Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 18, 2026
Application No. 18/371,253

SPLIT SCREEN APPLICATION MATCHING METHOD OF TERMINAL, APPARATUS, ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Sep 21, 2023
Examiner
SHIH, HAOSHIAN
Art Unit
2179
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
2 (Final)
69%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
3y 5m
To Grant
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 69% — above average
69%
Career Allow Rate
375 granted / 545 resolved
+13.8% vs TC avg
Strong +21% interview lift
Without
With
+21.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 5m
Avg Prosecution
20 currently pending
Career history
565
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.5%
-34.5% vs TC avg
§103
53.1%
+13.1% vs TC avg
§102
17.7%
-22.3% vs TC avg
§112
15.5%
-24.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 545 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . DETAILED ACTION Claims 1-18 are pending in this application and have been examined in response to application filed on 09/21/2023. FOREIGN APPLICATIONS: CHINA 202211152788.9 09/21/2022 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. Claims 1, 8-9 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by MAO et al. (US 2024/0152269 A1) in view of Luo et al. (2022/0253212 A1). As to INDEPENDENT claim 1, Mao discloses a split screen application matching method of a terminal, comprising: acquiring feature information associated with a first application, based on receiving a split screen instruction ([0028], [0129]; features associated with a first application are extracted to determine possible application pairs when the screen is unfolded). determining a candidate application list using an artificial intelligence model based on the feature information, wherein the artificial intelligence model comprises a feature extraction model and a deep learning model, and the candidate application list comprises at least one candidate second application ([0119]-[0123];application features are extracted and stored by an awareness module, the features are analyzed by a learning module to determine application pair candidates); and displaying the first application in a first split screen area of the terminal, and displaying the candidate application list in a second split screen area of the terminal (fig.2A, fig.2B; [0082]; [0124]; the candidate applications are displayed on a second area of the screen). Mao does not expressly disclose wherein the feature information associated with the first application comprises identification information indicating installed applications that are installed in the terminal at a time at which the first application is used. In the same field of endeavor, Luo discloses wherein the feature information associated with the first application comprises identification information indicating installed applications that are installed in the terminal at a time at which the first application is used ([0010], [0025], [0026]; a list installed applications are used to determine pairing candidates). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teaching of Mao and Luo before him prior to the effective filling date, to modify the split screen application pairing interface taught by Mao to include obtaining a list installed applications taught by Luo with the motivation being to providing application pairings with based on availabilities. As to claim 8, the prior art as combined discloses displaying at least one of a default application list and a currently-used application list in the second split screen area (Mao, [0159], [0160]; a currently used application list is displayed). As to INDEPENDENT claim 9, see rationale addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above. As to claim 16, see rationale addressed in the rejection of claim 8 above. As to INDEPENDENT claim 17, see rationale addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above. As to INDEPENDENT claim 18, see rationale addressed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Claims 6 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mao-Luo and in view of Wang et al. (“App2Vec: Context-Aware Application Usage prediction”). As to claim 6, the prior art as combined discloses a plurality of real behavior sequences corresponding to each user from among a plurality of users (Mao, [0224]; multiple user behaviors are recorded); wherein each of the plurality of real behavior sequences comprise at least two applications which are used sequentially in a real scene (Mao, [0120]; sequential application usage information is tracked). Mao does not expressly disclose wherein based on the feature extraction model being an App2Vec model, the App2Vec model is obtained… In the same field of endeavor, Wang discloses an App2Vec model (pg.1, abstract; App2Vec model is used to represent app usage traces). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teaching of Mao and Wang before him prior to the effective filling date, to modify the split screen application pairing interface taught by Mao to include App2Vec model taught by Wang with the motivation being to provide a more powerful and accurate application usage prediction model (Wang, pg.1, abstract). As to claim 14, see rationale addressed in the rejection of claim 8 above. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 9, 17 and 18 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. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-5, 7, 10-13 and 15 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. 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 HAOSHIAN SHIH whose telephone number is (571)270-1257. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00. 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, FRED EHICHIOYA can be reached at (571) 272-4034. 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. /HAOSHIAN SHIH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2179
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 21, 2023
Application Filed
Sep 20, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Dec 01, 2025
Interview Requested
Dec 02, 2025
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Dec 02, 2025
Examiner Interview Summary
Dec 24, 2025
Response Filed
Jan 22, 2026
Final Rejection — §103
Mar 26, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Apr 01, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
69%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (+21.0%)
3y 5m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 545 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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