DETAILED ACTION
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
Response to Amendments
The action is responsive to the Applicant’s Amendment filed on 6/02/2025. Claims 1-11 and 13-18 are pending in the application. Claims 1, 3, 11, 14, and 15 are amended. Claim 12 is canceled. Claim 6 is new.
Applicant’s amendments to the claims integrate the processes into a practical application. The 101 rejection of claims 1-5 and 6-18 previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 11/16/2023 is hereby withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejections of claims 1-11 and 13-18 have been fully considered. In view of the claim amendment filed, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made.
Further, regarding the new limitations recited in claims 1, 3, 11, 14, and 15, it is submitted that they are properly addressed by the new ground of rejection.
Furthermore, it is also submitted that all limitations in pending claims, including those not specifically argued, are properly addressed. The reason is set forth in the rejections. See claim analysis below for detail.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-11 and 13-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Janssens (US 20140040368 A1) in view of Rands (US 20190356715 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Janssens discloses a method of providing a user profile in a network environment in which a processor and a memory are implemented ([Abstract]: A profile feed of potential matching users may be provided to a user; [0008]: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example network including a social interaction system; [0028] Social interaction system 101 is a computer system including one or more computing devices with computing hardware such as processors and memory), the method comprising:
identifying states of a plurality of online users accessing a profile provision system (Fig. 3, Fig. 5; [0086]-[0087]: Contact record 507 may further indicate a state 509 of the contact);
determining two or more second users to be displayed in a terminal of a first user (Fig. 3; [0005]: identifying a plurality of matching users from the first plurality of users based at least in part on the received profile information… determining an ordering in which respective profile information of the identified plurality of matching users are to be presented in a first area of a first user interface to the first user; Fig. 6; [0089]: Cards about a user that are shown to a viewer may maintain a special state relating the user and the viewer),
wherein the determining of the two or more second users comprises selecting a predetermined number of users, among a plurality of online users, to be the two or more second users, based on a number of good-feeling expressions (Fig. 7A; [0139]: At state 1104, the system determines whether there are any cards with an unviewed "like." If so, then at state 1105 the card with the most recent unviewed "like" is selected and provided for display [cards with an unviewed "like" correspond to a predetermined number of users]);
providing profile information of the two or more second users to the terminal of the first user ([0005]: causing, at least in part, profile information regarding a first matching user to be presented in the first area of the first user interface; [0042]: FIG. 3 illustrates an example user interface… In various embodiments, the elements of the interface may be differently arranged, additional elements may be included, and elements may be omitted),
wherein the profile information of the two or more second users is simultaneously displayed on a first screen of the terminal of the first user (Fig. 3; [0041]-[0049]: An example user-interface may include two or more areas or panes. For example, a first pane or area may be configured to show cards (e.g., profile cards, gift cards, etc.) and card navigation controls… Alternate organizations may be used… In an embodiment, an additional option is provided to allow the user to preview upcoming cards in the feed without dismissing the card being displayed. The user may then be able to select among the previewed cards or remain on the current card; [0096]: In an embodiment… both cards (optionally in a smaller version) may be shown simultaneously. [Nonfunctional descriptive material and is not functionally involved in the step recited. The providing step would be performed the same regardless of the data]).
determining a ranking for the two or more second users based, at least in part, on a number of times of an input of good-feeling expressions performed by the two or more second users, and a time duration during which terminals associated with the two or more second users maintained access to the profile provision system ([0005]: ranking the identified plurality of matching users based at least in part on a first criterion; determining an ordering in which respective profile information of the identified plurality of matching users are to be presented in a first area of a first user interface to the first user based at least in part on respective rankings).
However, Janssens does not explicitly teach “configuring a queue list that includes the two or more second users and the plurality of online users to be displayed based on the ranking.”
On the other hand, in the same field of endeavor, Rands teaches
configuring a queue list that includes the two or more second users and the plurality of online users to be displayed based on the ranking ([0112]: The pairing algorithm can for example be executed at a back-end computer system, and operates as a pairing system to pair users based on one or more pairing criteria; [0182]: FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate how a user can obtain a list 1002 of his/her matches via the dating app UI at his/her user device; [0194]: That is, the pairing algorithm may be configured such that users with higher engagement scores have a greater likelihood of being paired with other users).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of Janssens to incorporate the teachings of Rands to determine a ranking for the two or more second users and configure a list to be displayed to the first user.”
The motivation for doing so would be to determine which users are able to communicate with each, as recognized by Rands ([0112] of Rands: Accordingly, in this context, it is any pairing criteria together with the randomized inputs that determine which users are able to communicate with each other via the dating app).
Regarding Claim 2, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the method of claim 1.
Janssens further teaches wherein a state of each of the two or more second users includes at least one of whether the corresponding second user is currently accessing the profile provision system ([0086]: Contact record 507 may further indicate a state 509 of the contact. The state may indicate the current activity of the user 508. In an embodiment, the state is selected from the following possible states: unread chat state, online state, offline state, and ignored state; [0099]: Card-feed 701 includes multiple feed cards 701. See also para [0061]) and whether the corresponding second user has input a good-feeling expression for the first user (Fig. 3; [0053]: For example, badge 310 in the card-feed indicates that the user whose card is being displayed has previously indicated a "like" (e.g., an interest in the user being liked) for the current user, viewing the displayed card).
Regarding Claim 3, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the method of claim 2.
Janssens further teaches wherein an indicator included in profile information is displayed differently by at least one of color, size, shape, location, and motion, based on whether the good-feeling expression has input for the first user (Fig. 3; [0048]: In an embodiment, right arrow 307 is optionally highlighted to prompt the user to proceed to additional cards in the card-feed. The highlighting may include blinking, coloration, bold text, increased size, and so on, as well as any combination of these. The highlighting may occur based on a specified condition; Fig. 6; [0091]-[0093]: Features indicator 605 may indicate a card type based at least in part on features available on the account of the displayed user 603).
Regarding Claim 4, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the method of claim 1.
Janssens further teaches further comprising: confirming a third user, wherein the third user is a user among the plurality of online users who has input a good-feeling expression for the first user ([0005]: the matching system comprising: causing, at least in part, profile information regarding a third matching user to be presented in the first area of the first user interface; Fig. 3; [0046] Card-feed pane 303 displays "cards," which may display profiles of users on the system… A card may also include profile information 305 (e.g., name… likes));
when the third user is also defined as one of the two or more second users, changing an indicator included in profile information of the third user in the terminal of the first user in response to the input of the good-feeling expression (Fig. 3; [0053]: For example, badge 310 in the card-feed indicates that the user whose card is being displayed has previously indicated a "like" (e.g., an interest in the user being liked) for the current user, viewing the displayed card… Optionally, a like counter 316 is provided, such that when other users "like" the user's profile, a like counter may increase its count. See also para [0048]); and
when the third user is not also defined as one of the two or more second users, providing the profile information of the third user to the terminal of the first user in response to the input of the good-feeling expression ([0006]: An example aspect includes a computer implemented method, comprising:… based at least in part on the re-ordering, causing at least in part by the computing system, profile information regarding a third matching user to be presented in the first area of the first user interface).
Regarding Claim 5, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the method of claim 4.
Janssens further teaches wherein the providing of the profile information of the third user to the terminal of the first user comprises:
displaying a motion image in a region where the profile information of the third user is to be displayed (Fig. 3; [0046]: In an embodiment, the profile picture 304 may rotate through the various pictures and/or other media, in a circular order and/or randomly for example, enabling the card viewer to automatically view multiple images associated with a user's card. See also para [0048], [0060], [0062]); and
displaying the profile information of the third user after a preset period of time from the display of the motion image ([0050]: A given card may automatically rotate through the different pictures (wherein a picture may be a photograph or other image) in the gallery at a predetermined or variable rate and optionally stop after one full rotation (or other specified number of rotations) through all the pictures. See also para [0047]-[0050]).
Regarding Claim 6, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the method of claim 1.
Rands further teaches further comprising: for a given user of the two or more second users, determining, based on a first condition and a second condition, whether to stop displaying the profile information of the given user on the terminal of the first user,
wherein the first condition indicates whether a first period of time has lapsed after the profile information of the given user starts to be displayed, and wherein the second condition indicates whether a second period of time has lapsed after the given user's access to the profile provision system is discontinued (Fig. 6; [0162]: Preferably, each of the users is only permitted to send a limited number of such requests, up to a request threshold, for example a maximum of three requests to stop obscuring the video… This may be an absolute limit, whereby Bob is never allowed to send another request to Alice, or it may be time limited, whereby earlier requests are discounted for the purposes of imposing this limit once an appropriate amount of time has elapsed, for example).
Regarding Claim 7, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the method of claim 1.
Janssens further teaches wherein the profile information of the two or more second users is displayed in a list positioned at a top of the first screen, and the first screen further includes profile information of a fourth user who is not included in the list, a profile of the fourth user being stored in the profile provision system ([0042]: FIG. 3 illustrates an example user interface including a contact list, chat pane, and card-feed display... the elements of the interface may be differently arranged, additional elements may be included, and elements may be omitted [non-functional descriptive material]. See also para [0041]-[0045]).
Regarding Claim 8, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the method of claim 7.
Janssens further teaches further comprising: receiving selection input information indicating that one of the profile information of the two or more second users displayed in the list has been selected ([0049]: As described above, clicking (or otherwise interacting with) left arrow 306 or right arrow 307 will replace the currently displayed card in the card-feed area 303 with another card in the feed): and
in response to the reception of the selection input information, providing detailed information about the second user corresponding to the selected profile information to the terminal of the first user ([0063]: Optionally, when a person's picture is clicked (e.g., in a chat and/or overview section of the user interface), the corresponding profile may be presented in the card-feed section of the user interface).
Regarding Claim 9, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the method of claim 8.
Janssens further teaches wherein the detailed information about the second user is displayed on a second screen which overlaps the first screen in a pop-up manner in the terminal of the first user ([0209]: In embodiments where a user can both view profile information regarding other users and also communicate with other users (for example liking them or sending them a chat message) on the same user interface screen, the user has a very user-friendly user-interface, which prevents the need to navigate around to different sections of a website to perform different viewing and communication activities; [0126]: Optionally, system messages are displayed in a popup or separate part of the user interface).
Regarding Claim 10, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the method of claim 9.
Janssens further teaches wherein the second screen includes a label associated with the second user corresponding to the selected profile information (Figs. 3-4; [0053]: For example, badge 310 in the card-feed indicates that the user whose card is being displayed has previously indicated a "like" (e.g., an interest in the user being liked) for the current user, viewing the displayed card), and the label is displayed differently depending on whether the second user corresponding to the selected profile information has input a good-feeling expression for the first user ([0042]: The interface may be presented in various formats… In various embodiments, the elements of the interface may be differently arranged, additional elements may be included, and elements may be omitted).
Regarding Claim 11, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the method of claim 1.
Rands further teaches wherein the method is performed using a cloud application ([0114]: FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a data exchange system 100, which is an online-dating system), and the method is performed in conjunction with an application implemented on the terminal ([0009]: Respective instances of the dating app are executed on each of the user devices, which may be smartphones).
Regarding Claim 13, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium.
Janssens further teaches comprising a computer program for performing the method of claim 1 (Fig. 1, [Abstract]: A video call mediating apparatus, method and computer readable recording medium thereof are disclosed; [0028]: Social interaction system 101 is a computer system including one or more computing devices).
Regarding Claim 14, Janssens discloses an electronic apparatus for providing a user profile (Fig. 1; [0039]: The server 10 may receive data from at least one of the first terminal 100, the second terminal 200, and the third terminal 300), the electronic apparatus comprising:
a communication device (Fig. 1; [0036]: The server 10 may be connected to a communication network); and
a processor (Fig. 2; [0111]: Further, at least one of these components may include or may be implemented by a processor), wherein the processor is configured to:
identify states of a plurality of online users accessing a profile provision system (Fig. 3, Fig. 5; [0086]-[0087]: Contact record 507 may further indicate a state 509 of the contact);
determine two or more second users to be displayed in a terminal of a first user (Fig. 3; [0005]: identifying a plurality of matching users from the first plurality of users based at least in part on the received profile information… determining an ordering in which respective profile information of the identified plurality of matching users are to be presented in a first area of a first user interface to the first user; Fig. 6; [0089]: Cards about a user that are shown to a viewer may maintain a special state relating the user and the viewer),
wherein the determining of the two or more second users comprises selecting a predetermined number of users, among a plurality of online users, to be the two or more second users, based on a number of good-feeling expressions (Fig. 7A; [0139]: At state 1104, the system determines whether there are any cards with an unviewed "like." If so, then at state 1105 the card with the most recent unviewed "like" is selected and provided for display [cards with an unviewed "like" correspond to a predetermined number of users]);
provide profile information of the two or more second users to the terminal of the first user ([0005]: causing, at least in part, profile information regarding a first matching user to be presented in the first area of the first user interface; [0042]: FIG. 3 illustrates an example user interface… In various embodiments, the elements of the interface may be differently arranged, additional elements may be included, and elements may be omitted),
wherein the profile information of the two or more second users is simultaneously displayed on a first screen of the terminal of the first user (Fig. 3; [0041]-[0049]: An example user-interface may include two or more areas or panes. For example, a first pane or area may be configured to show cards (e.g., profile cards, gift cards, etc.) and card navigation controls… Alternate organizations may be used… In an embodiment, an additional option is provided to allow the user to preview upcoming cards in the feed without dismissing the card being displayed. The user may then be able to select among the previewed cards or remain on the current card; [0096]: In an embodiment… both cards (optionally in a smaller version) may be shown simultaneously. [Nonfunctional descriptive material and is not functionally involved in the step recited. The providing step would be performed the same regardless of the data]).
determine a ranking for the two or more second users based, at least in part, on a number of times of an input of good-feeling expressions performed by the two or more second users, and a time duration during which terminals associated with the two or more second users maintained access to the profile provision system ([0005]: ranking the identified plurality of matching users based at least in part on a first criterion; determining an ordering in which respective profile information of the identified plurality of matching users are to be presented in a first area of a first user interface to the first user based at least in part on respective rankings).
However, Janssens does not explicitly teach “configure a queue list that includes the two or more second users and the plurality of online users to be displayed based on the ranking.”
On the other hand, in the same field of endeavor, Rands teaches
configure a queue list that includes the two or more second users and the plurality of online users to be displayed based on the ranking ([0112]: The pairing algorithm can for example be executed at a back-end computer system, and operates as a pairing system to pair users based on one or more pairing criteria; [0182]: FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate how a user can obtain a list 1002 of his/her matches via the dating app UI at his/her user device; [0194]: That is, the pairing algorithm may be configured such that users with higher engagement scores have a greater likelihood of being paired with other users).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of Janssens to incorporate the teachings of Rands to determine a ranking for the two or more second users and configure a list to be displayed to the first user.
The motivation for doing so would be to determine which users are able to communicate with each, as recognized by Rands ([0112] of Rands: Accordingly, in this context, it is any pairing criteria together with the randomized inputs that determine which users are able to communicate with each other via the dating app).
Regarding Claim 15, Janssens discloses a terminal of a first user for providing profiles of a plurality of online users to the first user ([0030]: For example, a user may be an entity that is using a user-interface being displayed on a terminal), the terminal comprising:
a communication device (Fig. 1; [0036]: The server 10 may be connected to a communication network);
an output device (Fig. 1; [0038]: The social interaction system 101 may include one or more input/output (I/O) devices); and
a processor (Fig. 2; [0111]: Further, at least one of these components may include or may be implemented by a processor), wherein the processor is configured to:
access a profile provision system via the communication device (Fig.1; [0029]-[0030]: Social interaction system 101 may include one or more network interfaces for communicating with and over network 102… A user may have a profile accessible by the system and some or all of which may be displayed to other users);
receive profile information about two or more second users accessing the profile provision system, from an electronic apparatus associated with the profile provision system via the communication device (Fig. 3; [0005]: the matching system comprising… identifying a plurality of matching users from the first plurality of users based at least in part on the received profile information… causing at least in part profile information regarding a second matching user to replace the profile information of the first matching user in the first area, wherein the profile information of the second matching user is displayed);
control the output device to simultaneously display the profile information of the two or more second users on a first screen ([0005]: causing, at least in part, profile information regarding a first matching user to be presented in the first area of the first user interface; [0042]: FIG. 3 illustrates an example user interface… In various embodiments, the elements of the interface may be differently arranged, additional elements may be included, and elements may be omitted; [0096]: In an embodiment… both cards (optionally in a smaller version) may be shown simultaneously),
wherein the two or more second users are determined by selecting a predetermined number of users, among a plurality of online users accessing the profile provision system, based on a state of each of the plurality of online users, wherein the state is based on a number of good-feeling expressions (Fig. 7A; [0099]: Card-feed 701 includes multiple feed cards 701; Fig. 11; [0139]: At state 1104, the system determines whether there are any cards with an unviewed "like." If so, then at state 1105 the card with the most recent unviewed "like" is selected and provided for display [cards with an unviewed "like" correspond to a predetermined number of users]);
determine a ranking for the two or more second users based, at least in part, on a number of times of an input of good-feeling expressions performed by the two or more second users, and a time duration during which terminals associated with the two or more second users maintained access to the profile provision system ([0005]: ranking the identified plurality of matching users based at least in part on a first criterion; determining an ordering in which respective profile information of the identified plurality of matching users are to be presented in a first area of a first user interface to the first user based at least in part on respective rankings).
However, Janssens does not explicitly teach “configure a queue list that includes the two or more second users and the plurality of online users to be displayed based on the ranking.”
On the other hand, in the same field of endeavor, Rands teaches
configure a queue list that includes the two or more second users and the plurality of online users to be displayed based on the ranking ([0112]: The pairing algorithm can for example be executed at a back-end computer system, and operates as a pairing system to pair users based on one or more pairing criteria; [0182]: FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate how a user can obtain a list 1002 of his/her matches via the dating app UI at his/her user device; [0194]: That is, the pairing algorithm may be configured such that users with higher engagement scores have a greater likelihood of being paired with other users).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of Janssens to incorporate the teachings of Rands to determine a ranking for the two or more second users and configure a list to be displayed to the first user.
The motivation for doing so would be to determine which users are able to communicate with each, as recognized by Rands ([0112] of Rands: Accordingly, in this context, it is any pairing criteria together with the randomized inputs that determine which users are able to communicate with each other via the dating app).
Regarding Claim 16, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the terminal of claim 15.
Janssens further teaches wherein the processor is configured to control the output device to display the indicator on an upper right side in the profile information of each of the two or more second users (Fig. 3; [0051]: A card-feed may also display and/or maintain counters keeping track of activities by other users. For example, a visit counter 315 may be provided to keep track of the number of visits from other users to a given user's profile, a like counter 316 may be provided to keep track of the number of other users liking the given user's profile, a link counter 317 may be provided keeping track of the number of other users linking with the given user, a gift counter 318 may be provided keeping track of the number of gifts received by the given user from other users, or any other counters).
Regarding Claim 17, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the terminal of claim 15.
Janssens further teaches further comprising: an input device (Fig. 1; [0038] The social interaction system 101 may include one or more input/output (I/O)), wherein the processor is configured to:
receive, via the input device, selection input information indicating that one of the profile information of the two or more second users is selected ([0063]: Optionally, when a person's picture is clicked (e.g., in a chat and/or overview section of the user interface), the corresponding profile may be presented in the card-feed section of the user interface); and
display, via the output device, a second screen including detailed information about the second user corresponding to the selected profile information in response to the reception of the selection input information, wherein the second screen is displayed so that the second screen overlaps the first screen in a pop-up manner ([0042]: The interface may be presented in various formats… In various embodiments, the elements of the interface may be differently arranged, additional elements may be included, and elements may be omitted; [0044]: Interface 301 may be organized into several sections or panes… In an embodiment, the "right" or forward button 307 may optionally be on a separate navigation pane… Alternate organizations may be used; [0126]: Optionally, system messages are displayed in a popup or separate part of the user interface).
Regarding Claim 18, the combined teachings of Janssens and Rands disclose the terminal of claim 17.
Janssens further teaches wherein the detailed information includes an image of the second user corresponding to the selected profile information (Fig. 3; [0046]: Card-feed pane 303 displays "cards," which may display profiles of users on the system, among other things. A card may include a profile image 304 (which may be in the form of a picture, drawing, icon, etc.) and whether the second user corresponding to the selected profile information has input a good-feeling expression for the first user ([0053]: For example, badge 310 in the card-feed indicates that the user whose card is being displayed has previously indicated a "like" (e.g., an interest in the user being liked) for the current user, viewing the displayed card),
the second screen further includes a label associated with the second user corresponding to the selected profile information, and the label is located on an upper right side of the image and is displayed differently depending on whether the good-feeling expression has input ([0052]: For example, "like" button 308 records a unidirectional indication that the current user is interested in the user whose card is being displayed (even if the other user does not reciprocate). See also para [0189]).
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 extension fee 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 SHIRLEY D. HICKS whose telephone number is (571)272-3304. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 7:30 - 4:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Rones can be reached on (571) 272-4085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/S D H/Examiner, Art Unit 2168
/CHARLES RONES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2168