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
This communication is responsive to the application filed on 02/08/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application. This action is made non-final.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been placed in file.
Foreign Priority
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e). Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Step 1: Statutory Category
Claim 1 is directed to a process (method) and therefore falls within a statutory category of §101.
Step 2A, Prong 1: Does the claim recite an abstract idea?
Yes.
Claim 1 recites, in substance:
Displaying a plurality of items on a display screen,
Each item having an individual display and position,
Receiving a user selection of a desired item, and
Displaying the individual display of the selected item together with the current display at a position relative to the selected item.
These limitations describe organizing, presenting, and updating information for display in response to user input. The claim recites limitations which can be performed by a human mentally or with pen and paper and are implemented here on a generic display device.
Step 2A, Prong 2: Is the claim integrated into a practical application?
No.
The additional elements in the claim, such as:
“display screen,” and
“user operation”
are generic computer and display components performing their ordinary functions of displaying information and receiving input.
The claim does not:
Improve the functioning of a computer or display device,
Apply the abstract idea in any meaningful way beyond generic computer implementation.
Therefore, the claim does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
Step 2B: Does the claim recite significantly more than the abstract idea?
No.
The additional elements amount to no more than:
Generic display hardware, and
Conventional user input and display operations.
These elements do not add an inventive concept that transforms the abstract idea into patent-eligible subject matter. Accordingly, the claim merely amounts to applying the abstract idea using generic computer components, which is insufficient to provide an inventive concept.
Conclusion
Claims 1-20 are therefore directed to an abstract idea.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 7, and 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (US 2015/0026726).
Re claims 1 and 20, Lee teaches a display device (fig. 1, display system) comprising:
a display screen (figs. 1-2, display unit 110); and
control circuitry configured to display a current display including a plurality of items on the display screen, each individual one of the plurality of items located at an individual display position in the current display and each individual one of the plurality of items having an individual display (figs. 5A, displaying a plurality of selectable icons wherein each icon is located at a predetermined position being able to display its own functionality); and
in a case where a desired item is selected by a user operation from the plurality of displayed items, the individual display of the selected item is displayed, together with the current display, the individual display being displayed at a display position relative to the individual display position of the selected item (figs. 5B-C and [0115]-[0118], when a certain icon is selected, it will display its own information accordingly).
Re claim 2, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated. Lee teaches in which in a case where the selected item is displaying an active display corresponding to an active item serving as a currently selected item, the circuitry displays the selected display at the position relative to the display position of the selected item on the basis of a display position of the active item (figs. 5B-C, based on the selection of an icon, display its content accordingly on the screen which also displays the selected icon).
Re claim 3, the rejection of claim 2 is incorporated. Lee teaches in which the control circuitry displays the active display in a second different from a first region in which the selected display is displayed (figs. 5A-5C, displaying the selected icon along with the content at different location on the screen).
Re claim 7, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated. Lee teaches in which the plurality of items is displayed on a predetermined menu screen (figs. 5A-5C, a plurality of icons are displayed at the predetermined location on the screen).
Re claim 12, the rejection of claim 2 is incorporated. Lee teaches in which in a case where a plurality of pairs of the active items and the active display exists, the control circuitry performs display so that a positional relationship between each active item and the corresponding active display is identifiable (figs. 5A-5C, plurality of icons and its content can be seen on the display once the icon is selected).
Re claim 13, the rejection of claim 12 is incorporated. Lee teaches in which the control circuitry displays association information in which each active item and the corresponding active display are associated with each other (figs. 5B-C, once the icon is selected, its content will be displayed accordingly on the screen).
Re claim 14, the rejection of claim 12 is incorporated. Lee teaches in which in a case where the active item goes off a display, the control circuitry displays at least a part of the active item on the display (figs. 5B-C, icons can be seen displayed at the bottom of the screen while its content is displayed in the middle region of the screen when a certain icon is selected).
Re claim 15, the rejection of claim 2 in which:
the user operation includes an operation corresponding to a common function related to the entire device and an operation corresponding to a unique function related to the active display (figs. 5B-C, each displayed icon carries its own functionality); and
the control unit controls the active display in a case where the operation corresponding to the unique function is performed (fig. 5C, when the “playback” icon is selected, it can be seen that a plurality of selection is displayed for user to choose from. In this case, the selected icon provides a list of options for user to select such as: fast forward, stop, play, pause).
Re claim 16, the rejection of claim 1 in which the user operation includes an operation on arrow buttons provided in a remote control (fig. 5C and [0012], remote controller).
Re claim 17, the rejection of claim 1 in which the display screen displays an image of content (figs. 5B-C, displaying content once an icon is selected).
Re claim 18, the rejection of claim 2 in which:
the active display displays an image of first content (fig. 5A, displaying a content for channel); and
the selected display displays an image of second content different from the first content (fig. 5B, when user selects the “Numbers” icon, it will then display the content accordingly wherein a list of numbers are provided on the screen).
Re claim 19, the rejection of claim 17 in which:
the content includes broadcast content (fig. 6E, displaying social media such as Youtube, Blockbuster, Vudu); and
the display device serves as a television receiver including the display screen unit that displays images of the content and a speaker that outputs sound of the content (fig. 7D, displaying media content wherein the sound volume can be seen disabled).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 and 8-11 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 set forth in this action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record on form PTO-892 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicant is required under 37 C.F.R. § 1.111 ( c ) to consider these references fully when responding to this action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TOAN H VU whose telephone number is (571)270-3482. The examiner can normally be reached on PHP 9-5:30 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephen Hong can be reached on 571-274124. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TOAN H VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2178
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