Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Applicant’s Response
In the Applicant’s Response dated 12/19/25, the Applicant amended and argued claims 1-3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17 and 18 previously rejected in the Office Action dated 9/26/25. Claims 1-20 are pending examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Newlin et al., United States Patent Publication 2017/0074669 (hereinafter “Newlin”), in view of Tian et al., United States Patent Publication 2020/0300644 (“hereinafter “Tian”), in further view of Hsu et al., United States Patent Publication 2009/0077664 (hereinafter “Hsu”) and Kramer et al., United States Patent Publication 20100064252 (hereinafter “Kramer”).
Claim 1:
Newlin discloses:
A computer-implemented method for generating efficient user interfaces for computing devices, comprising:
determining, based on the transportation features, transportation option user interface elements comprising a first tier of one or more transportation mode interface elements (see paragraphs [0030], [0031]). Newlin teaches determining a tiered-hierarchy of transportation user interface elements. Newlin also teaches a mobile application may display two or more so-called “quick directions” for each of multiple commonly used modes of transportation, including, e.g., “Drive,” “Walk,” and “Public.” The two or more modes selected for display and comparison may be customizable. For example, if a user does not have a car, the displayed modes for comparison may be “Bike,” “Walk,” and “Public.” If the city has no public transportation, the displayed modes for comparison may be “Drive,” “Bike,” and “Car Share.” ; and
determining a ranking of a set of transportation sub-options for transportation sub-option interface elements (see paragraph [0059]). Newlin teaches ranking options/preference that will rank the elements presented based on the user preferences of the transportation options.
generating, based on the transportation features, an expansion state for the one or more transportation mode interface elements (see figure 9). Newlin teaches expansion state for the transportation mode;
ordering the set of transportation sub-options for the transportation sub-option interface elements corresponding to the second tier based on the ranking (see paragraph [0059]). Newlin teaches displaying the options based on the ranking of the orders to be displayed.
Newlin fails to expressly disclose determining features from provider devices and requester devices.
Tian discloses:
determining transportation features from a plurality of provider devices and requestor devices corresponding to a transportation matching system (see paragraph [0017]). Tian teaches determining features from the users and the providers of the service provided;
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin to include features from the provider devices and requester devices for the purpose of efficiently matching users to rides, as taught by Tian.
Newlin and Tian fail to expressly disclose one or more accordion selectable elements being operable to display and hide the second tier within the gui.
Hsu discloses:
a tiered-hierarchy of user interface elements comprising a first tier of one or more elements and a second tier of elements (see figure6). Hsu teaches a tiered hierarchy of user interface elements.
providing the tiered-hierarchy user interface elements for display, within a graphical user interface of a requestor device according to the expansion state, by: providing, for display, one or more accordion selectable elements corresponding to the first tier according to the expansion state generated based on the features, operable to display and hide the second tier (see figures 6). Hsu teaches providing the tiered hierarchy of element that can be selected to expand or hide according to a first tier and a second tier.
one or more accordion selectable elements being operable to modify the expansion states to display and hide the second tier within the graphical user interface (see paragraph [0071]). Hsu teaches The GUI displays in structured view a hierarchically organized tree list, allowing a user to expand each item to reveal its children or to close each item to hide its children. Hsu teaches expanding and closing different levels of the graphical user interface.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin and Tian to include displaying and hiding second tiers within a gui for the purpose of being user friendly by display hierarchical data, as taught by Hsu.
Newlin, Tian and Hsu fail to display expanded or collapse elements based on display state.
Kramer discloses:
wherein generating the expansion state comprises generating, for interface element, providing, for display, one or more accordion selectable elements corresponding to the first tier according to the expansion state generated based on the transportation features (see paragraphs [0022]-[0024] and [0036]). Kramer teaches identifying a display state and determining whether to generate an expansion or collapsed state for the elements.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin, Tian and Hsu to include displaying and hiding interface elements based on a display state for the purpose of being user friendly by display relevant data, as taught by Kramer.
Claim 2:
wherein providing the tiered-hierarchy of transportation option user interface elements for display comprises providing, for display, the one or more transportation mode interface elements of the first tier based on the ranking of the set of transportation sub-options (see paragraphs [0030], [0031], [0059]). Newlin teaches determining a tiered-hierarchy of transportation user interface elements. Newlin teaches ranking options/preference that will rank the elements presented based on the user preferences of the transportation options.
Newlin and Tian fail to expressly disclose one or more accordion selectable elements being operable to display and hide the second tier within the gui.
Hsu discloses:
a tiered-hierarchy of user interface elements comprising a first tier of one or more elements and a second tier of elements (see figure6). Hsu teaches a tiered hierarchy of user interface elements.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin and Tian to include displaying and hiding second tiers within a gui for the purpose of being user friendly by display hierarchical data, as taught by Hsu.
Claim 3:
providing the one or more transportation mode interface elements of the first tier based on the ranking of the set of transportation sub-options comprises positioning, within a viewable region of the graphical user interface of the requestor device, a particular transportation mode interface element when corresponding transportation sub-options satisfy a threshold rank (see paragraph [0059]). Newlin teaches displaying the options based on the ranking of the orders to be displayed.
Claim 4:
Newlin discloses:
determining, based on the transportation features, that a transportation sub-option is unavailable (see paragraph [0060]). Newlin teaches determining unavailable transportation sub-option because criteria based on time and/or location; and
deactivating a transportation sub-option interface element corresponding to the unavailable transportation sub-option within the graphical user interface of the requestor device (see paragraph [0060]). Newlin teaches deactivating a sub-option interface element corresponding to the unavailable transportation sub-option because criteria based on time and/or location.
Newlin fails to expressly discloses a multi-tier hierarchy for display.
Hsu discloses:
providing, for display within the graphical user interface of the requestor device, a set of nested transportation sub-option interface elements corresponding to the second tier for a particular transportation mode interface element (see figure 6). Hsu teaches providing option elements to a user based on a second tier for a particular element;
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin and Tian to include displaying and hiding second tiers within a gui for the purpose of being user friendly by display hierarchical data, as taught by Hsu.
Claim 5:
Newlin discloses:
deactivating the transportation sub-option interface element within the graphical user interface of the requestor device by removing the transportation sub-option interface element (see paragraph [0052]). Newlin teaches the user may not have a car. In such an example, the user may select the “x” within the “Drive” icon of the current quick directions modes. Such a selection may remove “Drive” from the quick directions options.
Claim 6:
Newlin discloses:
determining, based on the transportation features, an additional transportation sub-option is available; and activating an additional transportation sub-option interface element corresponding to the additional transportation sub-option within the graphical user interface of the requestor device. (see paragraph [0052]). Newlin teaches which a user does not have a car, but does have a bike, a user may add the “Bike” mode from the alternative modes into current quick directions modes.
Claim 7:
Newlin discloses:
determining the transportation option user interface elements based on the ranking of the set of transportation sub-options for the transportation sub-option interface elements, a transportation mode interface element based on determining that one or more corresponding transportation sub-options are ranked above a rank threshold (see paragraph [0059]). Newlin teaches ranking options/preference that will rank elements in an order and the elements presented based on the user preferences of the transportation options.
Newlin fails to expressly discloses a multi-tier hierarchy for display.
Hsu discloses:
providing, for display within the graphical user interface of the requestor device, a set of nested transportation sub-option interface elements corresponding to the second tier for a particular transportation mode interface element (see figure 6). Hsu teaches providing option elements to a user based on a second tier for a particular element;
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin and Tian to include displaying and hiding second tiers within a gui for the purpose of being user friendly by display hierarchical data, as taught by Hsu.
Claim 8:
Newlin, Tian and Hsu fail to display expanded or collapse elements based on display state.
Kramer discloses:
wherein generating the expansion state comprises generating, for interface element, a display state indicating whether the interface element should be collapsed to hide corresponding transportation sub-option interface elements or expanded to display the corresponding nested sub-option interface element (see paragraphs [0022]-[0024] and [0036]). Kramer teaches identifying a display state and determining whether to generate an expansion or collapsed state.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin, Tian and Hsu to include displaying and hiding interface elements based on a display state for the purpose of being user friendly by display relevant data, as taught by Kramer.
Claim 9:
Newlin discloses:
wherein: the first tier of the one or more transportation mode interface elements comprises selectable transportation modes and comprise a plurality of transportation pickup times and corresponding transportation request rates (see paragraphs [0006] and [0030]). Newlin teaches the first tier being transportation modes and prices; and
Newlin fails to expressly disclose displaying a second tier of information.
Hsu discloses:
the second tier of the nested sub-option interface elements (see figure 6). Hsu discloses a second tier of nested elements.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin and Tian to include displaying and hiding second tiers within a gui for the purpose of being user friendly by display hierarchical data, as taught by Hsu.
Claims 10, 14:
Although Claims 10, 14 are non-transitory computer readable medium claims, they are interpreted for the same as reasons as the method of Claims 1, 4, respectively.
Claim 11:
Newlin discloses:
provide, for display, the one or more selectable elements corresponding to the first tier according to the expansion state by:
selecting, based on the transportation features, an expanded state for a transportation sub-option interface elements (see paragraph [0060]). Newlin teaches selecting, based on a feature, an expanded state for nested sub-options. Newlin teaches turning an option on and sub-option are revealed; and
Newlin and Tian fail to expressly disclose one or more accordion selectable elements being operable to display and hide the second tier within the gui.
Hsu discloses:
selecting, based on the transportation features, an expanded state for a set of nested transportation sub-option interface elements corresponding to the second tier for a particular transportation mode interface element (see figure6). Hsu teaches a tiered hierarchy of user interface elements and selecting the element to be expanded.
providing, for display within the graphical user interface of the requestor device, the set of nested transportation sub-option interface elements in the expanded state displaying the set of nested sub-option interface elements corresponding to the second tier beneath the particular transportation mode interface element (see figures 6). Hsu teaches providing the tiered hierarchy of element that can be selected to expand or hide according to a first tier and a second tier.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin and Tian to include displaying and hiding second tiers within a gui for the purpose of being user friendly by display hierarchical data, as taught by Hsu.
Claim 12:
Newlin discloses:
further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to select the expanded state for the set of nested transportation sub-option interface elements based on information corresponding to the requestor device, wherein the information corresponding to the requestor device comprises a location of the requestor device or historical activity of the requestor device (see paragraph [0060]). Newlin teaches expanding the options based on the location of the requester device such as the user may be able to vary when and where modes of transportation are hidden. For example, a user may choose to hide public transportation options when in New York City, but not when in Chicago. When the user is in Chicago those options can be expanded.
Claim 13:
Newlin discloses:
provide, for display, the one or more selectable elements corresponding to the first tier according to the expansion state by:
selecting, based on the transportation features, a collapsed state for interface elements (see paragraph [0060]). Newlin teaches selecting, based on a feature, a collapsed state for nested sub-options. Newlin teaches turning an option off and collapses all sub-options; and
providing, for display within the graphical user interface of the requestor device, the interface elements in the collapsed state hiding data from view (see paragraph [0060]). Newlin teaches providing the options in a collapsed state.
Newlin and Tian fail to expressly disclose one or more accordion selectable elements being operable to display and hide the second tier within the gui.
Hsu discloses:
selecting, based on the transportation features, an expanded state for a set of nested transportation sub-option interface elements corresponding to the second tier for a particular transportation mode interface element (see figure6). Hsu teaches a tiered hierarchy of user interface elements and selecting the element to be expanded.
providing, for display within the graphical user interface of the requestor device, the set of nested transportation sub-option interface elements in the collapsed state hiding the set of nested sub-option interface elements corresponding to the second tier from view (see figures 6). Hsu teaches providing the tiered hierarchy of element that can be selected to expand or hide according to a first tier and a second tier.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin and Tian to include displaying and hiding second tiers within a gui for the purpose of being user friendly by display hierarchical data, as taught by Hsu.
Claim 14:
Newlin fails to display expanded or collapse elements based on display state.
Kramer discloses:
determine an activation state of a sub-option of the set of sub- options in response to determining a change in the features; and modifying the activation state of the sub-option based on the change in the features (see paragraphs [0022]-[0024] and [0036]). Kramer teaches identifying a display state and determining whether to generate an expansion or collapsed state.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin, Tian and Hsu to include displaying and hiding interface elements based on a display state for the purpose of being user friendly by display relevant data, as taught by Kramer.
Claim 15:
Newlin discloses:
wherein the transportation features comprise locations of the plurality of provider devices, a number of online provider devices, or a number of transportation requests from the plurality requestor of devices (see paragraphs [0039] and [0040]). Newlin teaches the features comprise location of the provider devices.
Claims 16-17:
Although Claims 16-17 are system claims, they are interpreted and rejected for the same reasons as the computer readable medium claim of 10, 11, respectively.
Claim 18:
Newlin discloses:
providing, for display within the graphical user interface of the requestor device, a transportation sub-option interface elements (see paragraph [0060]). Newlin teaches providing option elements to a user based on a second tier for a particular element. Mode of transportation can be the first tier then ride share can be the second tier;
determining, based on the transportation features, that a transportation sub-option is unavailable (see paragraph [0060]). Newlin teaches determining unavailable transportation sub-option because criteria based on time and/or location; and
deactivating a transportation sub-option interface element corresponding to the unavailable transportation sub-option within the graphical user interface of the requestor device (see paragraph [0060]). Newlin teaches deactivating a sub-option interface element corresponding to the unavailable transportation sub-option because criteria based on time and/or location.
Newlin and Tian fail to expressly disclose one or more accordion selectable elements being operable to display and hide the second tier within the gui.
Hsu discloses:
providing, for display within the graphical user interface of the requestor device, a set of nested sub-option interface elements corresponding to the second tier for a particular interface element (see figures 6). Hsu teaches providing the tiered hierarchy of element that can be selected to expand or hide according to a first tier and a second tier.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin and Tian to include displaying and hiding second tiers within a gui for the purpose of being user friendly by display hierarchical data, as taught by Hsu.
Claim 19:
Newlin and Tian fail to expressly disclose previewing and particular accordion selectable element comprising preview information for a particular nested transportation sub-option interface element.
Hsu discloses:
further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to provide, for display within the graphical user interface of the requestor device, a particular accordion selectable element comprising preview information for a particular nested transportation sub-option interface element (see paragraph [0071]). Hsu teaches The GUI displays in structured view a hierarchically organized tree list, allowing a user to expand each item to reveal its children or to close each item to hide its children.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Newlin and Tian to include displaying and hiding second tiers within a gui for the purpose of being user friendly by display hierarchical data, as taught by Hsu.
Claim 20:
Newlin discloses:
determine a ranking of a set of transportation mode options for transportation mode interface elements corresponding to the first tier based on the transportation features; and select a particular transportation mode interface element for placement on a non-viewable region of the graphical user interface of the requestor device based on the ranking (see paragraph [0059]). Newlin teaches ranking options/preference that will rank the elements presented based on the user preferences of the transportation options and the lower rank are at the bottom of the list.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see REM, filed 12/19/25, with respect to the rejections of claims 1, 10 and 16 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Newlin, Tian, Hsu and Kramer.
Claims 1, 10, 16:
Applicant argues Tian and Hsu fail to describe, teach, or suggest "generating, based on the transportation features, an expansion state for the one or more transportation mode interface elements" and "providing the tiered-hierarchy of transportation option user interface elements for display, within a graphical user interface of a requestor device according to the expansion state, by: providing, for display, one or more accordion selectable elements corresponding to the first tier according to the expansion state generated based on the transportation features," (emphasis added) as recited by currently amended independent claims 1, 10, and 16.
The Examiner agrees.
Kramer is introduced to the rejection to teach the amended Claims. See the above rejections for Claims 1, 10 and 16. The combination of art teaches Claims 1, 10, 16.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIONNA M BURKE whose telephone number is (571)270-7259. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a-4p.
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/TIONNA M BURKE/Examiner, Art Unit 2178 3/13/26
/STEPHEN S HONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2178