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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 31-32 objected to because of the following informalities: The claims are being improper because of multiple dependent claims. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 31-32 objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(c) as being in improper form because a multiple dependent claims 1 to 15. See MPEP § 608.01(n). Accordingly, the claims 31 and 31 have not been further treated on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 31-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claims 31-32 recite a “A computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium comprises computer instructions” storing instructions that perform various functions. In the Specification of the present application, the “computer readable medium” is not excluding transmission media (see paragraph [0058], [0059]). Further the claim recites a “a computer storage medium and a computer program product..”, and the specification fails to provide a definition for that term. It also does not provide any indication that such storage medium is non-transitory. Thus, the broadest, reasonable interpretation of “computer readable medium” encompasses non-statutory subject matter (transmission media) that is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Accordingly, Claims 31 and 32 fail to recite statutory subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-10, 16-25 and 31-32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Longquan (CN109151581) in view of Opara et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0236720).
Regarding claim 1, LongQuan discloses a display method, wherein the method comprises: displaying a window of a first application at a first position on a display [see para. 0015; When the area corresponding to the operation information is the area where the play window is located, controlling the data display mode of the first application or the play window according to the operation information]; receiving a first display operation used to display a second application [see para. 0021; Displaying the data of the second application on the second floating layer of the terminal includes: adjusting the display of the data of the second application on the second floating layer according to the determined position]; and in response to the first display operation, displaying the window of the first application and a window of the second application on the display in a tiled manner, wherein the window of the first application is adjusted to be displayed at a second position [see para. 0084, 0085; when the operation instruction indicates that the playback window is to be moved, the position to which the playback window is to be moved is determined according to the operation information, and the playback window is moved to the determined position to continue to display the data of the first application at the determined position; at the same time, the terminal adjusts the display of the data of the second application on the second floating layer according to the determined position to ensure that the data of the first application and the data of the second application displayed do not overlap]; the first position is different from the second position, and the tiled manner means that the displayed windows of the applications do not overlap each other [see para. 0075; display the data of other APPs on the second floating layer of the mobile phone, and the area on the terminal corresponding to displaying the data of the other APPs on the second floating layer does not overlap with the area on the terminal corresponding to displaying the video data of "Princess Agents" of the video APP on the transparent floating layer]; however, Longquang fails to explicitly teach in response to the first display operation, displaying the window of the first application and a window of the second application on the display in a tiled manner.
Opara discloses in response to the first display operation, displaying the window of the first application and a window of the second application on the display in a tiled manner [see para. 0072 and figures 10a-12; After selecting the applications, the user can elect to either start the split-screen mode or save the selection as a default split-screen mode when the user selects “start 2 screens”. When the user elects to start the split screen mode, the choices that the user made in the opening menu are reflected in the split-screen display, the application “Kitchen Recipes” and “TV” are displayed simultaneously in split-screen display.]
It would have been obvious to one of an ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Longquang and Opara before the affective filing date of the claimed invention to modify, switching between different applications on a terminal device of Longquang to include the user interfaces of two or more application, as taught by Opara. One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to involve a technique for managing multiple application windows on a screen by tiling them in response to a user operation including repositioning an existing window and operating system for multitasking or multi-window mode.
Regarding claim 2, Opara discloses wherein the method further comprises: if a focusing operation used to focus on a displayed window of an application is received, in response to the focusing operation, displaying the focused window of the application on the display in a close-to-full-screen size, and displaying a displayed window of the other application in a scaled-down form, wherein the displayed windows of the applications do not overlap each other, the focused window of the application is an activated window, and the displayed window that is of the other application and that is displayed in the scaled-down form is an inactivated window [see para, 0079-0091 and figures 13A-13C; a display with a layout of a two-portion split screen mode, the two-portion split screen mode split horizontally such that the top half of display is one portion and the bottom is another portion. In some embodiments, the size of each portion altered by clicking and dragging the border of a portion. A layout of a three-portion split screen mode, the three-portion split screen mode altered. For example, the largest portion can be located at the top of the display or the left side of the display. The display vertically or horizontally split into three equal portions, each of the three portions can stretch from the left side to the right side of the display such that each portion is below or above another portion].
Regarding claim 3, Opara discloses wherein the method further comprises: receiving an activation operation used to activate the window that is of the application and that is displayed in the scaled-down form; and in response to the activation operation, enabling the focused window of the application and the activated window of the application to exchange relative positions on the display [see para. 0041; a split screen display mode which alters the display of a user device by partitioning the display into two or more portions and displaying content from each application in different portions of the two or more portions. The split-screen mode can be activated by, for example, opening a split-screen application on the user device. In some embodiments, the applications that will be displayed in the split-screen mode can be dragged near the icon of the split-screen application, selected from a menu once the split-screen application is opened, or saved as a preferred option].
Regarding claim 4, Longquang discloses wherein the method further comprises:
if a first maximization operation used to maximize a displayed window of an application is received, in response to the first maximization operation, displaying a maximized window of the application on the display in a full-screen size, and hiding a displayed window of the other application [see para, 0092; when the mobile phone screen is switched to full-screen display mode, the original playback window continues to output video information in full-screen display mode; or, when the mobile phone screen is switched to page browsing display mode, the original playback window continues to output video information at a fixed position on the page including the original playback window].
Regarding claim 5, Longquang discloses wherein the method further comprises: receiving a second display operation used to display a current application; and in response to the second display operation, displaying the current application on the maximized window of the application in a form of a floating window [see para. 0075; display the data of other APPs on the second floating layer of the mobile phone, and the area on the terminal corresponding to displaying the data of the other APPs on the second floating layer does not overlap with the area on the terminal corresponding to displaying the video data of "Princess Agents" of the video APP on the transparent floating layer].
Regarding claim 6, Longquang discloses wherein the method further comprises:
receiving an operation performed on the displayed maximized window of the application; and
in response to the operation, hiding the displayed floating window of the current application [see para. 0088; to display the data of the first application according to the display mode before switching to the second application, while hiding the playback window displayed on the first floating layer, and adjusting the display of the data of the second application on the second floating layer according to the determined position to ensure that the displayed data of the first application and the data of the second application do not overlap].
Regarding claim 7, Opara discloses wherein the method further comprises: receiving a second maximization operation used to maximize the displayed floating window of the current application; and in response to the second maximization operation, displaying a maximized floating window of the current application on the display in the full-screen size, and hiding the displayed window of the other application [see para. 0069 and figure 9C; the split-screen mode that is activated when 2-splits icon is opened can have a maximum of two applications that can be displayed simultaneously. Thus, if a user attempts to drag and drop a third application, the action may not be accepted, the user may be prompted to elect to remove an application if the user selects more than maximum number].
Regarding claim 8, Longquang discloses wherein the hiding a displayed window of the other application comprises: displaying a floating ball of the other displayed application on the maximized window of the application [see para. 0071; The size of the playback window created on the transparent floating layer of the present invention is determined by a size preset by a developer, and is generally designed during product design. When creating a playback window, the terminal directly generates a playback window of a corresponding size and shape according to a preset size. 15 In the present invention, the playback window created on the transparent floating layer can be a rectangular window, a circular window].
Regarding claim 9, Longquang discloses wherein the method further comprises: if a retrieval operation used to retrieve a previously hidden application is received, in response to the retrieval operation, displaying a floating ball of the previously hidden application on a displayed window of an application [see para. 0090; after the user clicks on the play window on the first floating layer, the terminal determines that the user has selected the play window, and then exits the global viewing mode, and the original play window continues to output video information while hiding the play window].
Regarding claim 10, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a selection operation used to select a floating ball of an application; and in response to the selection operation, hiding a last displayed window of an application in the displayed windows of the applications, and displaying, on the display in a tiled manner, a displayed window of the other application and a window of the application corresponding to the selected floating ball, wherein a position of the window of the other application is adjusted for display [see para. 0080-0081 and figures 13B-13C; the three-portion split screen mode altered, the largest portion located at the top of the display or the left side of the display, the display vertically or horizontally split into three equal portions. For example, each of the three portions can stretch from the left side to the right side of the display such that each portion is below or above another portion a layout of a four-portion split screen mode. Four-portion split screen mode can also altered and resized as preferred. For example, the portions can be stacked on top of each other or adjacent to each other.]
Regarding claim 16, Longquan discloses an electronic device, comprising a processor, a memory, and a display, wherein the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions, and when the electronic device runs, the processor executes the computer-executable instructions, so that the electronic device performs the following operations [see figure 1]: displaying a window of a first application at a first position on a display [see para. 0015; When the area corresponding to the operation information is the area where the play window is located, controlling the data display mode of the first application or the play window according to the operation information]; receiving a first display operation used to display a second application [see para. 0021; Displaying the data of the second application on the second floating layer of the terminal includes: adjusting the display of the data of the second application on the second floating layer according to the determined position]; and in response to the first display operation, displaying the window of the first application and a window of the second application on the display in a tiled manner, wherein the window of the first application is adjusted to be displayed at a second position [see para. 0084, 0085; when the operation instruction indicates that the playback window is to be moved, the position to which the playback window is to be moved is determined according to the operation information, and the playback window is moved to the determined position to continue to display the data of the first application at the determined position; at the same time, the terminal adjusts the display of the data of the second application on the second floating layer according to the determined position to ensure that the data of the first application and the data of the second application displayed do not overlap]; the first position is different from the second position, and the tiled manner means that the displayed windows of the applications do not overlap each other [see para. 0075; display the data of other APPs on the second floating layer of the mobile phone, and the area on the terminal corresponding to displaying the data of the other APPs on the second floating layer does not overlap with the area on the terminal corresponding to displaying the video data of "Princess Agents" of the video APP on the transparent floating layer]; however, Longquang fails to explicitly teach in response to the first display operation, displaying the window of the first application and a window of the second application on the display in a tiled manner.
Opara discloses in response to the first display operation, displaying the window of the first application and a window of the second application on the display in a tiled manner [see para. 0072 and figures 10a-12; After selecting the applications, the user can elect to either start the split-screen mode or save the selection as a default split-screen mode when the user selects “start 2 screens”. When the user elects to start the split screen mode, the choices that the user made in the opening menu are reflected in the split-screen display, the application “Kitchen Recipes” and “TV” are displayed simultaneously in split-screen display.]
It would have been obvious to one of an ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Longquang and Opara before the affective filing date of the claimed invention to modify, switching between different applications on a terminal device of Longquang to include the user interfaces of two or more application, as taught by Opara. One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to involve a technique for managing multiple application windows on a screen by tiling them in response to a user operation including repositioning an existing window and operating system for multitasking or multi-window mode.
Regarding claims 17-25, directly or indirectly dependent on claim 16, essentially correspond to those of claims 2-10 respectively. Accordingly, the same reasoning as in claims 2-10 applies to claims 17-25.
Regarding claim 31, Opara discloses a computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium comprises computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are run on an electronic device, the electronic device is enabled to perform the method [see para. 0101]
Regarding claim 32, Opara discloses a computer program product, wherein when program code comprised in the computer program product is executed by a processor in an electronic device [see para. 0103].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-15 and 26-30 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (See PTO-892).
Walter (US Patent No. 2009/0031247) discloses A computer interface can be customized by a user at run time (instead of by a developer or administrator at an earlier time). A rectangular area can be divided into a plurality of sub-areas, and content sources assigned to each sub-area; or two adjacent sub-areas can be coalesced into a single, larger area. Content sources are assigned to each sub-area, and live content from the assigned source is displayed in the sub-area.
Vranjes et al. (US 9,535,565) discloses a tiled arrangement is an arrangement where windows do not overlap each other and substantially maximize window occupation of the display region. Generally, when a user inserts an application window the tiled arrangement is maintained by resizing any previously present application windows. Where to insert a window, which displayed windows to resize and to what extent can be determined based on factors such as user input, any prior manual adjustment of the tiled arrangement, and/or minimum window sizes. Whether tile arranging is performed in a managed or curated fashion (e.g., by sharing space equally among windows) or in a semi-curated fashion may be determined by taking into account any of the aforementioned factors.
A reference to specific paragraphs, columns, pages, or figures in a cited prior art reference is not limited to preferred embodiments or any specific examples. It is well settled that a prior art reference, in its entirety, must be considered for all that it expressly teaches and fairly suggests to one having ordinary skill in the art. Stated differently, a prior art disclosure reading on a limitation of Applicant's claim cannot be ignored on the ground that other embodiments disclosed were instead cited. Therefore, the Examiner's citation to a specific portion of a single prior art reference is not intended to exclusively dictate, but rather, to demonstrate an exemplary disclosure commensurate with the specific limitations being addressed. 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)). In re: Upsher-Smith Labs. v. Pamlab, LLC, 412 F.3d 1319, 1323, 75 USPQ2d 1213, 1215 (Fed. Cir. 2005); In re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1264, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1782 (Fed. Cir. 1992); Merck & Co. v. Biocraft Labs., Inc., 874 F.2d 804, 807, 10 USPQ2d 1843, 1846 (Fed. Cir. 1989); In re Fracalossi, 681 F.2d 792,794 n.1,215 USPQ 569, 570 n.1 (CCPA 1982); In re Lamberti, 545 F.2d 747, 750, 192 USPQ 278, 280 (CCPA 1976); In re Bozek, 416 F.2d 1385, 1390, 163 USPQ 545, 549 (CCPA 1969).
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/CAO H NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2171