Ex Parte Doss et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Oct 16, 2014

11926059 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 16, 2014)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
___________

BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
___________

Ex parte J. SMITH DOSS,
RENEE M. KOVALES,
DIANE P. POZEFSKY,
and ROBERT J. SUNDSTROM
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Appeal 2012–000914
Application 11/926,059
Technology Center 3600
___________

Before MURRIEL E. CRAWFORD, ANTON W. FETTING, and
BIBHU R. MOHANTY, Administrative Patent Judges.
FETTING, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
STATEMENT OF THE CASE1
J. Smith Doss, Renee M. Kovales, Diane P. Pozefsky, and Robert J.
Sundstrom (Appellants) seek review under 35 U.S.C. § 134 of a final
rejection of claims 1–9, the only claims pending in the application on appeal.
We have jurisdiction over the appeal pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).

1 Our decision will make reference to the Appellants’ Appeal Brief (“App.
Br.,” filed March 18, 2011) and Reply Brief (“Reply Br.,” filed August 5,
2011), and the Examiner’s Answer (“Ans.,” mailed June 9, 2011).
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The Appellants invented a way of keeping electronic calendars up–to–
date automatically and dynamically (Specification para 3).
An understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading of
exemplary claim 1, which is reproduced below [bracketed matter and some
paragraphing added].
1. A system for keeping scheduled working hours up–to–date
for a user's electronic calendar, comprising:
[0] a computer comprising a processor; and instructions which
execute using the processor to implement functions comprising:
[1] defining,
for a calendar user,
a plurality of profiles,
wherein each profile specifies a set of scheduled working
hours for the user's electronic calendar;
[2] applying a first one of the profiles
to a first future day or days for the user's electronic
calendar,
responsive to selection of the first one by the user,
thereby associating the set of scheduled working hours
from the first profile with the first future day or days;
[3] applying a second one of the profiles
to a second future day or days for the user's electronic
calendar,
responsive to selection of the second one by the user,
thereby associating the set of scheduled working hours
from the second profile with the second future day or
days,
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wherein:
[4] the first future day or days does not overlap the
second future day or days;
and
[5] at least one difference exists between
the set of scheduled working hours from the
first profile
and
the set of scheduled working hours from the
second profile;
and
[6] simultaneously using,
by the electronic calendar,
the set of scheduled working hours from the first profile
as the user's scheduled working hours on the first
future day or days
and
the set of scheduled working hours from the second
profile
as the user's scheduled working hours on the
second future day or days.
The Examiner relies upon the following prior art:
Scheuring US 2002/0131565 A1 Sep. 19, 2002
Claims 1–9 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as anticipated by
Scheuring.
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ISSUES
The issues of anticipation turn primarily on whether Scheuring describes
the limitation of “defining, for a calendar user, a plurality of profiles,
wherein each profile specifies a set of scheduled working hours for the user's
electronic calendar.”
FACTS PERTINENT TO THE ISSUES
The following enumerated Findings of Fact (FF) are believed to be
supported by a preponderance of the evidence.
Facts Related to the Prior Art – Scheuring
01. Scheuring is directed to intelligent calendaring. Scheuring para 2.
02. Scheuring is based upon profiles of the calendar users and the
explicit calendar entries. These profiles have many facets of
meaning, which are then compared and analyzed to determine the
implicit events and courses of action necessary for the explicit
event to occur. Subsequently, our calendar system determines the
best time(s) to schedule or reschedule an event. Scheuring para 4.
03. Scheuring’s calendaring engine enables a user to enter data into
three default calendars including a business calendar, personal
calendar, and chores calendar. A user can also have any number
of additional calendars such as: family, friends, hobbies,
community events, pet care, TV watching, doctor's appointments,
customer calls, travel, church activities, care taking schedules,
medication schedules, sporting events, and car maintenance.
Scheuring para 5.
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04. Scheuring’s life manager engine manages time so that users can
maintain a certain lifestyle that they desire. It enables a user to set
lifestyle intentions such as "Stop the World," "Ramp It Up,"
"More Family Time," "Business is Priority Number One," "Find
Time for my Friends," and "I Need More Romance in My Life."
Further, the life manager enables a user to set their ideal number
of hours of sleep; ideal number of daily meals; weekly work
schedule; work address so as to calculate drive time; set
preferences on meters/gauges (such as a free time gauge; "stress–
o–meter"; family time gauge; and "love–o–meter") to warn a user
when values exceed or fall below set preferences. In an
alternative embodiment, the system generates a list of likely
settings for all of the above–mentioned daily/weekly routines and
allows the user to edit these settings. In an alternative
embodiment, the Life Manager can select appropriate life setting
and gauges based on user profile and allow them to be edited by
the user. Scheuring para 15–16.
05. Scheuring’s preferences are set by a user and if set, enable life
manager to automatically schedule events in response to
invitations from other users. Life manager, when receiving an
invitation, first determines if it is allowed to accept or reject the
invitation based on preferences. If the preferences are set, then the
life manager determines the user's availability by examining the
calendar database for free time and also examining the user's
portrait database to examine the inviter's portrait. Scheuring para
62.
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06. Scheuring’s life manager engine also provides task wizards to
enable a user to define who in each family can do which tasks,
such as picking up children from school and how long tasks
generally take. In addition, the life manager engine enables a user
to set lifestyle intentions, stored in preferences, such as "Stop the
World," "Ramp It Up," "More Family Time," "Business is Priority
Number One," "Find Time for my Friends," and "I Need More
Romance in My Life." Further, the life manager enables a user to
set their ideal number of hours of sleep; ideal number of daily
meals; weekly work schedule; work address so as to calculate
drive time; set preferences on meters/gauges (such as a free time
gauge; stress meter; family time gauge; and "love–o–meter") to
warn a user when values exceed or fall below set preferences.
Scheuring para 63.
07. Scheuring’s life manager engine can control how incoming events
are prioritized, accepted, or rejected based on lifestyle intentions
that were set by a user. Further, the life manager engine can
prioritize, accept or reject incoming events based on implicit
events related to the incoming event, such as travel time, meals,
necessary breaks; sleep schedule; weather; family/pet distractions;
casual vs. business meetings; alertness factor; and optimum
driving/commuting times. Scheuring para 64.
ANALYSIS
We are persuaded by the Appellants’ argument that Scheuring fails to
describe the limitation of “defining, for a calendar user, a plurality of
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profiles, wherein each profile specifies a set of scheduled working hours for
the user's electronic calendar.”
The Examiner found that Scheuring has plural profiles. Ans. 5. Both
Appellants and we agree. Appellants contend these profiles do not specify a
set of scheduled working hours for the user's electronic calendar. The
portions Examiner cites describe plural calendars, but say nothing about
working hours.
Scheuring’s life manager enables a user to set their weekly work
schedule. FF 04. Scheuring does not describe using its user profiles to set
this schedule. The Examiner cites Scheuring’s free time gauge and stress
meter (Ans. 9) as showing plural work hour schedules, but both of these
tools are reporting mechanisms rather than work hour schedule containers.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The rejection of claims 1–9 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as anticipated by
Scheuring is improper.
DECISION
The rejection of claims 1–9 is reversed.

REVERSED

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