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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action is written in response to an amendment filed on 6/1/2026. As directed by amendment: Claims 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17, and 19 were amended. Claims 2, 10, and 18 were cancelled. Thus, Claims 1, 3-9, 11-17, and 19-20 are presently pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claims 1, 3-9, 11-17, and 19-20 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.
The test for obviousness is not whether the features of a secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into the structure of the primary reference; nor is it that the claimed invention must be expressly suggested in any one or all of the references. Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981).
Claims 1, 9, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nawrocki (“Nawrocki”, US 20190028520) in view of Muthusamy et al (“Muthusamy”, US 20220277435).
Regarding Claim 1, Nawrocki teaches a computer-implemented method for visual data creation in a web conference comprising:
acquiring, by one or more processing units, type-related information of the web conference (Fig. 5, elements {502-526}, par 50-52; The type-related information are the recorded fiduciary documents.);
identifying, by one or more processing units, a conference type of the web conference based on the acquired type-related information of the web conference and type templates stored in a type repository (Fig. 5, elements {502-526}, par 50-52; The type-related information are the recorded fiduciary documents. The type templates are the summary templates 520. The type repository is the summary templates database 522. The type is identified when being used to selected a template and is therefore based on the type-related information (fiduciary documents) and the type templates (summary templates 520).);
determining, by one or more processing units, a visualization format from a plurality of visualization formats stored in a format repository based on the identified conference type (Fig. 5, elements {502-526}, par 50-52; The type-related information are the recorded fiduciary documents. The type templates are the summary templates 520. The type repository is the summary templates database 522. The type is identified when being used to selected a template and is therefore based on the type-related information (fiduciary documents) and the type templates (summary templates 520). The visualization format is the summary template. The format repository is the summary templates database 522.);
extracting, by one or more processing units, key information required by the determined visualization format from raw data of the web conference (Fig. 5, elements {502-526}, par 50-52; Fig. 6, elements {512, 514, 602-608}, par 53; The visualization format is the summary template. The format repository is the summary templates database 522. The key information is the number of informational fields 602, 604, 606, and 608. The raw data is the audio data that is converted to text as shown by element 503.);
creating, by one or more processing units, visual data within the determined visualization format by populating the extracted key information into the determined visualization format (Fig. 5, elements {502-526}, par 50-52; Fig. 6, elements {512, 514, 602-608}, par 53; The visualization format is the summary template. The format repository is the summary templates database 522. The key information is the number of informational fields 602, 604, 606, and 608. The visual data is the data populated in the meeting summary as shown in Fig. 6.).
Nawrocki does not explicitly teach transmitting, during the web conference by one or more processing units, the visual data within the determined visualization format to a computing device of a participant of the web conference for rendering the visual data during the web conference.
Muthusamy teaches transmitting, during the web conference by one or more processing units, the visual data within the determined visualization format to a computing device of a participant of the web conference for rendering the visual data during the web conference (par 49-52; The determined visualization format is the filtered display content.).
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 Nawrocki with the screen sharing of Muthusamy because it improves collaboration and engagement among conferencing participants.
Regarding Claim 9, Claim 9 is rejected with the same reasoning as Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 17, Claim 17 is rejected with the same reasoning as Claim 1.
Claims 4 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nawrocki and Muthusamy in view of Song et al (“Song”, US 20150186006).
Regarding Claim 4, Nawrocki teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1.
Nawrocki and Muthusamy do not explicitly teach wherein the acquiring type-related information of the web conference comprises: acquiring, by one or more processing units, the type-related information of the web conference from arrangement information of the web conference.
Song teaches wherein the acquiring type-related information of the web conference comprises: acquiring, by one or more processing units, the type-related information of the web conference from arrangement information of the web conference (par 135; The type-related information is the type of a gesture. The arrangement information is the recorded arrangement manner.).
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 Nawrocki and Muthusamy with the gesture recognition of Song because it allows users to input information using different motions such as sliding so that actions are performed faster and easier than clicking with a mouse or using a keyboard.
Regarding Claim 12, Nawrocki and Muthusamy teach the system of claim 1.
Nawrocki and Muthusamy do not explicitly teach wherein the acquiring type-related information of the web conference comprises: acquiring the type-related information of the web conference from hint information input by one or more participants of the web conference.
Song teaches wherein the acquiring type-related information of the web conference comprises: acquiring the type-related information of the web conference from hint information input by one or more participants of the web conference (par 135; The type-related information is the type of a gesture. The hint information is the recorded arrangement manner.).
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 Nawrocki and Muthusamy with the gesture recognition of Song because it allows users to input information using different motions such as sliding so that actions are performed faster and easier than clicking with a mouse or using a keyboard.
Claims 5-6, 13-14, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nawrocki in view of Radner et al (“Radner”, US 9235862).
Regarding Claim 5, Nawrocki and Muthusamy teach the computer-implemented method of claim 1.
Nawrocki and Muthusamy do not explicitly teach further comprising: receiving, by one or more processing units, feedback information on the visual data within the determined visualization format; and updating, by one or more processing units, the visual data within the determined visualization format based on the feedback information.
Radner teaches further comprising: receiving, by one or more processing units, feedback information on the visual data within the determined visualization format (Fig. 15, elements 1240-1270, Fig. 16, elements 1300-1310, Fig. 17, elements 1400-1420, Fig. 18, elements 1500-1520, Col. 12 lines 57-67, Col. 13 lines 1-33; The visualization format is the minutes template. The visual data is the content of the minutes template/meeting minutes summary. The feedback information is the editing to the meeting minutes as shown in Fig. 17.);
and updating, by one or more processing units, the visual data within the determined visualization format based on the feedback information (Fig. 15, elements 1240-1270, Fig. 16, elements 1300-1310, Fig. 17, elements 1400-1420, Fig. 18, elements 1500-1520, Col. 12 lines 57-67, Col. 13 lines 1-33; The visualization format is the minutes template. The visual data is the content of the minutes template/meeting minutes summary. The feedback information is the editing to the meeting minutes as shown in Fig. 17.).
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 Nawrocki and Muthusamy with the meeting minutes of Radner because it allows users additional customization functionality as well as uploading attachments to meeting minutes.
Regarding Claim 6, Nawrocki and Muthusamy teach the computer-implemented method of claim 1.
Nawrocki and Muthusamy do not explicitly teach further comprising: receiving, by one or more processing units, feedback information on the visual data within the determined visualization format; and updating, by one or more processing units, the determined visualization format in the format repository based on the feedback information.
Radner teaches further comprising: receiving, by one or more processing units, feedback information on the visual data within the determined visualization format (Fig. 15, elements 1240-1270, Fig. 16, elements 1300-1310, Fig. 17, elements 1400-1420, Fig. 18, elements 1500-1520, Col. 12 lines 57-67, Col. 13 lines 1-33; The visualization format is the minutes template. The visual data is the content of the minutes template/meeting minutes summary. The feedback information is the editing to the meeting minutes as shown in Fig. 17.);
and updating, by one or more processing units, the determined visualization format in the format repository based on the feedback information (Fig. 15, elements 1240-1270, Fig. 16, elements 1300-1310, Fig. 17, elements 1400-1420, Fig. 18, elements 1500-1520, Col. 12 lines 57-67, Col. 13 lines 1-33; The visualization format is the minutes template. The visual data is the content of the minutes template/meeting minutes summary. The feedback information is the editing to the meeting minutes as shown in Fig. 17. The format repository is where the meeting minutes are stored.).
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 Nawrocki and Muthusamy with the meeting minutes of Radner because it allows users additional customization functionality as well as uploading attachments to meeting minutes.
Regarding Claim 13, Claim 13 is rejected with the same reasoning as Claim 5.
Regarding Claim 14, Claim 14 is rejected with the same reasoning as Claim 6.
Regarding Claim 20, Claim 20 is rejected with the same reasoning as Claim 5.
Claims 8 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nawrocki and Muthusamy in view of Wang et al (“Wang”, US 20240126805).
Regarding Claim 8, Nawrocki and Muthusamy teach the computer-implemented method of claim 1.
Nawrocki and Muthusamy do not explicitly teach wherein the computer-implemented method for visual data creation in the web conference is implemented via microservice.
Wang teaches wherein the computer-implemented method for visual data creation in the web conference is implemented via microservice (Fig. 2, elements {210, 245}, par 37, par 40-42, par 45).
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 Nawrocki and Muthusamy with the microservices of Wang because microservices allow for improved modularity and scalability of services.
Regarding Claim 16, Claim 16 is rejected with the same reasoning as Claim 8.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In interpreting the currently amended claims, in light of the specification, the Examiner finds the claimed invention to be patentably distinct from the prior art of record.
Regarding Claims 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19, the closest prior art of record Nawrocki (“Nawrocki”, US 20190028520) in view of Muthusamy et al (“Muthusamy”, US 20220277435) in further view of Radner et al (“Radner”, US 9235862) and in even further view of Song et al (“Song”, US 20150186006) does not teach a computer-implemented method for visual data creation in a web conference comprising: acquiring, by one or more processing units, type-related information of the web conference; identifying, by one or more processing units, a conference type of the web conference based on the acquired type-related information of the web conference and type templates stored in a type repository; determining, by one or more processing units, a visualization format from a plurality of visualization formats stored in a format repository based on the identified conference type; extracting, by one or more processing units, key information required by the determined visualization format from raw data of the web conference; creating, by one or more processing units, visual data within the determined visualization format by populating the extracted key information into the determined visualization format; and transmitting, during the web conference by one or more processing units, the visual data within the determined visualization format to a computing device of a participant of the web conference for rendering the visual data during the web conference; wherein the determined visualization format is a first visualization format and the method further comprises: determining, by one or more processing units, a second visualization format from the plurality of visualization formats stored in the format repository based on the identified conference type and a preference of a second participant of the web conference, wherein visual data is created within the second visualization format based on key information required by the second visualization format extracted from raw data of the web conference; and transmitting, during the web conference, by one or more processing units, the visual data within the second visualization format to a second computing device of the second participant of the web conference for rendering the visual data within the second visualization format during the web conference.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
DeLuca et al (US 20140082485), Abstract - In a method for customization of contextual information during a web conference presentation, a computer system executes a presentation program during a conference presentation. The computer system receives a request to access presentation templates based on parameters of a presenter, wherein the presentation templates including parameters identifying one or more of template texture, template font, template name of the presenter or template photo of the presenter of the conference presentation. In addition, the computer system determines an identity of the presenter during the conference presentation and matching the identity of the presenter against the parameter of the presenter. Moreover, the computer system extracts the presentation templates in the repository based on the match. The computer system further applies the extracted presentation template to presentation contents of the presentation program. In one aspect, the extracted presentation template alters visual characteristics of the presentation content based on the applied presentation template.
Albouyeh et al (US 20140173701), Abstract - Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and system for managing participants of a web conference that follows a first web conference. A computer determines that a second web conference will use a web conference channel continuously following the completion of a first web conference using the web conference channel. The computer determines that a participant of the first web conference that is connected to the web conference channel at the start of the second web conference is not authorized to attend the second web conference and the computer disconnects from the web conference channel the participant that is not authorized to attend the second web conference.
Liu et al (US 20140200888), Abstract - A system includes an interface operable to detect a plurality of active audio streams in a plurality of multimedia streams, each multimedia stream associated with a particular user. The system further includes a processor operable to generate a text translation of each active audio stream and generate a script comprising the text translation of each active audio stream and an indication of the particular user associated with each active audio stream, the text translations being ordered according to times associated with the respective corresponding active audio stream.
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 RAQIUL AMIN CHOUDHURY whose telephone number is (571)272-2482. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM.
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/RAQIUL A CHOUDHURY/Examiner, Art Unit 2444