Prior art

Analysis of Prior Art for U.S. Patent No. 11,653,183

An analysis of the prior art cited by the examiner during the prosecution of U.S. Patent No. 11,653,183, "Undelivered message threshold," reveals several key patents and published applications that describe foundational concepts in mobile messaging. The '183 patent, with a priority date of July 24, 2007, focuses on a system where a sending mobile phone determines the appropriate messaging bearer (SMS or a packet-switched message service) based on the recipient's status with the service, including whether an undelivered message threshold for the recipient has been exceeded.

The following references were considered by the USPTO patent examiner. An analysis of their relevance to the claims of the '183 patent is provided below.

Cited U.S. Patent Documents

1. U.S. Patent No. 7,505,773

• Full Citation: US Patent 7,505,773 B2, "System and method for delivering a message to a mobile station based on a bearer selection," filed March 29, 2004, and issued March 17, 2009.
• Brief Description: This patent describes a method for a messaging center to select the most appropriate bearer (e.g., SMS, MMS, WAP Push) to deliver a message to a mobile device. The selection is based on factors such as the mobile station's capabilities, user preferences, and network conditions. It discloses the concept of checking device capabilities before sending a message.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: This reference is highly relevant to the core concept of bearer selection. It could be argued to anticipate the general steps outlined in many of the independent claims of the '183 patent, which involve verifying a recipient's capability to receive a message via a packet-switched bearer and then selecting the appropriate bearer. Specifically, it could be seen as anticipating the foundational elements of claims 1, 7, 14, and 20, which revolve around the concept of bearer selection based on recipient status.

2. U.S. Patent No. 7,787,882

• Full Citation: US Patent 7,787,882 B2, "Apparatus, and associated method, for selectively providing a plurality of messaging services to a user of a mobile station," filed November 1, 2004, and issued August 31, 2010.
• Brief Description: This patent details a system that provides multiple messaging services (like SMS, MMS, and instant messaging) to a user through a unified interface. It describes detecting the capabilities of a recipient's device to determine which messaging service to use.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: Similar to the '773 patent, this reference teaches the concept of a unified messaging client that can select the appropriate message type based on the recipient's capabilities. This could be argued to anticipate the aspect of the '183 patent's claims (e.g., claims 1 and 7) that describe a "same messaging client" displaying both SMS and packet-switched messages.

3. U.S. Patent No. 8,046,005

• Full Citation: US Patent 8,046,005 B2, "Method and system for presence-based selection of a communication mode," filed July 28, 2006, and issued October 25, 2011.
• Brief Description: This patent discloses a system where the "presence" status of a user (e.g., online, offline, busy) is used to determine the best way to communicate with them. This includes selecting between different messaging types like IM, SMS, or email.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: This reference is relevant to the '183 patent's concept of checking a recipient's status. While the '183 patent focuses on an "undelivered message threshold," the '005 patent's disclosure of checking "presence" could be interpreted as a form of status check that influences message delivery, potentially anticipating the spirit of claims that rely on determining a recipient's "active status" (e.g., claims 3, 4, and 9).

4. U.S. Patent No. 8,155,688

• Full Citation: US Patent 8,155,688 B2, "System and method for automatically selecting a message transmission path," filed February 28, 2007, and issued April 10, 2012.
• Brief Description: This patent describes a system that automatically selects the most cost-effective or efficient path for sending a message from a mobile device. This can involve choosing between SMS, MMS, or a data network based on various criteria.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: The disclosure of automatically selecting a transmission path based on certain criteria is a core concept shared with the '183 patent. This reference could be used to argue that the novelty of automatically choosing between an SMS bearer and a packet-switched bearer, as described in claims 1, 7, 14, and 20, was already known in the art.

Cited U.S. Patent Application Publications

5. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0148332 A1

• Full Citation: US 2005/0148332 A1, "Method and apparatus for providing a unified messaging service," filed December 30, 2003, and published July 7, 2005.
• Brief Description: This application describes a unified messaging system that can handle various message types. It includes the capability to determine if a recipient is registered with the service and to then select the appropriate delivery mechanism.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: This application's teaching of checking for user registration to determine the message delivery method is very similar to the '183 patent's concept of checking if a recipient is a "subscriber of the PSMS" as recited in claims 1, 7, and 14.

6. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0030349 A1

• Full Citation: US 2006/0030349 A1, "System and method for intelligent message routing," filed August 4, 2004, and published February 9, 2006.
• Brief Description: This publication discloses a system for intelligently routing messages based on a user's status and preferences. It discusses the idea of queuing messages if a user is offline or unavailable.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: The concept of queuing undelivered messages is a key element of the '183 patent, particularly in claims that refer to an "undelivered message threshold" (claims 1, 4, 6, 7, 10, and 12). This reference's disclosure of message queuing could be argued to anticipate the basis for establishing such a threshold.

7. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0217112 A1

• Full Citation: US 2006/0217112 A1, "Messaging system with automatic media adaptation," filed March 25, 2005, and published September 28, 2006.
• Brief Description: This application describes a messaging system that can adapt the media content of a message based on the capabilities of the receiving device. It involves querying the recipient's device or a network server to determine these capabilities before sending the message.
• Potential Anticipation of Claims: This reference strengthens the argument that the concept of querying a server to determine a recipient's status and capabilities before message transmission was known prior to the '183 patent's priority date. This is directly relevant to the process described in claims 1, 7, and 14 where the sending phone queries a server.

In summary, the prior art cited against the '183 patent establishes a strong foundation for the concepts of automatic bearer selection, unified messaging clients, and recipient capability/status checking in mobile messaging systems. The novelty of the '183 patent appears to hinge on the specific implementation detail of using an "undelivered message threshold" as a condition for sending a packet-switched message. The cited references, while teaching the broader concepts, do not explicitly describe this specific thresholding mechanism for switching between a packet-switched service and an SMS bearer.