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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in responsive to the Application 18/520,113 filed on 11/27/2023.
Claims 1, 11 and 20 are independent claims. Claims 1-20 have been examined and are pending in this application. This Action is made Non-FINAL.
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.
(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.
Claims 1-4, 7-14, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al., (“Li,” CN 112347273A), IDS filed on 09/04/2024, published on Feb. 09, 2021 – Corresponding US Patent Application US 2023/0070812, is used for mapping.
Regarding claim 1, Li discloses a media playing method, comprising:
in the case that a first target multimedia is played, receiving a first trigger instruction for a first interactive control on a display interface (pars. 0033-0035; Fig. 1; background music 101; receiving user’s input from target audio playing control 103; see also pars. 0040-0046); and
in response to the first trigger instruction, playing a music corresponding to the first interactive control while displaying image content of the first target multimedia (pars. 0033-0035; Fig. 1; user can play the target audio by operating the target audio playing control 103, while non-audio media information 102, such as image, text video or short video are displayed on the screen; see also pars. 0040-0046 and 0065-0067; Figs. 4a-4c).
Regarding claim 2, Li discloses the media playing method according to claim 1, further comprising:
in the case that the image content of the first target multimedia is displayed and the music is played, receiving a second trigger instruction for the image content which is currently displayed (pars. 0065-0068; Figs. 4a-4c; receiving user input from target audio playing control 401; see also pars. 0033-0035 and 0072-0073; Figs. 1, 5a-5b); and
in response to the second trigger instruction, playing the first target multimedia, wherein playing the first target multimedia comprises: displaying the image content and playing audio content of the first target multimedia (pars. 0065-0068; Figs. 4a-4c; displaying related information while playing music; see also pars. 0033-0035 and 0072-0073; Figs. 1, 5a-5b).
Regarding claim 3, Li discloses the media playing method according to claim 1, wherein the first target multimedia comprises: a multimedia related to the music or a multimedia related to an author of the music (pars. 0021, 0033-0035 and 0046; allow a user to directly listen to the target audio corresponding to the audio included in the multimedia information when browsing the multimedia information; par. 0072; displaying multimedia published by the same author).
Regarding claim 4, Li discloses the media playing method according to claim 1, further comprising:
in the case that the image content of the first target multimedia is displayed and the music is played, receiving a switching instruction for the image content which is currently displayed (pars. 0065-0068; Fig. 4c; receiving user’s input from playing control 401); and
in response to the switching instruction, displaying image content of a second target multimedia, the second target multimedia being multimedia bound to the music (pars. 0065-0068; Fig. 4c; playing target media content and displaying related information 402-406).
Regarding claim 7, Li discloses the media playing method according to claim 1, wherein the first target multimedia is a multimedia of a first type, and the media playing method further comprises:
in the case that the image content of the first target multimedia is displayed and the music is played, receiving a fifth trigger instruction for a control of a second type (pars. 0065-0068 and 0072-0073; Figs. 4a-4c and 5a-5b; playing a selected target media in response to receiving user’s input); and
in response to the fifth trigger instruction, displaying image content of the second type of a multimedia corresponding to the music (pars. 0065-0068 and 0072-0073; Figs. 4a-4c and 5a-5b; displaying related information of the target media while playing the target media).
Regarding claim 8, Li discloses the media playing method according to claim 7, wherein in response to the first type comprising a custom type, the second type comprises a music short video type (pars. 0033-0035; the non-audio media information 102 may be at least one type of medium, such as an image, a text, a video, and a short video); in response to the first type comprising the music short video type, the second type comprises a custom type, the custom type comprising a type associated with the music or a type associated with an author of the music (pars. 0033-0035 and 0065-0068 and 0072-0073; Figs. 1-5; playing select media content published by an author).
Regarding claim 9, Li discloses the media playing method according to claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a sixth trigger instruction to enter an author home page (pars. 0072-0073; Figs. 5a-5b; when the name of the author is entered, the search result will list multiple multimedia, such as short videos, published by the same author, with each multimedia presenting area being superimposed by, and presented with, the target audio playing control 501 corresponding to the audio in the multimedia); and
in response to the sixth trigger instruction, displaying the author home page corresponding to the music, wherein a pre-set position of the author home page displays multimedia content of the author pars. 0072-0073; Figs. 5a-5b; the result will list multiple multimedia, such as short videos, published by the same author, with each multimedia presenting area being superimposed by, and presented with, the target audio playing control 501 corresponding to the audio in the multimedia).
Regarding claim 10, Li discloses the media playing method according to claim 9, further comprising:
receiving a seventh trigger instruction to an image control on the author home page (pars. 0072-0073; Figs. 5a-5b; playing a selected media content in response to receiving user’s input by clicking the target audio playing control 501); and
in response to the seventh triggering instruction, displaying an image of the author at the pre-set position (pars. 0072-0073; Figs. 5a-5b; playing a selected media content in response to receiving user’s input by clicking the target audio playing control 501).
Regarding claim 11, claim 11 is directed to a device corresponding to the method recited in claim 1. Claim 11 is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 12, claim 12 is directed to a device corresponding to the method recited in claim 2. Claim 12 is similar in scope to claim 2, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 13, claim 13 is directed to a device corresponding to the method recited in claim 3. Claim 13 is similar in scope to claim 3, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 14, claim 14 is directed to a device corresponding to the method recited in claim 4. Claim 14 is similar in scope to claim 4, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 17, claim 17 is directed to a device corresponding to the method recited in claim 7. Claim 17 is similar in scope to claim 7, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 18, claim 18 is directed to a device corresponding to the method recited in claim 8. Claim 18 is similar in scope to claim 8, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 19, claim 19 is directed to a device corresponding to the method recited in claim 9. Claim 19 is similar in scope to claim 9, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 20, claim 20 is directed to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium corresponding to the method recited in claim 1. Claim 20 is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
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 of 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 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yang et al. (“Yang,” CN 112965686), IDS filed on 09/04/2024, published on Mar. 01, 2021 – Corresponding US Patent Application US 2023/0099935 is used for mapping.
Regarding claim 5, Li discloses the media playing method according to claim 1, further comprising:
Li does not explicitly disclose in the case that the image content of the first target multimedia is displayed and the music is played, receiving a third trigger instruction for a player mode control; and in response to the third trigger instruction, switching to a player mode, and displaying a player image corresponding to the music.
However, Yang discloses a device wherein:
in the case that the image content of the first target multimedia is displayed and the music is played, receiving a third trigger instruction for a player mode control (Yang: pars. 0056-0060; Fig. 4; the user can operate on the playing mode control to switch a playing mode); and
in response to the third trigger instruction, switching to a player mode, and displaying a player image corresponding to the music (Yang: pars. 0056-0060; Fig. 4; switch playing mode in response to receiving user’s input from playing mode control).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Yang with the system/method of Li. One would have been motivated to enable user to switch playing mode when playing multimedia content (Yang: pars. 0056-0060).
Regarding claim 15, claim 15 is directed to a device corresponding to the method recited in claim 5. Claim 15 is similar in scope to claim 5, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Claims 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Yang as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Yang Yabin et al. (“Yang Yabin,” US 2022/0057984), published on Feb. 24, 2022.
Regarding claim 6, The combination of Li and Yang discloses the media playing method according to claim 5.
The combination of Li and Yang further discloses receiving a fourth trigger instruction for a video mode control; and displaying image content of a multimedia corresponding to the music (Li: pars. 0065-0068; Figs. 4a-4c; displaying related information while playing music; see also pars. 0033-0035 and 0072-0073; Figs. 1, 5a-5b; Yang: pars. 0056-0060; Fig. 4);
The combination of Li and Yang does not explicitly disclose in response to the fourth trigger instruction, switching to a video mode.
However, Yang Yabin discloses a music playing method/device, including the steps of:
in response to the fourth trigger instruction, switching to a video mode (Yang Yabin: pars. 0079-0086; Figs. 4-5, steps 402-406, receiving a video switching operation (step 404) and playing another video (step 406)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine teachings of Yang Yabin with the combined system/method of Li and Yang. One would have been motivated to enable user to switch operation to a video mode during playing multimedia content (Yang Yabin: pars. 0079-0086).
Regarding claim 16, claim 16 is directed to a device corresponding to the method recited in claim 6. Claim 16 is similar in scope to claim 6, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Conclusion
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.
It is noted that any citation to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the references should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33,216 USPQ 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006, 1009, 158 USPQ 275,277 (CCPA 1968))
Inquiries
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINH K PHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-3230. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM (EST).
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, William L Bashore can be reached on (571) 272-4088. 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.
/LINH K PHAM/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2174