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 .
This office action is in response to the RCE filed on 05/21/2026. Claims 2-6, 8-13, 15, 16, 18, 20-25 remain pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/21/2026 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 2, 6-9, 13, 15, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ranjan et al (US 2021/0201731), hereinafter as Ranjan.
RE claims 2, 9 and 16, Ranjan discloses that a system and its operating method (see figure 1 and section [0014]; i.e., the electronic device 105) comprising: a first display and a second display (see figure 1 and section [0016]; i.e., multiple screens 120); a memory storing instructions that are executable by a processor (see figure 1 and section [0015]; i.e., memory 110 to store data and code related to one or more applications 140 for execution by processor 115); the processor configured to execute the instructions stored on the memory (see figure 1 and section [0015]; i.e., the processor 115 to execute the instructions stored in memory 110); and a window manager, implemented on the processor (see figure 4 and sections [0061] – [0064], [0066], [0069]; i.e., input manager 425), configured to: identify a first application presenting first content on the first display and a second application presenting second content on the second display (see sections [0021], [0022], [0024]; i.e., identifying application 140 running on each screen 120, for example, social media feed on screen 120, or gaming application 140 running on another screen 120), retrieve a refresh rate for the first display based on an optimal refresh rate for the first application when the first application is presenting the first content in full screen mode (see figure 1 and sections [0016], [0022], [0023]; i.e., the refresh rate component 150 to determine a refresh rate independently for each screen 120 by increasing or decreasing the refresh rate of the screen 120 relative to the default refresh rate of an application 140 being executed), determine a refresh rate for the second display, wherein the refresh rate for the second display is variable and higher than the refresh rate for the first display (see figure 1 and sections [0016], [0022], [0023]; i.e., the refresh rate component 150 to determine a refresh rate independently for each screen 120 by increasing or decreasing the refresh rate of the screen 120 relative to the default refresh rate of an application 140 by executed); and time frames of a first sequence of frames of the first display with frames of a second sequence of frames of the second display, by, after a first frame of the first sequence, refreshing a successive frame of the first sequence at a later time with most recently frame of the second sequence that is displayed at an earlier time (see figures 2&3 and sections [0023], [0037], [0038]; i.e., to refresh the screen according to the intermediate refresh rate 210 for a time period, e.g., five minutes, prior to adjusting the refresh rate to the default refresh rate 205, the time period may be defined or predetermined, or alternatively to adjust the refresh rate back to the refresh rate 215 from the intermediate refresh rate 210).
RE claims 6 and 13, Ranjan discloses that wherein the refresh rate for the first display is slower than the refresh rate of the second display (see section [0023]).
RE claims 8 and 15, Ranjan discloses that the window manager further configured to cause a third display to be refreshed at the refresh rate for the first display (see figure 9 and its associated depictions).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 10-12, 18, 20-25 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication from the examiner should be directed to FRED TZENG whose telephone number is 571-272-7565. The examiner can normally be reached on weekdays from 2:0 pm to 10:00 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Boddie can be reached on 571-272-0666. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are 571-273-8300 for regular communications and 571-273-7565 for After Final communications.
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/FRED TZENG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625
FFT
June 22, 2026
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