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 .
This Office Action is responsive to: RCEX filed 18 Dec. 2025
Claims 1, 2, 5-14, 16-18, 20, 21, 23 and 24 are pending in this case. Claims 1, 23 and 24 are independent claims
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 on 18 Dec. 2025 has been entered.
Applicant’s Response
In Applicant’s Response dated 17 Nov. 2025, Applicant amended claims 1, 23 and 24; argued against all rejections previously set forth in the Office Action dated 24 Sep. 2025.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5-14, 16-18, 20, 21, 23 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Papanicolaou et al. (Pub.: US 2020/0233879 A1; Effective Filing Date: Jan, 22, 2019) (hereinafter “Papanicolaou”) in view of Van Oosterhout (Pub.: US 2004/0179220 A1; Filed Date: Mar 13, 2003) (hereinafter “Oosterhout”), further in view of Malla (Pat. No.: US 7,899,829 B1; Filed: Dec. 14, 2006).
Regarding independent claims 1, 23 and 24, Papanicolaou disclose an electronic document processing method, comprising:
in a display interface of a first document, in response to a first operation, determining target document content in the first document that is associated with the first operation, wherein the target document content is some content of the first document, the some content is carried in at least one content block, and each content block is a unit configured to carry content of the first document (0045-0046; 0073; 0083);
in response to a second operation, performed on the collection control, collecting the target document content based on the at least one content block (0073; 0083), wherein the collecting the target document content based on the at least one content block comprises:
obtaining identification information of the at least one content block (0011-0014; 0049-0053; 0064-0070; 0100-0101), and
storing the identification information of the at least one content block as one of collections in a collection database (0011-0014; 0049-0053; 0064-0070; 0100-0101; 0104);
Papanicolaou does not expressly disclose displaying a collection control in response to the first operation, wherein the collection control corresponds to the at least one content block and is configured to collect the target document content for convenient review or manipulation at a later time;
determining a type from a plurality of types of collected content during a collection process, wherein the plurality of types of collected content comprise a first type indicating that an entire document is collected, and the plurality of types further comprise a second type indicating that partial content of a document is collected;
automatically classifying the collection based on the plurality of types of collected content; and
displaying, in a collection area, the collections in different display styles to distinguish the first type from the second type.
Oosterhout teach determining a type from a plurality of types of collected content during a collection process, wherein the plurality of types of collected content comprise a first type indicating that an entire document is collected, and the plurality of types further comprise a second type indicating that partial content of a document is collected (0002; 0007; 0010-0011; 0021; 0023); and
displaying, in a collection area, the collections in different display styles to distinguish the first type from the second type (0007; 0027-0029).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Oosterhout with Papanicolaou for the benefit of implementing permission (access) control relating to the reproduction or conversion of document data into another media format.
Malla teach displaying a collection control in response to the first operation, wherein the collection control corresponds to the at least one content block and is configured to collect the target document content for convenient review or manipulation at a later time (col. 14, lines 28-44);
automatically classifying the collection based on the plurality of types of collected content (col. 4 lines 53-60; col. 14, lines 28-44 Malla disclose filing bookmarks in a filing category. Malla also discloses the user highlighting a section of the document and clicking the capture button, which stores the bookmark to the highlighted section in the bookmark database. Thus automatically classifying the collection (highlighted section) based on the plurality of types of collected content.).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Malla with Papanicolaou in view of Oosterhout for providing users a better ability to manage information they have gathered (col 3 lines 22-27).
Regarding dependent claim 2, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the in response to a second operation, collecting the target document content based on the content block comprised in the target document content comprises:
collecting the target document content in response to an operation on a collection control, wherein the collection control is displayed in response to the first operation or displayed at an associated position of the content block (0045-0046; 0073; 0083); or
collecting the target document content in response to receiving a collection gesture or voice command;
and/or;
wherein the in response to a first operation, determining target document content that is
associated with the first operation comprises:
in response to a selection operation on some content in the first document, determining the some content as the target document content (0045-0046; 0073; 0083); or
in response to a trigger operation on a collection control associated with the some
content, determining the some content as the target document content (0045-0046; 0073; 0083).
Regarding dependent claim 5, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
in response to a first trigger operation, obtaining and outputting collected content block information based on the identification information of the content block stored in the collection database (0050-0054); and
in response to a second trigger operation on the collected content block information, processing the content block selected by the second trigger operation in a manner corresponding to the second trigger operation (0085-0086; 0089).
Regarding dependent claim 6, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 5, wherein the processing the content block selected by the second trigger operation in a manner corresponding to the second trigger operation comprises:
determining the selected content block based on the second trigger operation and an insertion position of the selected content block in a target document (0085-0086; 0089); and
inserting the selected content block into the insertion position in the target document (0085-0086; 0089).
Regarding dependent claim 7, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 6, wherein the inserting the selected content block into the insertion position comprises:
establishing an association relationship between the selected content block and the target document, and displaying the content block based on the association relationship (0087-0088).
Regarding dependent claim 8, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 6, wherein the inserting the selected content block into the insertion position comprises:
displaying the content block in a first preset style at the insertion position (0118); or
displaying the identification information of the content block in a second preset style at the insertion position, obtaining content of the content block based on the identification information of the content block in response to a trigger operation on the identification information, and displaying the content of the content block (0050-0054; 0076-0077; 0103-0104).
Regarding dependent claim 9, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 7, wherein the establishing an association relationship between the selected content block and the target document comprises:
maintaining an attribution relationship between the selected content block and the document to which the content block belongs unchanged, and establishing a reference relationship or connection relationship between the selected content block and the target document (0076-0077; 0103-0104).
Regarding dependent claim 10, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 5, wherein the outputting collected content block information comprises:
outputting content information or identification information of the content block and at least one of the following:
information of the document to which the content block belongs (0088-0091);
collector information, collection time information, or collection tag information of the content block (0078; 0084); and information of the first document (0078; 0084; 0088-0091).
Regarding dependent claim 11, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the collecting the target document content comprises:
sending the determined type and the identification information of the at least one content block to a server, wherein the determined type is the second type among the plurality of types of collected content (0011-0014; 0039; 0044 0049-0053; 0064-0070; 0100-0101; 0104).
Regarding dependent claim 12, Papanicolaou in view of Oosterhout disclose the method according to claim 11, further comprising: in response to a third operation of collecting an entirety the first document, sending a the first type and document identifier of the collected first document to the server (0044; 0057 0002; 0007; 0010-0011; 0021; 0023).
Regarding dependent claim 13, Papanicolaou in view of Oosterhout disclose the method according to claim 1, further comprising displaying a target collection identifier associated with the target document content in a collection area in response to determining that the target document content has been collected (0002; 0007; 0010-0011; 0021; 0023).
Regarding dependent claim 14, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 13, wherein the target collection identifier comprises at least one of content generated according to the target document content, the first document where the target document content is located, update time of the target document content, and creation time of the target collection identifier (0078; 0084; 0104);
and/or;
the electronic document processing method, further comprising: in response to a fourth operation on the target collection identifier, opening the first
document and locating the target document content: or in response to a fourth operation on the target collection identifier, opening the first document, displaying the target document content, and hiding some
or all content except the target document content.
Regarding dependent claim 16, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 13, further comprising:
in response to a fifth operation on the target collection identifier, inserting a target reference identifier or target connection identifier associated with the target document content into a second document, wherein the target reference identifier is used for displaying the target document content in a preset style, and the target connection identifier is triggered to display the target document content (0050-0054; 0076-0077; 0103-0104; 0118).
Regarding dependent claim 17, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 16, wherein the inserting a target reference identifier or target connection identifier associated with the target document content into a second document comprises:
sending a content block identifier and inserted location information of the target document content to the server, so that the server establishes an association relationship between the second document and the target document content (0039; 0044; 0078; 0084; 0088-0091).
Regarding dependent claim 18, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 16, wherein the target reference identifier is displayed in a reference style; and
the reference style comprises at least one of a reference source document, reference update time, and referenced content (0044; 0057; 0078; 0084; 0104);
and/or;
after the target document content in the first document is amended, the target document content in the second document is correspondingly amended; and/or
after the target document content in the second document is amended, the target document content displayed in the first document is correspondingly amended.
Regarding dependent claim 20, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 16, further comprising:
in response to a first edit operation on the target document content, sending a first message to the server, so that the server sends a first update message to a second client, wherein the second client has a third document associated with the target document content, and the first update message is used for updating the third document (0039; 0044; 0075; 0082; 0084); or
receiving a second update message from the server, and updating the target document content based on the second update message, wherein the second update message is generated by the server according to a second message sent by a third client, and the second message is generated based on editing of associated target document content in the third document by the second client.
Regarding dependent claim 21, Papanicolaou disclose the method according to claim 16, further comprising:
in response to a delete event of the target document content in the first document, changing the display style of the target reference identifier in the second document to a second style, wherein the second style is different from the first style of the target reference identifier in the second document before the target document content is deleted (0079; 0082; 0084).
NOTE
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES J DEBROW whose telephone number is (571)272-5768. The examiner can normally be reached on 09:00 - 06:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Bashore can be reached on 571-272-4088. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/James J Debrow/
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2174
571-272-5768