Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 19/187,084

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING CORRESPONDENCE USING KEYWORDS, AND FOR TRAINING NEURAL NETWORKS TO IDENTIFY RELEVANT CONTENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Apr 23, 2025
Priority
Aug 08, 2019 — provisional 62/884,654 +2 more
Examiner
MACKES, KRIS E
Art Unit
2153
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Ahmed Shaaban
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 10m
Est. Remaining
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allowance Rate
404 granted / 532 resolved
+20.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+10.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
3 currently pending
Career history
540
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.9%
-37.1% vs TC avg
§103
82.0%
+42.0% vs TC avg
§102
7.8%
-32.2% vs TC avg
§112
1.0%
-39.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 532 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . 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)(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, 6-8, and 13-14 with an earliest effective filing date of 8/8/19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kolls (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0097628 filed on 2/21/17 as cited on IDS). With respect to claim 1, the Kolls reference teaches a system for generating correspondence between a user and a contact, the system comprising: a central server including at least a processor and a memory (Computing Device 280 [Figure 2]), the central server configured to communicate with a user terminal (computing device 210 [Figure 2]) and a plurality of content sources (information source 240, financial services 250 [Figure 2]); the user terminal configured to provide at least one contact input from the user regarding a contact (a user requests information about one or more contacts [paragraph 95]); the plurality of content sources controlled by a plurality of third parties and including potential content of interest to the contact (information sources are polled for information relevant to the contacts [paragraph 88, 89, and 118]); and the processor configured to execute instructions stored on the memory to cause the central server to: (i) access an email between the user and the contact (contacts data store 194 contains various data about contacts including online email communications [paragraph 26]) or a digital calendar entry regarding a meeting between the user and the contact; (ii) identify one or more keywords in the email or the digital calendar entry; (iii) use the one or more keywords to identify relevant content for the contract from the plurality of content sources (the data within the contacts data store 194 is used to construct a search query using keywords like a contacts name [paragraphs 35-36] which identifies content related to the keyword [paragraph 36]); and (iii) generate a suggested communication to be transmitted to the contact using the relevant content (a suggested communication to the contact is presented to the user [Item 345 Figure 3E and paragraph 110]). With respect to claim 6, the Kolls reference teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 as described above. In addition, the Kolls reference teaches that the at least one contact input includes uploaded or linked content provided from the user terminal (there is a link associated with the contact [paragraphs 103-105]). With respect to claim 7, the Kolls reference teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 as described above. Additionally, the Kolls reference teaches that the processor is configured to generate the suggested communication with a link to the identified relevant content (a suggested communication includes a link [paragraphs 103-105]). With respect to claim 8, the limitations of claim 8 are the method embodiment of claim 1 and claim 8 recites no further significant limitations therein. Therefore, the limitations of claim 8 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 and claim 8 is likewise rejected on the same basis. With respect to claim 13, the limitations of claim 13 are the method embodiment of claim 6 and claim 13 recites no further significant limitations therein. Therefore, the limitations of claim 13 are rejected in the analysis of claim 6 and claim 13 is likewise rejected on the same basis. With respect to claim 14, the limitations of claim 14 are the method embodiment of claim 7 and claim 14 recites no further significant limitations therein. Therefore, the limitations of claim 14 are rejected in the analysis of claim 7 and claim 14 is likewise rejected on the same basis. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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) 2 and 9 with an earliest effective filing date of 8/8/19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kolls (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0097628 filed on 2/21/17 as cited on IDS) in view of Gomaa (U.S. Publication No. 2010/0042612 published on 2/18/10 as cited on IDS). With respect to claim 2, the Kolls reference teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 as described above. It does not explicitly recite that the processor is configured to identify the one or more keywords based on a number of repetitions. The Gomaa reference teaches that the processor is configured to identify the one or more keywords based on a number of repetitions (an interest level is determined based upon the number of entries that use the keyword [paragraph 20]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system of Kolls with the popularity measure of Gomaa. Such a modification would have made the system more desirable to users by identifying more popular content. With respect to claim 9, the limitations of claim 9 are the method embodiment of claim 2 and claim 9 recites no further significant limitations therein. Therefore, the limitations of claim 9 are rejected in the analysis of claim 2 and claim 9 is likewise rejected on the same basis. Claim(s) 3 and 10 with an earliest effective filing date of 8/8/19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kolls (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0097628 filed on 2/21/17 as cited on IDS) in view of Jonsson (U.S. Publication No. 2011/0131207 published on 6/2/11). With respect to claim 3, the Kolls reference teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 as described above. It does not explicitly recite that the processor is configured to identify the one or more keywords based on use in a keyword phrase with other target words. The Jonsson reference teaches that the processor is configured to identify the one or more keywords based on use in a keyword phrase with other target words (keywords are identified based on other keywords appearing with them in messages [paragraph 105]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system of Kolls with the keywords of Jonsson. Such a modification would made the system more desirable to users by identifying additional relevant content. With respect to claim 10, the limitations of claim 10 are the method embodiment of claim 3 and claim 10 recites no further significant limitations therein. Therefore, the limitations of claim 10 are rejected in the analysis of claim 3 and claim 10 is likewise rejected on the same basis. Claim(s) 4 and 11 with an earliest effective filing date of 8/8/19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kolls (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0097628 filed on 2/21/17 as cited on IDS) in view of Leblang et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,012,575 filed on 2/15/18). With respect to claim 4, the Kolls reference teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 as described above. The Kolls reference does not explicitly recite that the digital calendar entry is from a past meeting between the user and the contact. The Leblang reference teaches that the digital calendar entry is from a past meeting between the user and the contact (past meetings are analyzed for keywords to associate with participation rates [col. 9 lines 15-38]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system of Kolls with the meeting data of Leblang. Such a modifications would have made the system more desirable to users by identifying what keywords result in better participation rates. With respect to claim 11, the limitations of claim 11 are the method embodiment of claim 4 and claim 11 recites no further significant limitations therein. Therefore, the limitations of claim 11 are rejected in the analysis of claim 4 and claim 11 is likewise rejected on the same basis. Claim(s) 5 and 12 with an earliest effective filing date of 8/8/19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kolls (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0097628 filed on 2/21/17 as cited on IDS) in view of Shenoy et al. (U.S. Patent No. 10,949,616 filed on 8/21/18 as cited on IDS). With respect to claim 5, the Kolls reference teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 as described above. It does not explicitly recite that the digital calendar entry is from a future meeting between the user and the contact. The Shenoy reference teaches that the digital calendar entry is from a future meeting between the user and the contact (the messages are analyzed to determine an schedule a future meeting [col. 22 line 40 to col. 23 line 42]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the system of Kolls with the future meetings of Shenoy. Such a modification would have made the system more desirable to users by making it easier to schedule meetings. With respect to claim 12, the limitations of claim 12 are the method embodiment of claim 5 and claim 12 recites no further significant limitations therein. Therefore, the limitations of claim 12 are rejected in the analysis of claim 5 and claim 12 is likewise rejected on the same basis. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 15-20 are allowed. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRIS E MACKES whose telephone number is (571)270-3554. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00-4:00 EST. 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, Kavita Stanley can be reached at 571-272-8352. 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. /KRIS E MACKES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2153
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 23, 2025
Application Filed
May 11, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12639385
INFORMATION PRESENTATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND DEVICE AND MEDIUM
2y 4m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12639382
DEVICE FOR PROVIDING TOURISM INFORMATION AND METHOD THEREOF
1y 9m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12619913
DATA CREATION DEVICE, PROGRAM CREATION DEVICE, OBJECT DETECTION DEVICE, DATA CREATION METHOD, AND OBJECT DETECTION METHOD
3y 7m to grant Granted May 05, 2026
Patent 12602438
COOKIELESS DELIVERY OF PERSONALIZIED CONTENT
1y 12m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12572501
INTEGRATED DIGITAL-ANALOG ARCHIVING SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DOCUMENT PRESERVATION
1y 6m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
76%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+10.7%)
2y 11m (~1y 10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 532 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month