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 .
DETAILED ACTION
2. The request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for Continued Examination under 37 CFR 1.114, the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant’s submission filed 12/18/2025 has been entered. An action on the RCE follows.
Summary of claims
3. Claims 1-10 are pending,
Claims 1, 7-8 are amended,
Claims 9-10 are newly added,
Claims 1, 7, 8 are independent claims,
Claims 1-10 are rejected.
Remarks
4. Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed on 12/18/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-10 under 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive in view of new rejection ground(s).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
5. Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Independent claims 1, 7 and 8 recite “in response to the user selecting the folder without selecting the electronic data, cause the display to display a progress status of the workflow currently being executed on another electronic data that has been entered into the folder associated with the workflow.” Applicant provided Figs. 11, 12 and associated paragraphs [0097]-[0101] and [0103] of publication as support, however, Figs. 11, 12 and associated paragraphs [0097]-[0101] and [0103] only describe “the display controller 24 displays, as the status of the workflow, a status dialog 70 in the data management service window 30 to show the status of the workflow associated with the folder selected by the user” ([0098]), and “the display controller 24 displays a correlation between the folder associated with the workflow and the electronic data stored in the folder” ([0099]), “The folder objects 72 in the status dialog 70 include a folder object 72 corresponding to the folder selected by the user” ([0100]), that is, these paragraphs only describe displaying a progress status data corresponding to the folder selected by the user, and do not include any description about the status data is “the workflow currently being executed on another electronic data”. In this Office Action, the Examiner reviews the features in claims 1, 7 and 8 as “in response to the user selecting the folder without selecting the electronic data, cause the display to display a progress status of the workflow in relation to electronic data that has been entered into the folder associated with the workflow”, which are supported by paragraphs [0097]-[0101] and [0103] of publication.
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
6. Claim(s) 1-3, 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Hiroyuki Takahashi (US Publication 20050105135 A1, hereinafter Takahashi), and in view of Patrice Calhoun et al (US Publication 20180321830 A1, hereinafter Calhoun).
As for independent claim 1, Takahashi discloses: An information processing apparatus (Abstract: a data processing apparatus for executing predetermined processes to a file) comprising: a processor configured to : cause a display to display a folder associated with a workflow (Fig. 39 and [0257]-[0258], displaying a workflow folder 5901); in response to a user selecting the folder with electronic data selected, execute the workflow on the electronic data (Fig. 39 and [0257]-[0258], the workflow file 5902 is selected and dragged and dropped to the workflow folder 5901displaying a workflow folder 5901, the workflow is executed);
Takahashi discloses dragging a file to a workflow folder to execute the workflow and discloses one option of the workflow could be used to change the order and the functions/processing contents of the workflows (Fig. 40 and [0259]), also Takahashi discloses display the status of the workflow (Fig. 30, window 5201 displays the status of the associated file and the workflow element; Fig. 33, in window 5201, display the exclamation mark (!) to indicate the state where the user is visually urged to pay attention), but Takahashi does not clearly disclose display status in response to the user selecting the folder without selecting the electronic data, in an analogous art of executing a workflow by drag-and-drop the selected data, Calhoun discloses: in response to the user selecting the folder without selecting the electronic data, cause the display to display a progress status of the workflow in relation to [currently being executed on another] electronic data that has been entered into the folder associated with the workflow (Calhoun: Fig. 5 and [0066], thw workflow engine provides an arrangement of workflow icons, each icon may display metadata such as a condition group data for the workflow);
Takahashi and Calhoun are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor, managing workflow by drag-and-drop operation. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Takahashi using the teachings of Calhoun to include displaying the status data of the associated workflow in response to user’s selection. It would provide Takahashi’s apparatus with the enhanced capability of managing workflow actions with more flexibility.
As for claim 2, Takahashi-Calhoun discloses: cause the display to display a data icon corresponding to the electronic data (Takahashi: Fig. 39 and [0257]-[0258], the workflow file 5902 is selected and dragged and dropped to the workflow folder 5901displaying a workflow folder 5901, the workflow is executed); and when the user drags the data icon onto the folder, determine that the user selects the folder with the electronic data selected (Takshashi: Fig. 39 and [0257]-[0258], the workflow file 5902 is selected and dragged and dropped to the workflow folder 5901displaying a workflow folder 5901, the workflow is executed).
As for claim 3, Takahashi-Calhoun discloses: wherein the processor is configured to, when a cursor moving on a screen is placed on the folder by an action of the user without dragging the data icon, determine that the user selects the folder without selecting the electronic data (Takahashi: [0107], when selecting the workflow box 2304, display the state).
As per claim 7, it recites features that are substantially same as those features claimed by claim 1, thus the rationales for rejecting claim 1 are incorporated herein.
As per claim 8, it recites features that are substantially same as those features claimed by claim 1, thus the rationales for rejecting claim 1 are incorporated herein. In addition, Takahashi-Calhoun discloses: in response to a user selecting the folder with electronic data selected, causing the display to display a setting change screen to be used for changing settings of the workflow (Calhoun: [0080], Within SETTINGS in the Object Library 518, the workflow engine provides the admin with menu options to enable or disable the object (here, Enter Social Network Profile Info activity 850) by checking/unchecking an Enable Object box 852 to make the activity object appear or not appear, respectively, as an activity within the workflow on the canvas);
Takahashi and Calhoun are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor, managing workflow by drag-and-drop operation. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Takahashi using the teachings of Calhoun to include displaying a workflow setting change screen in response to user input. It would provide Takahashi’s apparatus with the enhanced capability of managing workflow actions with more flexibility.
As for claim 9, Takahashi-Calhoun discloses: wherein the displayed progress status includes not only the selected folder but also another folder that is associated with the workflow (Takahashi: [0107], when selecting the workflow box 2304, display the state; please note the displayed state data may be associated with any element of the workflow)
As for claim 10, Takahashi-Calhoun discloses: wherein the displayed progress status is a progress status of the workflow currently being executed on another electronic data that has been entered into the folder by the same user who performed the selection of the folder (Takahashi: [0107], when selecting the workflow box 2304, display the state; Calhoun: Fig. 5 and [0066], the workflow engine provides an arrangement of workflow icons, each icon may display metadata such as a condition group data for the workflow)
7. Claims 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hiroyuki Takahashi and Calhoun as applied on claim 1, and in view of Spencer Villars (US Patent 11307754 B1, hereinafter Villars).
As for claim 4, Takahashi discloses dragging a file to a workflow folder to execute the workflow but does not disclose selecting the folder with the data saved into a clipboard, in an analogous art of executing a workflow by drag-and-drop the selected data, Villars discloses: when the user selects the folder with the electronic data saved into a clipboard in a memory configured to temporarily save data, determine that the user selects the folder with the electronic data selected (Column 14, Lines 32-34, menu window may include any commonly-used action workflows determined as possible actions the user may want to actuate on the object; Column 16, Lines 43-44, the chosen workflow may include storing the link to a clipboard).
Takahashi and Villars are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor, managing workflow by drag-and-drop operation. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Takahashi using the teachings of Villars to include saving a workflow element to a clipboard. It would provide Takahashi’s apparatus with the enhanced capability of managing workflow actions with more flexibility.
As for claim 5, Takahashi-Calhoun-Villars discloses: when the user selects the folder without saving the electronic data into a clipboard in a memory configured to temporarily save data, determine that the user selects the folder without selecting the electronic data (Takahashi: [0107], user may select the workflow folder without moving the file icon).
As for claim 6, Takahashi-Calhoun-Villars discloses: wherein the processor is configured to, when the user selects the folder without saving the electronic data into the clipboard, determine that the user selects the folder without selecting the electronic data (Takahashi: [0107], user may select the workflow folder without moving the file icon).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hua Lu whose telephone number is 571-270-1410 and fax number is 571-270-2410. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 7:30 am to 5:00 pm EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Scott Baderman can be reached on 571-272-3644. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 703-273-8300.
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/HUA LU/
Examiner, Art Unit 2118