DETAILED ACTION
This communication is responsive to Amendment filed 10/29/2025.
Claims 1-2, 4-13, 15, 17-19 and 21 are pending in this application. In the Amendment, claims 1, 4, 5, 12-13, 17-18 and 21 are amended. This action is made Final.
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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims amended 10/29/2025 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 1-2, 4-13, 15, 17-19 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cui et al. (“Cui”, US 2013/0311890) in view of Morris (US 9,423,938) in view of Ewing (US 6,915,490) in view of Kwon et al. (“Kwon”, US 2012/0299814) in view of Samson et al. (“Samson”, US 2008/0141153) and further in view of Jose et al. (“Jose”, US 10,564,988).
As per claim 1, Cui teaches a method comprising:
displaying, by an electronic device, a first interface of a first application (Cui, para.39-40, finance website in 1st web app) and a second interface of a second application (Cui, para.39-40, technology website in 2nd web app), wherein the first interface comprises a target display element (Cui, para.26-27, 39-40, finance web interface comprises stock widget i.e. target display element; widget is hosted in a first container residing in first web app);
starting, by the electronic device, a first application component, a target display component, and a second application component (Cui, para.24-25, 28-29, rendering of first interface hosting widget for transfer to second interface at runtime);
receiving, by the electronic device, a first operation for the target display element (Cui, para.6, 29, 43, drag operation);
prompting an option menu for a user to select the second application as a target application to which the target display element is to be migrated, wherein the option menu displays a list of application installed in the electronic device (Cui, para.30, widget selection for transfer across containers via drop-down list);
displaying, by the electronic device, a third interface of the first application (Cui, para.32, 39-40, 72, finance web interface changes to third interface after transfer of widget to be rendered in technology web interface) and a fourth interface of the second application in response to the receiving of the first operation and the selection (Cui, para.29, cross-container drag operation), including:
determining, by the first application component, an identifier of the second application component based on the first operation (Cui, para.49, cross-container drag-drop event determines destination second container), wherein the first operation is an operation for dragging the target display element to the second interface of the second application and leaving a display screen (Cui, para.29, 68, releasing mouse);
sending, by the first application component, an identifier of the target display element to the second application component (Cui, para.45, 49, definition file of widget sent to second container);
starting, by the second application component, the target display component based on the identifier of the target display element, and displaying the target display element (Cui, para.53-54, widget rendered by second container),
wherein the first application receives a life cycle of the target display element (Cui, para.5, container manages lifecycle of widget and processes objects) and the fourth interface comprises the target display element (Cui, para.26-27, 32, 39-40, 72, technology web interface changes to a fourth interface that now hosts and renders the widget in the second container after transfer operation).
However, Cui does not explicitly teach wherein the option menu displays a list of applications that are started on the electronic device at this moment. Morris teaches a method of displaying applications with elements wherein a menu displays a list of applications that are started on the electronic device at this moment (Morris, Fig.6e, list 614-1e; col.20, lines 18-36, displayed based on app state). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include Morris’ teaching with Cui’s method in order to locate desired components quickly in clutter (Morris, col.1, lines 30-46).
Furthermore, the method of Cui and Morris does not teach wherein when a position of leaving the display screen covers display interfaces of two or more applications, a top layer application is determined as the target application. Ewing teaches a method of dragging and dropping objects wherein when a position of leaving the display screen covers display interfaces of two or more applications, a top layer application is determined as the target application (Ewing, col.4, lines 34-45, once desired application is brought to top-most layer then object is released and dropped in top-most layer app). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include Ewing’s teaching with the method of Cui and Morris in order to easily search for a desired application to drop objects (Ewing, col.2, lines 31-35).
Additionally, the method of Cui, Morris and Ewing does not explicitly teach closing, by the first application component, the target display component; wherein the third interface does not comprise the target display element and before the second application starts the target display element, the first application closes the target display element started by the first application. Kwon teaches a method of migrating elements from a first interface to a second interface via a touch operation (Kwon, para.52) that includes closing, by the first application component, the target display component (Kwon, para.288, Fig.19B, widget 1212 stops displaying in first region); wherein the first interface does not comprise of the element after migration (Kwon, para.288, Fig.19B, widget 1212 stops displaying in first region) and before the second application starts the target display element, the first application closes the target display element started by the first application (Kwon, para.288, Fig.19B, widget 1212 stops displaying in first region). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include Kwon’s teaching with the method of Cui, Morris and Ewing in order to reduce redundancy of displaying widgets.
Furthermore, the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing and Kwon does not explicitly teach a running status of the first application is irrelevant to the target display element. Samson teaches a method of migrating elements wherein a running status of the first application is irrelevant to the target display element (Samson, para.29, 59, widgets are independent from each other). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include Samson’s teaching with the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing and Kwon in order to not bound widgets to their environment (Samson, para.3).
Although the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon and Samson teaches the first application processing elements (Cui, para.5, container manages and processes objects), the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon and Samson does not explicitly teach the first application stops a process of the target display element created by the first application and releases a memory resource occupied by the process. Jose teaches a method of loading widgets wherein the application stops a process of the target display element created by the first application and releases a memory resource occupied by the process (Jose, col.14, lines 39-55; col.19, line 34-col.20, lines 12, 52-58; col.22, lines 29-36; col.22, line 56-col.23, line 5; unloading widgets releases memory when widget no longer needed). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include Jose’s teaching with the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon and Samson in order to improve the utilization of device resources (Jose, col.20, lines 7-12; col.23, lines 1-5).
As per claim 2, the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon, Samson and Jose teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first application component comprises an entry executable program of the first application and a configuration file, the configuration file of the first application component comprises the identifier of the target display element (Cui, para.5, 27, 46, executable web app include first widget container that includes information about the widgets hosted by the first application), and the first application component does not comprise a page package of the target display element (Cui, para.46-47, definition information obtained from server),
wherein the target display component comprises the page package of the target display element (Cui, para.45, 47, definition file of widget), and
wherein the second application component comprises an entry executable program of the second application and a configuration file, and the configuration file of the second application component does not comprise the identifier of the target display element or the page package of the target display element (Cui, para.31, 33, 45, executable web app include second widget container that includes information about the widgets hosted by the second application which prior to transfer does not include the target display element).
As per claim 4, the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon, Samson and Jose teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the sending, by the first application component, the identifier of the target display element to the second application component comprises:
sending, by the first application component, the identifier of the target display element to the second application component based on the identifier of the second application component (Cui, para.32-34, 37, 45, 68, 87, widget transferred control to second container).
As per claim 5, the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon, Samson and Jose teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein the determining, by the first application component, the identifier of the second application component based on the first operation comprises: determining, by the first application component, the identifier of the second application component based on the position of leaving the display screen (Cui, para.29, 31, 68, cursor moves out of current container to second container).
As per claim 6, the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon, Samson and Jose teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the identifier of the target display element comprises a package name and/or a version number of the target display element (Cui, para.33, 47, 50, 53, 87-88, XML doc of widget includes metadata data associated with widget such as states).
As per claim 7, the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon, Samson and Jose teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein the identifier of the second application component comprises a process identifier of the first application component (Cui, para.42, 56, second app process receives information sent from first app process).
As per claim 8, the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon, Samson and Jose teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein, after the electronic device displays the third interface of the first application and the fourth interface of the second application, the configuration file of the first application component does not comprise the identifier of the target display element, and the configuration file of the second application component comprises the identifier of the target display element (Cui, para.29, 31-34, 53, 73, cursor moves out of current container to second container, second container includes configuration information of widget).
As per claim 9, the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon, Samson and Jose teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first interface of the first application comprises a home page of the first application, and the method further comprises: exiting, by the electronic device, the first application; receiving, by the electronic device, a second operation for starting the first application; and displaying, by the electronic device, the home page of the first application in response to the receiving of the second operation, wherein the home page of the first application does not comprise the target display element (Kwon, para.288, Fig.19B, widget 1212 stops displaying in first region; Cui, para.74-75, widget info stored for future re-rendering of widget if in container)
As per claim 10, the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon, Samson and Jose teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the second interface of the second application comprises a home page of the second application, and the method further comprises: exiting, by the electronic device, the second application; receiving, by the electronic device, a third operation for starting the second application; and displaying, by the electronic device, the home page of the second application in response to the receiving of the third operation, wherein the home page of the second application comprises the target display element (Cui, para.74-75, widget info stored for future re-rendering of widget).
As per claim 11, the method of Cui, Morris, Ewing, Kwon, Samson and Jose teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the first interface of the first application comprises an application download list of an application market, and the target display element comprises an item in the application download list (Cui, para.30, alternatively a drop-down list of target elements provided in first app), and
wherein the displaying, by the electronic device, the third interface of the first application and the fourth interface of the second application in response to reception the receiving of the first operation comprises: determining, by the first application component, the identifier of the target display element based on the first operation (Cui, para.6, 29-30, 43, drag operation; Kwon, Fig.18C, para.283-286); and
requesting, by the first application component based on the identifier of the target display element, to download and install an installation package of the target display element (Kwon, Fig.18C, para.283-286, download selected app);
sending, by the first application component, the identifier of the target display element to the second application component based on the identifier of the second application component (Cui, para.32-34, 37, 45, 68, 87, widget transferred control to second container; Kwon, Fig.18C, para.283-286, selected app in second interface); and
starting, by the second application component, the target display component based on the identifier of the target display element, and displaying the target display element (Cui, para.53-54, widget rendered by second container).
Claims 12-13 are similar in scope to claim 1, and are therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claims 15 and 19 are similar in scope to claim 2, and are therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claims 17 and 21 are similar in scope to claim 4, and are therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claim 18 is similar in scope to claim 5, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
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.
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAJEDA MUHEBBULLAH whose telephone number is (571)272-4065. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Tue/Thur-Fri 10am-8pm.
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/S.M./
Sajeda MuhebbullahExaminer, Art Unit 2174
/WILLIAM L BASHORE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2174