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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-20 are pending for examination.
Claims 1, 9 and 16 are independent Claims.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. (U.S. 11,671,561 hereinafter Chang) in view of Baron et al. (U.S. 2012/0050323 hereinafter Baron) in further view of Meng et al. (U.S. 2022/0222432 hereinafter Meng).
As Claim 1, Chang teaches a method comprising:
obtaining, at an online meeting service (Chang (col. 10 line 63-64), video conferencing system 400), an indication that a host (Chang (col. 11 line 64-67), a host configures view style for the conference) of an online meeting has selected an option to display graphical elements associated with participants of the online meeting on content displayed during the online meeting (Chang (col. 18 line 20-21), user of the client device (the participant) selects an option to select user virtual sticker);
obtaining, by the online meeting service (Chang (col. 10 line 63-64), video conferencing system 400), a list of email addresses of the participants of the online meeting (Chang (col. 18 line 30-36), system determines email address’ domain name of the participant and provides logo of the corporation);
transmitting, for display on a user device associated with the host, the plurality of graphical elements associated with the plurality of different domain names (Chang (col. 18 line 24-30), images transmitted to law school students during the video conference. Chang (col. 13 line 39-45, col. 18 line 24-36), system determines email address’ domain names for a school or for a coffee shop);
an indication of a location to display the graphical elements (Chang (col. 18 line 10-12 and 24-36), user may select the position of the virtual sticker by dragging the virtual sticker. Multiple logos are displayed for different groups of students. Also, multiple images such as a banner including name and logo of the corporation); and
adding, by the online meeting service, the one or more graphical elements to content for display in the location during the online meeting during the online meeting (Chang (col. 18 line 37-41, fig. 7D), user image is displayed with virtual sticker including company logo. Chang (col. 18 line 10-12), user may select the position of the virtual sticker by dragging the virtual sticker).
Chang does not explicitly disclose:
receiving, by the online meeting service and from the user device associated with the participant, a selection of a graphical elements of the plurality of graphical elements, for each domain name of the plurality of domain names; and
Baron teaches:
receiving, by the online meeting service and from the user device associated with the participant, a selection of a graphical elements of the plurality of graphical elements, for each domain name of the plurality of domain names (Baron (¶0031 last 5 lines, ¶0036 last 13 lines), current virtual background is selected according to user request when there is multiple appropriate backgrounds); and
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify domain rule of Chang with background selection rules taught by Baron, with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation would be to allow “the virtual background [to be] correspond to various desired perceptions/messages that the business entity wants to project to individuals outside of the business entity” (Baron (¶0025 line 14-16)) (Teaching, Suggestion or Motivation).
Chang in view of Baron does not explicitly disclose:
automatically parsing, by the online meeting service, the email addresses of the participants of the online meeting to identify a plurality of different domain names from the email addresses of the participants of the online meeting;
performing, by the online meeting service, a search to obtain a plurality of graphical elements associated with the plurality of different domain names, at least one graphical element of the plurality of graphical elements being associated with each domain name of the plurality of different domain names;
receiving, by the online meeting service and from the user device associated with the host
Meng teaches:
automatically parsing, by the online meeting service, the email addresses of the participants of the online meeting to identify a plurality of different domain names from the email addresses of the participants of the online meeting (Meng (¶0058 last 6 lines, ¶0059 line 4-7), the creator inputs multiple email addresses. Images are retrieved from a database based on text input);
performing, by the online meeting service, a search to obtain a plurality of graphical elements associated with the plurality of different domain names (Meng (¶0059 line 4-end), system retrieves images from a database based on text input. Obtained image is associated with “receiver’s email address”), at least one graphical element of the plurality of graphical elements being associated with each domain name of the plurality of different domain names (Meng (¶0060 line 8-end), system suggests images associated with plurality of user’s departments);
receiving, by the online meeting service and from the user device associated with the host (Meng (¶0060 line 8-end), system suggests images associated with plurality of user’s departments to the creator or host. Meng (¶0050 last 10 lines), user selects one of theme patterns to apply to the document. Meng (¶0061 line 1-10), theme patterns can be set “to be applied” state when on theme are automatically selected from the plurality of “to be applied” theme patterns)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify email address rule of Chang in view of Baron with image recommendation for plurality of email addresses taught by Meng, with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation would be so that “the automatic recommendation and automatic update of the theme pattern can save time for the creator of the document to determine the theme pattern, so that the creator does not have to manually find, search or upload a desired theme pattern” (Meng (¶0021 line 11-15)).
As Claim 2, besides Claim 1, Chang in view of Baron in further view of Meng teaches wherein obtaining the plurality of graphical elements includes performing an image search to obtain the plurality of graphical elements (Chang (col. 18 line 24-36), system determines email address’ domain name. Logo is displayed based on company domain).
As Claim 3, besides Claim 1, Chang in view of Baron in further view of Meng teaches:
wherein obtaining the plurality of graphical elements includes obtaining the plurality of graphical elements from websites associated with the plurality of different domain names (Baron (¶0025 last 7 lines), background includes new product or services offered by the business web page).
As Claim 4, besides Claim 1, Chang in view of Baron in further view of Meng teaches wherein the plurality of graphical elements includes stylized names or logos associated with respective ones of the plurality of different domain names (Chang (col. 18 line 24-36), system determines email address’ domain name. Logo is displayed based on company domain).
As Claim 5, besides Claim 1, Chang in view of Baron in further view of Meng teaches wherein the plurality of graphical elements are stored at a data store associated with a host of the online meeting (Chang (col. 18 line 24-36), system determines email address’ domain name. Logo is displayed based on company domain).
As Claim 6, beside Claim 5, Chang in view of Baron in further view of Meng teaches wherein receiving the selection of the one or more graphical elements includes receiving the selection from a user device associated with the host of the online meeting (Chang (col. 18 line 24-36), a university administrator).
As Claim 7, besides Claim 1, Chang in view of Baron in further view of Meng teaches wherein receiving the indication of the location to display the graphical elements includes:
receiving a selection of an option to add the one or more graphical elements to a stage view of the online meeting (Chang (col. 18 line 11-13 and 20-24), user drags the virtual sticker (logo) to add to a location on the screen);
wherein adding the graphical elements to the content for display in the location includes adding the one or more graphical elements to the stage view of the online meeting (Chang (col. 18 line 11-13 and 20-24), user drags the virtual sticker (logo) to add to a location on the screen).
As Claim 8, besides Claim 1, Chang in view of Baron in further view of Meng teaches wherein receiving the indication of the location to display the graphical elements includes:
receiving a selection of an option to add the one or more graphical elements to one or more video feeds of participants in the online meeting (Chang (col. 18 line 11-13 and 20-24), user drags the virtual sticker (logo) to add to a location on the screen)b
wherein adding the graphical elements to the content for display in the location includes adding the one or more graphical elements to the one or more video feeds of participants in the online meeting based on domain names of email addresses associated with the participants (Chang (col. 18 line 24-36), system determines email address’ domain name. Logo is displayed based on company domain).
As Claim 9, Chang teaches an apparatus comprising:
a memory (Chang (col. 24 line 25), a memory);
a network interface configured to enable network communication (Chang (col. 23 line 23), network access capability); and
a processor, wherein the processor is configured to perform operations (Chang (col. 24 line 26), a processor) comprising:
The rest of the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 1.
As Claim 10, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 2.
As Claim 11, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 3.
As Claim 12, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 4.
As Claim 13, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 5.
As Claim 14, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 7.
As Claim 15, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 8.
As Claim 16, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 1.
As Claim 17, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 2.
As Claim 18, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 4.
As Claim 19, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 5.
As Claim 20, the Claim is rejected for the same reasons as Claim 8.
Response to Arguments
Section 102 and 103 Rejections:
As Claims 1, 2, 4-10 and 12-20, Applicants argue that Chang does not disclose “automatically parsing … email addresses of participants” (third paragraph of page 12 in the remarks).
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Applicants’ arguments are moot because new reference Meng teaches the limitation.
As Claims 1, 2, 4-10 and 12-20, Applicants argue that Chang does not disclose “receiving, by the online meeting service and from user device associated with the host” (second paragraph of page 13 in the remarks).
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Applicants’ arguments are moot because new reference Meng teaches the limitation(s).
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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/NHAT HUY T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2147