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 .
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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/27/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/27/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the notice of allowance on 01/28/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claims 3, 7, 19 are cancelled.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 17, 18, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "determine an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects" in lines 13-14. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2, 4-6, 8-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, for being directly or indirectly dependent on rejected claim 1.
Claim 17 recites the limitation "determining an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects" in lines 11-12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "determining an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects" in lines 6-7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 20 recites the limitation "circuitry for determining an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects" in lines 6-7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims, 1, 17, 18 and 20 comprises allowable subject matter and would be allowable when 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections are overcome.
With respect to claim 1, OGASAWARA et al (US Pub 2016/0231807) discloses a user equipment (fig. 1; portable electronic device 1) comprising at least one proximity sensor (fig. 1; infrared camera 4 ) and a controller, (fig. 1; control section 14) wherein the proximity sensor is configured to receive touchless user input, thereby providing a touchless input area, (see fig. 6A; par 0146; discloses the user performs various gesture inputs by using their right hand at a position in the right side surface direction of the portable electronic apparatus 1. The portable electronic apparatus 1 captures an infrared image by the infrared camera 4 provided at the right side surface of the portable electronic apparatus 1, and analyzes the captured infrared image, thereby identifying a gesture input performed by the user) and wherein the controller is configured to: detect a group of objects in the touchless input area; determine a number of objects in the group of objects; (par 0147; discloses hen the image shown in FIG. 7B is acquired, the portable electronic apparatus 1 can recognize “paper” on the basis of the number of raised fingers; i.e. number of fingers are identified);
In the same field of endeavor, KIM (US Pub 2014/0359504) discloses electronic device and method of controlling application in the electronic device (see abstract); KIM discloses determine a background application associated with the number of objects; (par 0012; discloses selecting one background application according to the number of the touch points; par 0058; discloses the controller 110 detects an application or app corresponding to a layer mapped to the number of touch points in step 240); receive input based on the detected group of objects; (par 0060; discloses the controller 110 may determine whether a defined touch gesture for controlling execution of an application is detected in step 250) and determine an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects (par 0012; discloses detecting a touch gesture for controlling the selected background application; and controlling the selected background application according to the detected touch gesture; par 0060; discloses the touch gesture may refer to a command signal input by the user in order to control execution of one application among a plurality of applications. Various touch gestures and application execution commands may be previously mapped and stored);
However OGASAWARA alone or in view of KIM or other prior art of record fails to disclose determine a type of objects in the group of objects; determine a background application associated with a unique combination of the number of objects in the group of objects and the type of objects in the group of objects; receive input based on the detected group of objects; and determine an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects, wherein the at least one proximity sensor is configured to differentiate between different types of objects, and wherein the controller is further configured to: determine the number of objects in the detected group of objects by determining a size of a location area of the detected groups of objects and comparing the size of the location area of the detected groups of objects with a known size of an object and it would not have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by OGASAWARA to arrive at the claimed invention as the final result would have been unpredictable. Therefore claim 1 comprises allowable subject matter.
With respect to claim 17, OGASAWARA et al (US Pub 2016/0231807) discloses a method for use in a user equipment comprising at least one proximity sensor (fig. 1; device 1 comprising infrared camera 4) configured to receive touchless user input, thereby providing a touchless input area, (see fig. 6A; par 0146; discloses the user performs various gesture inputs by using their right hand at a position in the right side surface direction of the portable electronic apparatus 1. The portable electronic apparatus 1 captures an infrared image by the infrared camera 4 provided at the right side surface of the portable electronic apparatus 1, and analyzes the captured infrared image, thereby identifying a gesture input performed by the user) and wherein the method comprises: detecting a group of objects in the touchless input area; determining a number of objects in the group of objects; (par 0147; discloses hen the image shown in FIG. 7B is acquired, the portable electronic apparatus 1 can recognize “paper” on the basis of the number of raised fingers; i.e. number of fingers are identified);
In the same field of endeavor, KIM (US Pub 2014/0359504) discloses electronic device and method of controlling application in the electronic device (see abstract); KIM discloses determine a background application associated with the number of objects; (par 0012; discloses selecting one background application according to the number of the touch points; par 0058; discloses the controller 110 detects an application or app corresponding to a layer mapped to the number of touch points in step 240); receive input based on the detected group of objects; (par 0060; discloses the controller 110 may determine whether a defined touch gesture for controlling execution of an application is detected in step 250) and determine an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects (par 0012; discloses detecting a touch gesture for controlling the selected background application; and controlling the selected background application according to the detected touch gesture; par 0060; discloses the touch gesture may refer to a command signal input by the user in order to control execution of one application among a plurality of applications. Various touch gestures and application execution commands may be previously mapped and stored);
However OGASAWARA alone or in view of KIM or other prior art of record fails to disclose determining a type of objects in the group of objects; determining a background application associated with a unique combination of the number of objects in the group of objects and the type of objects in the group of objects; receiving input based on the detected group of objects; and determining an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects, wherein the at least one proximity sensor is configured to differentiate between different types of objects, and wherein the method comprises: determining the number of objects in the detected group of objects by determining a size of a location area for the detected groups of objects and comparing the size of the location area of the detected groups of objects with a known size of an object and it would not have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by OGASAWARA to arrive at the claimed invention as the final result would have been unpredictable. Therefore claim 17 comprises allowable subject matter.
With respect to claim 18, OGASAWARA et al (US Pub 2016/0231807) discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying computer instructions that when loaded into and executed by a controller of a user equipment enables the user equipment to implement a method for use in the user equipment, (par 0138; discloses the control section 14 includes a CPU, a memory (RAM), and the like, and performs a predetermined process on the basis of a predetermined program (e.g., application programs for performing game processing, image processing, and various calculations) stored in a storage unit (e.g., a nonvolatile memory, a hard disk, etc.) which is provided in the portable electronic apparatus 1 ) wherein the user equipment comprises at least one proximity sensor configured to receive touchless user input, (fig. 1; infrared camera 4) thereby providing a touchless input area (see fig. 6A; par 0146; discloses the user performs various gesture inputs by using their right hand at a position in the right side surface direction of the portable electronic apparatus 1. The portable electronic apparatus 1 captures an infrared image by the infrared camera 4 provided at the right side surface of the portable electronic apparatus 1, and analyzes the captured infrared image, thereby identifying a gesture input performed by the user) and wherein the method comprises: detecting a group of objects in the touchless input area; determining a number of objects in the group of objects; (par 0147; discloses hen the image shown in FIG. 7B is acquired, the portable electronic apparatus 1 can recognize “paper” on the basis of the number of raised fingers; i.e. number of fingers are identified);
In the same field of endeavor, KIM (US Pub 2014/0359504) discloses electronic device and method of controlling application in the electronic device (see abstract); KIM discloses determine a background application associated with the number of objects; (par 0012; discloses selecting one background application according to the number of the touch points; par 0058; discloses the controller 110 detects an application or app corresponding to a layer mapped to the number of touch points in step 240); receive input based on the detected group of objects; (par 0060; discloses the controller 110 may determine whether a defined touch gesture for controlling execution of an application is detected in step 250) and determine an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects (par 0012; discloses detecting a touch gesture for controlling the selected background application; and controlling the selected background application according to the detected touch gesture; par 0060; discloses the touch gesture may refer to a command signal input by the user in order to control execution of one application among a plurality of applications. Various touch gestures and application execution commands may be previously mapped and stored);
However OGASAWARA alone or in view of KIM or other prior art of record fails to disclose determining a type of objects in the group of objects; determining a background application associated with a unique combination of the number of objects in the group of objects and the type of objects in the group of objects; receiving input based on the detected group of objects; and determining an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects, wherein the at least one proximity sensor is configured to differentiate between different types of objects, and wherein the method comprises: determining the number of objects in the detected group of objects by determining a size of a location area for the detected groups of objects and comparing the size of the location area of the detected groups of objects with a known size of an object and it would not have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by OGASAWARA to arrive at the claimed invention as the final result would have been unpredictable. Therefore claim 18 comprises allowable subject matter.
With respect to claim 20, OGASAWARA et al (US Pub 2016/0231807) discloses an arrangement adapted to be used in a user equipment comprising a display, at least one proximity sensor (fig. 1; discloses device 1 comprising a display 2, infrared camera 4) configured to receive touchless user input at a side of the display, thereby providing a touchless input area, (see fig. 6A; par 0146; discloses the user performs various gesture inputs by using their right hand at a position in the right side surface direction of the portable electronic apparatus 1. The portable electronic apparatus 1 captures an infrared image by the infrared camera 4 provided at the right side surface of the portable electronic apparatus 1, and analyzes the captured infrared image, thereby identifying a gesture input performed by the user) and wherein the arrangement comprises: circuitry for detecting a group of objects in the touchless input area; circuitry for determining a number of objects in the group of objects; (fig. 1; control section 14; par 0147; discloses when the image shown in FIG. 7B is acquired, the portable electronic apparatus 1 can recognize “paper” on the basis of the number of raised fingers; i.e. number of fingers are identified);
In the same field of endeavor, KIM (US Pub 2014/0359504) discloses electronic device and method of controlling application in the electronic device (see abstract); KIM discloses determine a background application associated with the number of objects; (par 0012; discloses selecting one background application according to the number of the touch points; par 0058; discloses the controller 110 detects an application or app corresponding to a layer mapped to the number of touch points in step 240); receive input based on the detected group of objects; (par 0060; discloses the controller 110 may determine whether a defined touch gesture for controlling execution of an application is detected in step 250) and determine an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects (par 0012; discloses detecting a touch gesture for controlling the selected background application; and controlling the selected background application according to the detected touch gesture; par 0060; discloses the touch gesture may refer to a command signal input by the user in order to control execution of one application among a plurality of applications. Various touch gestures and application execution commands may be previously mapped and stored);
However OGASAWARA alone or in view of KIM or other prior art of record fails to disclose circuitry for determining a type of objects in the group of objects; circuitry for determining a background application associated with a unique combination of the number of objects in the group of objects and the type of objects in the group of objects; circuitry for receiving input based on the detected group of objects; and circuitry for determining an action associated with the input for the background application associated with the number of objects, wherein the at least one proximity sensor is configured to differentiate between different types of objects, and wherein the arrangement comprises: circuitry for determining the number of objects in the detected group of objects by determining a size of a location area for the detected groups of objects and comparing the size of the location area of the detected groups of objects with a known size of an object and it would not have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by OGASAWARA to arrive at the claimed invention as the final result would have been unpredictable. Therefore claim 20 comprises allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
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/SUJIT SHAH/Examiner, Art Unit 2624
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