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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A 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, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3/16/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 1/29/2026 has been entered and made of record. Claims 1, 8-9 and 16-17 are amended. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 9 and 17 have been considered but they are moot because the arguments do not apply to the references being used in the current rejection.
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 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hill et al. (US 2015/0310655 A1) in view of Sights et al. (US 2023/0051783 A1) and Ujiie (US 2014/0293000 A1), further in view of Hack et al. (US 2015/0145839 A1).
As to Claim 1, Hill teaches A system comprising: at least one hardware processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one hardware processor (Hill, Fig 13), cause the at least one hardware processor to perform operations comprising:
accessing a content item; generating a modified content item comprising a set of frames based on the content item (Hill discloses “The cyclic images… be referred to… “frames’ each contain degradation frame content which may include degraded content (i.e., content altered according to the techniques described herein) and non-degraded content (i.e., content not altered)…The non-degraded content… may be copied from the source frame (i.e., the original data) with no alterations…For example, the image of the woman fishing may be configured as a 256 pixel by 256 pixel image” in [0024]), the set of frames comprising:
a first frame comprising a modified version of the content item (Hill discloses “In an example, the first of the four cyclic images 108 may include a first one-fourth (1/4 or 25%) of the pixels clearly displayed with the other three-fourths (3/4 or 75%) of the pixels blurred, removed, erased, altered, or otherwise obscured” in [0024]); and
causing display of the modified content item by the user device, the causing of the display comprising causing the user device to alternate between displaying the first frame for a first duration of time and the second frame for a second duration of time, the second duration of time longer than the first duration of time (Hill discloses “Each of the four cyclic images 108 may be displayed for a period of time and each of the four cyclic images 108 may include only a portion of the image from the display 106” in [0024]; “The images in the four cyclic images 108 may be displayed in sequential order (i.e., first, second, third, etc.)…” in [0027]; “In some embodiments, the frame change rate is constant while in other embodiments the frame change rate varies over time” in [0028]; “For example, the above description relates to embodiments where content is allocated among a plurality of frames that are each displayed at different times in a cyclical manner” in [0030]; “An icon that allows the user to set the amount of time that a series of degraded images are displayed 1106 may also be presented. As described herein, an image may only be displayed for a certain amount a time when received by a user. The icon that allows the user to set the amount of time that a series of degraded images are displayed 1106…” in [0065]. It is obvious that each frame can be displayed for different amount of time, or displayed by the time set by user. It is not critical to the amount of first duration of time and the amount of second duration of time. It is rendered obvious as a design choice (see MPEP 2144.04) that would have no impact on the function or results of the claimed invention.). Thus, it can set the second duration of time longer than first duration of time.)
Hill is silent on a solid color layer. The combination of Sights and Ujiie further teaches following limitation:
a second frame comprising a solid color and a determined brightness, the adjusted brightness of the first frame countering the solid color and the determined brightness of the second frame (Hill discloses “In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the second of the four cyclic images 108 may include a second one-fourth of the pixels clearly displayed with the other three-fourths of the pixels blurred, removed, erased, altered, or otherwise obscured” in [0026]. Sights further discloses “FIG. 22 shows a technique of creating a masked solid color adjustment layer. The digital brief tool creates the solid color adjustment layer by creating a layer of a solid color, mask this layer based on the base image, and then create masked solid color adjustment layer… when combined with the based image, the base image will pass through with some tinting contributed by the masked solid color adjustment layer” in [0206]; “The user can select and adjust tint and overdye. For generate the preview image, tint and overdye are added as described above. In brief, tint (or overdye) is added by blending a solid fill layer into the color map using a multiply blend mode. An intensity of tint ( or overdye) is controlled by adjusting an opacity of the solid fill layer” in [0357]. Here, the solid color (i.e. black color) selected by the user is rendered obvious as a design choice (see MPEP 2144.04) that would have no impact on the function or results of the claimed invention. For example, Ujiie discloses “The image control unit 12, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, sets the images for setting Img-D1, Img-D2 and Img-D3 (as an example, mask images with black in whole areas).” in [0045]; “That is, according to the image processing device 10, since at the switching operation for the images during the change in the image direction, the image for setting (for example, the mask image with black in the whole area) can be displayed, an image during switching display images is prevented from being viewed by a user” in [0050].)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hill with the teaching of Sights so as to mask the portion of image painted with a color as a masking color to make recognition of display content of the original still image data from the replicated content difficult. The combination of the teaching of Ujiie is using an image for mask image with black in the whole area during switching display images to prevent the user from viewing the images (Ujiie, [0050]).
Hill, Sights and Ujiie are silent on adjusting brightness of content based on the ambient brightness. The combination of Hack further teaches following limitations:
detecting an ambient brightness of an environment around a user device; a modified version of the content item with an adjusted brightness based on the ambient brightness (Hack discloses “In an embodiment, the device may include various sensors such as an ambient light sensor configured to detect a brightness level of ambient light. The OLED may operate in the first mode when the brightness level of ambient light is below a first threshold, and in the second mode when the brightness level of ambient light is above a first threshold” in [0017]; “For example, a light sensor may measure the brightness of ambient light and provide this data to a display controller on the device directly, or indirectly via a processor in the device. The display controller may then operate the OLED in either of the two modes based upon the level of ambient light. For example, the OLED may be operated in a lower-brightness mode when the ambient light measured by the light sensor is below a threshold, and in a higher-brightness mode when the ambient light is measured at above the threshold” in [0049].)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hill, Sights and Ujiie with the teaching of Hack so as to adjust display mode to increase display readability and provide improved lifetime and lower maximum power requirements (Hack, [0045]).
As to Claim 2, Hill in view of Sights, Ujiie and Hack teaches The system of claim 1, further comprising:
determining a display refresh rate of the user device; determining the first duration for displaying the first frame based on the display refresh rate; and determining the second duration for displaying the second frame based on the display refresh rate, the second duration being twice the first duration (Hill discloses “Any device… may determine one or more variables related to the manner in which content is to be displayed, such as a refresh rate and/or parameters for how to divide content among frames” ion [0032]; “The pieces of the content may be changed rapidly so as to, when perceived by a human viewing the content, make the appearance of the content being displayed all at once. If a screenshot is taken, only the portions of the content that were shown on the display of a device at that particular time are included in the screenshot” in [0047]; see also [0027-0028, 0030, 0065]. It is not critical to the amount of first duration of time and the amount of second duration of time. It is rendered obvious as a design choice (see MPEP 2144.04) that would have no impact on the function or results of the claimed invention.). Thus, it can set the second duration of time twice longer as first duration of time.)
As to Claim 3, Hill in view of Sights, Ujiie and Hack teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the set of frames further comprises a number of additional frames comprising the solid color, wherein generating the modified content item further comprises determining the number of additional frames (Hill discloses “The determination of the degradation parameters may also include a determination of the number of frames 312 (or a number of cyclic images) to be used for the degradation. The process 300 may next be configured to generate degraded images for each frame and for each region 314, based on the degradation parameters” in [0040].)
As to Claim 4, Hill in view of Sights, Ujiie and Hack teaches The system of claim 3, further comprising determining a display refresh rate of the user device, wherein the determining of the number of additional frames is based on the display refresh rate of the user device (Hill discloses “Any device… may determine one or more variables related to the manner in which content is to be displayed, such as a refresh rate and/or parameters for how to divide content among frames” ion [0032]; “The determination of the degradation parameters may also include a determination of the number of frames 312 (or a number of cyclic images) to be used for the degradation.” in [0040]; “Further, an application employing the techniques of the present disclosure may modify the modulus used based at least in part on device capabilities (e.g., screen refresh rate) and/or user-defined settings” in [0060], see also [0077].)
As to Claim 5, Hill in view of Sights, Ujiie and Hack teaches The system of claim 3, further comprising determining processor capability of the user device, wherein the determining of the number of additional frames is based on the processor capability of the user device (Hill discloses “Further, while arithmetic modulo four is used for illustration, different moduli, such as two, three, or more than four, may be used in different embodiments. Further, an application employing the techniques of the present disclosure may modify the modulus used based at least in part on device capabilities (e.g., screen refresh rate) and/or user-defined settings” in [0060], see also [0048-0049] and Fig 10.)
As to Claim 6, Hill in view of Sights, Ujiie and Hack teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the modified version of the content item has an adjusted contrast (Hill discloses “In an example, the first of the four cyclic images 108 may include a first one-fourth (/4 or 25%) of the pixels clearly displayed with the other three-fourths (34 or 75%) of the pixels blurred, removed, erased, altered, or otherwise obscured” in [0024], see also [0042] and Fig 8-9; “In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the second of the four cyclic images 108 may include a second one-fourth of the pixels clearly displayed with the other three-fourths of the pixels blurred, removed, erased, altered, or otherwise obscured” in [0026]. Sights further discloses “A laser pattern file is used to mask a hue saturation adjustment layer (e.g., HSL layer) of the color map. In the screen of FIG. 71, the pattern can be adjusted with two sliders: (1) bright point, which adjusts the underlying color map towards white (e.g., color value 255); and (2) intensity, which adjusts the contrast of the mask” in [0350].)
As to Claim 7, Hill in view of Sights, Ujiie and Hack teaches The system of claim 6, wherein the modified version of the content item has an adjusted saturation (Sights discloses “A hue saturation lightness or hue saturation luminance (HSL) adjustment layer is created or generated for the selected base image” in [0200], see also Fig 21.)
As to Claim 8, Hill in view of Sights, Ujiie and Hack teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the ambient brightness is detected by an illumination sensor component of the user device (Hack discloses “In an embodiment, the device may include various sensors such as an ambient light sensor configured to detect a brightness level of ambient light” in [0017], see also [0049].)
Claim 9 recites similar limitations as claim 1 but in a method form. Therefore, the same rationale used for claim 1 is applied.
Claim 10 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 2.
Claim 11 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 3.
Claim 12 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 4.
Claim 13 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 5.
Claim 14 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 6.
Claim 15 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 7.
Claim 16 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 8.
Claim 17 recites similar limitations as claim 1 but in a machine-readable medium form. Therefore, the same rationale used for claim 1 is applied.
Claim 18 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 2.
Claim 19 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 3.
Claim 20 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 6.
Conclusion
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/WEIMING HE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2611