US 7917367

Here's a concise summary of US Patent 7917367:

US Patent 7917367: Systems and Methods for Responding to Natural Language Speech Utterance

• Title: Systems and methods for responding to natural language speech utterance
• Assignee:
  • Current Assignee: Dialect LLC
  • Original Assignee: VoiceBox Technologies Corp
• Inventors: Philippe Di Cristo, Min Ke, Robert A. Kennewick, Lynn Elise Armstrong
• Filing Date: 2009-11-12
• Issue Date: 2011-03-29
• Abstract: The patent describes systems and methods for handling natural language speech and non-speech queries and commands. It transcribes these communications into text, then executes the questions or commands. The invention uses context, prior information, domain knowledge, and user-specific profiles to create a natural interaction environment across multiple domains. It emphasizes creating, storing, and using detailed personal profile information to improve the reliability of understanding context and delivering expected results for specific queries or commands.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Independent Claim 1 (System Claim): This claim describes a system designed to respond to natural language speech. It includes a device to receive spoken input from a user. This input is sent to a computer, which processes it to understand its general meaning. Based on this understanding, the computer creates specific machine-readable instructions or commands. These instructions are then sent to "domain agents," which are like specialized programs that handle questions or commands for particular topics. The system then receives the results from these agents, evaluates them (even if they're unclear or conflicting), and generates a natural-sounding response. Finally, it presents this response to the user either through speech or a non-speech interface (like a screen), taking into account user preferences and a defined system "personality."

• Independent Claim 16 (Method Claim): This claim outlines a method or a series of steps for responding to natural language speech. The method involves:

  1. Receiving a spoken natural language input from a user.
  2. A computer processing this input to determine its approximate meaning.
  3. The computer generating specific machine-processable queries or actions from this meaning.
  4. The computer sending these queries/actions to specialized domain agents.
  5. The computer receiving results back from these agents.
  6. The computer evaluating these results to find the best possible answer, even if the information is vague or contradictory.
  7. The computer creating a natural language response, considering the best results, user preferences, and a system personality.
  8. Presenting this response back to the user via speech or a non-speech interface.

• Independent Claim 21 (Computer Readable Storage Medium Claim): This claim covers a computer-readable storage medium (like a hard drive or flash memory) that contains software instructions. When these instructions are executed by a machine, they cause the machine to perform the exact same method steps as described in Independent Claim 16 for responding to natural language speech utterances.

Litigation/Legal Status Notes:
The patent status is listed as "Expired - Lifetime".
The patent family has been involved in litigation, including:

• A PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board) case, IPR2025-01193, which has been filed and settled.
• Two US cases filed in the Texas Eastern District Court, identified as 2:23-cv-00061 and 2:24-cv-01067.
• There is also a record of the first worldwide family litigation filed, as indicated by Darts-ip.

Regarding CAFC dockets for 2026, direct docket entries for US7917367 were not found in the search results. The general search for CAFC dockets provided information on how to access case records and scheduled cases, but no specific appeal cases related to this patent in 2026 were identified.