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 .
This office action is in response to preliminary amendment filed on 07/15/2025.
Applicant amended claims 1-4, 6-17, and 19-20 in the preliminary amendment.
Claims 1-20 present for examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
It is hereby acknowledged that the following papers have been received and placed of record in the file:
Information Disclosure Statement(s) as received on 09/24/2025 is/are considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 18 and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 18, line 2, “a link of first content” should read “the link of the first content”;
Claim 19, line 4, “the second electronic” should read “the second electronic device”;
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 9-12, and 15-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Van Os et al. (US 2019/0313208 A1), hereinafter Van Os, in view of Li et al. (US 2014/0331289 A1), hereinafter Li.
Regarding claim 1, Van Os discloses
A communications system, comprising:
a first electronic device (sending device/first device); and
a second electronic device (receiving device/second device),
wherein the first electronic device is configured to carry out operations including:
display a first interface (user interface) of a first application, wherein the first interface comprises a first option (an option to share location information), and wherein the first application is a map application (map display) ([0079]: a graphical representation of the location is presented on a map display of the first device with an option to share the location; the user can touch a chevron 506 to display a user interface that provides an option to share location information); and
sending a link of first content (a short identifier or alias can be created for the URL (e.g., using hashing techniques)) to the second electronic device by using a second application ([0080]: one or more applications to share location data; some examples of applications are email and instant messaging) in response to an operation on the first option ([0080]: input is received specifying an option to share location information associated with the first mobile device), wherein the first content is content provided by the first application, and wherein the first content is navigation information ([0081]: with some applications, such as SMS messaging applications, the amount of data that can be sent with a text message is limited; the location information (e.g., address or position coordinates) can be included in a URL that is sent to the receiving device; to reduce the size of the URL, a short identifier or alias can be created for the URL (e.g., using hashing techniques) and sent to the second device in place of the longer URL); and
wherein the second electronic device is configured to:
displaying a first dialog interface of a third application, wherein the first dialog interface comprises a first user identity and a second option ([0081]: the recipient user touches or clicks on the alias), wherein the second option is associated with the link of the first content, wherein the first user identity is used to identify a user (Greg) operating the first electronic device, and wherein the third application corresponds to the second application (FIG. 7B & [0076]: the message sent by Greg is received at Mike’s mobile device 710; when Mike touches the icon 716, a map display 802 is presented on the mobile device 710; & [0081]: when the recipient user touches or clicks on the alias, the receiving device redirects the short identifier or alias to the longer URL containing the geographic location data);
displaying a second interface of a fourth application in response to an operation on the second option, wherein the second interface comprises the first content and a third option, and wherein the fourth application corresponds to the first application ([0087]: input is optionally received by the recipient specifying acceptance of the geographic location data; for example, a user interface can be presented asking the user whether they wish to accept the data; the trigger event or user input can initiate one or more actions, such as automatically generating a map display showing the location of the first device and, optionally, the location of the second device; a route from the first device to the second device can be generated by a map service and displayed on the map display of the first and/or second device).
Van Os does not explicitly disclose
sending a first message to the first electronic device by using the third application in response to an operation on the third option.
However, Li discloses
sending a first message to the first electronic device by using the third application in response to an operation on the third option ([0049]: after receiving the invitation information, the terminal corresponding to the friend may open the link address if the invitation is accepted; & [0050]: the first confirmation information returned by the terminal corresponding to the friend may be received).
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate feature of Li to Van Os because Van Os discloses sharing location information to a recipient (abstract) and Li further suggests receiving a confirmation information returned by the recipient ([0050]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Li in the Van Os system in order to improve user experience.
Regarding claim 2, Van Os and Li disclose the communication system as described in claim 1. Van Os further discloses
the second interface of the fourth application further comprises the first user identity and a second user identity, wherein the second user identity is used to identify a user operating the second electronics device, wherein the first user identity is further used to indicate a geographical location of the first electronic device, and wherein the second user identity is further used to indicate a geographical location of the second electronic device (FIG. 8 & [0077]: the geographic location of the mobile device 100 (Greg’s mobile device) can be represented on the map display 802 by a placemark 804; the location of the mobile device 170 is represented on the map display 802 by a placemark 806).
Regarding claim 3, Van Os and Li disclose the communication system as described in claim 1. Van Os further discloses
the first message is a message type taken from the group consisting of: a text message ([0075]: instant messaging or SMS/text messaging), a voice message, a voice call request, and a video call request.
Regarding claim 4, Van Os and Li disclose the communication system as described in claim 1. Van Os further discloses
opening a fourth interface of the second application in response to the operation on the first option, wherein the fourth interface comprises a second user identity, and wherein the second user identity is used to identify a user operating the second electronic device (FIG. 7 & [0073]: if the button 606 is touched, then an SMS user interface can be presented to the user; & [0075]: when the user touches the button 606 (FIG. 6), the user interface shown in FIG. 7A is presented; a graphical object 704 is shown in the chat area 700 with an icon 706 to indicate that the message will be sent with geographic location data to the receiving device; the user can compose a message using the composing box 706 and can initiate sending the message by touching the send button 708; in the example shown, the user (“Greg”) is sending his current location to a friend name “Mike” who he is currently engaged in a chat session with Greg); and
sending the link of the first content to the second electronic device in response to an operation on the second user identity ([0075]: Greg types “Greg’s location” in the composing box 706 and touches the send button 708 to send the message with the geographic location data associated with the current location of Greg’s mobile device 710).
Regarding claim 5, Van Os and Li disclose the communication system as described in claim 1. Van Os further discloses
the second option is associated with the link of the first content comprises that the second option is a card or a control comprising the link of the first content ([0081]: when the recipient user touches or clicks on the alias, the receiving device redirects the short identifier or alias to the longer URL containing the geographic location data).
Regarding claim 6, Van Os and Li disclose the communication system as described in claim 1. Van Os further discloses
the first content is shared by a sharing application program interface provided by the second application (FIG. 6 & [0071]: a location sharing option 604 is presented on the mobile device 100 which includes one or more applications that are available for sending geographic location data to other devices; there is a button 608 for email and a button 606 for SMS messaging).
Regarding claims 9-11, the limitations of claims 9-11 are rejected in the analysis of claims 1-3 respectively, and these claims are rejected on that basis.
Regarding claim 12, the limitations of claim 12 are rejected in the analysis of claim 5 above and this claim is rejected on that basis.
Regarding claims 15-17, the limitations of claims 15-17 are rejected in the analysis of claims 1-3 respectively, and these claims are rejected on that basis.
Regarding claim 18, the limitations of claim 18 are rejected in the analysis of claim 5 above and this claim is rejected on that basis.
Claim(s) 7-8, 13-14, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Van Os in view of Li, and further in view of Choi (US 2018/0139318 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Van Os and Li disclose the communication system as described in claim 1. Van Os and Li do not explicitly disclose
showing, in accordance with the fourth application not being installed on the second electronic device, a prompt information that indicates the fourth application is not installed.
However, Choi discloses
showing, in accordance with the fourth application not being installed on the second electronic device, a prompt information that indicates the fourth application is not installed (FIG. 6 & [0165]: if the navigation application is not installed in the mobile terminal 100, the mobile terminal 100 can display a popup window 610 for asking movement to the app store on the initial screen 310 while indicating that the navigation application is not installed).
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective fiing date of the claimed invention to incorporate feature of Choi to Van Os and Li, Van Os and Li disclose present geographic location data on a map display (Van Os: abstract) and Choi further suggests display a popup window for asking movement to app store while indicating the navigation application is not installed ([0165]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Choi in the Van Os and Li system in order to enhance user experience.
Regarding claim 8, Van Os, Li, and Choi disclose the communications system as described in claim 7. Van Os, Li, and Choi further disclose
installing the fourth application in accordance with an operation of selecting installing the fourth application (Choi: [0166]: when a confirm button 611 of the popup window is selected, the mobile terminal 100 can display a screen 800 for downloading or updating the navigation application). Therefore, the limitations of claim 8 are rejected in the analysis of claim 7 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
Regarding claims 13-14, the limitations of claims 13-14 are rejected in the analysis of claims 7-8 respectively, and these claims are rejected on that basis.
Regarding claim 19, the limitations of claim 19 are rejected in the analysis of claim 7 respectively, and these claims are rejected on that basis.
Regarding claim 20, Van Os and Li disclose the communications system as described in claim 15. Van Os and Li do not explicilty disclose
installing the fourth application in accordance with an operation of selecting installing the fourth application.
However, Choi discloses
installing the fourth application in accordance with an operation of selecting installing the fourth application ([0166]: when a confirm button 611 of the popup window is selected, the mobile terminal 100 can display a screen 800 for downloading or updating the navigation application).
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective fiing date of the claimed invention to incorporate feature of Choi to Van Os and Li, Van Os and Li disclose present geographic location data on a map display (Van Os: abstract) and Choi further suggests displaying a screen for downloading the navigation application ([0166]).
One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Choi in the Van Os and Li system in order to enhance user experience.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bowman (US 2008/0182598 A1). User sends a location to a recipient using map application, the recipient could be prompted to download a map route to the location from the recipient’s own location.
Tuukkanen (US 9,574,898 B2). Share actual navigation information with other users in the form of real time chat discussion.
Boudreau et al. (US 2007/0233695 A1). In response to an end user selection of such link through the user interface, the mobile communication device causes a mapping application download page from the server at the server address to be displayed; from there, a mapping application download for downloading the predetermined mapping application to the computer device may be initiated in response to an end user selection of an associated link ([0096]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAYLEE J HUANG whose telephone number is (571)272-0080. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM.
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, Joon H Hwang can be reached at 571-272-4036. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Kaylee Huang
08/05/2026
/KAYLEE J HUANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447
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