in sub-group conference).
Deselaers-O’Sullivan-Bader-Natal teaches 5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising, before displaying the member combination list in the group chat interface:
receiving a preset instruction input by a current user, the preset instruction being configured to specify a plurality of recipients for receiving a message (Bader-Natal: Column 9 Line 15 – Column 10 Line 36, breakout groups may be formed by an indication or a trigger from a participant or moderator (e.g. selection of a button, voice activated, col. 8 L48-67). Based on the trigger or indication, the breakout group comprising members is formed, the members of breakout group will be put in sub-group conference).
Deselaers-O’Sullivan-Bader-Natal teaches 6. The method according to claim 3, further comprising, before displaying the member combination list in the group chat interface:
determining group identity information of a current user in the group chat (Bader-Natal: Column 9 Line 15 – Column 10 Line 36, breakout groups may be formed by an indication or a trigger from a participant or moderator (e.g. selection of a button, voice activated, col. 8 L48-67). Based on the trigger or indication, the breakout group comprising members is formed, the members of breakout group will be put in sub-group conference);
and determining the member combination list based on the group identity information (Bader-Natal: Column 9 Line 15 – Column 10 Line 36, breakout groups may be formed by an indication or a trigger from a participant or moderator (e.g. selection of a button, voice activated, col. 8 L48-67). Based on the trigger or indication, the breakout group comprising members is formed, the members of breakout group will be put in sub-group conference).
Deselaers-O’Sullivan-Bader-Natal teaches 7. The method according to claim 3, further comprising, before displaying the member combination list in the group chat interface:
receiving filtering condition information input by a current user (Bader-Natal: Column 9 Line 15 – Column 10 Line 36, breakout groups may be formed by an indication or a trigger from a participant or moderator (e.g. selection of a button, voice activated, col. 8 L48-67). Based on the trigger or indication, the breakout group comprising members is formed, the members of breakout group will be put in sub-group conference);
and determining the member combination list based on the filtering condition information (Bader-Natal: Column 9 Line 15 – Column 10 Line 36, breakout groups may be formed by an indication or a trigger from a participant or moderator (e.g. selection of a button, voice activated, col. 8 L48-67). Based on the trigger or indication, the breakout group comprising members is formed, the members of breakout group will be put in sub-group conference).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deselaers, O’Sullivan, and Bader-Natal as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Koolwal (US 2016/0173436 A1).
Deselaers-O’Sullivan-Bader-Natal teaches 8. The method according to claim 3.
Deselaers-O’Sullivan-Bader-Natal does not explicitly disclose before displaying the member combination list in the group chat interface:
obtaining at least one of a target event based on historical chat content of the group chat within a preset time period;
and determining the member combination list based on the at least one of the target event.
However, Koolwal teaches before displaying the member combination list in the group chat interface:
obtaining at least one of a target event based on historical chat content of the group chat within a preset time period (Koolwal: Paragraphs [0033] and [0053], “suggested invitees provided to an event organizer may be determined based on one or more of the following factors: the location or availability of a candidate invitee at the time the event is scheduled to occur; the affinity between the event organizer and a candidate invitee; the frequency that the suggested candidate invitee has joined previous events; or the history of the candidate user attending events that the event organizer also attended… the invitee's history in relationship to previous event proposals (e.g., an invitee who has accepted previous similar events may be more likely to accept); or social-networking information, such as for example the social-graph coefficient between the invitee and the event organizer or one or more of the other invitees (e.g., an invitee having a strong social-graph coefficient with one or more invitees who have accepted the event proposal may be more likely to also accept the event proposal)”);
and determining the member combination list based on the at least one of the target event (Koolwal: Paragraphs [0033] and [0053], “suggested invitees provided to an event organizer may be determined based on one or more of the following factors: the location or availability of a candidate invitee at the time the event is scheduled to occur; the affinity between the event organizer and a candidate invitee; the frequency that the suggested candidate invitee has joined previous events; or the history of the candidate user attending events that the event organizer also attended… the invitee's history in relationship to previous event proposals (e.g., an invitee who has accepted previous similar events may be more likely to accept); or social-networking information, such as for example the social-graph coefficient between the invitee and the event organizer or one or more of the other invitees (e.g., an invitee having a strong social-graph coefficient with one or more invitees who have accepted the event proposal may be more likely to also accept the event proposal)”).
Deselaers-O’Sullivan-Bader-Natal and Koolwal are analogous art in the same field of endeavor as the instant invention as all are drawn to messaging systems. 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; that is, it would have been obvious to incorporate Koolwal’s historical event information into the system of Deselaers-O’Sullivan-Bader-Natal to improve message targeting.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Anderson (US 2011/0087735 A1) describes a group chat system that allows for directing messages to users who show interest in particular topics.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IMAD HUSSAIN whose telephone number is (571)270-3628. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 0900-1700 ET.
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, Kamal Divecha can be reached at (571) 272-5863. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/IMAD HUSSAIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2453
Prosecution Insights