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 .
Specification
The use of the term WhatsAPP, which is a trade name or a mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM , or ® following the term.
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Paragraph 0077- “the software archi Disclosed” appears to be a typo.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 10 is 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.
Claim 10 contains the trademark/trade name “WhatsApp”. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. See Ex parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the trademark/trade name is used to identify/describe a type of identifier and, accordingly, the identification/description is indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jayanti Venkata et al. U.S. Patent Application publication 2016/0088021.
Claim 1,
A method for managing compliance information for end-point identifiers in a communications platform during a regulatory transition, the method comprising:
detecting a regulatory update in a rules engine (para 0074- discloses a compliance manager that manages a compliance policy, including updates.
[for a compliance information bundle affected by the regulatory update:- This is a conditional limitation that is not required to teach the claimed method. The remainder of the limitations of claim 1 are dependent on a condition that is not required to disclose the claimed method].
creating a copy of the compliance information bundle while maintaining an original version of the compliance information bundle in a provisionally-approved status during a grace period; and
upon approval of an updated copy of the compliance information bundle, transferring end-point identifiers from the original version of the compliance information bundle to the updated copy of the compliance information bundle.
Claims 2-9 are dependent on the conditional limitations of claim 1 and are not required to disclose the invention.
Claim 10,
The method of claim 1, wherein the end-point identifiers comprise at least one of: phone numbers, Long Codes, Short Codes, Alphanumeric Sender Identifiers (para 0115), WhatsApp identifiers, SIP Domains, email aliases, A2P Messaging identifiers, SHAKEN/STIR identifiers, or CNAM identifiers.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The prior cited art fails to disclose in the context of the claimed invention:
“for a compliance information bundle affected by the regulatory update:
creating a copy of the compliance information bundle while maintaining an original version of the compliance information bundle in a provisionally-approved status during a grace period; and
upon approval of an updated copy of the compliance information bundle, transferring end-point identifiers from the original version of the compliance information bundle to the updated copy of the compliance information bundle.”
Jayanti Venkata et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/0088021-discloses providing a grace period for non-compliant devices after an assessment.
Baker et al. U.S. Patent Publication 10,735,451- discloses developing remediation plans for non-compliant systems during a grace period.
The prior cited art singly or in combination does not teach the totality of the independent claims when read in light of the specification.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
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/JMC/Examiner, Art Unit 2459
/TONIA L DOLLINGER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2459
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