PAYPAL, INC.

Patent Trials and Appeals Board

Oct 15, 2021

2020003923 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 15, 2021)

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.
15/186,099 06/17/2016 Kamal Zamer 70481.772US02
(P1790US2)
7639
132906 7590 10/15/2021
Haynes & Boone, LLP (70481)
2323 Victory Ave. #700
Dallas, TX 75219
EXAMINER
HALIM, SAHERA
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2457
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
10/15/2021 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):
ipdocketing@haynesboone.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________________

BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
____________________

Ex parte KAMAL ZAMER
____________________

Appeal 2020-003923
Application 15/186,099
Technology Center 2400
____________________

Before ROBERT E. NAPPI, JOHNNY A. KUMAR, and
MICHAEL T. CYGAN, Administrative Patent Judges.

NAPPI, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellant1 appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s
final rejection of claims 1 through 20. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C.
§ 6(b).
We AFFIRM.

1 We use the word Appellant to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R.
§ 1.42(a). According to Appellant, PAYPAL, INC., is the real party in
interest. Appeal Br. 1.
Appeal 2020-003923
Application 15/186,099

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INVENTION
The invention is directed to providing location-based information via
a social network for a plurality of first user devices within a predetermined
proximity of a physical location, wherein least some of that location-based
information about the physical location may then be displayed by second
user device not at the location. Spec., Abstract ¶ 4. Claim 1 is illustrative of
the invention and is reproduced below.
1. A system, comprising:
non-transitory memory; and
one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-
transitory memory and configured to read instructions from
the non-transitory memory to cause the system to perform
operations comprising:
receiving a plurality of user-generated content
submissions over a communications network;
determining that a first subset of the plurality of user-
generated content submissions were received from at
least one first user device that is located within a
minimum proximity of a physical location and, in
response, adding each of the first subset of the plurality
of user-generated content submissions to a location-based
information feed that includes only user-generated
content submissions that are received from user devices
that are located within the minimum proximity of the
physical location; and
providing the location-based information feed over
the communications network for display on at least one
second user device that is located outside the minimum
proximity of the physical location.

Appeal 2020-003923
Application 15/186,099

3
EXAMINER’S REJECTIONS 2
The Examiner rejected claims 1 through 20 on the ground of non-
statutory, obviousness-type, double patenting, for being unpatentable over
claims 1 through 20 of Zamer (U.S. Patent 9,407,709 B2, Aug. 2, 2016).
Final Act. 11–14.

The Examiner has rejected claims 1 through 20 under 35 U.S.C. § 103
as unpatentable over Khan (US 2011/0238755 A1, Sep. 29, 2011). Final
Act. 4–9.

ANALYSIS
We have reviewed Appellant’s arguments in the Briefs, the
Examiner’s rejections, and the Examiner’s response to Appellant’s
arguments. Appellant’s arguments have persuaded us of error in the
Examiner’s obviousness rejection of claims 1 through 20 but has not
persuaded us of error in the Examiner’s non-statutory, obviousness-type,
double patenting rejection.

Double Patenting Rejection
Appellant argues on page 4 of the Appeal Brief that the Examiner’s
double patenting rejection should be held in abeyance pending resolution of

2 Throughout this Decision we refer to the Appeal Brief filed December 19,
2019 (“Appeal Br.”); Reply Brief, filed May 1, 2020 (“Reply Br.”); Final
Office Action mailed July 8, 2019 (“Final Act.”); and the Examiner’s
Answer mailed March 3, 2020 (“Ans.”).
Appeal 2020-003923
Application 15/186,099

4
the other rejections. As such, Appellant has not identified an error in the
Examiner’s double patenting rejection and thus, we sustain it pro forma.

Obviousness Rejection
Appellant presents several arguments directed to the Examiner’s
rejection of independent claims 1, 7 and 14. Appeal Br. 6–9, Reply Br. 4–7.
Appellant’s arguments present us with three issues.

First issue.
Appellant argues that Khan does not teach a location-based
information feed that includes only user-generated content submissions from
devices that are located within proximity of a physical location, rather Khan
teaches providing a user with information based upon their proximity to
other users. Appeal Br. 7. Appellant asserts that “informing one user that
another user is nearby would not be properly characterized as the ‘user-
generated content submissions’ recited in the claims. Appeal Br. 8.
Appellant argues that the Examiner’s interpretation of user-generated
content is too broad and that the skilled artisan would understand from the
Specification that this is referring to content such as “posts” and “reviews.”
Reply Br. 5. Thus, Appellant’s first point presents us with the first issue did
the Examiner err in finding that Khan teaches user generated content from a
user device located proximate a physical location.
Appellant’s arguments directed to the first issue have not persuaded us
of error in the Examiner’s rejection. Regardless of whether the Examiner has
applied an overly broad interpretation of the disputed limitation, we find that
Khan teaches the user generated content applying the more narrow
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Application 15/186,099

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interpretation applied by Appellant. Khan discusses that a user at a baseball
stadium (a location) may associate items such as notes, files, photos, video,
etc. (which are user content as they are posts generated by the user) to be
shared with another user when they visit the stadium. Khan ¶ 106 (cited by
Appellant in the Reply Br. 7).

Second issue.
Appellant additionally argues that Khan does not teach that the user
generated content only includes content received from a device within
proximity to the physical location. Appeal Br. 8. Reply Br. 5–6. Appellant
argues that Khan teaches filtering information based upon the user proximity
and does not teach the information feed includes only content that is
received from devices proximate the location. Reply Br. 5. Appellant
states:
the currently pending claims capture an embodiment of the
systems and methods of the present application in which “users
must be physically located at the physical location to join its
associated social network and provide location-based
information, ensuring to other users that the location-based
information about the physical location is timely and provided
by users that are actually present at the physical location”

Reply Br. 6.
Appellant’s arguments directed to the second issue have not
persuaded us of error in the Examiner’s rejection. The Examiner relies upon
Khan paragraphs 26 and 68, which discuss filtering information such that the
user only receives information related to the location. Final Act. 5, Ans. 17.
Representative claim 1 recites determining that a first subset of content is
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Application 15/186,099

6
received from a device within proximity to a location and adding the content
to a feed that includes only content from devices located in proximity of the
location. We concur with the Examiner, Khan discusses in paragraph 68
filtering content based current location, which meet the claimed feature of
determining of content is from devices in proximity to a location. Khan also
provides an example of this in operation in paragraph 106 discussed above.
We further note that Khan discusses the ability to adjust the scale of the
proximity determination. See e.g. Khan ¶ 64. Thus, Appellant’s arguments
have not persuaded us of error in the Examiner’s finding that Khan teaches
that the user-generated content is only includes content within proximity to
the physical location.

Third issue.
Appellant’s third point asserts that Khan does not teach providing a
location-based information feed for display on at least one second user
device that is located outside the minimum proximity of the physical
location. Appeal Br. 8. Reply Br. 6–7.
The Examiner, in the Final Action, cites to para 106 of Khan as
teaching providing the location based information to a second user located
outside the proximity of the location. Final Act 6, 9. Further, in the
Answer, the Examiner states:
Khan teaches providing location based information based on
proximity and affinity (par. 0251 - 0254, when it is providing
information based on affinity, it can provide information
outside and inside the proximity of a location).

Ans. 17.
We have reviewed Khan’s teachings in the paragraphs cited by the
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Examiner and disagree with the Examiner’s findings. Independent claim 1
recites providing the location based information (discussed above as being
only from user devices located in proximity to a physical location), to a
second device outside proximity to the physical location. Independent
claims 7 and 14 recite similar limitations. Khan’s discussion in paragraph
106 is directed to a user, at a baseball stadium (i.e. at a specific location)
sharing information with other users, when the other users visit the stadium
(when they are also at the location). Thus, we do not see that paragraph 106
discusses sharing information with users outside proximity of the location as
claimed. Further, as argued by Appellant on page 8 of the Reply Brief, the
Examiner has provided minimal explanation as to how the teachings of
paragraphs 251–254 teaches the disputed limitation. Paragraph 251 of Khan
merely discusses retrieving information based upon affinity, and does not
identify the information as including only location based information.
Paragraph 252 of Khan discusses providing suggestions, not location based
information, based upon a user’s predicted future location, and thus also
does not discuss providing location based information to a user outside the
location. Paragraphs 253 and 254 of Khan also do not discuss providing
location based information to a user outside the location. As such the
Examiner has not provided sufficient rationale or identified sufficient
evidence to support the finding that Khan teaches or suggests the limitation
of providing the claimed location based information to users outside
proximity of the location, as is recited in independent claims 1, 7 and 14.
Accordingly, we do not sustain the Examiner’s obviousness rejection of
claims 1 through 20.

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Application 15/186,099

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CONCLUSION
We reverse the Examiner’s rejections of claims 1 through 20.
Claim(s)
Rejected
35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed
1–20 103 Khan 1–20
1–20 103 Double Patenting,
Zamer
1–20
Overall
Outcome
1–20

AFFIRMED