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 .
Status of Claims
This action is in response to the application as filed on July 14, 2023. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 14, 2023 is not in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.97 &1.98. Accordingly, only the non-lined through items in the IDS have been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
¶21 reads “FIG. 10A is a diagram illsutrating a screen displaying the user's biometric information and the user's workout state when a home gym service is provided according to various embodiments. This should read -- FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating a screen displaying the user's biometric--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 3, 4, 6-8, 10, 12, 17, and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “configured a training program screen.” This should read --configure a training program screen--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 1, 3, and 4 recites “based on the workout-related content being executed.” Typically content isn’t executed (e.g., as instructions are) but rather is accessed, presented, or played. As a result, it is unclear what it means to “execute” content within in the claim. For purposes of examination this is interpreted as playing content, such as a video file or portion thereof. Appropriate correction and/or clarification is required.
Claim 6 recites “acquire biometric information of a user measured using the wearable device from the wearable device.” It is unclear if the user and the acquired biometric information of recited in claim 6 are different than or the same as the user and biometric information of claim 5. Appropriate correction and/or clarification is required.
With regard to claim 7, it is unclear if the user's biometric information is the biometric information acquired by the processor or the biometric information acquired by the user device. Appropriate correction and/or clarification is required.
Claim 8 recites “acquires the user's workout image.” This should read --acquire the user's workout image. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 10 recites “acquire each user's messenger information.” Similarly, claim 19 recites “acquiring messenger information of each user.” Each user implies there is more than one user in the claims; however, the claim only recites a single user making the use of “each” in the context of the claim confusing. Appropriate correction and/or clarification is required.
Claim 12 recites “identifying whether workout-related content has been executed.” Appropriate correction and/or clarification is required. Typically content isn’t executed (e.g., as instructions are) but rather is accessed, presented, or played. As a result, it is unclear what it means to “execute” content within in the context of the claim. For purposes of examination this is interpreted as playing content, such as a video file or portion thereof. Appropriate correction and/or clarification is required.
Claim 17 recites “acquiring a workout image of the user;” however, it is unclear whether this image is the same as or different than the workout image taken by the camera module. Appropriate correction and/or clarification is required.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
In re claim 1, the claim recites the limitations “the execution of the at least one app” at lines 7-8, and “the workout-related information” at line 15. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
In re claims 3 and 14, the claims recite the limitation “the execution of workout-related functions” at lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
In re claims 4 and 15, the claims recite the limitation “the playback of work-out related content” at line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
In re claim 5, the claim recites the limitation “the workout related information” at line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The claim also recites “wherein the at least one external electronic device comprises: a wearable device configured to acquire a user's biometric information and a display device including a display configured to display a user's workout image, and the workout-related information comprises the user's biometric information and the user's workout image.” It is unclear whether the wearable device and the display device are each separate external electronic devices or whether the wearable device is the external electronic device and that the wearable device includes a display. Based on Fig. 4 and the specification, the wearable device does not include a display and the wearable device 310 and the display device 320 are shown as separate external devices. Therefore, for purposes of examination, the claim is construed to mean the wearable device and the display device are each separate external electronic devices.
In re claim 11, the claim recites the limitation “the mirroring app” at line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. In addition, the claim further recites “based on at least one workout-related information acquired from the at least one external electronic device.” It is unclear whether “the at least one workout information” is the same as or different than the workout-related information.
In re claim 12, the claim recites the limitations “the execution of at least one app stored in memory” at line 4 and “the workout-related information” at line 11. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
In re claim 19, the claim recites the limitation “the health management app” at line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is believed claim 19 should depend from claim 18, which would provide the antecedent.
Claims 2-11 and 13-20 depend from a rejected base claim, and therefore are rejected for at least the reasons provided for the base claim.
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR § 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-4, 9, 10, 12-15, 18, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. 2016/0381202 by Koo et al. (“Koo”) in view of US Publication No. 2018/0140900 by Kim et al. (“Kim I”).
In re claims 1 and 12, Koo disclose an electronic device [Figs. 1 and 2, shows device #101] and method [Figs. 5, 6, 8, and 10 show a method] comprising: a communication module comprising communication circuitry configured to communicate with at least one external electronic device [Fig. 1 shows communication module #170]; a memory for storing at least one app [Fig. 1 shows memory #130 storing apps ## 140, 147, 145]; and a processor operatively coupled to the communication module and the memory [Fig. 1 shows processor #120], wherein the processor is configured to: activate a workout management app stored in the memory [¶¶71-81 describe program module for executed by processor and apps 370 including health care (e.g., measuring exercise quantity)]; identify whether a workout-related content has been executed in response to the execution of the at least one app based on the activated workout management app [Fig. 5, ##550, 560 570 ¶¶73-81, 125, describe application, context information about what application is running in the foreground of an electronic device ( 410) and whether there is any content running is recognized (550), functions such as video playback, etc. are determined (560) and performed (570) on the basis of the context information, one of the determined functions can be selected by a user and performed]; make an automatic connection with the at least one external electronic device in response to an input on the object through the communication module; and control display through the at least one external electronic device [Figs 1, 5, 7 ##160, 710, ¶¶6, 81-86, 92, 102, among others, describe a processor (413) automatically establishes a connection with a docking device (450), and the electronic device (410) transmits a control command for performing a function to an external device (470) (580,590) and determines a "video output function" when device information indicates a display device].
Koo lacks, but Kim I teaches controlling display an object for execution of a training program through the workout management app based on the workout-related content being executed configured a training program screen in which the workout-related content and the workout-related information are integrated based on at least one workout-related information acquired from the at least one external electronic device [Figs, 6, 8, 11, ¶¶5-8, 37, 48-50, 52. 105-111, 173-175, among others, describe training program of mobile device to control display of workout content (e.g., a video showing a user how to do a squat) automatically progressing the exercising based on workout data/information from a wearable device. In addition, the content and remaining reps, are integrated on the display based on information received from the wearable device].
Koo and Kim I are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of application integration and control of external devices in a similarly configured processing system. 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 method and system of Koo and include controlling display an object for execution of a training program through the workout management app based on the workout-related content being executed configured a training program screen in which the workout-related content and the workout-related information are integrated based on at least one workout-related information acquired from the at least one external electronic device, as taught by Kim, in order to improve user experience when exercising, for example, automatically provide contents corresponding to the motion of a user, see, e.g., ¶¶5-7.
In re claims 2 and 13, Koo discloses, wherein the processor is configured to at least partially activate the workout management app in a background state [¶¶162-163, 184, among others, describe activating/management of applications 370 in a foreground and background states].
In re claims 3 and 14, Koo discloses context information about what application is running in the foreground of an electronic device (410) and whether there are is any content running is recognized (550); and the content that is running includes information about the running content according to the content type or data type (see ¶¶ 125 and 162-164). However, to the extent Koo lacks, Kim I teaches a processor is configured to: identify declaration information according to the execution of workout-related functions based on the workout management app, and identify that the workout-related contents have been executed based on the identified declaration information [Figs. 8 and 9B, ¶¶104-112, 141-166, among others identifying an exercise (squat) or information about an exercise (reps) (declaration information) and identify workout related content played (e.g., first and second sections) based on the workout data from the wearable device].
Koo and Kim I are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of application integration and control of external devices. 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 method and system of Koo and include a processor is configured to: identify declaration information according to the execution of workout-related functions based on the workout management app, and identify that the workout-related contents have been executed based on the identified declaration information, as taught by Kim I, in order to improve user experience when exercising, for example, automatically provide contents corresponding to the motion of a user, see, e.g., ¶¶5-7.
In re claims 4 and 15, Koo discloses context information about what application is running in the foreground of an electronic device (410) and whether there are is any content running is recognized (550); and the content that is running includes information about the running content according to the content type or data type (see ¶¶ 125 and 162-164). However, to the extent Koo lacks, Kim I teaches a processor is configured to: identify metadata according to the playback of work-out related content based on the workout management app, and identify that the workout-related contents have been executed based on the identified metadata [Figs. 8 and 9B, ¶¶104-112, 141-166, among others identifying an exercise (squat) or information about an exercise (reps) (meta data information) and identify workout related content played (e.g., first and second sections) based on the workout data from the wearable device].
Koo and Kim I are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of application integration and control of external devices. 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 method and system of Koo and include the processor configured to identify metadata according to the playback of work-out related content based on the workout management app, and identify that the workout-related contents have been executed based on the identified metadata, as taught by Kim I, in order to improve user experience when exercising, for example, automatically provide contents corresponding to the motion of a user, see, e.g., ¶¶5-7.
In re claims 9 and 18, Koo discloses the processor is configured to: activate a health management app for acquiring the at least one workout-related information; and at least partially control a wearable device included in the at least one external electronic device based on the health management app [Figs. 1-3, ¶¶8-10, 31, 45, 48, 59, 80-86, among others, describe activating apps 370 including a health management app (e.g., measuring exercise quantity or blood sugar level) to acquire data, for example, through a sensor module, and the device 101 controlling other devices 102/104 and receiving data therefrom, and that the electronic devices in include wearable devices].
In re claims 10 and 19, Koo in view of Kim teaches an electronic device communicating with a wearable device and executing a healthcare app and workout management app (see above). Koo further discloses the processor is configured to: perform inter-process communication (IPC) interworking between apps (e.g., a workout management app and the health management app); acquire each user's messenger information; and transmit a message between the apps (e.g., workout management app and the health management app) based on the acquired messenger information [Figs. 1 and 3, ¶¶36-39, 71, 72, 80, among others, describe a device management application can install, delete, or update a function of an external electronic device communicating with the electronic device or applications operating in the external electronic device; the applications (370) may include applications (a health care application of a mobile medical appliance) designated according to attributes of the external electronic device; a kernel (320) includes an inter-process communication (IPC) driver; and a bus (110) includes a circuit which interconnects components (110-170) and delivers communications (a control message or data) between the components].
Claims 5-8, 16, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Koo in view of Kim I and further in view of U.S. Publication No. 2013/0316316 by Flavel et al. (“Flavel”).
In re claims 5, Koo discloses wherein the at least one external electronic device comprises: a wearable device configured to acquire a user's biometric information and a display device including a display, and the workout-related information comprises the user's biometric information [Figs. 1-3, ¶¶, 8-10, 31,45,48,59, 80-86, 96, 165-166, among others, describe activating apps 370 including a health management app (e.g., measuring exercise quantity or blood sugar level) to acquire data, for example, through a sensor module, and the device 101 controlling other devices 102/104 and receiving data therefrom, and that the electronic devices in include wearable devices].
To the extent Koo lacks an explicit teaching that the biometric information is measured using a wearable device to provide workout information, Kim teaches a wearable sensor 401 for monitoring/measuring biometric information during a workout to control presentation of content on a display device configured to display workout content [Fig. 1, 11, ¶¶54-57, 68, 78, 84, 173-177].
Koo and Kim I are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of application integration and control of external devices. 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 method and system of Koo and include a wearable sensor for monitoring/measuring biometric information during a workout to control presentation of content on a display device configured to display workout content, as taught by Kim I, in order to improve user experience when exercising, for example, automatically provide contents corresponding to the motion of a user, see, e.g., ¶¶5-7.
Koo discloses the electronic device includes a camera module including at least one camera configured to photograph an image of the user [Figs. 1-3, show camera and camera module ##291, 376 ¶65]. However, Koo lacks an explicit teaching of a display configured to display a user's workout image and that the workout information is the user’s image.
Flavel teaches a display configured to display a user's workout image and that the workout information is the user’s image [Fig. 1 #130, 132, ¶¶47,125 describe a GUI 128 includes a user region 130, which displays a user representation 132 of the user 124. For example, the user region 130 can be a picture-in-picture (PIP) display that overlays a portion of the GUI 128. The user representation 132 is a likeliness of the user 124 that can be generated in a variety of ways. For example, the user representation 132 can be a real-time video image of the user 124, e.g., as captured by a video camera such as utilized by the NUI device 120].
Koo in view of Kim I and Flavel are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of workout/health application integration with devices/sensors for presenting workout content. 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 method and system of Koo and include a display configured to display a user's workout image and that the workout information is the user’s image, as taught by Flavel, in order to improve user experience when exercising, for example, augment visual aspects of exercise content to enhance an exercise experience automatically provide contents corresponding to the motion of a user in addition to allowing the user to compare their motion to that of an instructor, avatar, or ideal motion, see, e.g., ¶31,47.
In re claims 6, Koo discloses wherein the processor is configured to: acquire biometric information of a user measured using the wearable device from the wearable device [Figs. 1-3¶, 8-10, 31, 45, 48, 59, 80-86, among others, describe activating apps 370 including a health management app (e.g., measuring exercise quantity or blood sugar level) to acquire data, for example, through a sensor module, and the device 101 controlling other devices 102/104 and receiving data therefrom, and that the electronic devices in include wearable devices].
To the extent Koo lacks an explicit teaching that the biometric information is measured using a wearable device to provide workout information, Kim I teaches a wearable sensor 401 for monitoring/measuring biometric information during a workout to control presentation of content on a display device configured to display workout content [Fig. 1, 11, ¶¶54-57, 68, 78, 84, 173-177].
Koo and Kim I are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of application integration and control of external devices. 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 method and system of Koo and include a wearable sensor for monitoring/measuring biometric information during a workout to control presentation of content on a display device configured to display workout content, as taught by Kim I, in order to improve user experience when exercising, for example, automatically provide contents corresponding to the motion of a user, see, e.g., ¶¶5-7.
In re claims 7 and 16, Koo discloses the user's biometric information comprises at least one of a heart rate, a heart rate variability (HRV), a calorie consumption, an oxygen saturation (SpO2), a blood pressure (BP), a fatigue, a stress, a blood sugar, a body moisture, an electrocardiogram (ECG), an electrodermal activity (EDA), a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and a workout elapsed time for a user [¶¶59, 80 describe user biometric data, such as, an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor and blood sugar and quantity of exercise (e.g., workout time)].
In re claims 8 and 17, Koo discloses the electronic device includes a camera module including at least one camera configured to photograph an image of the user [Figs. 1-3, show camera and camera module ##291, 376 ¶65]. Koo lacks, but Flavel teaches controlling a camera module to photograph the user's workout scene in real time or according to specified time intervals using the camera module and acquires the user's workout image [Fig. 1 ## shows camera 120, 130, 132, ¶¶43, 47, 125 describe a real-time video image of the user 124 is captured by a video camera such as utilized by the NUI device 120 during workout of exercise routine].
Koo in view of Kim I and Flavel are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of workout/health application integration with devices/sensors for presenting workout content. 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 method and system of Koo and include controlling a camera module to photograph the user's workout scene in real time or according to specified time intervals using the camera module and acquires the user's workout image, as taught by Flavel, in order to improve user experience when exercising, for example, augment visual aspects of exercise content to enhance an exercise experience automatically provide contents corresponding to the motion of a user in addition to allowing the user to compare their motion to that of an instructor, avatar, or ideal motion, see, e.g., ¶31,47.
Claims 11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Koo in view of Kim I and further in view of Korean Publication No. KR 20130028504 by Kim et al. (“Kim II”).
In re claims 11 and 20, Koo in view of Kim I discloses, wherein the processor is configured to: activate the mirroring app to display the training program screen and at least partially control a display device included in the at least one external electronic device based on the mirroring app [Fig. 4, ¶204a user may be sufficiently satisfied with the usability of using a mirroring function to play video before the docking device (450) is connected, and thus the OS environment is set to mobile OS if the context information corresponds to "video"].
However, to the extent Koo in view of Kim I lacks explicitly activating a mirroring app to display and at least partially control a display device included in the at least one external electronic device based on the mirroring app, Kim II teaches a mirror app to control display of an external device [¶¶50-59 describe processing unit 230 mirrors screen of smart phone 200 transmits video data for screen output or audio data for speaker output to the auxiliary display apparatus 100 through the interface unit 210. The operation command transmission unit 243 transmits an auxiliary display device operation command to the auxiliary display device 100 through the wireless interface unit 220. Since screen control such as zooming, scrolling and brightness of the screen is performed in the smartphone 200 and only the screen reflecting the result is mirrored to the auxiliary display device 100].
Koo in view of Kim I and Kim II are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of application integration and control of external devices. 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 method and system of Koo and include activating a mirroring app to display and at least partially control a display device included in the at least one external electronic device based on the mirroring app, as taught by Kim II, in order to improve user experience when exercising, for example, by providing a larger interface display that is easier to see than a smaller smartphone of Kim I, see, e.g., ¶¶3-5.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and is listed on the attached Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Andrew Bodendorf whose telephone number is (571) 272-6152. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-5PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xuan Thai can be reached on (571) 272-7147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW BODENDORF/Examiner, Art Unit 3715
/XUAN M THAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3715