Patexia contests ask you to find, submit, and explain references that respond to our research criteria. If you are new, see patent and prior art basics and tips for Patexia's prior art contests, and refer to the submission notes below. The following questions will help you understand specifically what we are looking for in this study.

In this contest we are seeking prior art; published examples of an idea or invention before a specific date.

Problem Definition
Patexia seeks prior art for US Patent 5,894,506 (‘506) - “Method and apparatus for generating and communicating messages between subscribers to an electronic messaging network.” The patent allegedly describes transmitting canned messages across an electronic messaging network, i.e. from one message terminal to another via a network operation center.

The network operation center and all of  the message terminals include memories for storing files which correspond to canned messages and associated message codes. Messages are transmitted across this network in the form of a message codes (e.g. #5 = “I’ll be there soon”).

The basic system architecture has been illustrated below in Figure 1 and operates as follows:

• A file of canned messages and corresponding codes, and a file of canned response messages and corresponding codes are stored at a network operations center (NOC).
• A corresponding file of canned messages and codes, and a corresponding file of canned response messages and codes are stored at terminals.
• At a sending terminal, an appropriate canned message is selected from the file and at least one canned response message is selected for transmission to the receiving terminal.
• Message codes that are associated with the selected canned message and canned response are sent from the sender to the NOC and from the NOC to the recipient.
• The selected canned message and canned response are displayed at the receiving terminal.

Figure 1. Generating and Communicating Canned Messages Between Subscribers in a Network 

Questions
When entering a contest, Patexia’s system will ask you the following questions. Contestants should attempt to locate sources that answer these questions and submit a concise explanation as to why the source(s) answers our question(s). This explanation should specifically indicate where in the reference we can find the required supporting information. If you do not provide adequate explanations on how to locate the desired information in your reference, your entry will not be considered for a prize or in the final contest rankings.

Entries must answer all contest questions. All sources must be clearly dated or they will not be considered. 

1. Was the source published before September 5th, 1996?
2. Does the source describe communicating canned messages between a sender and a recipient across an electronic network?
3. Does the source describe an association between canned messages and abbreviated message codes?
4. Does the source describe a system for storing canned messages and corresponding codes at a network operation center (NOC)?
5. Does the source describe a system for storing canned messages and corresponding codes at  network terminals?
6. Does the source describe selecting a canned message at a sender terminal and then transmitting the associated message code to a NOC?
7. Does the source describe transmitting the message code from the NOC to a receiving terminal?
8. Does the source describe selecting a canned message and canned response options at a sender terminal and then transmitting the associated message code and response option codes to a NOC?
9. Does the source describe transmitting the message code and response option codes from the NOC to a receiving terminal?
10. [User Survey Question] Can you provide us with more information regarding your qualifications to enter this contest? (no reference needed, please provide a short list of your relevant background or qualifications.)
11. [User Survey Question] Can you provide us with more information regarding the time you spent researching the contests? (no reference needed, please provide an estimate of the time you spent researching this contest.)
12. [User Survey Question] Can you provide us with more information regarding the resources and databases you searched for this contest? (no reference needed, please provide a short list of sources that you used to research this contest.)