DETAILED ACTION
The Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filed on 01/22/2026 under 37 CFR 1.53(d) based on parent Application No. 18/464,701 has been reviewed. An action on the RCE follows.
The Amendments and Remarks filed on 01/22/2026, submitted with the filing of the RCE have been considered. Claims 1-20 as amended are pending in the application.
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 .
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 (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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 7-12 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ryan et al. U.S. Publication 2023/0376168 (hereinafter “Ryan”).
Referring to claim 1, Ryan teaches a system comprising:
at least one processor (paragraphs [0206], [0208] and Figure 5B);
at least one memory component (paragraphs [0206], [0208] and Figure 5B) storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
accessing a chat session between at least two users on a messaging platform (for example, Figure 6AI show a chat session, i.e. a messaging user interface 682 that includes a messaging transcript between a plurality of users) (paragraph [0252]);
receiving an input from a select user of the at least two users from within a user interface associated with the chat session (receiving user input 650ai on button 682b4a in Figure 6AI) (paragraphs [0252]-[0254]), the input corresponding to a unified content feed comprising shared content relevant to the at least two users associated with the chat session and personalized content relevant only to the select user (user input 650ai on button 682b4a of Figure 6AI can lead to the display of a unified content feed, i.e. media gallery user interface 740a shown in Figures 7K and 7L; the media gallery user interface includes shared content, i.e. media items that are shared with other users and personalized content, i.e. media items that belong to the user’s personal library) (paragraphs [0252]-[0254] and [0271]-[0273]), the shared content generated based on:
accessing first user data and first activity data associated with a first user of the at least two users, the first activity data comprising interaction information with a first personalized media content (a first user’s interaction information such as the user John selecting which photos to share with other users such as Kevin in a shared library, as shown in Figures 6C-6AH) (Ryan: paragraphs [0224]-[0246]), and
accessing second user data and second activity data associated with a second user of the at least two users, the second activity data comprising interaction information with a second personalized media content (a second user’s interaction information such as the user Kevin selecting his own photos to add to the shared library, as shown in Figures 6AI-6AK) (Ryan: paragraphs [0252]-[0254]), and
generating a shared dataset by identifying common aspects between the first user data, first activity data, the second user data, and the second activity data, wherein the shared content comprises public media content related to the shared dataset (create the shared library with the photos selected by John for sharing and the photos selected by Kevin for sharing; the media gallery user interface 740a shown in Figure 7K is an example of the shared library; the shared library comprises public media content, i.e. shared library content that can be associated with and can be accessed/modified by multiple people) (Ryan: paragraphs [0220] and [0271]);
ranking the shared content higher than the personalized content within the unified content feed (as shown in Figure 7L for example, media content items that show the shared library indicator 752a are ranked higher, i.e. displayed above, the media items that show the personal library indicator 754c) (paragraph [0272]), the ranking comprising causing display of the shared content above display of the personalized content (as shown in Figure 7L for example, media content items that show the shared library indicator 752a are displayed above the media items that show the personal library indicator 754c) (paragraph [0272]);
in response to receiving the input, replacing the user interface associated with the chat session with a user interface associated with the unified content feed (as shown in Figures 7K and 7L, the media gallery user interface 740a is displayed on the entire screen, replacing the messaging user interface 660 shown in Figure 6AI) (paragraphs [0252]-[0254] and [0271]-[0273]); and
causing display of the user interface associated with the unified content feed on a computer device associated with the select user (as shown in Figures 7K and 7L, the media gallery user interface 740a is displayed on the screen of the user) (paragraphs [0252]-[0254] and [0271]-[0273]).
Referring to claim 2, Ryan teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the input is a selection of a selectable user interface elements (user input 650ai is a selection of button 682b4a displayed in Figure 6AI) (Ryan: paragraphs [0252]-[0254]).
Referring to claim 3, Ryan teaches wherein the input is a touchscreen gesture on a computer device of the select user (user inputs are performed on a touch screen 112 of the user device shown in Figure 2) (paragraphs [0079]-[0080]).
Referring to claim 7, Ryan teaches the system of claim 1, wherein generating the shared content further comprises:
accessing previously shared public media content within the chat session (the user can access media items corresponding to message 682b4 in Figure 6AI, which were shared by John) (paragraphs [0252]-[0254]); and
generating the shared content based on the previously shared public media content (the media content items shown in Figures 7K and 7L include the shared library) (paragraph [0272]).
Referring to claim 8, Ryan teaches the system of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving an indication from the select user of a recommended public media content for display as part of the shared content (for example: user input 650z3 on media item 654a1 in Figure 6Z causes a selectable “move to shared library” control 642b1 to be displayed in Figure 6AA; selection of control 642b1 adds media item 654a1 to the shared library) (paragraphs [0243]-[0244]); and
in response to receiving the indication, adding the recommended public media content for display as part of the shared content (selection of control 642b1 adds media item 654a1 to the shared library) (paragraphs [0243]-[0244]).
Referring to claim 9, Ryan teaches the system of claim 8, in response to receiving the indication, highly ranking display of the recommended public media content item within the shared content (in response to user input 650z3 on media item 654a1, the selected media item is displayed in an enlarged representation as shown in Figure 6AA ) (paragraph [0243]).
Claims 10-12 and 16-18 recite a method embodiment comprising essentially the same limitations as those recited in the system embodiment of claims 1-3 and 7-9. Therefore, the limitations of claims 10-12 and 16-18 are rejected similarly to the rejection of the limitations of claims 1-3 and 7-9.
Claims 19-20 recite a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium embodiment comprising essentially the same limitations as those recited in the system embodiment of claims 1 and 3. Therefore, the limitations of claims 19-20 are rejected similarly to the rejection of the limitations of claims 1 and 3.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 4-5 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryan et al. U.S. Publication 2023/0376168 (hereinafter “Ryan”), as applied to claims 1 and 10 above, and further in view of Rathi U.S. Patent 11,943,188.
Referring to claims 4 and 13, Ryan teaches all of the limitations as applied to claims 1 and 10 above. In addition, Ryan also teaches determining that the select user is viewing public media content in the unified content feed from within the user interface associated with the unified content feed (the user is viewing a preview of the shared library shown in Figure 6V) (Ryan: paragraph [0240]) and receiving a notification from a second user of the at least two users associated with the chat session (the user can receive chat messages from other users as shown in Figure 6AG) (Ryan: paragraphs [0250]-[0252). However, Ryan fails to explicitly teach in response to the determination and the received notification, generating a quiet notification that does not interrupt the select user viewing the public media content and causing display of the quiet notification in a discrete portion of the user interface associated with the unified content feed. Similar to Ryan, Rathi also teaches a system with a messaging platform that displays a chat session between at least two users (the user device has a communication platform that facilitates chat messaging among users) (Rathi: column 4, line 65-column 5, line 5 and column 5, lines 58-60). In addition, Rathi teaches generating a quiet notification that does not interrupt the user (in response to an incoming message and a determined message category, the system generates a silent notification on the user device; the silent notification is unobtrusive) (Rathi: column 10, lines 24-56); and causing display of the quiet notification in a discrete portion of the user interface (the silent notification includes the display of a graphical element that is unobtrusive on the user interface, such as notification 420 in Figure 4E and notification 424 in Figure 4F) (Rathi: column 10, lines 48-56 and column 13, lines 9-20). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify determining that a user is viewing public media content in the unified content feed within the user interface associated with the unified feed and receiving a notification from a second user of the at least two users associated with the chat session taught by Ryan to include the generation and display of the quiet notification in response to receiving an incoming message, as taught by Rathi, in order to obtain the features taught by the present claim. One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to prevent notifications from interrupting the user workflow (Rathi: column 1, lines 8-25).
Referring to claims 5 and 14, Ryan, as modified, teaches wherein the notification is associated with a new message received within the chat session (displaying the silent notification when an incoming message is received) (Rathi: column 10, lines 44-56).
Claim(s) 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryan et al. U.S. Publication 2023/0376168 (hereinafter “Ryan”), as applied to claims 1 and 10 above, and further in view of Jung U.S. Publication 2007/0287432.
Referring to claims 6 and 15, Ryan teaches all of the limitations as applied to claims 1 and 10 above. In addition, Ryan also teaches receiving a selection of public media content in the unified content feed from the select user (while the grid of media items is displayed in Figure 6Z, the user can select one of the media items 654a1 to view more closely) (Ryan: paragraph [0243]-[0244]); in response to receiving the selection, causing display of a window allowing the select user to continue viewing the public media content (in response to user input 650z3 selecting media item 654a1 in Figure 6Z, the selected media item is shown in an enlarged representation 654a2 with a window 642b in Figure 6AA) (Ryan: paragraphs [0243]-[0244]); receiving input from the window from the select user (the user can select control 642b1 in window 642b to move the selected media item to the shared library) (Ryan: paragraphs [0243]-[0244]); receiving a second selection of an icon within the user interface associated with the unified content feed (once the user is done selecting media content items, the user can select control 652a in Figure 6AD) (Ryan: paragraphs [0246] and [0249]); and in response to receiving the second selection, automatically sharing the input from the window and the selected public media content to the chat session while maintaining display of the user interface of the unified content feed on the computer device associated with the select user (in response to user selection of control 652a in Figure 6AD, the device shares the shared library including the selected media item into the messaging interface shown in Figure 6AG) (Ryan: paragraphs [0246] and [0249]).
However, Ryan fails to explicitly teach that the window is a transparent overlay window. Similar to Ryan, Jung also teaches displaying a selected item from a plurality of items in a window (displaying a selected message in a window) (Jung: paragraph [0013] and Figure 4A). In addition, Jung teaches that the selected item is displayed in a transparent overlay window (displaying a transparent pop-up window) (Jung: paragraphs [0013] and [0034]). Transparent pop-up windows are notoriously well-known in the computer arts. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the window of Ryan to include the well-known transparent overlay window taught by Jung, in order to cause a transparent window to be overlaid on the unified content feed. One would have been motivated to makes such a combination in order to allow the user to view the content of the selected item in detail while allowing other information underneath the selected item to be visible. (Jung: paragraphs [0012]-[0013]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 01/22/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive:
The Applicant states that Ryan discusses a permission-based shared library where participants of the shared content have “access to and privileges for the shared library” and that the content in the shared library can be moved to the shared library “in response to detecting tap input.” The Applicant further states that the present claims describe a shared dataset that is generated “by identifying common aspects between the first user data, the first activity data, the second user data, and the second activity data, wherein the shared content comprises public media content related to the shared dataset.” Accordingly, the Applicant concludes that Ryan fails to describe the limitations of the amended claims. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. For example, Ryans teaches:
accessing first user data – user John
accessing first activity data associated with the first user that comprises interaction information with a first personalized media content – User John can create a shared library (Figure 6C) and select which of his personal photos to add to the shared library (Figure 6C); user John can then send an invitation to the shared library to another user, such as user Kevin (Figures 6AD-6AH).
accessing a second user data – user Kevin
accessing second activity data associated with the first user that comprises interaction information with a second personalized media content – User Kevin can accept John’s shared library invitation (selection of 684a in Figure 6AJ) and also select his own personal photos to add to the shared library (selection of 618a or 618b in Figure 6AK).
generating a shared dataset by identifying common aspects between the first user data, the first activity data, the second user data, and the second activity data – The photos in the shared library is the shared dataset; common aspects between the photos in the dataset is that they have been shared to the shared library; for example, photos selected by John for sharing (interaction information with a first personalized content from the first user) and photos selected by Kevin for sharing (interaction information with a second personalized content from the second user) are both photos that have been added to the same shared library (Figures 7K-7M show the shared dataset, i.e. the shared library).
wherein the shared content comprises public media content related to the shared dataset – The photos in the shared library are public media content because they are associated with multiple people, i.e. they have been shared with another user who has access to and privileges for the photos in the shared library (paragraph [0220]).
In view of the above, the Examiner respectfully maintains that Ryan teaches the subject limitations.
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. The document cited therein (US 10,762,121 to Denton et al.) teaches a similar unified content feed comprising shared content (the second user profile comprises a unified content feed such as the content feed shown in Figures 10A-10C; the second user profile comprises personalized content, such as media content viewed/saved by the first user or media content generated by the second user; the second user profile also comprises shared content, such as common activity to the first user and the second user shown under the indicium “Me and Amy”) (Denton: column 13, line 24 - column 17, line 53; this is further shown in Figure 9) that is generated based on: accessing first user data and first activity data associated with a first user of the at least two users, the first activity data comprising interaction information with a first personalized media content (the system generates a log for each user comprising activity data of each user in the content sharing platform and accesses the activity data related to each user, such as the first user and the second user; the activity data comprises media content viewed/saved by the first user) (Denton: column 13, line 24 - column 15, line 15 and Figure 9); accessing second user data and second activity data associated with a second user of the at least two users, the second activity data comprising interaction information with a second personalized media content (the system generates a log for each user comprising activity data of each user in the content sharing platform and accesses the activity data related to each user, such as the first user and the second user; the activity data comprises media content generated/sent by the second user) (Denton: column 13, line 24 - column 15, line 15 and Figure 9); and generating a shared dataset by identifying common aspects between the first user data, the first activity data, the second user data, and the second activity data (the system accesses activity data related to both the first user and the second user in the content sharing platform and determines common activity data to both the first user and the second user, such as media content items generated by second user that was viewed/saved by the first user, or datum saved by the first user from a communication received from the second user) (Denton: column 14, lines 35 – column 15, line 7 and Figure 9), wherein the shared content comprises public media content related to the shared dataset (the shared content shown in Figures 10A-10C can include a favorite publisher profile card, a favorite show profile card and a favorite song profile card) (Denton: column 16, lines 35-41).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TING ZHOU LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-4058. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Thursday 9AM – 1PM EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kieu Vu can be reached on (571) 272-4057. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TING Z LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2171