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 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/10/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-7, 10, and 13-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon et al. (US2020/03256900; hereinafter Kwon) in view of Xu (WO2020/118490A1).
Regarding claim 1:
Kwon discloses an electronic device (see Figs. 1-4 and 11) comprising:
a hinge device (see Fig. 3, hinge structure 264);
a first housing connected to the hinge device (see Fig. 3; housing 210);
a second housing connected to the hinge device to be foldable with respect to the first housing (see Fig. 3; housing 220);
a first display disposed on a first side of the first housing and a first side of the second housing (see Fig. 4; first display 420);
a second display disposed on a second side of the second housing opposite to the first side of the second housing (see Fig. 4B; second display 440);
a sensor circuit (see Fig. 1; sensor module 176); memory storing instructions (see Fig. 1; memory 130); and
a processor, (see Fig. 1, processor 120) wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to:
while the electronic device is in an unfolded state, display a first execution screen of a first application on a first area of the first display and a second execution screen of a second application on a second area of the first display (see Fig. 11A, step 1101; App B is displayed on at least a portion of a first area of the first display; App A is displayed on at least a portion of a second area of the first display), and
based on detecting that a state of the electronic device changes from the unfolded state to a folded state, display an execution screen of the first application on a first area of the second display and an execution screen of the second application on a second area of the second display (see Fig. 11A, step 1103; App B is displayed on a first area (represented by a circular area) of the second display and App A is displayed on a second area (represented by a circular area) of the second display).
Kwon does not disclose split the second display vertically into substantially two areas including a first area and a second area to display an execution screen of the first application on the first area of the second display and an execution screen of the second application on the second area of the second display.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Xu disclose an electronic device (see Figs. 1-2 and 6) comprising:
a memory storing instructions (see Fig. 1, memory 121); and
a processor (see Fig. 1, processor 110),
wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to split a second display vertically into substantially two areas including a first area and a second area to display an execution screen a first application on the first area of the second display and an execution screen of the second application on the second area of the second display (see Fig. 6b and page 19, lines 26-33; gallery application 670 is displayed in the first area of the second display and music application is displayed in the second area of the second display).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of Kwon and Xu such that based on detecting that a state of the electronic device changes from the unfolded state to a folded state, split the second display vertically into substantially two areas including a first area and a second area to display an execution screen of the first application on the first area of the second display and an execution screen of the second application on the second area of the second display.
The combination would have yielded a predictable result of displaying two applications in a top and bottom manner in order to present the applications simultaneously.
Regarding claim 2:
Kwon and Xu disclose all the features in claim 1. Kwon further discloses the electronic device, wherein the first area of the first display includes an area corresponding to the first side of the first housing, and the second area of the first display includes an area corresponding to the first side of the second housing (see Fig. 11A; screen 1112 is located on the first area of the first display on the first housing, and screen 1111 is located on the second area of the first display on the second housing), or
wherein the first area of the first display includes an area corresponding to a portion of the first side of the first housing and a portion of the first side of the second housing, and the second area of the first display includes an area corresponding to another portion of the first side of the first housing and another portion of the first side of the second housing, and
wherein the first area of the second display includes an upper area and the second area of the second display includes a lower area (see Fig. 11A; screen 1122 is in an upper area, and screen 1121 is in a lower area).
Regarding claim 3:
Kwon and Xu disclose all the features in claim 2. Kwon further discloses the electronic device, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to:
detecting the changing from the unfolded state to the folded state, identify at least one of characteristics of the second display which is activated, attribute information related to each of the first application and the second application, or history information related to each of the first application and the second application (see paragraphs [0153]-[0155]), and
display, on the second display, the execution screen of the first application and the execution screen of the second application based on the identified at least one of the characteristics of the second display which is activated, the attribute information related to each of the first application and the second application, or the history information related to each of the first application and the second application (see Fig. 11 and paragraphs [0156]-[0158]),
wherein the characteristics of the second display which has been activated comprise at least one of a number of multiple windows or a form of a layout supported by the second display according to at least one of a resolution, a ratio, or a size of the second display (see paragraph [0155]; the system detects the characteristic of the second display such as the size or resolution in order to carry out the priority assignment of the application).
Regarding claim 4:
Kwon and Xu disclose all the features in claim 3. Kwon further discloses the electronic device, wherein the attribute information related to each of the first application and the second application comprises at least one of category information of each of the first application and the second application, information on an area in which an execution screen of each of the first application and the second application is arranged on the first display or the second display, or information on whether an input interface has been used (see paragraphs [0157]-[0159]).
Regarding claim 5:
Kwon and Xu disclose all the features in claim 3. Kwon further discloses the electronic device, wherein the history information related to each of the first application and the second application comprises at least one of information on a number of times of executions of each of the first application and the second application, information on an execution time of each of the first application and the second application, information on a number of times a user input has been detected on each execution screen, information on whether an application has been recently used, or information on a priority of each of the first application and the second application (see paragraph [0159]).
Regarding claim 6:
Kwon and Xu disclose all the features in claim 3. Kwon further discloses the electronic device, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to:
based on the identified at least one of the characteristics of the second display which is activated, the attribute information related to each of the first application and the second application, or the history information, determine at least one of a number of areas, sizes of areas, or an arrangement of areas of the second display or the first display for displaying an execution screen of each of the first application and the second application in the changed folded state(see paragraph [0155]; the system detects the characteristic of the second display such as the size or resolution in order to carry out the priority assignment of the application), and
based on at least one of the number of areas, the sizes of areas, or the arrangement of areas, display the execution screen of the first application on the first area of the second display and the execution screen of the second application on the second area of the second display (see Fig. 11A, step 1103).
Regarding claim 7:
Kwon and Xu disclose all the features in claim 1. Kwon further discloses the electronic device, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to:
after the changing from the unfolded state to the folded state, without a user input, and display the execution screen of the first application on the first area of the second display and the execution screen of the second application on the second area of the second display (see Fig. 11A, step 1103), or
after the changing from the folded state to the unfolded state, without the user input, and display the first execution screen on the first area of the first display and the second execution screen on the second area of the first display (see Fig. 11B, step 1157).
Regarding claim 10:
Kwon and Xu disclose all the features in claim 3. Kwon further discloses the electronic device, deactivating the first display and activating the second display based on detecting that the state of the electronic device changes from the unfolded state to the folded state (see paragraphs [0125]-[0126]), and deactivating the second display and activating the first display based on detecting that the state of the electronic device changes from the folded state to the unfolded state (see paragraph [0255] and Fig. 11B, step 1157).
Regarding claims 13 and 14:
Claims 13 and 14 recite similar limitations as in claims 1 and 3. Hence, claims 13 and 14 are rejected under the same reasons as discussed above in claims 1 and 3, respectively.
Regarding claim 15:
Claim 15 recites similar limitations as in claims 3-5. Hence, claim 15 is rejected under the same reasons as discussed above in claims 3-5.
Regarding claims 16 and 17:
Claims 16 and 17recite similar limitations as in claim 6 and 7. Hence, claims 16 and 17 are rejected under the same reasons as discussed above in claims 6 and 7, respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9, 11, 12, and 18-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
In regards to claim 8, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the electronic device of claim 3, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to: detect a reception of a notification while displaying the first execution screen and the second execution screen on the first display in the unfolded state, in response to detecting an input selecting the notification, identify at least one of the characteristics of the first display, the attribute information related to each of the first application and the second application, or the history information, and display, based on the identified at least one of the characteristics of the first display, the execution screen of the first application, the execution screen of the second application, and an execution screen of a third application corresponding to the notification on the first display.
In regards to claim 9, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the electronic device of claim 3, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to: detect a reception of a notification while displaying the execution screen of the first application and the execution screen of the second application on the second display in the folded state, in response to the sensor circuit detecting the changing from the folded state to the unfolded state, identify at least one of the characteristics of the first display which is activated, the attribute information related to each of the first application and the second application, or the history information, and display, based on the identified at least one of the characteristics of the first display which is activated, the first execution screen, the second execution screen, and an execution screen of a third application corresponding to the notification on the first display.
In regards to claim 11, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the electronic device of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to: based on detecting a designated input while displaying the first execution screen and the second execution screen on the first display in the unfolded state, display, in a partial area of the first display, at least one item in a first form, the at least one item indicating a layout related to an arrangement of the first execution screen and the second execution screen in the unfolded state, and based on the sensor circuit detecting the changing from the unfolded state to the folded state, change the at least one item displayed in the first form to a second form indicating a layout in the folded state and display the at least one item in the second form in a partial area of the second display.
In regards to claim 12, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least one item displayed in the first form comprises at least one of at least one item indicating a layout produced by a user or at least one item indicating a layout configured based on the identified at least one of characteristics of the second display or the first display which is activated, attribute information related to each of the first application and the second application, or history information.
Claims 18-20 recite similar limitations as in claims 8, 9 and 11, respectively. Hence, claims 18-20 are objected under the same reasons.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 13 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 LIXI CHOW SIMPSON whose telephone number is (571)272-7571. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:00am-3:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Boddie can be reached at 517-272-0666. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/LIXI C SIMPSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625
Prosecution Insights