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 .
Remarks
This action is in response to the amendments received on 9/4/25. Claims 1-3, 6-10, 16-19, 26, 27, and 30-35 are pending in the application. Claims 4, 5, 11-15, 20-25, 28, and 29 have been cancelled and claims 30-35 has been added. Applicants' arguments have been carefully and respectfully considered.
Claim(s) 1-3, 8-10, 16-17, 19, 26, 27, and 33-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Denise (US 7,797,635) and further in view of Yusuf et al. (US 2021/0365521) and Golan et al. (US 2021/0333957).
Claims 6, 7, 18, 31, and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan, and further in view of Jhaveri et al. (US 2008/0072743).
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan, and further in view of Lal et al. (US 2019/0155958).
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 8-10, 16-17, 19, 26, 27, and 33-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Denise (US 7,797,635) and further in view of Yusuf et al. (US 2021/0365521) and Golan et al. (US 2021/0333957).
With respect to claim 1, Denise teaches a method, comprising:
receiving a search query (Denise, Col. 2 Li. 1-2, the search system performs a search using the search query entered in the input field 110);
causing display of a first search result and a second search result in response to the search query (Denise, Col. 2 Li. 4-6, FIG. 2 illustrates an interface 200 that displays search results identified in response to a search query entered by a user. The interface 200 includes a list of search results 205.); and
in response to a selection of the first search result: causing display of a webpage within a browser window (Denise, Col. 2 Li. 7-10, Each search result included in the list 205 links to electronic content associated with the search result and enables the user to view or link to the associated electronic content upon selection of the search result.), wherein the webpage is displayed without a search result area and occupies a full extent of the browser window (AAPA, pa 0022, With a conventional browser, when a user interacts with (selects) a search result (or in other words, selects the link to the resource, the link being included in the search result), the browser requests the content of the resource associated with the link and replaces the search result page in the display area with the content of the resource.);
in response to detecting... causing display of a search result area within the browser window adjacent to the display area, wherein the search result area does not include the reflowing content of the webpage, the search result area including a first search result indicator corresponding with the first search result and a second search result indicator corresponding with the second search result (Denise, Col. 2 Li. 65 – Col. 3 Li. 5, FIG. 3 illustrates an interface 300 that may be displayed in response to selection of a search result ( e.g., Search Result 4) in the interface 200. The interface 300 includes a search results portion 305 and a content portion 310. The search results portion 305 provides a representation of the search results included in the list of search results 205 while the content portion 310 displays a representation of content corresponding to a selected search result).
Denise doesn't expressly discuss detecting a scroll pattern based on an interaction with the webpage; and in response to detecting the scroll pattern decreasing a size of a display area for the webpage by re-flowing content of the webpage to fit within the decreased size of the display area, and causing display of a search result area within the browser window adjacent to the display area, wherein the search result area does not include the reflowing content of the webpage, the search result area including a first search result indicator corresponding with the first search result and a second search result indicator corresponding with the second search result.
Yusuf teaches causing display of a webpage a browser window, wherein, the webpage is displayed without a search result area and occupies a full extent of the browser window (Yusuf, Fig 2A & pa 0038, the primary browser pane 201 displays an exemplary web page 202 having exemplary content, such as image 204, text 206, navigation elements 208 and other hyperlinks 210.);
receiving an interaction with the display of the webpage (Yusuf, pa 0040, the user may have selected the word "NASA" 220 using known techniques, e.g., by highlighting the word using a mouse or other selector. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are many ways to select terms or text from certain web pages, e.g., using keystrokes, touch pads, touch screen interfaces, spoken input, etc); and
in response to detecting... (Yusuf, pa 0041, Upon user selection of the sidebar search option 226, the browser 200 causes the display of a sidebar search pane 232):
decreasing a size of a display area for the webpage by reflowing content of the webpage to fit within the decreased size of the display area (Yusuf, pa 0042, the primary content pane 201 is generally re-framed and reduced in size.), and
causing display of a search result area within the browser window adjacent to the display area, wherein the search result area does not occlude the reflowed content of the webpage (Yusuf, pa 0041, Upon user selection of the sidebar search option 226, the browser 200 causes the display of a sidebar search pane 232).
It would have been obvious at the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Denise with the teachings of Yusuf because it allows a user to search given their current context (Yusuf, pa 0002).
Denise in view of Yusuf doesn't expressly discuss detecting a scroll pattern based on an interaction with the webpage.
Golan teaches detecting a scroll pattern based on an interaction with the webpage (Golan, pa 0068, On Step 120, the classification of the user may be dynamically adjusted based on interactions of the user with the page, thus providing an adjusted classification … the interactions of the user with the page may comprise a mouse hover, a scrolling speed, an acceleration of a scrolling speed).
It would have been obvious at the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Denise in view of Yusuf with the teachings of Golan because a user’s scroll pattern can indicate a status of the user when viewing content (Golan, pa 0064).
With respect to claim 2, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a selection of the second search result indicator (Denise, Fig. 3 is selection of search result 4, Fig. 4 is selection of search result 2 & Col. 3 Li. 21-23, The list of search results 315 represents a reformatted version of the list of search results 205 displayed directly in response to entry of the Query 1. Each search result included in the list 315 links to electronic content associated with the search result and enables the user to view or link to the associated electronic content upon selection of the search result.); and
causing display of a webpage identified by the second search result within the display area in response to the selection of the second search result indicator (Denise, Col. 4 Li. 38-40, FIG. 4 illustrates an interface 400 that may be displayed in response to selection of a search result ( e.g., Result 2) in the interface 300. The interface 400 includes a search results portion 405 and a content portion 410, each of which has been updated based on the selection of Result 2 & Col. 19 Li. 54-56, Referring to FIG. 22, an interface 2200 displays content corresponding to Result 5 in the formatted list of search results.).
With respect to claim 3, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 2, wherein causing the display of the webpage identified by the second search result within the display area replaces the webpage identified by the first search result (Denise, Col. 4 Li. 55-58, In response to the selection of Result 2 in the interface 300, the electronic content associated with Result 2 may be accessed and displayed in the content portion 410 to replace the electronic content associated with Result 4.) and the second search result indicator shifts position within the search result area (Fig. 23 & Col. 19 Li. 64- Col. 20 Li. 16, FIG. 23 illustrates an interface 2300 that may be displayed based on selection of a link included in content of a search 65 result. For instance, the interface 2300 may be displayed in response to selection of the link "LINK 1" displayed in the Search Result 5 Content shown in the interface 2200. … the updated list of search results 2315 includes a sub-element (e.g., LINK 1). The sub-element represents a link ( of any type of media) that was selected by a user as the user was reviewing search results and is selectable by the user to access content corresponding to the link (e.g., LINK 1).
With respect to claim 8, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first search result includes a snippet (Fig. 2, search results with snippets) and the first search result indicator lacks the snippet (Fig. 3 search result indicators 315 with no snippet).
With respect to claim 9, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the search result area is part of a browser search area (Denise, Col. 3 Li. 48-52, The next page interface control 330 updates the list of search results 315 with additional results upon user selection. For instance, in response to selection of the next page interface control 330, results one to seven may be removed from display and replaced with seven different search results).
With respect to claim 10, Denise teaches a method, comprising:
causing display of a first search result and a second search result in response to a query (Denise, Col. 2 Li. 4-6, FIG. 2 illustrates an interface 200 that displays search results identified in response to a search query entered by a user. The interface 200 includes a list of search results 205.);
receiving selection of the first search result (Denise, Col. 2 Li. 56-58, As shown in FIG. 2, a user input icon 280 may be displayed and manipulated by a user (e.g., using a mouse) to select a search result included in the list of search results 205);
in response to the selection of the first search result, causing display of a webpage a browser window (Denise, Col. 2 Li. 7-10, Each search result included in the list 205 links to electronic content associated with the search result and enables the user to view or link to the associated electronic content upon selection of the search result., Col. 3 Li. 1-5, The search results portion 305 provides a representation of the search results included in the list of search results 205 while the content portion 310 displays a representation of content corresponding to a selected search result. & Col. 19 Li. 54-56, Referring to FIG. 22, an interface 2200 displays content corresponding to Result 5 in the formatted list of search results.);
receiving an interaction with the display of the webpage (Denise, Fig. 22, selection 2210 of LINK1 within search result 5 content & Col. 19 Li. 58-61, A user input icon 2210 may be displayed and manipulated by a user (e.g., using a mouse) to select "LINK 1" when viewing the content corresponding to Result 5.); and
in response to detecting… based on the interaction with the display of the webpage:
causing display of a search result area within the browser adjacent to the display area, wherein the search result area does not occlude the reflowed the content of the webpage, the search result area including a first search result indicator corresponding with the first search result and a second search result indicator with the second search result (Denise, Col. 2 Li. 65 – Col. 3 Li. 5, FIG. 3 illustrates an interface 300 that may be displayed in response to selection of a search result ( e.g., Search Result 4) in the interface 200. The interface 300 includes a search results portion 305 and a content portion 310. The search results portion 305 provides a representation of the search results included in the list of search results 205 while the content portion 310 displays a representation of content corresponding to a selected search result).
Denise doesn't expressly discuss in response to detecting a scroll pattern based on the interaction with the webpage: decreasing a size of a display area for the webpage by re-flowing content of the webpage to fit within the decreased size of the display area and causing display of a search result area within the browser adjacent to the display area.
Yusuf teaches causing display of a webpage a browser window, wherein the webpage is displayed without a search result area and occupies a full extent of the browser window (Yusuf, Fig 2A & pa 0038, the primary browser pane 201 displays an exemplary web page 202 having exemplary content, such as image 204, text 206, navigation elements 208 and other hyperlinks 210.).
receiving an interaction with the display of the webpage (Yusuf, pa 0040, the user may have selected the word "NASA" 220 using known techniques, e.g., by highlighting the word using a mouse or other selector. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are many ways to select terms or text from certain web pages, e.g., using keystrokes, touch pads, touch screen interfaces, spoken input, etc); and
in response to detecting... (Yusuf, pa 0041, Upon user selection of the sidebar search option 226, the browser 200 causes the display of a sidebar search pane 232):
decreasing a size of a display area for the webpage by reflowing content of the webpage to fit within the decreased size of the display area (Yusuf, pa 0042, the primary content pane 201 is generally re-framed and reduced in size.), and
causing display of a search result area within the browser window adjacent to the display area, wherein the search result area does not occlude the reflowed content of the webpage (Yusuf, pa 0041, Upon user selection of the sidebar search option 226, the browser 200 causes the display of a sidebar search pane 232).
It would have been obvious at the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Denise with the teachings of Yusuf because it allows a user to search given their current context (Yusuf, pa 0002).
Golan teaches receiving an interaction with the webpage (Golan, pa 0068, On Step 120, the classification of the user may be dynamically adjusted based on interactions of the user with the page, thus providing an adjusted classification … the interactions of the user with the page may comprise a mouse hover, a scrolling speed, an acceleration of a scrolling speed).
It would have been obvious at the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Denise in view of Yusuf with the teachings of Golan because a user’s scroll pattern can indicate a status of the user when viewing content (Golan, pa 0064).
With respect to claim 16, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 10, further comprising:
receiving a selection of the second search result indicator (Denise, Fig. 3 is selection of search result 4, Fig. 4 is selection of search result 2); and
in response to the selection of the second search result indicator, causing display of a webpage identified by the second search result within the display are (Denise, Col. 4 Li. 38-40, FIG. 4 illustrates an interface 400 that may be displayed in response to selection of a search result ( e.g., Result 2) in the interface 300. The interface 400 includes a search results portion 405 and a content portion 410, each of which has been updated based on the selection of Result 2).
With respect to claim 17, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 16, wherein causing the display of the webpage identified by the second search result within the display area replaces the webpage identified by the first search result (Denise, Col. 4 Li. 55-58, In response to the selection of Result 2 in the interface 300, the electronic content associated with Result 2 may be accessed and displayed in the content portion 410 to replace the electronic content associated with Result 4.) and the second search result indicator shifts position within the search result area (Fig. 23 & Col. 19 Li. 64- Col. 20 Li. 16, FIG. 23 illustrates an interface 2300 that may be displayed based on selection of a link included in content of a search 65 result. For instance, the interface 2300 may be displayed in response to selection of the link "LINK 1" displayed in the Search Result 5 Content shown in the interface 2200. … the updated list of search results 2315 includes a sub-element (e.g., LINK 1). The sub-element represents a link ( of any type of media) that was selected by a user as the user was reviewing search results and is selectable by the user to access content corresponding to the link (e.g., LINK 1).
With respect to claim 23, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to the selection of the first search result, persisting a prominent position of the first search result and a second search result within the display area, where the first search result indicator and the second search result indicator are displayed in the search result area according to the prominence position (Denise, Fig. 40 & Col. 40 Li. 47-50, Because Result 6 was previously selected for review and Result 4 was not previously selected for review, Result 6 is ordered higher than Result 4 in the third list of search results).
With respect to claim 24, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the interaction with the webpage includes one or more scrolling inputs and detecting the scroll pattern includes determining that an attribute of the one or more scrolling inputs meet at least one criterion (Golan, pa 0068, On Step 120, the classification of the user may be dynamically adjusted based on interactions of the user with the page, thus providing an adjusted classification … the interactions of the user with the page may comprise a mouse hover, a scrolling speed, an acceleration of a scrolling speed).
With respect to claim 19, the limitations are essentially the same as claim 10, and are rejected for the same reasons.
With respect to claim 26, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 10, wherein the interaction with the webpage includes one or more scrolling inputs and detecting the scroll pattern includes determining that an attribute of the one or more scrolling inputs meet at least one criterion (Golan, pa 0068, On Step 120, the classification of the user may be dynamically adjusted based on interactions of the user with the page, thus providing an adjusted classification … the interactions of the user with the page may comprise a mouse hover, a scrolling speed, an acceleration of a scrolling speed).
With respect to claim 27, the limitations are essentially the same as claim 26, and are rejected for the same reasons.
With respect to claim 33, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising persisting an original order of the first search result and the second search result as presented in response to the search query, wherein the first search result indicator and the second search result indicator are displayed in the search result area according to the original order (Denise, Fig. 2 & 3 & Col. 3 Li. 1-5, The search results portion 305 provides a representation of the search results included in the list of search results 205 while the content portion 310 displays a representation of content corresponding to a selected search result).
With respect to claims 34 and 35, the limitations are essentially the same as claim 33, and are rejected for the same reasons.
Claim(s) 6, 7, 18, 31, and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan, and further in view of Jhaveri et al. (US 2008/0072743).
With respect to claim 6, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving selection of a link in the webpage (Fig. 23 & Col. 19 Li. 64- Col. 20 Li. 16, FIG. 23 illustrates an interface 2300 that may be displayed based on selection of a link included in content of a search 65 result. For instance, the interface 2300 may be displayed in response to selection of the link "LINK 1" displayed in the Search Result 5 Content shown in the interface 2200.).
Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan doesn't expressly discuss responsive to receiving selection of the link: removing the search result area, and causing display of a resource identified by the link in the display area.
Jhaveri teaches responsive to receiving selection of the link: removing the search result area, and causing display of a resource identified by the link in the display area (Jhaveri, pa 0029, If the selected individual search result is a link to a web site, for example, the content of the website may be presented in the document viewing window. Upon presentation of the content associated with the individual search result, the overlay window is hidden from view, as indicated at block 212.).
It would have been obvious at the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan because search results occupy no display space when they are not utilized (Jhaveri, pa 0029).
With respect to claim 7, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan and Jhaveri teaches the method of claim 6, further comprising:
receiving a first selection of a back control (Denise, Col. 22 Li. 22-25, FIG. 26 illustrates an interface 2600 that may be displayed based on user selection of a back interface control in the interface 2400.);
causing display of the webpage in the display area (Denise, Col. 23 Li. 1-4, In response to the selection of the back interface control 250, the electronic content linked to by Result 5 may be accessed (e.g., from local storage, over a network, etc.) and displayed in the content portion 2610);
receiving a second selection of the back control; and
responsive to receiving the second selection of the back control causing display of the search result area with the first search result indicator and the second search result indicator concurrently with display of the webpage in the display area (Denise, Col. 22 Li. 22-25, FIG. 26 illustrates an interface 2600 that may be displayed based on user selection of a back interface control in the interface 2400. The interface 2600 includes a search results portion 2605 and a content portion 2610 … Li. 43-45, the interface 2600 may be displayed when the back interface control 250 is selected twice after display of the interface 2400.).
With respect to claim 18, the limitations are essentially the same as claim 6, and are rejected for the same reasons.
With respect to claim 31, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
responsive to receiving a first selection of a back control, causing display of the webpage in the display area without the search result area (Yusuf, pa 0051, Tab 216 remains open and the user may navigate back to the webpage in a conventional manner); and
responsive to receiving a second selection of the back control, causing concurrent display of the search result area and the webpage in the display area (Denise, Col. 22 Li. 22-25, FIG. 26 illustrates an interface 2600 that may be displayed based on user selection of a back interface control in the interface 2400. The interface 2600 includes a search results portion 2605 and a content portion 2610 … Li. 43-45, the interface 2600 may be displayed when the back interface control 250 is selected twice after display of the interface 2400.).
Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan doesn't expressly discuss responsive to receiving a selection of a link in the webpage, removing the search result area and causing display of a resource identified by the link.
Jhaveri teaches responsive to receiving a selection of a link in the webpage, removing the search result area and causing display of a resource identified by the link (Jhaveri, pa 0029, If the selected individual search result is a link to a web site, for example, the content of the website may be presented in the document viewing window. Upon presentation of the content associated with the individual search result, the overlay window is hidden from view, as indicated at block 212.).
It would have been obvious at the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan because search results occupy no display space when they are not utilized (Jhaveri, pa 0029).
With respect to claim 32, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 31, wherein detecting the scroll pattern includes detecting a downward scroll of the webpage followed by an upward scroll of the webpage within a predetermined time threshold (Golan, In some exemplary embodiments, a substantial number of webpage consumers, such as 20%, 30%, 40%, or the like, may tend to scroll down to the end of the article, interact with the feed, and then scroll back up in order to continue consuming the article).
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan, and further in view of Lal et al. (US 2019/0155958).
With respect to claim 30, Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan teaches the method of claim 1, as discussed above. Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan doesn't expressly discuss wherein detecting the scroll pattern includes detecting a downward scroll gesture while the webpage is at a top scroll boundary.
Lal teaches wherein detecting the scroll pattern includes detecting a downward scroll gesture while the webpage is at a top scroll boundary (Lal, pa 0066, When a received gesture indicates a fast, downward scrolling on the search result page, the mapping table may enable to determine an intent to be a jump within the page, and accordingly the action to be to load footer of the page.).
It would have been obvious at the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Denise in view of Yusuf and Golan to have included the teachings of Lal because it provides efficiency of content layout management (Lal, pa 0047).
Response to Arguments
35 U.S.C. 103
Applicant seems to argue a newly amended limitation. Applicant’s filed amendment to the claims has rendered the previous rejection moot. Upon further consideration of the amendment, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Golan et al. (US 2021/0333957).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ray et al. (US 2011/0320443) teaches a search result page header including a link to a popular web page to provide the user with a quick and easy way to select a popular web page relevant to the user's search query.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRITTANY N ALLEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3566. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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, Sherief Badawi can be reached on 571-272-9782. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRITTANY N ALLEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2169