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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 8/19/2025 has been entered. Claims 9 and 10 have been added. Claim 4 has been cancelled. Claims 1-3, and 5-10 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome the objections noted in the previous office action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed with the Amendment have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that:
However, Lee does not explicitly disclose or suggest all of "the circuitry is configured to display one of the reproduction apparatuses included in the group as a master device in a distinguishable manner, and when an icon image representing the master device is selected and moved to a position outside of the group image, the circuitry displays an image indicating that the group is disbanded," a required by amended Claim 1.
Reimann is directed to methods and apparatus to manage zones of a multi-zone media playback system are disclosed. However, Reimann fails to explicitly disclose or suggest all of "the circuitry is configured to display one of the reproduction apparatuses included in the group as a master device in a distinguishable manner, and when an icon image representing the master device is selected and moved to a position outside of the group image, the circuitry displays an image indicating that the group is disbanded," a required by amended Claim 1.
The Examiner cannot concur with the Applicant. As outlined below, Lee discloses a master device (Lee, ¶0120, ¶0135-¶0136), and Reimann discloses disbanding the group when a device (including the master device of Lee) is removed by dragging outside of the group (Reimann, Fig. 12 with ¶0096).
Prior Art
Listed herein below are the prior art references relied upon in this Office Action:
Lee et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2016/0253145), referred to as Lee herein [cited on Applicant’s IDS dated 5/31/2023].
Reimann et al. (US Application Publication 2013/0080955), referred to as Reimann herein [cited on Applicant’s IDS dated 5/31/2023].
Deceptively Blonde (Fix for Windows 8.1 Wifi not Working, https://deceptivelyblonde.com/2014/07/04/fix-for-windows-8-1-wifi-not-working/), referred to as Deceptively Blonde herein [previously cited].
So et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2016/0092072), referred to as So herein.
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, 3, 5-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Reimann.
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses an information processing apparatus, comprising (Lee, Fig. 4 with ¶0062, ¶0085-¶0086 and ¶0095 – mobile devices Element 100 includes a processor executing software instructions stored in memory):
circuitry configured to detect whether or not each of a plurality of reproduction apparatuses constitutes a group related to reproduction of content (Lee, Fig. 3 with ¶0021-¶0026 – speakers and multiple separate electronic devices may form local network and are separate from each other. Fig. 9 with ¶0117 – speakers are grouped according to received input. The mobile device is not part of the speaker group. Fig. 2 with ¶0122-¶0124 and ¶0135 – grouping detected speakers for coordinated music reproduction),
each of the plurality of reproduction apparatuses being connected to a network, each of the plurality of reproduction apparatuses being capable of reproducing the content (Lee, Fig. 3 with ¶0021-¶0026 – speakers and electronic devices may form local network. Fig. 2 with ¶0122-¶0124 and ¶0135 – grouping speakers for coordinated music reproduction);
control at least one icon image related to the constitution of the group; accept a user operation to the at least one icon image related to the constitution of the group; transmit an instruction to each of the reproduction apparatus in the group based on the user operation (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons. The controller controls the speakers to reproduce the same music. ¶0121, ¶0127, ¶0157 – transmitted control signal):
wherein, the circuitry is configured to display each icon image respectively corresponding to the plurality of reproduction apparatuses in the group in a group state image (Lee, Figs. 7-9 with ¶0109-¶0118 – speakers capable of being constituted in the group are indicated by respective speaker icons),
in a case where the group is being constituted, an icon image is configured to be moved by a user operation, and a group image corresponding to the group is displayed in the group state image (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons. The controller controls the speakers to reproduce the same music. In Fig. 10, the icon corresponding to the speaker named “Clara Room” is moved upward to join the created group), and
the circuitry is configured to display one of the reproduction apparatuses included in the group as a master device in a distinguishable manner, and when an icon image representing the master device
However, Lee appears not to expressly disclose the limitations shown in strikethrough above. However, in the same field of endeavor, Reimann teaches a method of configuring zones for systems that perform media playback (Reimann, Abstract)
when an icon image representing the device is selected and moved to a position outside of the group image, the circuitry displays an image indicating that the group is disbanded (Reimann, Fig. 12 with ¶0096 – removing a zone from the group by dragging the zone to a non-group location. Removing a zone from a zone group with two zones results in at least the group of two zones being disbanded. Removing a zone from a zone group with three zones results in the group of three zones being disbanded and replaced with a group of two zones).
Therefore, 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 group modification of Lee as modified, to include dragging to remove devices from the group based on the teachings of Reimann. The motivation for doing so would have been to enable users to more quickly and effectively modify existing groups using simple gestural commands (Reimann, ¶0079).
Regarding claim 3, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above, and further discloses wherein in a case where a destination group is dissolved, an icon image corresponding to a reproduction apparatus in the destination group is moved by the user operation away from the group state image of the destination group, and the displayed group stated image corresponding to the destination group is changed (Reimann, Fig. 12 with ¶0096 – removing a zone from the group by dragging the zone to a non-group location).
Therefore, 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 group modification of Lee as modified, to include dragging to remove devices from the group based on the teachings of Reimann. The motivation for doing so would have been to enable users to more quickly and effectively modify existing groups using simple gestural commands (Reimann, ¶0079).
Regarding claim 5, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 3 above, and further discloses wherein icon images that are in a group are displayed differently from icon images that are not in group (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons).
Regarding claim 6, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 5 above, and further discloses wherein the icon images that are not in a group are displayed emphatically (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons. In Figs. 10 and 11, the non-group icons are displayed with emphasis by displaying them at the edge or outside of the group area. Additionally, ¶0131 – the non-group icons may be emphasized by displaying them in a different color or without connection icons).
Regarding claim 7, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 5 above, and further discloses wherein a reproduction apparatus that is capable of being constituted in the group is displayed emphatically (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons. In Figs. 10 and 11, the non-group icons are displayed with emphasis by displaying them at the edge or outside of the group area. Additionally, ¶0131 – the non-group icons may be emphasized by displaying them in a different color or without connection icons).
Regarding claim 8, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above, and further discloses wherein the circuitry is configured to display an indicator that is configured to receive an input from the user to indicate whether a reproduction apparatus is capable of being constituted in a group (Lee, Figs. 7-9 with ¶0109-¶0118 – speakers capable of being constituted in the group are indicated by respective speaker icons. Initially it is determined whether each speaker is capable of being constituted in a group, and if so, the speaker is indicated in the interface. Reimann, Fig. 8 with ¶0062, ¶0081 – zone icons represent speakers capable of being grouped).
Regarding claim 9, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above, and further discloses wherein the circuitry, when an image representing a slave device, which is a reproduction apparatus other than the master device, is selected and moved to a position outside the group image by a user operation, displays an image indicating that the slave device has left the group (Reimann, Fig. 12 with ¶0096 – removing a zone from the group by dragging the zone to a non-group location. The zone is displayed at the new location outside of the group (image indicating that the slave device has left the group)).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Reimann in further view of Deceptively Blonde.
Regarding claim 2, Lee as modified discloses the limitations of claim 1 above, and further discloses
when the icon image in the group image for one of the reproduction apparatus that is constituted in the group is configured to be moved by the user operation, the respective icon image is deleted from the group and a size of the group image is automatically adjusted after the respective icon image is deleted from the group (Lee, Figs. 10-13 – grouped icons are sized automatically according to the number of items in the group. Smaller groups take up smaller areas on the screen. Reimann, Figs. 11-12 with ¶0094-¶0096 – Zone which is dragged out of a group area is removed from the group and can be dragged directly into another group or to a space between groups. Zone groupings are updated to reflect the change. Groups which have multiple zones are shown with a larger size), and
wherein in a case where a destination group is already established and a reproduction apparatus, which is a non-constitution apparatus currently not constituted in the destination group, which can be connected to the network is selected by a user operation of being added to the destination group, the selected non-constitution apparatus and one or more reproduction apparatuses included in the destination group are configured to newly constitute the destination group (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons. The controller controls the speakers to reproduce the same music. ¶0121, ¶0127, ¶0157 – transmitted control signal. Figs. 7-9 with ¶0109-¶0118 – speakers capable of being constituted in the group are indicated by respective speaker icons. Reimann, Fig. 11 with ¶0094 – Zone group which is dragged and dropped onto another zone group results in the combination of the zones in the zone groups. In the example, the “Patio” zone is being added to the group including the “Kitchen” and “Dining Room” zones. The new zone group is reconstituted to include the added zones).
However, Lee as modified appears not to expressly disclose the limitations in strikethrough above. However, in the same field of endeavor, Deceptively Blonde teaches computer interface icons for communication (Deceptively Blonde, Pages 2 and 3),
wherein the circuitry is configured to display an indicator indicating whether each reproduction apparatus is currently connected to the network (Deceptively Blonde, Pages 2 and 3 – Red X sub-icon represents network disconnection while a lack of the sub-icon indication is shown for connection. Additionally, a sub-icon is used to show the type of connection (e.g.: Bluetooth near field communication, Ethernet, or other wireless)).
Therefore, 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 the internet-connected devices of Lee to include an icon representing the availability of connectivity and connection type based on the teachings of Deceptively Blonde. The motivation for doing so would have been to alert users to specific device network connectivity issues to assist with problem diagnostics (Deceptively Blonde, Page 1).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Reimann in further view of So.
Regarding claim 10, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above, and further discloses wherein the group image includes a
However, Lee as modified appears not to expressly disclose the limitations in strikethrough above. However, in the same field of endeavor, So discloses speaker grouping (So, Abstract), including
wherein the group image includes a circle where each of the reproduction apparatuses in the group are displayed overlapping the circle prior to the group being disbanded, and when the group is disbanded the circle is removed (So, Fig. 6A with ¶0129-¶0131 – speakers are shown in circles. Grouped speakers can have overlapping circles. Fig. 5B and 6C with ¶0125-¶0126, ¶0138 – speakers are removed from the group when dragged away. Other group speakers remain in the same position).
Therefore, 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 group modification of Lee as modified, to include dragging overlapping circles to remove devices from the group based on the teachings of So. The motivation for doing so would have been to enable users to more quickly and effectively modify existing groups using simple gestural commands, and to more effectively convey speaker grouping through visual metaphor.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL W PARCHER whose telephone number is (303)297-4281. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 5:00pm, Mountain Time.
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/DANIEL W PARCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2174
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