Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/460,416

IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, APPARATUS, AND DEVICE, STORAGE MEDIUM, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Sep 01, 2023
Examiner
BURKE, TIONNA M
Art Unit
2178
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
54%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
4y 9m
To Grant
73%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 54% of resolved cases
54%
Career Allow Rate
233 granted / 431 resolved
-0.9% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+19.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
4y 9m
Avg Prosecution
46 currently pending
Career history
477
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
11.0%
-29.0% vs TC avg
§103
60.1%
+20.1% vs TC avg
§102
18.1%
-21.9% vs TC avg
§112
7.5%
-32.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 431 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/6/23 and 7/24/24 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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, 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xiao et al., United States Patent Publication 2013/0205202 (hereinafter “Xiao”). Claim 1: Xiao discloses: An image processing method, performed by a computer device, comprising: displaying a document editing interface, the document editing interface including a target document (see paragraph [0038]). Xiao teaches displaying a target document in a document in a user interface generated by a software application; and displaying, in response to an image generation trigger event, a matching image that matches the target document, an image appearance attribute of the matching image characterizing semantic information of the target document, and an image content attribute of the matching image characterizing document content in the target document (see paragraphs [0058], [0059], [0076], [0077], [0090]). Xiao teaches displaying the matching image of the target document characterizing the semantic information of the target document. Claim 2: Xiao discloses: the image appearance attribute includes at least one of a first attribute or image color matching, and the first attribute includes at least one of a sticker element, a character style, an image size, an image shape, or an image background (see paragraph [0057]). Xiao teaches an image appearance attribute as color or shape attributes; and the semantic information of the target document includes at least one of an image theme corresponding to the target document or a target emotion reflected by the target document (see paragraph [0029] and [0059]). Xiao teaches semantics are inferred and features of the visual blocks of the document are computed. Claim 4: Xiao discloses: the image content attribute includes at least one of a matching character, an image main body, or an image structure; and the document content in the target document includes at least one of content information or document layout, and the content information includes at least one of text content or content illustration (see paragraph [0029] and [0059]). Xiao teaches the structure of the document is identified and applied to creating the image having components with similar structure such as text blocks and images. Claim 5: Xiao discloses: the image content attribute includes a matching character, the document content in the target document includes the content information, the content information includes the text content and the content illustration, the matching character includes the character content in the target document, and the matching character includes a character contained in the content illustration (see paragraph [0057]-[0058] and figures 3A-3C). Xiao teaches matching characters in the image and target document. The pictures and the text of the image match portions of the target document; the image content attribute includes an image main body, the document content in the target document includes the content information, the content information includes the content illustration, and the image main body includes a target object in the content illustration; and/or the image content attribute includes an image structure, and a document layout corresponding to the image structure is same as the document layout of the target document. (see paragraph [0057]-[0058] and figures 3A-3C). Xiao teaches the structure and layout of the document is identified and applied to creating the image and text components with similar structure and layout such as text blocks and images. Claim 7: Xiao discloses: the document content in the target document includes text content, the text content includes a document title, the image content attribute of the matching image is consistent with the document title (see figures 3A-3C). Xiao teaches text content and a title. The image content attribute has the similar title; displaying, in response to the image generation trigger event, the matching image includes displaying the matching image in response to at least one of: a trigger operation for a header image adding option, or a sharing trigger operation for the target document (see paragraph [0044] and figures 3A-3C). Xiao teaches a request that triggers the creation of the image similar to the target document. Claim 11: Xiao discloses: performing, semantic analysis on the target document to obtain the semantic information of the target document, and determining the image appearance attribute based on image attribute reference information and the semantic information (see paragraph [0044] and [0045]). Xiao teaches performing semantic analysis after the execution to begin the transformation and determine attributes. determining the image content attribute based on the document content in the target document (see paragraph [0044] and [0045]). Xiao teaches determining features and attributes based on the semantic analysis; and performing typesetting on the image appearance attribute and the image content attribute to generate the matching image (see paragraph [0050]). Xiao teaches performing typesetting on the image to ensure fonts and layouts. Claim 19, 20: Although Claim 19 is a device claim and Claim 20 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, it is interpreted and rejected for the same reasons as the method of Claim 1. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 3 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao, in view of Mackey et al., United States Patent Publication 20220245354 (hereinafter “Mackey”). Claim 3: Xiao fails to expressly disclose identifying a theme or emotion of the text. Mackey discloses: the image appearance attribute includes the first attribute, the first attribute corresponds to a hashtag, the semantic information of the target document includes an image theme corresponding to the target document, and the hashtag corresponding to the first attribute matches the image theme corresponding to the target document (see paragraph [0079]). Mackey teaches determining an emotion based on the semantical information of the hash tag; and/or the image appearance attribute includes the image color theme, the image color theme corresponds to at least one emotion, the semantic information of the target document includes the target emotion reflected by the target document, and the at least one emotion corresponding to the image color theme includes an emotion that matches the target emotion reflected by the target document (see paragraph [0270]). Mackey teaches a color scheme that matches the emotional theme of the document; Accordingly, it would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention to include a hashtag indicating the emotion of the text for the purpose of effectively determining the emotion/theme of a document, as recited by Mackey. Claim 15: Xiao fails to disclose a semantic analysis to determine the emotion. Mackay discloses: the semantic information of the target document includes a target emotion reflected by the target document (see paragraph [0079]). Mackey teaches determining an emotion based on the semantical information of the hash tag; and performing semantic analysis on the target document includes: acquiring text content from the document content of the target document, and performing pre-processing on the text content to obtain at least one sentence set, sentences in each of the at least one sentence set expressing semantics of a same category (see paragraph [0016], [0051], [0064]). Mackey teaches acquiring and preprocessing the text obtained from the target document based on a sentence level. Determining if the same rules are met for the sentences; performing emotion analysis on the at least one sentence set to obtain an emotion analysis result (see paragraph [0064] and [0065]). Mackey teaches performing emotion analysis to determine the best matched emotion; and determining a target emotion reflected by the target document according to the emotion analysis result (see paragraph [0064] and [0065]). Mackey teaches determining a target emotion. Accordingly, it would have obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention to include a hashtag indicating the emotion of the text for the purpose of effectively determining the emotion/theme of a document, as recited by Mackey. Claims 6, 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao, in view of Sadanandan et al., United States Patent Publication 2013/0282808 (hereinafter “Sadanandan”). Claim 6: Xiao fails to expressly disclose triggering the image to be created. Sadanandan discloses: wherein the image generation trigger event includes at least one of an adding operation for adding a cover for the target document, a sharing operation for sharing the target document in a form of images, or an inserting operation for inserting an image in the target document (see paragraph [0024] and [0025]). Sadanandan teaches a script to trigger the generation of the image. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Xiao to include triggering the creation of the image for the purpose of efficiently displaying the contextual image of the content, as recited in Sadanandan. Claim 8: Xiao fails to expressly disclose triggering the image to be created and a user interface window. Sadanandan discloses: displaying, in response to the image generation trigger event, an image selection window in a document editing interface, the image selection window including at least one candidate matching image that matches the target document; and displaying, in response to a selection operation triggered with respect to the at least one candidate matching image, one of the at least one matching image selected by the selection operation in the document editing interface as the matching image (see paragraph [0022] and [0023]). Sadanandan teaches allows for selection of individual items for each of the above type of attributes, from a large collection, and combines them during avatar-creation or avatar-update time, creating the display user-profile image. A user is able to make selections to update an avatar to get the best matched image for the content. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Xiao to include triggering the creation of the image and user interface for the user for the purpose of efficiently displaying the best contextual image of the content, as recited in Sadanandan. Claim 10: Xiao fails to expressly disclose triggering the image to be created and a user interface window. Sadanandan discloses: wherein the image generation trigger event includes a sharing operation for sharing the target document in a form of images, the matching image is displayed in the image generation window, and the image generation window includes a sharing operation option (see paragraph [0022], [0023], [0033]). Sadanandan teaches sharing the matched/updated image as a user option; the method further comprising: displaying a selection interface of a sharing object in response to a trigger operation for the sharing operation option, the selection interface including a plurality of user identifiers; and sharing, in response to a selection operation for the plurality of user identifiers, the matching image with a user corresponding to one of the user identifiers selected by the selection operation (see paragraph [0034]). Sadanandan teaches sharing the profile image to users on social media. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Xiao to include triggering the creation of the image and user interface for the user for the purpose of efficiently displaying the best contextual image of the content, as recited in Sadanandan. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao, in view of Loncteaux, United States Patent No 6304852. Claim 9: Xiao fails to expressly disclose a waiting animation. Lonteaux discloses: wherein displaying the matching image includes: displaying a waiting animation in a process of generating the matching image; and switching, in response to the process of generating the matching image being completed, from displaying the waiting animation to displaying the matching image (see column 3 line 17 – 44). Lonteaux teaches displaying a waiting animation and return to normal operating once the waiting animation is complete. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Xiao to include a waiting animation until the download is complete for the purpose of efficiently entertaining the user during the waiting period, as recited in Lonteaux. Claims 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao, in view of Mackey and Sadanandan. Claim 12: Xiao fails to expressly disclose identifying a theme or emotion of the text. Mackey discloses: the semantic information of the target document includes an image theme corresponding to the target document (see paragraph [0079]). Mackey teaches determining an emotion based on the semantical information of the hash tag; (see paragraph [0079]). Mackey teaches determining an emotion based on the semantical information of the hash tag and performing semantic analysis on the target document to obtain the semantic information of the target document includes: acquiring text content from the document content of the target document, and performing pre-processing on the text content to obtain at least one sentence set, sentences in each of the at least one sentence set expressing semantics of a same category (see paragraph [0016], [0051], [0064]). Mackey teaches acquiring and preprocessing the text obtained from the target document based on a sentence level; performing semantic analysis processing on the at least one sentence set to obtain a semantic analysis processing result (see paragraph [0064]). Mackey teaches performing semantic analysis by processing sentences of the text and predicting matches for an emotion/theme; Xiao and Mackey fail to expressly disclose determining sub-images for the theme/emotion of the text. Sadanandan discloses: predicting a first sub-image theme according to the semantic analysis processing result (see paragraph [0026] and [0027]). Sadanandan teaches selecting images for the profile image based on the context of text; performing semantic inference processing on the text to obtain a semantic inference processing result, and predicting a second sub-image theme according to the semantic inference processing result (see paragraphs [0027]-[0030]). Sadanandan teaches performing contextual analysis to determine keywords and theme of the text; and determining, based on the first sub-image theme and the second sub-image theme, the image theme corresponding to the target document (see paragraph [0030]). Sudanandan teaches determining an emotion/theme based on the semantic and context information of the text. Different themes and way to visualize the theme are identified; Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Xiao to include triggering the creation of the image and user interface for the user for the purpose of efficiently displaying the best contextual image of the content, as recited in Sadanandan. Claim 13: Xiao and Mackey fail to expressly disclose determining sub-images for the theme/emotion of the text. Sadanandan discloses: determining, in response to acquiring a specified theme corresponding to the target document, the specified theme as the image theme of the target document (see paragraph [0030] and [0036]). Sadanandan teaches determining if a theme and corresponding image is already specified; and performing, in response to not acquiring the specified theme corresponding to the target document, the operation of determining, based on the first sub-image theme and the second sub-image theme, the image theme corresponding to the target document (see paragraphs [0030] and [0036]). Sudanandan teaches determining an emotion/theme based on the semantic and context information of the text. Different themes and way to visualize the themes as images are identified; Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Xiao to include triggering the creation of the image and user interface for the user for the purpose of efficiently displaying the best contextual image of the content, as recited in Sadanandan. Claim 14: Xiao and Mackey fail to expressly disclose a theme based on user input. Sadanandan discloses: displaying an image theme adding window in response to the image generation trigger event, the image theme adding window being configured to set the specified them. (see paragraphs [0030] and [0036]). Sudanandan teaches determining an emotion/theme based on the semantic and context information of the text and using a window that allows user input; Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Xiao to include triggering the creation of the image and user interface for the user for the purpose of efficiently displaying the best contextual image of the content, as recited in Sadanandan. Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao, in view of Alonso et al., United States Patent Publication 20130282808 (hereinafter “Alonso”). Claim 16: Xiao discloses: each of the plurality of first attributes including at least one of a sticker element, a character style, or an image background (see paragraph [0051]). Xiao teaches color and style elements. Xiao fails to expressly disclose hashtags and determine similarity with the hashtag and the theme. Alonso discloses: the image attribute reference information includes a plurality of first attributes and a plurality of hashtags each corresponding to one of the plurality of first attributes, (see paragraph [0069], [0200]). Alonso teaches attributes and hashtags; the semantic information includes an image theme corresponding to the target document (see paragraph [0005]). Alonso teaches semantic information including emotions and themes; and determining the image appearance attribute based on the image attribute reference information and the semantic information includes: performing similarity matching processing on the image theme and the plurality of hashtags in the image attribute reference information to determine a target hashtag (see paragraph [0005]). Alonso performing similarity matching of the hashtags and context; and determining the first attribute corresponding to the target hashtag as the image appearance attribute (see paragraph [0005]). Alonso performing similarity matching of the hashtags and context to determine a common hashtag. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Xiao to include determining a target hashtag based on semantics and similarities for the purpose of efficiently generating a summary including a common hashtag, as recited in Alonso. Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao, in view of Mackey, Sudanandan and Alonso. Claim 17: Xiao fails to expressly disclose determining a theme and emotion of a document. Mackey discloses wherein: the semantic information of the target document includes an image theme corresponding to the target document (see paragraph [0079]). Mackey teaches determining an emotion based on the semantical information of the hash tag; performing semantic analysis on the target document to obtain the semantic information of the target document includes: acquiring text content from the document content of the target document (see paragraph [0016], [0051], [0064]). Mackey teaches acquiring and preprocessing the text obtained from the target document based on a sentence level, and performing pre-processing on the text content to obtain at least one sentence set, sentences in each of the at least one sentence set expressing semantics of a same category (see paragraph [0016], [0051], [0064]). Mackey teaches acquiring and preprocessing the text obtained from the target document based on a sentence level; Xiao and Mackey fails to expressly disclose theme/emotion images based on semantics. Sudanandan discloses: performing semantic analysis processing on the at least one sentence set to obtain a semantic analysis processing result, and predicting a first sub-image theme according to the semantic analysis processing result see paragraph [0026] and [0027]). Sadanandan teaches performing semantic analysis and selecting images for the profile image based on the context of text; performing semantic inference processing on the at least one sentence set to obtain a semantic inference processing result, and predicting a second sub-image theme according to the semantic inference processing result (see paragraphs [0027]-[0030]). Sadanandan teaches performing contextual analysis to determine keywords and theme of the text; and determining, based on the first sub-image theme and the second sub-image theme, the image theme corresponding to the target document, including taking both the first sub-image theme and the second sub-image theme as the image theme corresponding to the target document (see paragraph [0030]). Sudanandan teaches determining an emotion/theme based on the semantic and context information of the text. Different themes and way to visualize the theme are identified; and Xiao, Mackey and Sudanandan fails to teaches matching hashtags and images. Alonso discloses: performing similarity matching processing on the image theme and the plurality of hashtags in the image attribute reference information to determine the target hashtag includes: determining a first hashtag that matches the first sub-image theme from the plurality of hashtags, and determining a matching degree corresponding to the first hashtag (see paragraph [0005]). Alonso performing similarity matching of the hashtags and context; determining a second hashtag that matches the second sub-image theme from the plurality of hashtags, and determining a matching degree corresponding to the second hashtag (see paragraph [0005]). Alonso performing similarity matching of the hashtags and context; and determining, based on the matching degree corresponding to the first hashtag and the matching degree corresponding to the second hashtag, the target hashtag from the first hashtag and the second hashtag (see paragraph [0005]). Alonso performing similarity matching of the hashtags and context to determine a common hashtag. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Xiao to include determining a target hashtag based on semantics and similarities for the purpose of efficiently generating a summary including a common hashtag, as recited in Alonso. Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao, in view of Zhao et al., CN114638914A (hereinafter “Zhao”). Claim 18: Xiao fails to expressly disclose determining color theme based on semantic and emotion. Zhao discloses: the image appearance attribute includes image color theme, the image attribute reference information includes a correspondence between the image color theme and the emotion, and the semantic information of the target document includes the target emotion reflected by the target document (see abstract). Zhao teaches determining a correspondence between the image color and the emotion theme from the semantic information of the document; and determining the image appearance attribute based on the image attribute reference information and the semantic information includes: acquiring, based on the correspondence between the image color theme and the emotion, image color theme that matches the target emotion (see abstract). Zhao teaches acquiring the image color theme based on the emotion. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Xiao to include determining color theme based on emotion and semantics for the purpose of improving the image generation efficiency, as recited in Zhao. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIONNA M BURKE whose telephone number is (571)270-7259. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a-4p. 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, Stephen Hong can be reached at (571)272-4124. 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. /TIONNA M BURKE/Examiner, Art Unit 2178 2/6/26
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 01, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103
Feb 25, 2026
Interview Requested
Mar 18, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Mar 18, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
54%
Grant Probability
73%
With Interview (+19.3%)
4y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 431 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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