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 .
Response to Amendment
This communication is in response to the amendment filed on 16 December 2025.
Claims 1, 11, and 20 are amended.
Claims 1-2, 4, 10-12, 14, and 19-31 have been examined.
Response to Arguments
In response to Applicant’s remarks filed on 16 December 2025:
a. Applicant's arguments with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections of the pending claims are moot in view of new ground(s) of rejection presented hereon, as detailed below.
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 o0054f 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.
Claims 1, 2, 10-11, 12, 19-21, 26, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20100082709 A1, hereinafter referred to as Yamamoto).
As to claim 1, Yamamoto teaches:
receiving input that defines a search string (see Yamamoto para. 0138 and Fig. 14B: search keyword field 1419 for inputting a keyword for document search);
causing a search to be performed (see Yamamoto para. 0139-0140 and Fig. 15: a search is performed and search results are provided), wherein,
the search is based at least in part on the search string (see Yamamoto para. 0138 and Fig. 14B: search keyword field 1419 for inputting a keyword for document search);
the search is performed on a set of documents (see Yamamoto para. 0138 and Fig. 14B: search keyword field 1419 for inputting a keyword for document search);
the search is performed to identify matching documents and matching document pages (see Yamamoto para. 0142-0143 and Figs. 15-16: the search matches documents and pages, referred to as hit pages or page hits) based on content of the documents in the set of documents and on document metadata associated with the documents in the set of documents (see Yamamoto para. 0070: the system combines search based on document content data and search based on document metadata);
the search identifies a first matching document that includes one or more pages that include content that matches the search string (see Yamamoto para. 0070: the system performs search based on document content data, including searching based on page content data; and see Yamamoto Figs. 14B: in an illustrative example, the user searches for keyword “Project A”); and
the search identifies a second matching document that does not include content that matches the search string but is associated with metadata that matches the search string (see Yamamoto para. 0119: author match; and see Yamamoto para. 0121: creation date match; and see Yamamoto para. 0122: tag match);
displaying a matching documents user interface (UI) (see Yamamoto Figs. 15-16: document search results list window 1500 comprising search hit document display 1512), wherein the matching documents UI comprises:
a first document object that corresponds to the first matching document (see Yamamoto para. 0147 and Fig. 15: search hit document display 1512), wherein in response to determining that the first matching document includes the one or more pages that include content that matches the search string the first document object is displayed with a matching page indicator (see Yamamoto para. 0151 and Fig. 16: hit page thumbnail 1608 indicates a thumbnail image of a page hit based on the search key); and
a second document object that corresponds to the second matching document (see Yamamoto para. 0147 and Fig. 15: search hit document display 1513; and see Yamamoto para. 0119: author match; and see Yamamoto para. 0121: creation date match; and see Yamamoto para. 0122: tag match).
Although Yamamoto does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein in response to determining that the second matching document does not include content that matches the search string the second document object is not displayed with a matching page indicator, Yamamoto does teach omitting of page thumbnails due to a limited display area (see Yamamoto para. 0152). Furthermore, as set forth above, hit page thumbnail 1608 indicates a thumbnail image of a page hit based on the search key (see Yamamoto para. 0151 and Fig. 16) and the search hit may be due to a metadata only hit (see Yamamoto para. 0119: author match; and see Yamamoto para. 0121: creation date match; and see Yamamoto para. 0122: tag match). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yamamoto to omit the hit page thumbnail 1608 (claimed “matching page indicator”) when the document match is based on metadata only because doing so would make maximum use of the limited display area.
As to claim 2, Yamamoto teaches wherein the set of documents is a set of independent page documents, each independent page document comprising one or more independent pages (Yamamoto para. 0070 and 0094: page content data).
As to claim 10, Yamamoto teaches wherein causing the search to be performed comprises generating a search request and communicating the search request to a server application (Yamamoto para. 0070 and Fig. 1: search request generated by personal computer 101 and sent to server system 140)
As to claim 11, Yamamoto teaches a computer processing system comprising:
a processing unit (see Yamamoto para. 0073 and Fig. 3: CPU 301);
an input device (see Yamamoto para. 0073 and Fig. 3: console unit 112 receives input from the user);
a display (see Yamamoto para. 0073 and Fig. 3: console unit display 112); and
a non-transient computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by the processing unit, cause the processing unit to perform a method (see Yamamoto para. 0073 and Fig. 3: RAM 302 and hard disk drive 304 store system software) comprising:
receiving, via the input device (see Yamamoto para. 0073 and Fig. 3: console unit 112 receives input from the user), input that defines a search string (see Yamamoto para. 0138 and Fig. 14B: search keyword field 1419 for inputting a keyword for document search);
causing a search to be performed (see Yamamoto para. 0139-0140 and Fig. 15: a search is performed and search results are provided), wherein,
the search is based at least in part on the search string (see Yamamoto para. 0138 and Fig. 14B: search keyword field 1419 for inputting a keyword for document search);
the search is performed on a set of documents (see Yamamoto para. 0138 and Fig. 14B: search keyword field 1419 for inputting a keyword for document search);
the search is performed to identify matching documents and matching document pages (see Yamamoto para. 0142-0143 and Figs. 15-16: the search matches documents and pages, referred to as hit pages or page hits) based on content of the documents in the set of documents and on document metadata associated with the documents in the set of documents (see Yamamoto para. 0070: the system combines search based on document content data and search based on document metadata);
the search identifies a first matching document that includes one or more pages that include content that matches the search string (see Yamamoto para. 0070: the system combines search based on document content data, including searching based on page content data; and see Yamamoto Figs. 14B: in an illustrative example, the user searches for keyword “Project A”); and
the search identifies a second matching document that does not include content that matches the search string but is associated with metadata that matches the search string (see Yamamoto para. 0119: author match; and see Yamamoto para. 0121: creation date match; and see Yamamoto para. 0122: tag match);
displaying, on the display (see Yamamoto para. 0073 and Fig. 3: console unit display 112), a matching documents user interface (UI) (see Yamamoto Figs. 15-16: document search results list window 1500 comprising search hit document display 1512), wherein the matching documents UI comprises at least:
a first document object that corresponds to the first matching document (see Yamamoto para. 0147 and Fig. 15: search hit document display 1512), wherein in response to determining that the first matching document includes the one or more pages that include content that matches the search string the first document object is displayed with a matching page indicator (see Yamamoto para. 0151 and Fig. 16: hit page thumbnail 1608 indicates a thumbnail image of a page hit based on the search key); and
a second document object that corresponds to the second matching document (see Yamamoto para. 0147 and Fig. 15: search hit document display 1513; and see Yamamoto para. 0119: author match; and see Yamamoto para. 0121: creation date match; and see Yamamoto para. 0122: tag match).
Although Yamamoto does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein in response to determining that the second matching document does not include content that matches the search string the second document object is not displayed with a matching page indicator, Yamamoto does teach omitting of page thumbnails due to a limited display area (see Yamamoto para. 0152). Furthermore, as set forth above, hit page thumbnail 1608 indicates a thumbnail image of a page hit based on the search key (see Yamamoto para. 0151 and Fig. 16) and the search hit may be due to a metadata only hit (see Yamamoto para. 0119: author match; and see Yamamoto para. 0121: creation date match; and see Yamamoto para. 0122: tag match). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yamamoto to omit the hit page thumbnail 1608 (claimed “matching page indicator”) when the document match is based on metadata only because doing so would make maximum use of the limited display area.
As to claim 12, see the rejection of claim 2 above.
As to claim 19, see the rejection of claim 10 above.
As to claim 20, Yamamoto teaches a non-transient storage medium storing instructions executable by a processing unit to cause the processing unit to perform a method (see Yamamoto para. 0073 and Fig. 3: hard disk drive (HDD) 304 stores system software for CPU 301):
receiving, via the input device (see Yamamoto para. 0073 and Fig. 3: console unit 112 receives input from the user), input that defines a search string (see Yamamoto para. 0138 and Fig. 14B: search keyword field 1419 for inputting a keyword for document search);
causing a search to be performed (see Yamamoto para. 0139-0140 and Fig. 15: a search is performed and search results are provided), wherein,
the search is based at least in part on the search string (see Yamamoto para. 0138 and Fig. 14B: search keyword field 1419 for inputting a keyword for document search);
the search is performed on a set of documents (see Yamamoto para. 0138 and Fig. 14B: search keyword field 1419 for inputting a keyword for document search);
the search is performed to identify matching documents and matching document pages (see Yamamoto para. 0142-0143 and Figs. 15-16: the search matches documents and pages, referred to as hit pages or page hits) based on content of the documents in the set of documents and on document metadata associated with the documents in the set of documents (see Yamamoto para. 0070: the system combines search based on document content data and search based on document metadata);
the search identifies a first matching document that includes one or more pages that include content that matches the search string (see Yamamoto para. 0070: the system combines search based on document content data, including searching based on page content data; and see Yamamoto Figs. 14B: in an illustrative example, the user searches for keyword “Project A”); and
the search identifies a second matching document that does not include content that matches the search string but is associated with metadata that matches the search string (see Yamamoto para. 0119: author match; and see Yamamoto para. 0121: creation date match; and see Yamamoto para. 0122: tag match);
displaying, on the display (see Yamamoto para. 0073 and Fig. 3: console unit display 112), a matching documents user interface (UI) (see Yamamoto Figs. 15-16: document search results list window 1500 comprising search hit document display 1512), wherein the matching documents UI comprises:
a first document object that corresponds to the first matching document (see Yamamoto para. 0147 and Fig. 15: search hit document display 1512), wherein in response to determining that the first matching document includes the one or more pages that include content that matches the search string the first document object is displayed with a matching page indicator (see Yamamoto para. 0151 and Fig. 16: hit page thumbnail 1608 indicates a thumbnail image of a page hit based on the search key); and
a second document object that corresponds to the second matching document (see Yamamoto para. 0147 and Fig. 15: search hit document display 1513; and see Yamamoto para. 0119: author match; and see Yamamoto para. 0121: creation date match; and see Yamamoto para. 0122: tag match).
Although Yamamoto does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein in response to determining that the second matching document does not include content that matches the search string the second document object is not displayed with a matching page indicator, Yamamoto does teach omitting of page thumbnails due to a limited display area (see Yamamoto para. 0152). Furthermore, as set forth above, hit page thumbnail 1608 indicates a thumbnail image of a page hit based on the search key (see Yamamoto para. 0151 and Fig. 16) and the search hit may be due to a metadata only hit (see Yamamoto para. 0119: author match; and see Yamamoto para. 0121: creation date match; and see Yamamoto para. 0122: tag match). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yamamoto to omit the hit page thumbnail 1608 (claimed “matching page indicator”) when the document match is based on metadata only because doing so would make maximum use of the limited display area.
As to claim 21, Yamamoto teaches wherein the first document object is displayed with at least one of: a total pages indicator that indicates a total number of pages of the first document; and a thumbnail of a particular page of the first matching document (see Yamamoto para. 0151 and Fig. 16: hit page thumbnail 1608 indicates a thumbnail image of a page hit based on the search key).
As to claim 26, see the rejection of claim 21 above.
As to claim 30, see the rejection of claim 21 above.
Claims 4 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Krit et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20140040225 A1, hereinafter referred to as Krit).
As to claim 4, Yamamoto does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the matching page indicator indicates a number of pages of the first matching document that include content that matches the search string.
However, Krit teaches wherein the matching page indicator indicates a number of pages of the first matching document that include content that matches the search string (Krit para. 0071 and Fig. 7: document 106B is displayed with matching page indicator, referred to as “hit indicator,” 114; and see Krit para. 0079 and Fig. 8: page block 120 includes page indicators 112 for all matching pages).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yamamoto to include the teachings of Krit because it maximizes the number of displayed matches (Krit para. 0079).
As to claim 14, see the rejection of claim 4 above.
Claims 22-25, 27-29, and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto as applied to claims 1, 11, and 20 above, and further in view of Iwasaki, Masajiro (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20090183115 A1, hereinafter referred to as Iwasaki) and Lopresti et al. (U.S. Patent No. 5,832,474, hereinafter referred to as Lopresti).
As to claim 22, Yamamoto does not appear to explicitly disclose further comprising: detecting a document selection user input selecting the first document object; in response to detecting the document selection user input, displaying a document pages user interface (UI), wherein the document pages UI includes a first page object corresponding to a first page of the first matching document; detecting a page selection user input selecting the first page object; and in response to detecting the page selection user input, displaying the first page in a primary user interface (UI).
However, Iwasaki teaches further comprising:
detecting a document selection user input selecting the first document object (see Iwasaki para. 0074 and Fig. 12: search result document D20 is selected);
in response to detecting the document selection user input (see Iwasaki para. 0074 and Fig. 12: search result document D20 is selected), displaying a document pages user interface (UI) (see Iwasaki para. 0074 and Fig. 12: in response to selection of search result document D20, window 1201 is displayed), wherein the document pages UI includes a first page object corresponding to a first page of the first matching document (see Iwasaki para. 0074 and Fig. 12: window 1201 displays page P4 of document D20);
detecting a page selection user input selecting the first page object (see Iwasaki para. 0086 and Fig. 13: selection of a page thumbnail, such as page P4 of document D20); and
in response to detecting the page selection user input, displaying the first page in a primary user interface (UI) (see Iwasaki para. 0087 and Fig. 18: in response to selection of a page thumbnail, window 1805 is displayed, showing page image 1806).
Yamamoto points out the challenges of fitting page thumbnails onto a limited display area (Yamamoto para. 0152) but does not appear to explicitly disclose providing a separate user interface for display of page thumbnails. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yamamoto to include the teachings of Iwasaki because it provides a separate user interface for displaying pages retrieved as a result of a search (Iwasaki para. 0074 and Fig. 12), allowing for a larger display area for display of page thumbnails..
Yamamoto as modified by Iwasaki does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the primary UI is an editor user interface including one or more editing controls for editing the first page.
However, Lopresti teaches:
wherein the primary UI is an editor user interface (see Lopresti col. 5 L19-35 and Fig. 2: display window 24 provides a user interface for displaying the particular page selected by the user and allows the user to edit the page) including one or more editing controls for editing the first page (see Lopresti col. 5 L35-67 and Fig. 2: push button controls for editing the page).
Iwasaki acknowledges the need for editing of electronic documents (see Iwasaki para. 0005-0006), but Iwasaki’s interface for displaying a selected page lacks editing capabilities (see Iwasaki para. 0087 and Fig. 18: in response to selection of a page thumbnail, window 1805 is displayed, showing page image 1806). Lopresti teaches searching for pages from electronic documents (see Lopresti col. 3 L16-33: user utilizes the search engine to search for matching pages of documents) and enabling the user to select one of the matching pages (see Lopresti col. 5 L19-35 and Fig. 2: user selects a document page from the thumbnails 36) for display in an interface that enables editing (see Lopresti col. 5 L19-67 and Fig. 2: editing the page). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yamamoto as modified by Iwasaki to include the teachings of Lopresti because it provides an interface for editing electronic documents (see Lopresti col. 5 L19-67 and Fig. 2), fulfilling an increasing need of office environments for paperless electronic document editing (see Iwasaki para. 0005-0006).
As to claim 23, Yamamoto as modified by Iwasaki and Lopresti teaches wherein the first page of the first matching document includes content that matches the search string and the first page object is displayed with a page match indicator indicating that the first page of the first matching document includes content that matches the search string (see Yamamoto para. 0151 and Fig. 16: hit page thumbnail 1608 indicates a thumbnail image of a page hit based on the search key).
As to claim 24, Yamamoto as modified by Iwasaki and Lopresti teaches wherein the document pages UI includes a display matching pages control (see Iwasaki para. 0072: the display includes a switching button to selecting whether or not to display only pages meeting the search criterion), and the method further comprises:
detecting user input selecting the display matching pages control (see Iwasaki para. 0072: the display includes a switching button to selecting whether or not to display only pages meeting the search criterion); and
in response to detecting the user input selecting the display matching pages control, displaying only page objects that correspond to pages of the first matching document that include content that matches the search string (see Iwasaki para. 0072: the display includes a switching button to selecting whether or not to display only pages meeting the search criterion).
As to claim 25, Yamamoto as modified by Iwasaki and Lopresti teaches wherein the document pages UI includes a display all pages control (see Iwasaki para. 0072: the display includes a switching button to selecting whether or not to display all pages), and the method further comprises:
detecting user input selecting the display all pages control (see Iwasaki para. 0072: the display includes a switching button to selecting whether or not to display all pages); and
in response to detecting the user input selecting the display all pages control, displaying page objects that correspond all pages of the first matching document (see Iwasaki para. 0072: the display includes a switching button to selecting whether or not to display all pages).
As to claim 27, see the rejection of claim 22 above.
As to claim 28, see the rejection of claim 23 above.
As to claim 29, see the rejection of claim 24 above.
As to claim 31, see the rejection of claim 22 above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to UMAR MIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3970. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6:30 pm.
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/Umar Mian/
Examiner, Art Unit 2163