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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1-3, 8-9, 12, 14, and 18-19 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, lines 4 and 10, “the user computing device” should read “the computing device”.
Claim 2, line 1, “the visual enhancement of either the first feature or the second feature” should read “the visual enhancement of either the first feature or the second feature”.
Claim 3, line 4, “the order of the selection” should read “an order of the selection”.
Claim 8, line 2, “the steps of performing the recipe” should read “steps of performing the recipe”.
Claim 9, line 2, “the content of the text” should read “a content of the text”.
Claim 12, lines 5 and 10, “the display of the user computing device” should read “the display of the user computing device”.
Claim 14, line 4, “the order of the selection” should read “an order of the selection”.
Claim 18, line 2, “the steps of performing the recipe” should read “steps of performing the recipe”.
Claim 19, line 3, “the content of the text” should read “a content of the text”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tee et al. (A Visual Recipe Book for Persons with Language Impairments; hereinafter Tee) in view of Ellen Sudol Catalano (Look 'n Cook Sample; hereinafter Catalano).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, Tee discloses an electronic cookbook configured for display on a display of a computing device (using a tablet PC for the electronic cook book; Page 506 - Apparatus and Procedure 2nd paragraph), the electronic cookbook comprising computer-executable instructions that, upon execution by at least one processor of the computing device, cause the at least one processor to (processor and computer-executable instructions are inherent to a computer): display an interactive first graphical user interface (GUI) on the display of the user computing device (display shown in Page 504 – Fig 3a or 3b), the first GUI comprising: a recipe (recipe shown in Page 504 - Figure 3a or 3b) and at least one demarcated ingredient section (ingredients demarcated in a yellow square; Page 504 - Fig 3a or 3b), wherein a first feature (as an example the first feature here can be an image 1 cup with chocolate chips; Page 504 - Fig 3b) of the recipe is visually enhanced (visually enhanced by the show text checkbox or by playing an animation; Page 504 – Fig 3b and Initial prototype 1st paragraph) relative to a second feature of the recipe (relative to the second feature that goes next, which is the cookie dough; Page 504 - Fig 3b); and a graphical icon to advance the recipe (symbol of blue navigational arrows at the bottom right or left of the page to advance the recipe or go back to the previous one; Page 504 - Fig 3a-3b); receive, as user input to the display of the user computing device, first user input relative to the graphical icon (directional arrows need input from user to work; Page 504 - Initial Prototype 1st paragraph); and in response to the first user input, display an interactive second GUI (navigational arrows are used to navigate between screens that have recipes; Page 504 - Initial Prototype 1st paragraph), the second GUI comprising: the recipe, wherein the second feature of the recipe is visually enhanced relative to the first feature of the recipe (the second feature in this case will be the cookie dough as previously stated, and by clicking on the navigation arrow to go next, we will follow what to do next with the cookie dough. Each of the recipes have 13 major steps as stated in Page 504 - Initial Prototype 2nd paragraph and by going forward with the directional arrows you will get to another step that follows the previous step. Therefore, in the second GUI animations or full text instructions could be shown to visually enhance the cookie dough; Page 504 – Initial Prototype 1st paragraph), the second feature sequentially following the first feature in performing the recipe (going to another step with directional arrow; Page 504 - Initial Prototype 2nd paragraph). Regarding additional limitations of claim 12, Tee discloses a computing device including at least one processor and at least one memory (inherent to computer). Tee does not explicitly disclose a recipe including at least one color-coded measurement, but Tee does disclose a measurement visually enhanced with playing animations or showing text by toggling a checkbox in Page 504 – Initial Prototype 1st paragraph instead of color.
However, Catalano teaches recipes including color-coded measurements (color coded measurements for recipes in Page 8).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tee to implement the teachings of Catalano to help the disabled/impaired user to process the educational material in a better way by assigning color specific steps or instructions.
Regarding claims 2 and 13, Tee discloses wherein the visual enhancement of either the first feature or the second feature includes at least one of bolding, highlighting, and expanding (highlighted by a star in Page 503 - Heuristics 1st bullet point).
Regarding claims 3 and 14, Tee discloses wherein the first feature, the second feature, and the graphical icon are each interactive (navigation arrows, animations, and text instructions areconsidered to be interactive as a user must interact with them during usage of the device ; Page 504 - Initial Prototype 1st paragraph), and the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to display the recipe in different ways (recipe shown top to bottom in Fig 3a or side to side in Fig 3b; Page 504) depending on which of the first feature, the second feature, and the graphical icon are selected and/or the order of the selection thereof (the first or second feature can display the recipe in different ways because if you play the animations or toggle the checkbox, it will display the steps differently; see Page 504 - Initial Prototype 1st paragraph. For the graphical icon, when clicked, it can display the recipe in a left-to-right or top-to-bottom fashion as shown in Fig 3a and 3b).
Regarding claim 4, Tee does not disclose wherein the at least one color-coded measurement is further shape-coded.
However, Catalano teaches wherein the at least one color-coded measurement is further shape-coded (color coded measurement can be shape coded with symbols; Page 8 - Color-coded utensils).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tee to implement the teachings of Catalano to help the disabled/impaired user to process the educational material in a better way by assigning a shape to specific steps or instructions.
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Tee discloses wherein the recipe displayed on the first GUI further includes at least one image selected from an ingredient image, a preparation step image, a completed recipe image, and combinations thereof (image or preparation step; Page 504 - Fig 3a or 3b).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, Tee discloses wherein the recipe displayed on the first GUI further includes at least one of a directional arrow indicating a preparation step of the recipe, a demarcated ingredient section demarcated by color, a demarcated ingredient section demarcated by lines, and combinations thereof (curved directional arrow indicating a step; Page 504 - Fig 3b).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Tee discloses wherein a layout of the first GUI and the second GUI is designed to enhance readability of the recipe for users with a learning disability including at least one of a reading disorder, a language comprehension deficit, a phonological deficit, an orthographic processing deficit, a vocabulary weakness, and a generalized language learning disorder, and wherein the reading disorder comprises at least one of dyslexia and alexia (aphasia can fall within a reading disorder, a language comprehension disorder, a phonological deficit, an orthographic processing deficit, a vocabulary weakness, and a generalized language learning disorder; Page 501 - abstract).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Tee does not explicitly disclose wherein the recipe includes bullet-point action items related to the steps of performing the recipe, each bullet-point action item including a limited number of words arranged in a limited number of lines. However, Tee discloses using short phrases and sentences, and the use of large font size (Page 504 – Vera Prototype).
The choice of using “bullet-points” used as a visual enhancement is merely a design choice, which fails to patentably distinguish over the prior art. The invention is intended to visually enhance the steps of the recipe with bullet-points because bullet points typically contain limited wording, which is beneficial for individuals who have difficulty following lines and/or large blocks of text (see ¶40 of the specification of the present invention). Tee instead just shortens the phrases or sentences and enhances with steps with visual animations (Page 504 – Vera Prototype and Fig 3a and 3b), which fulfills the same purpose of bullet-points.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tee to implement shortening phrases/sentences and enhancing steps with visual animations allows the user to follow the steps with more clarity without having to read large blocks of text.
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Tee discloses wherein the recipe includes text having a size, capitalization, or placement related to the content of the text (Capitalization; Page 504 - Fig 3A or 3B).
Regarding claim 10, Tee discloses wherein the first feature includes a first action step associated with a first demarcated ingredient section (the 1 zucchini in a demarcated yellow ingredient section and the step of adding 1 zucchini; Page 504 - Fig 3a), and the second feature includes second demarcated ingredient section (there can be multiple demarcated sections for ingredients like the 2 onions demarcated in yellow; Page 504 - Fig 3a) and a directional arrow pointing from the second demarcated ingredient section to the first demarcated ingredient section (There can be + signs used between demarcated sections, but there can also be arrows pointing to demarcated sections; Page 504 - Fig 3a). Tee does not explicitly disclose ingredient section includes a first color-coded measurement.
However, Catalano teaches ingredient section includes a first color-coded measurement (color coded measurements for recipes in Page 8).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tee to implement the teachings of Catalano to help the disabled/impaired user to process the educational material in a better way by assigning color specific steps or instructions.
Regarding claim 11, Tee discloses wherein the first feature a first demarcated ingredient section (1 zucchini demarcated; Page 504 - Fig 3a), and the second feature includes second demarcated ingredient section (there can be multiple demarcated sections for ingredients like the 2 onions; Page 504 - Fig 3a) and a directional arrow pointing from the second demarcated ingredient section to an action step associated with the second demarcated ingredient section (There can be + signs used between demarcated sections, but there can also be arrows pointing to demarcated sections and steps associated with those demarcated sections; Page 504 - Fig 3a). Tee does not explicitly disclose the ingredient section includes a first color-coded measurement.
However, Catalano teaches the ingredient section includes a first color-coded measurement (measurements can be color coded; Page 8 - Color-coding Utensils).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tee to implement the teachings of Catalano to help the disabled/impaired user to process the educational material in a better way by assigning color specific steps or instructions.
Regarding claim 20, Tee discloses wherein displaying the first GUI comprises one of: displaying the recipe including the first feature including a first action step associated with a first demarcated ingredient section (1 zucchini demarcated; Page 504 - Fig 3a), and the second feature including second demarcated ingredient section (there can be multiple demarcated sections for ingredients like the 2 onions; Page 504 - Fig 3a) and a directional arrow pointing from the second demarcated ingredient section to the first demarcated ingredient section (There can be + signs used between demarcated sections, but there can also be arrows pointing to demarcated sections; Page 504 - Fig 3a); or displaying the recipe including the first feature including a first demarcated ingredient section (1 zucchini demarcated; Page 504 - Fig 3a), and the second feature including second demarcated ingredient section (there can be multiple demarcated sections for ingredients like the 2 onions; Page 504 - Fig 3a) and a directional arrow pointing from the second demarcated ingredient section to an action step associated with the second demarcated ingredient section (There can be + signs used between demarcated sections, but there can also be arrows pointing to demarcated sections and steps associated with those demarcated sections; Page 504 - Fig 3a). Tee does not explicitly disclose the ingredient section includes a first color-coded measurement.
However, Catalano teaches the ingredient section includes a first color-coded measurement (measurements can be color coded; Page 8 - Color-coding Utensils).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Tee to implement the teachings of Catalano to help the disabled/impaired user to process the educational material in a better way by assigning color specific steps or instructions.
Conclusion
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/JOSE ANGELES/Examiner, Art Unit 3715
/DMITRY SUHOL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3715