Prior art

To identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 9542571, I will use the USPTO Patent Public Search tool. Since I cannot directly interact with a live USPTO search, I will describe the process and then present the likely prior art based on the patent's own citations.

Search Process for USPTO Patent 9542571:

1. Navigate to the USPTO Patent Public Search website.
2. Select "Basic Search" or "Quick Lookup."
3. Enter the patent number "9542571" into the patent or publication number field.
4. Execute the search.
5. Once the patent document for US9542571B2 is retrieved, I would look for the "Cited By" or "References Cited" section to find the prior art references listed by the examiner and applicant.

Given the current constraints and the information available in the provided patent text, I will extract the prior art cited within the patent itself. The patent US9542571B2 explicitly lists several related applications in its "CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS" section and mentions one U.S. Patent in the detailed description. These are direct citations and represent strong indicators of prior art considered during prosecution.

Most Relevant Prior Art for US Patent 9542571:

Based on the "CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS" section of US9542571B2:

1. U.S. Pat. No. 8,887,988

   • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 8,887,988, issued on Nov. 18, 2014, entitled “System and Method of Owner Application Control of Electronic Devices” (11913-US-CNT-4214-25712).
   • Publication/Filing Date: Issued: November 18, 2014. The application that led to this patent, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/618,311, was filed on Sep. 14, 2012.
   • Brief Description: This patent is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 8,887,988 and shares the same title, indicating it covers similar subject matter related to owner application control of electronic devices, particularly regarding required, allowed, and excluded application lists and remote management.
   • Potentially Anticipates: Given that US9542571B2 is a continuation of this patent, U.S. Pat. No. 8,887,988 likely anticipates many, if not all, of the concepts claimed in US9542571B2, particularly the methods and systems for controlling application installation and execution based on owner-defined lists (Claims 1, 11, and 19). Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102 would depend on the specific claim language and any distinctions made during prosecution.

2. U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/567,163

   • Full Citation: U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/567,163, filed Apr. 30, 2004, entitled “System and Method of Owner Application Control of Electronic Devices” (11913-US-PRV-4214-25700).
   • Publication/Filing Date: Filed: April 30, 2004.
   • Brief Description: This provisional application is the priority document for the lineage that includes U.S. Pat. No. 8,887,988 and subsequently US9542571B2. It would describe the foundational concepts of owner application control.
   • Potentially Anticipates: As a priority document for the "owner application control" aspect, this provisional application would lay the groundwork for the core inventive concepts of US9542571B2. It would likely anticipate the broad ideas of managing applications on a device through owner-defined policies, including required applications and their installation/enforcement (Claims 1, 11, and 19).

3. U.S. Pat. No. 7,793,355

   • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 7,793,355, issued on Sep. 7, 2010, entitled “System and Method of Owner Control of Electronic Devices” (10735-US-PAT-4214-27101).
   • Publication/Filing Date: Issued: September 7, 2010. The application that led to this patent, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/606,814, was filed on Sep. 7, 2012. (Note: The patent text states the priority date for US9542571B2 is 2002-12-12, and it claims priority from US10/732,132, which is the parent of US7793355B2. This indicates a very close relationship).
   • Brief Description: This patent describes a "System and Method of Owner Control of Electronic Devices," which is a broader concept than "owner application control." It likely covers mechanisms for an owner to restrict various operations and functionalities of an electronic device, potentially including application-related controls.
   • Potentially Anticipates: This patent, being a predecessor in the "owner control" family, could anticipate general aspects of owner control on electronic devices. Depending on its specific claims, it might anticipate the general idea of an owner defining controls for a device, and potentially the underlying mechanisms for inserting and enforcing such controls, which could extend to application management (Claims 1, 11, and 19). The emphasis on "application control" in US9542571B2 suggests a more specific focus, but the general control framework may be anticipated.

4. U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/432,610

   • Full Citation: U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/432,610, filed Dec. 12, 2002, entitled “System and Method of Owner Control of Electronic Devices” (10735-US-PRV-4214-27100).
   • Publication/Filing Date: Filed: December 12, 2002.
   • Brief Description: This provisional application is the priority document for the lineage that includes U.S. Pat. No. 7,793,355. It would describe the initial concepts for owner control of electronic devices.
   • Potentially Anticipates: Similar to item 2, as a foundational priority document for the broader "owner control" systems and methods, it would likely anticipate the core concepts of an owner defining and enforcing usage policies on an electronic device (Claims 1, 11, and 19).

5. U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,694

   • Full Citation: U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,694.
   • Publication/Filing Date: Not explicitly stated in the provided text, but it is "hereby incorporated into this application by reference" and described in the context of a "message redirection system."
   • Brief Description: This patent describes a message redirection system for extending a private interface to a mobile device outside a LAN, operating with a message server.
   • Potentially Anticipates: This reference is cited for a specific technical detail (message redirection) and is less likely to anticipate the core claims of owner application control (Claims 1, 11, 19). It might be relevant as background art for communication systems within which the claimed invention operates, rather than directly anticipating the application control aspects.