Prior art — US Patent 8571194

As a technical patent analyst, I have reviewed US patent 8571194, titled "System and method for initiating a conference call." Based on the provided patent text, the following prior art references are explicitly cited within the patent document.

Most Relevant Prior Art for US8571194

The most relevant prior art for US patent 8571194 largely consists of its own priority and parent applications, which share the same inventive concept and contribute to its priority date. These documents would inherently disclose the subject matter claimed in US8571194.

Here are the identified patent citations:

1. U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/531,722

Full Citation: U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/531,722, filed December 22, 2003. (Inventor: Tod C. Turner; Original Assignee: Linqware Inc - as noted in US8571194).
Publication/Filing Date: Filing Date: December 22, 2003. Provisional applications are not typically published unless incorporated into a non-provisional application.
Brief Description: This provisional application serves as the priority document for US8571194 and its parent applications. It is understood to disclose the foundational aspects of the invention, focusing on a system and method for initiating conference calls using an instant messaging (IM) system, where a conference call server uses IM to receive requests and initiate conference bridges, reducing user effort.
Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): As the priority document, this provisional application is the basis for the claims of US8571194. Assuming the claims of US8571194 are fully supported by the disclosure of this provisional application, then all claims (1-16) would be entitled to its filing date. In this context, it "anticipates" all claims in the sense that it fully discloses the invention, thereby establishing its effective filing date rather than serving as invalidating prior art. If, however, any claims in US8571194 contain new matter not disclosed in the provisional, those specific claims would not benefit from this priority date.

2. U.S. Patent No. 7,804,948

Full Citation: U.S. Patent No. 7,804,948 (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/019,655), Inventor: Tod C. Turner, Assignee: Linqware Inc.
Publication/Filing Date: Filing Date: December 22, 2004; Publication Date: September 28, 2010.
Brief Description: This patent is a continuation of the aforementioned provisional application (60/531,722) and a parent to US8571194. Its abstract describes "A system and method for initiating conference calls via an instant messaging system to reduce the effort required to initiate and manage the call. The system uses an IM connection between a requesting party and a conference call server to inform the conference call server of the desire to initiate the conference call. The conference call server may initiate the conference call by having involved parties called by a conference bridge, thus reducing the effort required by the parties to join the call." This description is nearly identical to that of US8571194.
Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): As a parent application that claims priority to the same provisional application, US7804948 would generally anticipate all claims (1-16) of US8571194 if the claimed subject matter is fully disclosed within US7804948 and is entitled to the common priority date. It represents an earlier patenting of substantially the same inventive concept.

3. U.S. Patent No. 7,853,000

Full Citation: U.S. Patent No. 7,853,000 (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/723,350), Inventor: Tod C. Turner, Assignee: Linqware Inc.
Publication/Filing Date: Filing Date: March 15, 2010; Publication Date: December 14, 2010.
Brief Description: This patent is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/019,655 (US7804948) and thus also claims priority back to the provisional application 60/531,722. Its abstract contains the same description as US7804948 and US8571194, focusing on initiating conference calls via an IM system using a central server and conference bridge.
Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Similar to US7804948, as another parent application in the same family, US7853000 would generally anticipate all claims (1-16) of US8571194 if the claimed subject matter is fully disclosed within US7853000 and is entitled to the common priority date. It covers the same core inventive concept.

4. U.S. Patent Publication No. 20030018725

Full Citation: U.S. Patent Publication No. 20030018725 (a.k.a. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/015,077), filed October 26, 2001. Inventor: Tod C. Turner; Assignee: Linqware Inc.
Publication/Filing Date: Filing Date: October 26, 2001; Publication Date: January 23, 2003.
Brief Description: This earlier publication is incorporated by reference in US8571194 and focuses on "shared application sessions." It describes the ability for multiple users to view and interact with a single software application over a network. While it relates to network-based collaboration, its primary emphasis is on application sharing and the underlying communication for that purpose.
Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This reference precedes the priority date of US8571194. While it describes aspects of networked communication, network access devices, and potentially presence awareness in a collaborative environment, it is unlikely to fully anticipate the specific inventive steps detailed in US8571194's claims. The key distinguishing features of US8571194's claims (specifically claims 1, 6, 11, and 16) include the automatic initiation of voice communication between current IM session participants directly from an IM chat window, without requiring individual selection of participants, and without requiring separate registration with a conference call server. US20030018725A1 primarily addresses shared application sessions and does not explicitly teach this specific combination of automatic voice conference initiation directly from an IM session based on its participants. Therefore, it is improbable that it would anticipate any of claims 1-16 of US8571194 in their entirety. It might disclose individual components, but not the complete claimed invention.