CODY CONSULTING GROUP, INC.Download PDFPatent Trials and Appeals BoardOct 1, 20212021000602 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 1, 2021) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 15/171,186 06/02/2016 DEBBIE R. MABARI 031005.1006 4691 163843 7590 10/01/2021 Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP 1550 17th St. Suite 500 Denver, CO 80202 EXAMINER RINES, ROBERT D ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3683 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 10/01/2021 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address(es): lori.lane@dgslaw.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________ Ex parte DEBBIE R. MABARI Appeal 2021-000602 Application 15/171,186 Technology Center 3600 ____________ Before RICHARD M. LEBOVITZ, JOHN G. NEW, and GEORGIANNA W. BRADEN, Administrative Patent Judges. LEBOVITZ, Administrative Patent Judge. REQUEST FOR REHEARING This is a request for rehearing under 37 C.F.R. § 41.79 (“Req. Reh’g”) of the Decision on Appeal entered Aug. 2, 2021 (“Dec.”). We have considered Appellant’s arguments, but are not persuaded to change the outcome of the Decision.1 The request is DENIED. 1 We use the word “Appellant” to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42. Appellant identifies Cody Consulting Group, Inc. as the real party in interest. Appeal Br. 1. Appeal 2021-000602 Application 15/171,186 2 DISCUSSION An appeal in this application was decided on June 2, 2021 in which the Examiner’s rejection of claims 19–28 under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter was affirmed. Claim 19, the only independent claim on appeal, is directed to a “method for developing marketing communications for a healthcare entity.” The steps of the claim were annotated with bracketed numbers [1]–[10] for reference to them throughout the Decision. The Decision summarized the claim as follows: In general terms, the claim is directed to a method in which various types of information are gathered (“building” steps [2]- [4]) and then a marketing communication template is selected (step [5]), which is rendered into different versions using static and dynamic rules (from step [3]) and data (step [6]) which link the information to specific locations in the template (“insertion opportunities”). A market communication targeted at members of the healthcare plan is generated (step [10]) using the templates. Dec. 8. The Decision found that steps [1]–[4] of “digitally rendering” and “building” are “data-gathering” steps which gather templates, media assets, rules, and member information that are used in the subsequent steps of the claim. Dec. 12. The Decision found that steps [5]–[10] of the claim recite the abstract idea of “organizing human activity.” Dec. 7, 15. The Decision also found that the steps could be performed in part by a human using a pen and paper, and therefore the claim also recites the abstract idea of a mental process. Appellant requests reconsideration of this Decision on the basis that the Board misapprehended or overlooked “the functionality” in the claim Appeal 2021-000602 Application 15/171,186 3 “concerning the rules repository and use of the rules, particularly as applied to the use of dynamic links” which “integrate the asserted abstract idea into a practical application.” Req. Reh’g 2. Appellant, referencing steps [3], [6], and [8] of claim 19, states, as part of its argument that the dynamic links integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, that “an asset insertion opportunity of a template version has metadata that points to a rule that, in turn, points to a selected asset option of a set of asset options depending on user inputs.” Id. Appellant argues that the analysis on pages 17–18 of the Decision overlooks or misapprehends that a human would not use “metadata” as recited in the claim. Appellant explains: In particular, in accordance with the relevant claim language, the asset insertion opportunity does not include instructions on what dynamic content to fetch. Rather, it includes metadata that points to a rule. The rule then employs user input information to point to the correct content. . . . . A human with a pen and paper might even place a note in a “template” instructing himself to, for example, “get current plan copay information” or the like. The human would not put metadata into the asset insertion opportunity that identified a rule that then used the rule together with user inputs to select one asset from a set of assets. The claims do not encompass a principle in the abstract no matter how implemented. . . . . The metadata points to a rule and then the rule intelligently points to content based on user inputs. The rules can therefore change over time and the content can change too. The claims describe a specific way or implementation that integrates the asserted abstract idea into a practical application. Req. Reh’g 3. Appeal 2021-000602 Application 15/171,186 4 For completeness, the steps of the claim which recite the use of the “metadata” are copied below (emphasis added) (bracketed numbering was added to the claim in the Decision for reference): [6] in response to receiving said first set of user inputs, [6a] identifying a first template and [6b] executing branching logic to render a set of a plurality of first template versions each linked with a first storage space associated with said first media type, [6c] at least one of said plurality of template versions (“a first template version”) being associated with each of: 1) a first insertion opportunity defined by metadata mapping said first insertion opportunity to fixed content that is common to all of said first template versions of said first template [6d] by pointing to a first asset of said first storage space; 2) a second insertion opportunity defined by metadata adaptively mapping said second insertion opportunity to dynamic content defined by a set of asset options [ 6e] by pointing to a rule of said rules repository that, in turn, points to a selected one of said asset options of said asset library depending on user inputs; and 3) a third insertion opportunity defined by metadata mapping said third insertion opportunity to member data [6f] by pointing to first member data of said member information storage structure; [8] in response to said second set of one or more user inputs, [8a] rendering at least some of said first template versions including said subject template version having said second metadata, and [8b] processing said second set of one or more user inputs together with said second metadata to adaptively link a selected one of said assets to said second insertion opportunity based on said second set of one or more user inputs; Step [6] of the claim describes three insertion opportunities. Appeal 2021-000602 Application 15/171,186 5 In 1), the first insertion opportunity is defined by metadata mapping to fixed content. In 2), the second insertion opportunity is define by metadata adaptively mapping to dynamic content. The dynamic content is also determined by a rule of the rules depository recited in step [3] of the claim. In 3), the insertion opportunity is defined by metadata mapping to member data. In [8], the metadata is used to render the template and adaptively link assets to an insertion opportunity. The Specification does not provide a definition of “metadata” so we adopt its ordinary meaning as defined in dictionary to mean “data that provides information about other data.”2 In other words, the metadata is information about the content to be placed into the insertion opportunity, such as the type of content (image, text, logo), the size of the content, content description (co-pay information, event type, plan option, etc.). Spec. 13:23–28. The Specification explains the metadata can be implemented using XML tag structure or with a CVS file. Id. Appellant contends that a human would not use metadata as it is used in the claim. Req. Reh’g 3. We do not agree. For example, if a person were to go to library in search of books by a specific author, the person could access a card catalog (which could be a paper catalog with paper index cards) and look up the author name alphabetically. Each card in the catalog could have, for example, the author name, title of a book, publication year, number of pages, genre, etc., which would enable the person to determine 2 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metadata (last accessed Sept. 12, 2021). Appeal 2021-000602 Application 15/171,186 6 which book to choose (e.g., if the person wanted the most recently published book, the book with the least pages to read, a specific genre, etc.). The information about the book listed in the card catalog is “metadata” because it is data about the book’s content, and not the content itself. A person, such as a librarian, made the card catalog. The person accessing the card catalog is using the catalog card’s “metadata” to make to select a book in the same way that the metadata in the claim facilitates the selection of content and assets to build the template and marketing communication. Consequently, we do not agree that metadata as recited in the claim “is not how humans work.” Req. Reh’g 3. Limitation 2) of step [6] also invokes the use of rules. The recited adaptive mapping is accomplished by “[6e] by pointing to a rule of said rules repository that, in turn, points to a selected one of said asset options of said asset library depending on user inputs.” We interpret the “metadata adaptively mapping” to indicate that the rules and assets are selected by metadata, namely a description of what the rule does and the content of the asset. The term “adaptively mapping” does not appear in the Specification, and the best we can understand what the term means, from the discussion in the Specification, is that the mapping to the asset is customizable based on the customers to whom the communication is directed.3 As explained in the Decision, the rule could be the metadata which specifies what monthly 3 Spec. 12: 21–26: “After the template or a draft marketing communication developed from the template is finalized, and after the review and approval process is complete, customized instances of the marketing communication may be produced from the template to address the various variables noted above. In this regard, the adaptations required to customize the marketing communication are often quite substantial, and accuracy is very important.” Appeal 2021-000602 Application 15/171,186 7 premium to insert into the template based on “the various variables that the human would know to take into consideration.” Dec. 13–14. For example, the metadata could point to a rule in the rule repository that specifies that the co-pay for a particular year, or option plan, changes depending on the year and the options available at the time the marketing communication is generated. These choices would be customizable based on these factors. As explained in the Decision, a human could make these choices. Id. Appellant argues that “[t]he human would not put metadata into the asset insertion opportunity that identified a rule that then used the rule together with user inputs to select one asset from a set of assets.” Req. Reh’g 3. Appellant offers no explanation and no rebuttal of the findings in the Decision that such a step could be accomplished by a human as explained above. Appellant did not identify anything in the Decision which was misapprehended or overlooked with respect to this point. Appellant contends that the “claims do not encompass a principle in the abstract no matter how implemented. They describe a specific way of directing a machine to deal with different kinds of content.” Req. Reh’g 3. Appellant states that the “metadata points to a rule and then the rule intelligently points to content based on user inputs. The rules can therefore change over time and the content can change too.” Id. The Decision has already addressed this argument: The claim does not specify how the rules in the repository are formulated, how they are inserted into the template (step [6]), or how the computer uses the rules to insert the content in the template to generate the marketing communication (step [10]). The claim states the result, but not how the result is achieved. There is no mechanism recited that Appeal 2021-000602 Application 15/171,186 8 dictates how to achieve the result recited in these steps to convert the recited abstract idea into a practical application. Dec. 18. For the foregoing reasons, we decline to modify the Decision. Summary Appellant did not identify any misapprehended or overlooked points. 37 C.F.R. § 41.52(a)(1). CONCLUSION Outcome of Decision on Rehearing: Claims 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Denied Granted 19–28 101 Patent-ineligibility 19–28 Final Outcome of Appeal after Rehearing: Claims 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Rejected 19–28 101 Patent-ineligibility 19–28 DENIED Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation