Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 8/19/2025 has been entered. Claims 1, 2, 4, 11, and 12 have been amended. Claims 13-15 have been canceled. Claims 16-17 have been added. Claims 1-12 and 16-17 remain pending in the application.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS(s)) submitted on 05/21/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims have been considered but are moot in view of new ground of rejection. See rejections below for details.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 103
5. 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 of this title, 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.
6. Claims 1-2, 5, 8-9, 11-12, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamasaki (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 20150212726 A1) in view of Tseng et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 20110197158 A1).
Claim 1: Yamasaki teaches a method of responding to different gestures on a touch-sensitive delete key, the method comprising:
at an electronic device that includes a display (i.e. FIG. 1, a mobile terminal device 10 as an example of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an application LSI (Large-scale Integrated Circuit) 11, a touch panel 12, a display 13, ROM (Read-Only Memory) 14 and RAM (Random Access Memory) 15. In addition, the application LSI 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11a; para. [0017]) and a touch-sensitive delete key (i.e. fig. 5A, backspace key 31a; para. [0041]):
displaying a word that includes a series of characters and a cursor after a last character of the series of characters in a text-input area on the display (i.e. FIGS. 5A to 5D, the text editing software is started in the mobile terminal device 10 and the user uses the text editing software to generate intended text body. An character representation area 32 for displaying characters is displayed on the display 13. In addition, the software key is also started in the mobile terminal device 10, and a software keyboard 31 is displayed on the display 13. Further, since the user have used the software keyboard 31 to input characters "Good mornimq", the input characters are displayed in the character representation area 32. Moreover, a cursor 33 is displayed at the position following the input characters in the character representation area 32. It is noted that the cursor corresponds to an example of an indication unit; para. [0040]);
detecting a contact input on the touch-sensitive delete key (i.e. as illustrated in FIGS. 5A to 5D, the user deletes the last two characters "mq" from among the characters "Good mornimq" displayed in the character representation area 32 on the display 13. As illustrated in FIG. 5A, the user firstly touches the backspace key 31a of the software keyboard 31 with a finger 30; para. [0041]);
determining a contact input detection on the touch-sensitive delete key; in response to determining the contact input, (i) deleting the last character of the series of characters from the text-input area and continuing to display a remainder of the series of characters in the text-input area (i.e. figs. 5A-5D, when it is determined in S102 that the sliding operation starting from the BS key by the finger etc. of the user does not occur, the CPU 11a proceeds with the process to S109. In S109, the CPU 11a sends the BS code to the text editing software as in S107. When a series of processes in S101, S102 and S109 are performed, a character to the left of the cursor among the characters displayed on the display 13 is deleted in the text editing software. Since this process is similar to a conventional process for deleting a character when the BS key on the display is tapped, the detailed descriptions for this process is omitted here. When the CPU 11a sends the BS code to the text editing software in S109, the CPU 11a terminates the processes of the flowchart; para. [0035, 0044]) or
deleting the series of characters of the word from the text-input area (i.e. figs. 5A-5D, FIGS. 5A to 5D, the straight-line distance between the center of the backspace key 31a and the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 is referred to as sliding distance. In the character representation area 32, characters are selected as a target for deletion according to the sliding distance measured from the position of the cursor 33 as the starting point which is displayed when the user touches the backspace key 31a with the finger 30 (see FIG. 5A). The number of characters selected as the target for deletion increases with distance between the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 and the backspace key 31a when the user slides the finger 30 to the left from the backspace key 31a. Since the cursor 33 is used as the starting point for selecting characters, the user can move the cursor 33 to the intended position in the displayed characters and perform the sliding operation as described above to select a part of displayed characters as the target for deletion; para. [0042, 0043]).
Yamasaki does not explicitly teach determining whether an amount of time since a previous contact input detection on the key is greater than a threshold; in response to determining whether the amount of time since the previous contact input is greater than the threshold, (i) deleting the character or (ii) deleting the series of characters.
However, Tseng teaches determining whether an amount of time since a previous contact input (i.e. the previous key input (e.g., last key input of the delete key input); para. [0029]) detection on the touch-sensitive delete (i.e. The function key of the electronic device 100 is, for example, a delete key; para. [0022]) key (i.e. the determining module 120 subtracts the reception time of the previous key input from the reception time of the function key input, and then takes a difference between the two reception times as the time interval. After that, the determining module 120 compares the time interval with a time threshold so as to determine whether the function key input is inputted successively; para. [0026]) is greater than a threshold (i.e. When the time interval is longer than or equal to the time threshold, the determining module 120 determines that the function key input is not inputted successively. This means the input speed of the user is slowing down during the pressing of the function key indicating that the user means to press the function key. Accordingly in step 230, the determining module 120 controls the executing module 130 to execute the predetermined function of the function key. That is, the electronic device 100 is allowed to execute the predetermined function in this situation; para. [0027]); in response to determining whether the amount of time since the previous contact input is greater than the threshold (i.e. When the time interval is longer than or equal to the time threshold, the determining module 120 determines that the function key input is not inputted successively. This means the input speed of the user is slowing down during the pressing of the function key indicating that the user means to press the function key. Accordingly in step 230, the determining module 120 controls the executing module 130 to execute the predetermined function of the function key. That is, the electronic device 100 is allowed to execute the predetermined function in this situation; para. [0027]), (i) deleting the last character of the series of characters from the text-input area or (ii) deleting the series of characters of the word from the text-input area (i.e. the predetermined function corresponding to the delete key is deleting characters which have been inputted by the user; para. [0023]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yamasaki to include the feature of Tseng. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it improves handling of intended vs unintended delete operations in a software keyboard environment.
Claim 2: Yamasaki and Tseng teach the method of claim 1. Yamasaki further teaches wherein, after deleting the series of characters from the text-input area, the device continues to display in the text-input area a second series of characters, and the method further comprises: in response to a new swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive delete key, deleting the second series of characters from the text-input area (i.e. figs. 5A-5D, the straight-line distance between the center of the backspace key 31a and the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 is referred to as sliding distance. In the character representation area 32, characters are selected as a target for deletion according to the sliding distance measured from the position of the cursor 33 as the starting point which is displayed when the user touches the backspace key 31a with the finger 30 (see FIG. 5A). The number of characters selected as the target for deletion increases with distance between the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 and the backspace key 31a when the user slides the finger 30 to the left from the backspace key 31a; para. [0042-0044]).
Claim 5: Yamasaki and Tseng teach the method of claim 2. Yamasaki further teaches wherein, before deleting the second series of characters, the method comprises: displaying a visual indicator around the second series of characters to provide an indication that the second series of characters would be deleted from the text-input area after a new swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive delete key (i.e. figs. 5A-5D, the last characters "imq" from among the characters "Good mornimq" displayed in the character representation area 32 are selected as the target for deletion by the user's sliding operation as described above; para. [0042-0044]).
Claim 8: Yamasaki and Tseng teach the method of claim 2. Yamasaki further teaches wherein the series of characters and the second series of characters were added to the text-input area based on tap gestures over respective keys of a touch-sensitive keyboard (i.e. fig. 5, functions as the control unit 23 to control displaying characters on the display unit 21 based on the touch inputs detected by the detection unit 22; para. [0021]).
Claim 9: Yamasaki and Tseng teach the method of claim 1. Yamasaki further teaches wherein the touch-sensitive delete key is displayed on a touch-sensitive keyboard on the display (i.e. figs. 5A-5D, when it is determined in S102 that the sliding operation starting from the BS key by the finger etc. of the user does not occur, the CPU 11a proceeds with the process to S109. In S109, the CPU 11a sends the BS code to the text editing software as in S107. When a series of processes in S101, S102 and S109 are performed, a character to the left of the cursor among the characters displayed on the display 13 is deleted in the text editing software. Since this process is similar to a conventional process for deleting a character when the BS key on the display is tapped, the detailed descriptions for this process is omitted here. When the CPU 11a sends the BS code to the text editing software in S109, the CPU 11a terminates the processes of the flowchart; para. [0035, 0044]).
Claims 11 and 12 are similar in scope to Claim 1 and is rejected under a similar rationale.
Claim 16: Yamasaki and Tseng teach the method of claim 1. Yamasaki further teaches wherein the last character of the series of characters is deleted since the contact input (i.e. figs. 5A-5D, when it is determined in S102 that the sliding operation starting from the BS key by the finger etc. of the user does not occur, the CPU 11a proceeds with the process to S109. In S109, the CPU 11a sends the BS code to the text editing software as in S107. When a series of processes in S101, S102 and S109 are performed, a character to the left of the cursor among the characters displayed on the display 13 is deleted in the text editing software. Since this process is similar to a conventional process for deleting a character when the BS key on the display is tapped, the detailed descriptions for this process is omitted here. When the CPU 11a sends the BS code to the text editing software in S109, the CPU 11a terminates the processes of the flowchart; para. [0035, 0044]).
Yamasaki does not explicitly teach wherein the character is deleted when the amount of time since the previous contact input is greater than the threshold.
However, Tseng further teaches wherein the last character of the series of characters (i.e. the predetermined function corresponding to the delete key is deleting characters which have been inputted by the user; para. [0023]) is deleted when the amount of time since the previous contact input (i.e. the previous key input (e.g., last key input of the delete key input); para. [0029]) is greater than the threshold (i.e. When the time interval is longer than or equal to the time threshold, the determining module 120 determines that the function key input is not inputted successively. This means the input speed of the user is slowing down during the pressing of the function key indicating that the user means to press the function key. Accordingly in step 230, the determining module 120 controls the executing module 130 to execute the predetermined function of the function key. That is, the electronic device 100 is allowed to execute the predetermined function in this situation; para. [0027]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yamasaki to include the feature of Tseng. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it improves handling of intended vs unintended delete operations in a software keyboard environment.
7. Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamasaki in view of Tseng, and further in view of Lee et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 20140168120 A1).
Claim 3: Yamasaki and Tseng teach the method of claim 2. Yamasaki further teaches wherein: the new swipe gesture is received within an amount of time after a lift-off of a contact associated with the swipe gesture, and the deleting the second series of characters includes deleting the second series of characters at a same time (i.e. figs. 5A-5D, the straight-line distance between the center of the backspace key 31a and the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 is referred to as sliding distance. In the character representation area 32, characters are selected as a target for deletion according to the sliding distance measured from the position of the cursor 33 as the starting point which is displayed when the user touches the backspace key 31a with the finger 30 (see FIG. 5A). The number of characters selected as the target for deletion increases with distance between the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 and the backspace key 31a when the user slides the finger 30 to the left from the backspace key 31a; para. [0042-0044]).
Yamasaki does not explicitly teach the new gesture is received within a predetermined amount of time after a lift-off of a contact.
However, Lee teaches the new gesture is received within a predetermined amount of time after a lift-off of a contact (i.e. fig. 2, In step 204, it is determined whether one or more additional flick inputs (in the same direction) are generated within a predetermined reference time (for example, 400 ms). When the additional flick input is not generated within the reference time, the process proceeds to step 210, and when the additional flick input is generated within the reference time, the process proceeds to step 208; para. [0050]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Yamasaki and Tseng to include the feature of Lee. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it allows the list view to move to the topmost part or the bottommost part with a minimum operation.
8. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamasaki in view Tseng, Lee, and further in view of Martensson et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 20100333027 A1).
Claim 4: Yamasaki, Tseng, and Lee teach the method of claim 3. Yamasaki further teaches wherein: after deleting the second series of characters, the device continues to display a third series of characters in the text-input area (i.e. as illustrated in FIG. 5D, the user release the finger 30 from the touch panel 12 when the last two characters "mq" are selected as the target for deletion in the character representation area 32. As a result, a series of sliding operation as illustrated in FIGS. 5A to 5C are completed, and the last two characters "mq" selected as the target for deletion are deleted in the character representation area 32. In addition, the cursor 33 is displayed on the right hand of the last character "i" of the remaining characters "Good morni". When the sliding operation as described above is completed and the characters as the target for deletion are deleted, the user can use the software keyboard to perform various character editing operations; para. [0044]), and the method further comprises: in response to an additional swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive delete key that is received after the amount of time from a lift-off of a contact associated with the new swipe gesture, deleting the third series of characters from the text-input area from the text-input area (i.e. figs. 5A-5D, the straight-line distance between the center of the backspace key 31a and the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 is referred to as sliding distance. In the character representation area 32, characters are selected as a target for deletion according to the sliding distance measured from the position of the cursor 33 as the starting point which is displayed when the user touches the backspace key 31a with the finger 30 (see FIG. 5A). The number of characters selected as the target for deletion increases with distance between the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 and the backspace key 31a when the user slides the finger 30 to the left from the backspace key 31a; para. [0042]).
Yamasaki does not explicitly teach an additional gesture that is received after the predetermined amount of time, deleting one character of the third series of characters from the text-input area before deleting the third series of characters from the text-input area.
Lee further teaches an additional swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive that is received after the predetermined amount of time from a lift-off of a contact associated with the new swipe gesture (i.e. fig. 2, In step 204, it is determined whether one or more additional flick inputs (in the same direction) are generated within a predetermined reference time (for example, 400 ms). When the additional flick input is not generated within the reference time, the process proceeds to step 210, and when the additional flick input is generated within the reference time, the process proceeds to step 208; para. [0050]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Yamasaki and Tseng to include the feature of Lee. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it allows the list view to move to the topmost part or the bottommost part with a minimum operation.
However, Martensson teaches wherein: in response to an additional gesture on the touch-sensitive delete key that is received after the amount of time from a lift-off of a contact associated with the new swipe gesture, deleting one character of the third series of characters from the text-input area before deleting the third series of characters from the text-input area (i.e. Additional functions may be implemented by the delete slider mechanism. For example, the delete slider mechanism may implement a repeating delete function. A repeating delete function may be activated in response to a "press and hold" action. If a user presses on the delete slider icon and maintains pressure for a particular period of time, a repeating delete action may be activated. The particular period of time may be 2 seconds, 3 seconds, or another period of time. The particular period of time may be configurable by the user. As the user maintains pressure on the delete slider icon, characters may be deleted sequentially, one at a time. When the user releases pressure from the delete slider icon, the delete slider mechanism may stop deleting characters; para. [0095]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Yamasaki and Tseng to include the feature of Martensson. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it provides more intuitive and efficient way for users to delete multiple sections of text without having to perform multiple separate delete actions.
9. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamasaki in view of Tseng, and further in view of Martensson et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 20100333027 A1).
Claim 6: Yamasaki and Tseng teach the method of claim 1. Yamasaki further teaches comprising: in response to a gesture on the touch-sensitive delete key, deleting two or more separate series of characters from the text-input area (i.e. figs. 5A-5D, the straight-line distance between the center of the backspace key 31a and the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 is referred to as sliding distance. In the character representation area 32, characters are selected as a target for deletion according to the sliding distance measured from the position of the cursor 33 as the starting point which is displayed when the user touches the backspace key 31a with the finger 30 (see FIG. 5A). The number of characters selected as the target for deletion increases with distance between the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 and the backspace key 31a when the user slides the finger 30 to the left from the backspace key 31a; para. [0042-0044]).
Yamasaki does not explicitly teach comprising: in response to a press-and-hold gesture on the touch-sensitive delete key, deleting two or more separate series of characters from the text-input area, wherein the two or more separate series of characters are deleted from the text-input area at different points in time.
However, Martensson teaches comprising: in response to a press-and-hold gesture on the touch-sensitive delete key, deleting two or more separate series of characters from the text-input area, wherein the two or more separate series of characters are deleted from the text-input area at different points in time (i.e. Additional functions may be implemented by the delete slider mechanism. For example, the delete slider mechanism may implement a repeating delete function. A repeating delete function may be activated in response to a "press and hold" action. If a user presses on the delete slider icon and maintains pressure for a particular period of time, a repeating delete action may be activated. The particular period of time may be 2 seconds, 3 seconds, or another period of time. The particular period of time may be configurable by the user. As the user maintains pressure on the delete slider icon, characters may be deleted sequentially, one at a time. When the user releases pressure from the delete slider icon, the delete slider mechanism may stop deleting characters; para. [0095]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Yamasaki and Tseng to include the feature of Martensson. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it provides more intuitive and efficient way for users to delete multiple sections of text without having to perform multiple separate delete actions.
10. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamasaki in view of Tseng, and further in view of Bi (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 20160266790 A1).
Claim 7: Yamasaki and Tseng teach the method of claim 2. Yamasaki further teaches wherein the series of characters and the second series of characters were added to the text-input area based on a gesture in which a contact moves across multiple keys of a touch-sensitive keyboard (i.e. FIGS. 5A to 5D illustrates an example of the representation of characters displayed on the display 13 when the processes for deleting characters are performed in the present embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIGS. 5A to 5D, the text editing software is started in the mobile terminal device 10 and the user uses the text editing software to generate intended text body. An character representation area 32 for displaying characters is displayed on the display 13. In addition, the software key is also started in the mobile terminal device 10, and a software keyboard 31 is displayed on the display 13. Further, since the user have used the software keyboard 31 to input characters "Good mornimq", the input characters are displayed in the character representation area 32; para. [0040]).
Yamasaki does not explicitly teach a continuous-path gesture.
However, Bi teaches wherein the series of characters and the second series of characters were added to the text-input area based on a continuous-path gesture in which a continuous contact moves across multiple keys of a touch-sensitive keyboard (i.e. FIGS. 1A, 1B, based on the sequence of motion events indicating locations 22A, 22B, 22C, and 22D, keyboard module 10 may determine a first candidate string, “thus,” a second candidate string, “this,” and a third candidate string, “this′d.” In other words, responsive to receiving gesture portion 20A, computing device 2 may determine that the user intended to input one or more of “thus,” “this,” or “this'd.”; para. [0033]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Yamasaki and Tseng to include the feature of Bi. One would have been motivated to make this modification because the continuous-path-gesture can improve typing speed and user convenience, especially on touch-sensitive devices.
11. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamasaki in view of Tseng, and further in view of Kim et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 20190042066 A1).
Claim 10: Yamasaki and Tseng teach the method of claim 1. Yamasaki does not explicitly teach wherein the touch-sensitive delete key is displayed on a touch-sensitive secondary display that is separate from the display of the electronic device.
However, Kim teaches wherein the touch-sensitive delete key is displayed on a touch-sensitive secondary display that is separate from the display of the electronic device (i.e. fig. 5, the electronic device 501 may display, through at least a portion (e.g., the display area 514) of the second display 512, a virtual input tool (e.g., a virtual keyboard 520 or gamepad 540) for an application (e.g., a chat program 510 or game 530) or function displayed through, e.g., the first display 502; para. [0104]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Yamasaki and Tseng to include the feature of Kim. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it improves user interaction by providing dedicated space for specific functions like the delete key.
12. Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamasaki in view of Tseng, and further in view of Missig et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 20170038856 A1).
Claim 17: Yamasaki and Tseng teach the method of claim 1. Yamasaki further teaches wherein the series of characters of the word is deleted since the contact input (i.e. figs. 5A-5D, FIGS. 5A to 5D, the straight-line distance between the center of the backspace key 31a and the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 is referred to as sliding distance. In the character representation area 32, characters are selected as a target for deletion according to the sliding distance measured from the position of the cursor 33 as the starting point which is displayed when the user touches the backspace key 31a with the finger 30 (see FIG. 5A). The number of characters selected as the target for deletion increases with distance between the touch position of the finger 30 on the touch panel 12 and the backspace key 31a when the user slides the finger 30 to the left from the backspace key 31a. Since the cursor 33 is used as the starting point for selecting characters, the user can move the cursor 33 to the intended position in the displayed characters and perform the sliding operation as described above to select a part of displayed characters as the target for deletion; para. [0042, 0043]).
Yamasaki does not explicitly teach wherein the character is deleted when the amount of time since the previous contact input is less than the threshold.
However, Missig teaches wherein the series of characters of the word is deleted (i.e. the first operation and the second operation are cursor movement operations or character deletion operations. In some embodiments, the plurality of discrete inputs includes a plurality of activations of a key of a physical keyboard that is in communication with the device. In some embodiments, the display is a touch-sensitive display and the plurality of discrete inputs includes a plurality of contacts at a location of a virtual key on a virtual keyboard; para. [0232]) when the amount of time since the previous contact input is less than the threshold (i.e. the output-acceleration criteria include a criterion that is met when a duration of time between the first input and the second input is less than a predetermined threshold; para. [0233]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Yamasaki and Tseng to include the feature of Missig. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it enabling a user to control the magnitude of operations faster and more efficiently conserves power and increases the time between battery charges.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Kataoka et al. (Pub. No. US 20130067411 A1), a user may provide a touch gesture with an input unit to select a delete key of a graphical keyboard displayed by display 4. The user may provide multiple touch gestures at or near the delete key by quickly tapping the delete key with the input unit to indicate an increased rate of execution of the delete function. Gesture determination module 20 may determine that a rate gesture has been received when gesture determination module 20 receives one or more signals indicating that multiple touch gestures have been received at or near the selected icon on display 4 within a threshold amount of time.
It is noted that any citation to specific pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the references should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33, 216 U.S.P.Q. 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006, 1009, 158 U.S.P.Q. 275, 277 (C.C.P.A. 1968)).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAN TRAN whose telephone number is (303)297-4266. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday - 8:00 am - 5:00 pm MT.
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/TAN H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2141