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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/15/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 01/15/2026 have been fully considered. Applicant argues the prior art fails to teach or suggest: “replying, by a co-hosting service server side, to a co-hosting inviter side with a response message carrying a virtual room identifier, in response to a co-hosting request received from the co-hosting inviter side, wherein the response message indicates a successful reception of the co- hosting request, and the virtual room identifier is used to enable the co-hosting inviter side to enter a virtual room without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted by the co-hosting invitee side”.
Chen fails to teach including virtual room identifiers used to enable participants to enter a virtual room (i.e. “a response message carrying a virtual room identifier”; “the virtual room identifier is used to enable the co-hosting inviter side to enter a virtual room”; a co-hosting invitation message carrying the virtual room identifier” “the virtual room identifier used to enable the co-hosting invitee side to enter the virtual room without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted by the co-hosting invitee side”). Nevertheless, Levy teaches responses carrying virtual room identifiers and where the virtual room identifiers are used to enable the participants including co-hosting invitee/inviter side to enter a virtual room without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted by the co-hosting invitee side (¶ 16, 24, provision of room identifier and joining virtual room). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the teachings of Levy. The motivation to do so is that the teachings of Levy would have been advantageous in terms of facilitating access to conferencing (Levy, ¶ 10, 24). In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 6, 8-9, 12, 16-17, 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Exemplary claim 1 recites: “replying, by a co-hosting service server side, to a co-hosting inviter side with a response message carrying a virtual room identifier, in response to a co-hosting request received from the co-hosting inviter side, wherein the response message indicates a successful reception of the co- hosting request, and the virtual room identifier is used to enable the co-hosting inviter side to enter a virtual room without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted by the co-hosting invitee side”.
Applicant cites ¶ 7 of the specification for support: “In order to solve all or at least part of the above technical problems, a co-hosting system, method and apparatus, a device, and a storage medium are provided according to the present disclosure, which can improve the co-hosting efficiency and reduce the waiting time of the user at the co-hosting invitee side after accepting the co-hosting invitation, thereby improving the co-hosting experience of the user”. However, applicant’s specification appears devoid of support for the amended language: “the virtual room identifier is used to enable the co-hosting inviter side to enter a virtual room without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted by the co-hosting invitee side”.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim(s) 6, 8-9, 12, 16-17, 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, applicant' s recitation of “replying, by a co-hosting service server side, to a co-hosting inviter side with a response message carrying a virtual room identifier, in response to a co-hosting request received from the co-hosting inviter side, wherein the response message indicates a successful reception of the co- hosting request, and the virtual room identifier is used to enable the co-hosting inviter side to enter a virtual room without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted by the co-hosting invitee side” would have been unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art. The language recites a “replying” step but withing the step couches several features such as a receiving step (receiving a co-hosting request), an enabling step of enabling entrance to a virtual room “without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted”. It is unclear whether the language is describing a single reply step; or alternatively, a reception step, a reply step, and a enabling/joining step; or otherwise. The claim is obfuscated in that one of ordinary skill in the art would not know what steps encompassed by the claim. The remaining independent claims are addressed by similar rationale as one would not know what structures or functions are encompassed by the claims.
Dependent claims not addressed are rejected for incorporating the deficiencies of their respective parent claims.
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 factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 6, 8-9, 12, 16-17, 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20220132176 to Chen in view of US 20200057866 to Levy.
Regarding claim 6, Chen teaches a co-hosting method, comprising:
replying, by a co-hosting service server side, to a co-hosting inviter side with a response message carrying an identifier, in response to a co-hosting request received from the co-hosting inviter side, wherein the response message indicates a successful reception of the co-hosting request (abstract, ¶ 25, fig. 4, ¶ 34-36, 46-54, server replies to co-hosting invitation in response to establishment instruction; ¶ 84, 110-116; 119-120);
sending, by the co-hosting service server side, a co-hosting invitation message to the co-hosting invitee side, after receiving the co-hosting request, wherein the co-hosting invitation message is used to request the co-hosting invitee side to accept the co-hosting invitation (¶ 53-56, inviting side co-host enters room and begins a/v transmission in response to acceptance message; fig. 4, ¶ 25, 34-36, 84, 110-124); and
receiving, by the co-hosting service side, a co-hosting acceptance message from the co-hosting invitee side, wherein the co-hosting invitee side sends the co-hosting acceptance message in response to the co-hosting invitation message invitation (¶ 53-56, receiving acceptance message; fig. 4, ¶ 25, 34-36, 84, 110-124), and
forwarding, by the co-hosting service server side, a co-hosting acceptance message to the co-hosting inviter side, in response to the co-hosting acceptance message for the co-hosting request received from a co-hosting invitee side (¶ 47-60, 110-117, 119-20, sending acceptance message responsive to co-hosting acceptance).
Chen fails to teach including virtual room identifiers used to enable participants to enter a virtual room without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted by the co-hosting invitee side (i.e. “a response message carrying a virtual room identifier”; “the virtual room identifier is used to enable the co-hosting inviter side to enter a virtual room”; a co-hosting invitation message carrying the virtual room identifier” “the virtual room identifier used to enable the co-hosting invitee side to enter the virtual room”).
However, Levy teaches responses carrying virtual room identifiers and where the virtual room identifiers are used to enable the participants including co-hosting invitee/inviter side to enter a virtual room without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted by the co-hosting invitee side (¶ 16, 24, provision of room identifier and joining virtual room).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the teachings of Levy. The motivation to do so is that the teachings of Levy would have been advantageous in terms of facilitating access to conferencing (Levy, ¶ 10, 24).
Regarding claim 8, 19,
Chen teaches:
before the replying to a co- hosting inviter side with a response message, the method further comprises:
determining, by the co-hosting service server side, whether versions of the co-hosting inviter side and the co-hosting invitee side corresponding to the co-hosting request meet a preset condition (¶ 36-40, determining of type/version of co-hosting sides; ¶ 84-110-116, co-hosting request); and
the replying to a co-hosting inviter side with a response message comprises:
replying to the co-hosting inviter side with the response message, in response to a determination that the versions of the co-hosting inviter side and the co-hosting invitee side corresponding to the co-hosting request meet the preset condition (see ¶ 36-65 describing reply and co-hosting setup).
Chen fails to teach but Levy teaches the response message carrying the virtual room identifier (¶ 16, 24, provision of room identifier and joining virtual room). Motivation to include Levy is the same as presented above.
Regarding claim 9, 20
Chen teaches:
updating, by the co-hosting service server side, co-hosting states of the co-hosting inviter side and the co-hosting invitee side to be in a connected state respectively, in response to the co- hosting acceptance message for the co-hosting request received from the co-hosting invitee side, and starting timing (¶ 22, 78, 142, indicating co-hosting states in response to acceptance); and
updating the co-hosting state of the co-hosting inviter side and the co-hosting state of the co-hosting invitee side to be in a disconnected state respectively, in a case that no co-hosting notification message is received from the co-hosting inviter side and the co-hosting invitee side within a preset time period (¶ 180-181, disconnection based on timer).
Regarding claim 12, Chen teachers a co-hosting method, comprising:
acquiring, by a co-hosting invitee side, an identifier from a co-hosting invitation message after receiving the co-hosting invitation message from a co-hosting service server side (¶ 62-65, 124, 219-220, acquiring identifier) and
entering into a virtual room corresponding to the identifier (¶ 62-65, 124, 219-220; abstract, ¶ 25, fig. 4, ¶ 34-36, 46-54, invite message used to request co-hosting; acceptance and live streaming; ¶ 84, 110-116; 119-120),
wherein the co-hosting invitation message is used to request the co-hosting invitee side to accept a co-hosting invitation; and pulling, by the co-hosting invitee side, an audio and video streaming from a real-time collaboration server side, in response to a reception of the co-hosting invitation corresponding to the co-hosting invitation message (abstract, ¶ 25, fig. 4, ¶ 34-36, 46-54, invite message used to request co-hosting; acceptance and live streaming; ¶ 84, 110-116; 119-120).
Chen fails to teach but Levy teaches the identifier is a virtual room identifier and entering into a virtual room corresponding to the virtual room identifier without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted by the co-hosting invitee side (¶ 16, 24, provision of room identifier and joining virtual room).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the teachings of Levy. The motivation to do so is that the teachings of Levy would have been advantageous in terms of facilitating access to conferencing (Levy, ¶ 10, 24).
Regarding claim 16, Chen teaches non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions, wherein the instructions when executed by a computer device, cause the computer device to:
reply to a co-hosting inviter side with a response message, in response to a co-hosting request received from the co-hosting inviter side, wherein the response message indicates a successful reception of the co-hosting request (abstract, ¶ 25, fig. 4, ¶ 34-36, 46-54, server replies to co-hosting invitation in response to establishment instruction; ¶ 84, 110-116; 119-120);
send a co-hosting invitation message to a co-hosting invitee side, after receiving the co-hosting request, wherein the co-hosting invitation message is used to request the co-hosting invitee side to accept the co-hosting invitation (¶ 53-56, inviting side co-host enters room and begins a/v transmission in response to acceptance message; fig. 4, ¶ 25, 34-36, 84, 110-124); and
receive a co- hosting acceptance message from the co-hosting invitee side, wherein the co-hosting invitee side sends the co-hosting acceptance message in response to the co-hosting invitation message (¶ 53-56, receiving acceptance message; fig. 4, ¶ 25, 34-36, 84, 110-124), and
forward the co-hosting acceptance message to the co-hosting inviter side, in response to a reception of the co-hosting acceptance message for the co-hosting request received from a co- hosting invitee side (¶ 47-60, 110-117, 119-20, sending acceptance message responsive to co-hosting acceptance); or
acquire an identifier from a co-hosting invitation message after the co-hosting invitation message is received from a co-hosting service server side (¶ 62-65, 124, 219-220, acquiring identifier), and enter into a virtual room corresponding to the identifier, wherein the co-hosting invitation message is used to request the co-hosting invitee side to accept a co-hosting invitation; and pull an audio and video streaming from a real-time collaboration server side, in response to a reception of the co-hosting invitation corresponding to the co-hosting invitation message (¶ 47-60, 110-117, 119-120, 124, sending acceptance message responsive to co-hosting acceptance; ¶ 56-65, 82, transmission of live stream via virtual room).
Chen fails to teach including virtual room identifiers used to enable participants to enter a virtual room without waiting for a co-hosting invitation to be accepted by the co-hosting invitee side (i.e. “a response message carrying a virtual room identifier”; “the virtual room identifier is used to enable the co-hosting inviter side to enter a virtual room”; a co-hosting invitation message carrying the virtual room identifier” “the virtual room identifier used to enable the co-hosting invitee side to enter the virtual room”; “acquiring a virtual room identifier from a co-hosting invitation message”).
However, Levy teaches acquiring and utilizing virtual room identifiers, responses carrying virtual room identifiers, and where virtual room identifiers are used to enable the participants including co-hosting invitee/inviter side to enter a virtual room (¶ 16, 24, provision of room identifier and joining virtual room).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the teachings of Levy. The motivation to do so is that the teachings of Levy would have been advantageous in terms of facilitating access to conferencing (Levy, ¶ 10, 24).
Claim 17 is addressed by similar rationale as claim 16.
Regarding claim 21,
Chen teaches:
wherein the co-hosting inviter side is in an online live state (¶ 22, co-hosting state for live-streaming); stopping pushing online live streaming to an online live server side, in response to the co- hosting acceptance message for the co-hosting request received from the co-hosting invitee side (¶ 31-33, live streaming transfer to co-hosting live stream; see ¶ 47-65).
CONCLUSION
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN J JAKOVAC whose telephone number is (571)270-5003. The examiner can normally be reached on 8-4 PM EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Oscar A. Louie can be reached on 572-270-1684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN J JAKOVAC/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445