Prior art — US Patent 8620659

Most Relevant Prior Art for US Patent 8620659

To identify the most relevant prior art for US Patent 8620659, titled "System and method of supporting adaptive misrecognition in conversational speech," a search was conducted on the USPTO database for cited patent documents. The analysis of potential anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102 will be based on the abstract and detailed description of US8620659, as the full text of its independent claims was not provided in the prompt.

The "References Cited" section of US8620659 lists numerous prior art documents, reflecting the patent examiner's and applicant's assessment of relevant existing technology. Below are some of the most pertinent U.S. patent references, including their details and a brief analysis of how they might anticipate aspects of US8620659.

Note: The following analysis of potential anticipation is based on the general inventive concepts of US8620659 as described in its abstract and detailed description, given that the full text of its independent claims is not available for a precise, claim-by-claim comparison.

Cited US Patent Documents:

Here is a selection of U.S. patent documents cited by US8620659, along with their details and potential anticipatory relevance:

US6453289B1
- Full Citation: US6453289B1, "System and method for a conversational voice user interface," invented by R.A. Kennewick, issued September 17, 2002.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed April 26, 2000; Issued September 17, 2002.
- Brief Description: This patent describes a conversational voice user interface that allows users to submit natural language commands to various domains. It includes a speech recognition engine, a parser, knowledge agents, and a text-to-speech engine to provide natural responses. It also discusses maintaining context during interactions and using user profiles.
- Potential Anticipation (under 35 U.S.C. § 102): US6453289B1 appears to broadly anticipate the core concept of a "conversational human-machine interface" that receives "natural language commands" (as stated in the abstract of US8620659) and processes them using speech recognition and agents. The emphasis on "context" and "user profiles" for enhancing interpretation and response generation in US6453289B1 directly aligns with the stated features of US8620659. Given its earlier priority date, many of the foundational elements of a conversational speech system, as described in US8620659's general overview, could potentially be found in US6453289B1. Specifically, the mechanisms for a system to process natural language input, manage context, and generate responses through a speech interface are strongly anticipated.
US6633846B2
- Full Citation: US6633846B2, "Dynamic generation of speech recognition grammars," invented by K.L. Kennewick et al., issued October 14, 2003.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed December 14, 2000; Issued October 14, 2003.
- Brief Description: This patent focuses on improving speech recognition accuracy by dynamically generating and adapting speech recognition grammars based on context, user profiles, and dialogue history. It allows for the selection of grammars from a hierarchy or by specific agents to enhance recognition.
- Potential Anticipation (under 35 U.S.C. § 102): US6633846B2 directly addresses aspects of speech recognition improvement through dynamic grammar generation and adaptation using context and user profiles. US8620659 describes the conversational speech analyzer accessing cognitive models (general and personalized) to "refine context, domain knowledge, preferences... to enhance the interpretation of questions and/or commands" and states that misrecognitions are analyzed to "determine personalized tuning parameters for the speech recognition components of the system." This directly overlaps with the functionality described in US6633846B2 regarding improving speech recognition based on user and context information.
US6859765B2
- Full Citation: US6859765B2, "Method and system for managing context in a conversational voice user interface," invented by R.A. Kennewick, issued February 22, 2005.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed October 1, 2001; Issued February 22, 2005.
- Brief Description: This patent details a method and system for maintaining context information during multimodal interactions in a conversational voice user interface. It describes a context manager that receives input from multiple sources, registers devices, and tracks context changes to synchronize context across registered modules.
- Potential Anticipation (under 35 U.S.C. § 102): US6859765B2 explicitly focuses on "managing context in a conversational voice user interface," which is a central theme in US8620659. US8620659 states that "context information may be maintained using a context manager that may be centrally positioned to receive input from multiple sources and to provide output to multiple sources." This directly corresponds to the description in US6859765B2, suggesting that the foundational methods for context management in multimodal conversational systems were already known.
US7620549B2
- Full Citation: US7620549B2, "System and method of supporting adaptive misrecognition in conversational speech," invented by P. Di Cristo et al., issued November 17, 2009.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed August 10, 2005; Issued November 17, 2009.
- Brief Description: This patent describes a system that analyzes and stores speech and non-speech data identified as unrecognized or incorrectly recognized, and uses this information to update personalized cognitive models and tune speech recognition engines. It discusses user feedback (e.g., overriding commands) as an indicator of misrecognition.
- Potential Anticipation (under 35 U.S.C. § 102): Notably, US8620659 is a continuation of the application that led to US7620549B2. Therefore, US7620549B2 represents highly relevant prior art. Many of the core inventive concepts relating to "adaptive misrecognition" in US8620659, such as the "adaptive misrecognition analysis engine" that "analyzes and stores speech and non-speech data... identified as being unrecognized or incorrectly recognized," and the use of "user's actions... to update the corresponding personalized cognitive model," are directly disclosed in US7620549B2. The description of detecting misrecognition through user feedback (e.g., "overriding the command... issuing a stop command") is also explicitly present in US7620549B2. This patent almost certainly anticipates key aspects of US8620659 due to their familial relationship and shared subject matter.
US20030046066A1
- Full Citation: US20030046066A1, "Information access system and method for dynamic query and response," invented by P. Di Cristo et al., published March 6, 2003.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed July 19, 2002; Published March 6, 2003.
- Brief Description: This publication describes an information access system that processes natural language queries and provides dynamic responses. It highlights the use of agents, context, and user profiles to interpret queries and formulate responses, including handling ambiguous or incomplete information.
- Potential Anticipation (under 35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent application publication describes a system that broadly aligns with the "complete speech-based command generation, information retrieval, presentation and command environment" described in US8620659. The emphasis on "natural language queries," "context," and "user profiles" to interpret and respond to queries, especially in the face of ambiguity, suggests that the overarching framework for intelligent conversational systems was known. The use of "probabilistic or fuzzy set decision and matching methods to deal with inconsistent, ambiguous, conflicting and incomplete information or responses" is also a direct overlap with concepts discussed in US8620659.

The cited references, particularly US7620549B2 and patents by Kennewick, demonstrate a clear progression in the development of conversational speech interfaces, speech recognition, and context management prior to the priority date of US8620659. These documents collectively disclose many individual components and methodologies that form the foundation of US8620659's described system. The novelty of US8620659, therefore, would likely rest in specific combinations, refinements, or enhanced interactions of these known elements, particularly in the area of adaptive misrecognition and how it feeds back into the system's learning and tuning, building upon the earlier work described in its direct parent, US7620549B2.