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
This is a Non-Final Office Action of the instant application 18/070,009
(hereinafter the ‘009 application) filed on 11/29/2022. The ‘009 application claims foreign priority to AUSTRAILIAN patent application 2021282538 (12/10/2021) A certified copy of each has been received and placed on the record.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong et al., U.S. Publication No. 2022/0027740, hereinafter Dong and Simkhay et al., U.S. Patent No. 8,549,392, hereinafter Simkhay.
With regard to claim 1, which teaches “A computer implemented method for providing a graphical user interface for editing a design, the method including: causing display, on a display device, of a user interface for editing a design; causing display, in the user interface, of a design formed by a plurality of design elements,” Dong teaches a computer implemented method for editing a design of a table through the use of a graphical user interface, where the UI displays an interface to enabling the editing and a table formed of a plurality of cells, with each cell having a plurality of borders. (see paragraphs 2, 25, 38-40, and 92 and figure 1)
With regard to claim 1, which further teaches “wherein each of the plurality of design elements is associated with one or more attribute values that define how the design element is displayed;” Dong teaches borders being associated with attribute values that define how a border is displayed. (see paragraphs 28, 36-40, and 92 and figure 1)
With regard to claim 1, which further teaches “receiving a selection of a plurality of the design elements; determining a subset of the selected design elements;” Dong teaches receiving a selection of an area of a table (one or more cells) 170 and determining a subset of borders of the selected cells. (see paragraph 25-28).
With regard to claim 1, which further teaches “automatically selecting one or more first edit operations for the selected design elements based on the determined subset of the selected design elements”; Dong teaches automatically selecting formatting for a data table based upon its contents (see paragraphs 24-26, 42, and 92).
With regard to claim 1, which further teaches “and not automatically selecting one or more second edit operations for the selected design elements based on the determined subset of the selected design elements; and” Dong teaches further manually selecting one or more formatting options for an area of a data table by selecting amongst choices of recommended formats or entering individual characteristics manually (see paragraphs 92, 93, and 96).
With regard to claim 1, which further teaches “in response to receiving an edit command, editing at least one attribute value of the subset of the selected design elements in accordance with the one or more first edit operations”; Dong teaches editing attribute values based upon the edit commands (see paragraphs 24-26, 37, 42, 92, 93, and 96).
Though Dong teaches allowing a user via a user interface to apply the formatting either through the automated process, a semiautomated selection, or manual input, Dong does not specifically show an interface for applying those edits. Simkhay teaches a system for establishing a series of optional packaged formatting sets (see column 1, lines 13-42), but further explicitly provides to the user an interface for selecting, previewing, and applying those sets of formatting data to spreadsheets (see column 4, line 25 through column 8, line 4 and figures 3-7). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention that an interface, similar to that of Simkhay, would be necessary to carryout the invention described in Dong to enable user input in viewing and carrying out the features described in Dong.
With regard to claim 2, which teaches “further including displaying in the user interface indicia representing the automatically selected one or more first edit operations; Dong teaches effecting the autoformatting and / or offering up a few alternatives for the autoformatting (see paragraphs 24-26, 37, 42, 92, 93, and 96).
With regard to claim 3, which teaches “wherein the edit command includes or consists of selection of one or more attribute values and wherein the step of editing at least one attribute value of the subset of the selected design elements includes changing the at least one attribute value to the selected one or more attribute values; Dong teaches editing attribute values based upon the edit commands where the edit can be automatic, semiautomated, or manual (see paragraphs 24-26, 37, 42, 92, 93, and 96).
With regard to claim 4, which teaches “wherein determining a subset of the selected design elements includes: identifying a plurality of different subsets of the selected design elements; comparing one or more attribute values of design elements in each of the identified different subsets to a reference, wherein the reference includes or consists of one or more attribute values; determining the subset of the selected design elements based on the comparison; Dong teaches receiving a selection of an area of a table (one or more cells) 170 and determining a subset of borders of the selected cells, comparing the input area to those around and to those previously evaluated to determine appropriate format. (see paragraph 25-28)
With regard to claim 5, which teaches “wherein the reference is based on or specific to the design; Dong teaches referencing prior designs with similar components when choosing a like design to format according to (see paragraphs 26, 92, 93, and 96).
With regard to claim 6, which teaches “further including determining the reference before performing the comparing, wherein determining the reference includes determining the one or more attribute values forming the reference as matching a majority of the one or more attribute values across the plurality of design elements forming the design; Dong teaches the system pre-storing a stash of prior designs with similar components to reference when choosing a like design to format according to (see paragraphs 24-26, 92, 93, and 96).
With regard to claim 7, which teaches “wherein determining the subset of the selected design elements based on the comparison includes determining that the subset of the selected design elements has a threshold number of design elements associated with unique attribute values relative to the reference; Dong teaches determining a subset of the input table matching comparison table to discover a threshold similarity before associating and assigning (see paragraphs 42-45, 87-88, and 106).
With regard to claim 8, which teaches “wherein the threshold number of design elements is all design elements of the subset; < the rejection for claim 7 is equally applicable here > Additionally, Dong teaches, in paragraphs 32 and 49, that all design elements are considered.
With regard to claim 9, which teaches “further including updating the reference based on the design after the editing; Dong teaches the system utilizing computer learning where the new input becomes part of the training set for future evaluations (see paragraphs 42-45, 51, 87-88, and 106).
With regard to claim 10, which teaches “wherein the reference corresponds to or is a global style for the design and the method comprises defining at least some of the plurality of design elements forming the design by the global style; Dong teaches referencing to a global style and defining design elements accordingly (see paragraphs 68 and 97-102).
With regard to claim 11, which teaches “including redefining at least one of the plurality of design elements that are defined by the global style responsive to a change to the reference; Dong teaches redefining design elements according to global style (see paragraphs 68 and 97-102).
With regard to claim 12, which teaches “further including determining a further subset of the selected design elements based on the comparison, automatically selecting one or more third edit operations for the selected design elements based on the determined further subset of the selected design elements, and in response to receiving an edit command, both editing at least one attribute value of the subset of the selected design elements in accordance with the one or more first edit operations and editing at least one attribute value of the further subset of the selected design elements in accordance with the one or more third edit operations; Dong teaches basing comparison on other elements of the design other than borders (color / alignment / content / etc.) and weighing all elements together when making evaluations. (see paragraph 36-37)
With regard to claim 13, which teaches “wherein the plurality of design elements forming the design include a first plurality of design elements in a first category of design elements and a second plurality of design elements in a second category, different to the first category and wherein: the design elements of the subset of the selected design elements are of the first category and not the second category; the one or more first edit operations for the selected design elements is or are operations for editing the first category of design elements and not for editing the second category of design elements; Dong teaches basing comparison on elements of different design categories (borders / color / alignment / content / font / pattern / etc.) and weighing all elements together when making evaluations. (see paragraph 36-37)
With regard to claim 14, which teaches “wherein: the design is a table formed by a plurality of cells and the plurality of design elements are borders of cells; the one or more attribute values that define how the design element is displayed define at least one of a colour, a weight and a style of the border; the selection of a plurality of the design elements is a selection of one or more of the plurality of cells; the subset of the selected design elements is defined by one or more border types; the one first edit operations are operations to change at least one attribute value of borders of the one or more border types and not operations to change other border types; < the rejection of claims 15 and 13 are equally applicable here >
With regard to claim 15, which teaches “A computer implemented method for providing a graphical user interface for editing a design including or consisting of a table, the method including: causing display, on a display device, of a user interface for editing a design; causing display, in the user interface, of a table formed by a plurality of cells, each cell having a plurality of borders,” Dong teaches a computer implemented method for editing a design of a table through the use of a graphical user interface, where the UI displays an interface to enabling the editing and a table formed of a plurality of cells, with each cell having a plurality of borders. (see paragraphs 2, 25, 38-40, and 92 and figure 1)
With regard to claim 15, which further teaches “wherein each of the plurality borders is associated with one or more attribute values that define how the border is displayed;” Dong teaches borders being associated with attribute values that define how a border is displayed. (see paragraphs 28, 36-40, and 92 and figure 1)
With regard to claim 15, which further teaches “receiving a selection of one or more cells; determining at least one subset of borders of the selected cells;” Dong teaches receiving a selection of an area of a table (one or more cells) 170 an determining a subset of borders of the selected cells. (see paragraph 25-28).
With regard to claim 15, which further teaches “automatically selecting one or more first border edit operations based on the determined subset of borders” Dong teaches automatically selecting formatting for a data table based upon its contents (see paragraphs 24-26, 42, and 92).
With regard to claim 15, which further teaches “and not automatically selecting one or more second border edit operations based on the determined subset borders; and”; Dong teaches further manually selecting one or more formatting options for an area of a data table by selecting amongst choices of recommended formats or entering individual characteristics manually (see paragraphs 92, 93, and 96).
With regard to claim 15, which further teaches “in response to receiving an edit command, editing at least one attribute value of the subset of borders in accordance with the one or more first edit operations”; Dong teaches editing attribute values based upon the edit commands (see paragraphs 24-26, 37, 42, 92, 93, and 96).
Though Dong teaches allowing a user via a user interface to apply the formatting either through the automated process, a semiautomated selection, or manual input, Dong does not specifically show an interface for applying those edits. Simkhay teaches a system for establishing a series of optional packaged formatting sets (see column 1, lines 13-42), but further explicitly provides to the user an interface for selecting, previewing, and applying those sets of formatting data to spreadsheets (see column 4, line 25 through column 8, line 4 and figures 3-7). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention that an interface, similar to that of Simkhay, would be necessary to carryout the invention described in Dong to enable user input in viewing and carrying out the features described in Dong.
With regard to claim 16, which teaches “wherein the at least one subset of borders of the selected cells is one or more, but not all, of: the top borders formed by the selected cells, the inner horizontal borders formed by the selected cells, the bottom borders formed by the selected cells, the left borders formed by the selected cells, the inner vertical borders formed by the selected cells, and the right borders formed by the selected cells; Dong teaches the considered borders including top borders, bottom borders, right borders, left borders, inner vertical border, inner horizontal borders, etc. (see paragraphs 38-40 and figures 1 and 5).
With regard to claim 17, which teaches “wherein the at least one subset of borders of the selected cells is the top borders formed by the selected cells and the one or more first border edit operations is an operation that edits the top borders of selected cells; < the rejection for claim 16 is equally applicable here >
With regard to claim 18, which teaches “wherein the at least one subset of borders of the selected cells is the bottom borders formed by the selected cells and the one or more first border edit operations is an operation that edits the bottom borders of selected cells; < the rejection for claim 16 is equally applicable here >
With regard to claim 19, which teaches “wherein the at least one subset of borders of the selected cells is the left or right borders formed by the selected cells and the one or more first border edit operations is an operation that edits the left or right borders of selected cells respectively; < the rejection for claim 16 is equally applicable here >
With regard to claim 20, which teaches “wherein the at least one subset of borders of the selected cells is some or all of the inner borders formed by the selected cells and the one or more first border edit operations is an operation that edits the some or all of the inner borders of selected cells; < the rejection for claim 16 is equally applicable here >
With regard to claim 21, which teaches “wherein the at least one subset of borders of the selected cells is the outer borders formed by the selected cells and the one or more first border edit operations is an operation that edits the outer borders of selected cells; < the rejection for claim 16 is equally applicable here >
Conclusion
The prior are made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure: Simkhay et al. (US 2007/0050700); Cseri (US 5,623,591).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DENNIS G BONSHOCK whose telephone number is (571)272-4047. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:15 - 4:45.
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/DENNIS G BONSHOCK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992