DETAILED ACTION
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 papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
35 USC § 101 Statutory Analysis
The claims do not recite any of the judicial exceptions enumerated in the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance. Further, the claims do not recite any method of organizing human activity, such as a fundamental economic concept or managing interactions between people. Finally, the claims do not recite a mathematical relationship, formula, or calculation. Thus, the claims are eligible because they do not recite a judicial exception.
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 1-4 and 9-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Perrodin et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2013/0239049 A1) (hereafter referred to as “Perrodin”).
With regard to claim 1, Perrodin describes displaying, in response to an image selection instruction, a plurality of images on an image selection page (see Figure 1 and 2, and refer for example to paragraphs [0082] through [0086]); acquiring, in response to a selection operation on a first image on the image selection page, at least one second image, wherein the first image is any one of the plurality of images, and the second image is an associated image comprising a same subject object as the first image (see Figure 1 and 2, and refer for example to paragraphs [0082] through [0086], and to paragraphs [0096] through [0101] which describe selecting an image from a plurality of images, the first image can be from a sports album, a wedding album, a favorites album or a vacation album); displaying, on an image preview page, the first image and the at least one second image (see Figure 4 and refer for example to paragraphs [0110] through [0117]); and publishing, in response to an image publishing instruction, at least one image selected on the image preview page (refer for example to paragraphs [0079], [0095], [0116], [0229] and [0290] through [0303]).
As to claim 2, Perrodin describes wherein displaying, in response to the image selection instruction, the plurality of images on the image selection page comprises adding, in response to the image selection instruction, a label to at least one image in the plurality of images, wherein label is configured to indicate that an image with the label is different from other images and displaying the at least one image with the label and at least one image without the label on the image selection page (refer for example to paragraph [0084], [0091], [0092] and [0117]).
In regard to claim 3, Perrodin describes wherein adding, in response to the image selection instruction, the label to the at least one image in the plurality of images comprises displaying, in response to the image selection instruction, the plurality of images on a label adding page, wherein the label adding page is configured to add custom labels to the plurality of images (refer for example to paragraph [0084], [0091], [0092] and [0117]); and adding, in response to a label adding operation on any one of the plurality of images, a first label to the image, wherein the first label indicates a type of a subject object of the image, a storage period of time of the image, or a text representing features of the image (refer for example to paragraph [0084], [0091], [0092], [0117], [0235], [0241], [0255], [0271] and [0306]).
With regard to claim 4, Perrodin describes wherein adding, in response to the image selection instruction, the label to the at least one image in the plurality of images comprises acquiring, in response to the image selection instruction, image attributes of the plurality of images, wherein the image attribute is configured to represent a type of a subject object in an image and adding, for any one of the plurality of images, a second label to the image based on an image attribute of the image, wherein a content of the second label indicates a type of image (refer to paragraph [0195], [0198] and [0407]).
In regard to claim 9, Perrodin describes wherein displaying, in response to the selection operation on the first image on the image selection page, the first image and the at least one second image on the image preview page comprises displaying, in response to the selection operation on the first image on the image selection page, the first image and an image switching area on the image preview page and displaying the first image and the at least one second image in a form of thumbnails in the image switching area (see Figure 7 and 8, and refer to paragraphs [0129] through [0131]).
With regard to claim 10, Perrodin describes displaying, in response to a clicking operation on a thumbnail of any second image in the image switching area, the second image on the image preview page or displaying, in response to a sliding operation on the image switching area, a second image corresponding to a thumbnail indicated by the sliding operation on the image preview page or displaying, in response to a sliding operation on the image preview page, a second image adjacent to the first image on the image preview page (see Figure 7 and 8, and refer for example to paragraphs [0129] through [0131] and to paragraphs [0135] through [0137]).
As to claim 11, Perrodin describes canceling, in response to a clicking operation on a blank area on the image preview page, display of other contents except a current image on the image preview page, and displaying only the current image, wherein the current image is the first image or any second image and resuming, in response to a re-clicking operation on the blank area on the image preview page, the display of the other contents on the image preview page along with the current image (refer for example to paragraphs [0109], [0401] and [0405]).
In regard to claim 12, Perrodin describes wherein acquiring, in response to a selection operation on the first image on the image selection page, at least one second image comprising determining, for any one of the plurality of images, at least one third image adjacent to the first image according to a storage order of images and determining, from the at least one third image, at least one associated image of the image as the second image, wherein the associated image has a same subject object as the image (refer to paragraphs [0099], [0201], [0220], [0240] and [0241]).
With regard to claim 13, Perrodin describes wherein acquiring, in response to a selection operation on the first image on the image selection page, at least one second image comprising determining, for any one of the plurality of images, at least one fourth image in a same time range as a storage period of time of the first image and determining, from the at least one fourth image, at least one associated image of the image as the second image, wherein the associated image has a same subject object as the image (refer for example to paragraph [0084], [0091], [0092], [0117], [0235], [0241], [0255], [0271] and [0306]).
As to claim 14, Perrodin describes acquiring, in response to a selection operation on the first image on the image selection page, at least one second image comprising acquiring a plurality of image clusters by clustering the plurality of images and determining a plurality of images belonging to a same image cluster as mutually associated images and as the second images (refer for example to paragraph [0100], [0361], [0433], where the grouping of images corresponds to applicant’s “clustering”).
In regard to claim 15, Perrodin describes one or more processors and a memory for storing a program code executed by the one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the program code (see Figures 58 and 59, and refer for example to paragraphs [0416] through [0421], and to paragraphs [0424] through [0427]) to perform displaying, in response to an image selection instruction, a plurality of images on an image selection page (see Figure 1 and 2, and refer for example to paragraphs [0082] through [0086]); displaying, in response to a selection operation on a first image on the image selection page, the first image and at least one second image on an image preview page, wherein the first image is any one of the plurality of images, and the second image is an associated image comprising a same subject object as the first image (see Figure 1 and 2, and refer for example to paragraphs [0082] through [0086], and to paragraphs [0096] through [0101] which describe selecting an image from a plurality of images, the first image can be from a sports album, a wedding album, a favorites album or a vacation album, also see Figure 4 and refer to paragraphs [0110] through [0117]); and publishing, in response to an image publishing instruction, at least one image selected on the image preview page (refer to paragraphs [0079], [0095], [0116], [0229] and [0290] through [0303]).
With regard to claim 16, Perrodin describes wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the program code to perform adding, in response to the image selection instruction, a label to at least one image in the plurality of images and displaying the at least one image with the label and at least one image without the label on the image selection page (refer to paragraph [0084], [0091], [0092] and [0117]).
As to claim 17, Perrodin describes wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the program code to perform displaying, in response to the image selection instruction, the plurality of images on a label adding page, wherein the label adding page is configured to add custom labels to the plurality of images and adding, in response to a label adding operation on any one of the plurality of images, a first label to the image (refer for example to paragraph [0084], [0091], [0092], [0117], [0235], [0241], [0255], [0271] and [0306]) .
In regard to claim 18, Perrodin describes wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the program code to perform acquiring, in response to the image selection instruction, image attributes of the plurality of images, wherein the image attribute is configured to represent a type of a subject object in an image and adding, for any one of the plurality of images, a second label to the image based on an image attribute of the image (refer to paragraph [0195], [0198] and [0407]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8, 19 and 20 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.
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Harmon, Gowen, Ciorba, Reimherr and Kawata all disclose systems similar to applicant’s claimed invention.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jose L. Couso whose telephone number is (571) 272-7388. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 5:30am to 1:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Bella, can be reached on 571-272-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/JOSE L COUSO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2667
December 19, 2025