Ex Parte Tomberg

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Apr 28, 2016

13359184 (P.T.A.B. Apr. 28, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
13/359, 184 01/26/2012 JEFFREY MARK TOMBERG
22428 7590 05/02/2016
Foley & Lardner LLP
3000 K STREET N.W.
SUITE 600
WASHINGTON, DC 20007-5109
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
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
101070-0106 4621
EXAMINER
SINGH, AMRESH
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2159
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
05/02/2016 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):
ipdocketing@foley.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte JEFFREY MARK TOMBERG
Appeal2014-004603
Application 13/359, 184
Technology Center 2100
Before CARLA M. KRIVAK, JASON V. MORGAN, and
JOHN A. EVANS, Administrative Patent Judges.
KRIVAK, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner's
Final Rejection of claims 1-33, which constitute all the claims pending in
this application. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). An oral
hearing was conducted on April 14, 2014.
We affirm.
Appeal2014-004603
Application 13/359, 184
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellant's invention is directed to "a system and method for
organization of communities and groups regarding events and activities"
(Spec. ii 2).
Independent claim 1, reproduced below, is exemplary of the subject
matter on appeal.
1. A computerized system for orgamzmg at least one
community,
each having a plurality of community members, and at
least one group, each having a plurality of group members, the
system comprising:
a memory storing a plurality of modules, comprising:
a community manager module providing functions
for a community manager of the at least one community;
a community member module providing functions
for a community member of the at least one community;
a group manager module providing functions for a
group manager of the at least one group;
a group member module providing functions for a
group member of the at least one group; and
an activity creator module providing functions for
an activity creator of the at least one group; and
a database storing information regarding the community
members and the group members,
wherein the at least one community corresponds to a pre-
existing member-based organization, and each of said plurality
of community members of said at least one community is a
member of said corresponding organization,
wherein each community is organized in the system to
include individuals, but not groups, and one or more of said
individuals is also a member of at least one group,
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Appeal2014-004603
Application 13/359, 184
wherein the at least one community comprises a plurality
of communities, and wherein at least one group member is a
member of more than one community of the plurality of
communities.
REFERENCES and REJECTIONS
The Examiner rejected claims 1-8, 10-18, 20-28, and 30-33 under 35
U.S.C. § 103(a) based upon the teachings of Carolan (US 2004/0133440 Al;
July 8, 2004) and Kobza (US 2007/0112788 Al; May 17, 2007),
The Examiner rejected claims 9, 19, and 29 are rejected under 35
U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Carolan, Kobza, and Sezan (US
2006/0174277 Al; Aug. 3, 2006).
ANALYSIS
Appellant contends Carolan teaches: 1) a "'global community' as
including every user in its database, whereas a 'community" in the claimed
system according to certain embodiments is an organization with a specific
membership roster, and thus is a subset of the entire database"; 2) Carolan's
"'groups' cannot be equated to the recited communities"; and 3) Carolan's
"global community is the equivalent of the entire database" (App. Br. 13-
14). We do not agree.
We agree with and adopt the Examiner's findings as our own (Ans. 2-
3; Final Act. 2-12). Particularly, we agree the Examiner has identified
"memberships are the groups that a member can belong, and each registered
member can be part of multiple personal communities" (Ans. 3; Carolan
i-fi-135--42 and 47). We further note Appellant has not pointed to a definition
in the Specification for the terms communities and groups. Thus, the
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Appeal2014-004603
Application 13/359, 184
Examiner's interpretation of these terms is reasonable and the evidence
provided is persuasive. Thus, we agree Carolan at least suggests a memory
and a database, and the manipulation of data within the database, as claimed.
With respect to claims 9, 19, and 29, these claims are argued for the
same reasons as independent claims 1, 11, and 29 and Appellant provided no
substantive arguments regarding Kobza and Sezan (App. Br 15).
In light of the broad terms used in the claims and the Examiner's
findings, we sustain the Examiner's rejections of claims 1-33.
DECISION
The Examiner's decision rejecting claims 1-33 is affirmed.
No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with
this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(l )(iv).
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