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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/16/2025 has been entered.
Claim Status
Claims 1-5 and 7-12 are pending in this Office Action.
Claims 1-4, 8, and 10-12 are amended.
Claim 6 is cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered, but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Potentially Allowable Subject Matter
While a determination of allowability would require further search, the subject matter described in paragraphs 209-220, providing more detail regarding when and how to display a notification for setting the subtitle search mode, appears to distinguish at least over the art of record and may be allowable if it were incorporated into the claims.
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.
Claims 1-5 and 7-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lan et al. (US 2016/0295294) in view of Hong et al. (US 2015/0058893) and further in view of Wang et al. (US 2015/0356997).
Regarding claim 1, Lan teaches: A display device [Displaying apparatus (Fig. 5)], comprising:
a display configured to display an image and a subtitle corresponding to the image [a display unit 140 for displaying multimedia and corresponding subtitle information (par. 85-86 and 121, Fig. 5 and 9)] and
a hardware control unit configured to receive a search command for changing a playback point of the image [a processor 180 for receiving a subtitle skip option for skipping the multimedia file to the start time of the selected subtitle for playback (par. 42-45 and 119, Fig. 1, 3b, and 9)],
wherein the search command includes at least one of a first search command that changes the playback point forward or a second search command that changes the playback point back [The user has an option whether they would like to view subtitles before or after the current playing time. When the user commands, adjusting a playing progress of the multimedia file from the current subtitle by playing the multimedia file from a playing start time of a selected subtitle (par. 58-59, 79, and 84, Fig. 3a)]
wherein the control unit is further configured to: change the playback point of the image to a subtitle unit according to the search command [skipping the multimedia file to the start time of the selected subtitle and playing the multimedia file from the playing start time (par. 42-45, Fig. 1 and 3b)],
wherein the playback point is determined based on a subtitle unit following a current subtitle unit of a current point based on the first search command [if the user wants to view subtitles after the current playing time, adjusting a playing progress of the multimedia file from the current subtitle by playing the multimedia file from a playing start time of a selected subtitle after the current playing time (par. 58-59, 79, and 84, Fig. 3a)], and
wherein the playback point is determined based on a subtitle unit previous to the current subtitle unit based on the second search command [if the user wants to view subtitles before the current playing time, adjusting a playing progress of the multimedia file from the current subtitle by playing the multimedia file from a playing start time of a selected subtitle before the current playing time (par. 58-59, 79, and 84, Fig. 3a)],
change the playback point differently according to an inter-subtitle interval [on detecting a skip option being triggered corresponding to a blank area between two rows of subtitles, a playing triggering option is determined by making a choice as to which row of subtitles will be skipped to (par. 69-70, Fig. 4b)],
and set the playback point using a reference time [adjusting the playing start time according to a time tag corresponding to the user command (par. 79, and 84, Fig. 3a)].
While Lan teaches setting the start time based on a speed of the drag operation (par. 59), Lan does not explicitly disclose: set the playback point based on a number received of the first search command or the second search command; wherein the reference time is set corresponding to half of the inter-subtitle interval when the inter-subtitle interval is less than a set time, and wherein the reference time is set corresponding to a preset constant when the inter-subtitle interval is longer than the set time.
Hong teaches: set the playback point based on a number received of the first search command or the second search command [an operation of dragging to the left or right causes a fast forward or rewind function to the playback and the if the command is transmitted twice or more, the speed is increased. For example, Fig. 18 shows a speed of 2x (par. 174)].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Lan and Hong before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the display device of Lan by incorporating the teaching of Hong to set the playback point based on a number received of the first search command or the second search command. The motivation for doing so would have been to allow the user to easily control the speed at which the playback point is moved forward or backward (Hong - par. 174). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Lan and Hong in obtaining the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Hong does not explicitly disclose: the reference time is set corresponding to half of the inter-subtitle interval when the inter-subtitle interval is less than a set time, and wherein the reference time is set corresponding to a preset constant when the inter-subtitle interval is longer than the set time.
Wang teaches: the reference time is set corresponding to half of the inter-subtitle interval when the inter-subtitle interval is less than a set time, and wherein the reference time is set corresponding to a preset constant when the inter-subtitle interval is longer than the set time [determining whether a time interval between a first subtitle and a second subtitle is greater than a predetermined time interval and based on this selecting a position in the time interval as the target starting position (par. 65-66, Fig. 4-5). For example, the show time of the two adjacent subtitles are 08 seconds past 3 minutes and 11 seconds past 3 minutes, and the time interval is also larger than a preset time interval, the device may determine that the starting point of continuing to play the multimedia is at 10 seconds past 3 minutes, which demonstrates selecting a time of 1 second before the end of the time interval (par. 73-74, Fig. 5). The subtitle time interval may be something like 0.5 seconds (par. 61). In this case, selecting a time 1 second before the end time of the interval may not make sense because it would be outside of the subtitle time interval. Therefore, another position between the interval may be selected (par. 61). Fig. 7 and 8 suggest a time half way between a time interval.].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Lan, Hong, and Wang before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the display device of Lan and Hong by incorporating the teaching of Wang such that the reference time is set corresponding to half of the inter-subtitle interval when the inter-subtitle interval is less than a set time, and wherein the reference time is set corresponding to a preset constant when the inter-subtitle interval is longer than the set time. The motivation for doing so would have been so that the user may catch and understand the complete semantic statement of the subtitle, whereby the user's experience of viewing the content is improved (Wang - par. 69). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Lan, Hong, and Wang to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding claim 2, Lan, Hong, and Wang teach the display device of claim 1; Lan and Wang further teach: the control unit is configured to change the playback point from a start point of the subtitle unit of the current point to a point before the reference time when the search command is a first search command that changes the playback point forward from the current point [Lan - if the user wants to view subtitles after the current playing time, adjusting a playing progress of the multimedia file from the current subtitle by playing the multimedia file from a playing start time of a selected subtitle (par. 58-59, 79, and 84, Fig. 3a). Wang – adjusting the starting point to before the start point of the subtitle (par. 65-66, Fig. 4-5)].
Regarding claim 3, Lan, Hong, and Wang teach the display device of claim 1; Lan and Wang further teach: the control unit is configured to change the playback point from a start point of the following subtitle unit to a point before the reference time when the search command is a second search command that changes the playback point backward from the current point [Lan - a user wants to view subtitles before a current displaying time, adjusting a playing progress of the multimedia file from a subtitle by playing the multimedia file from a playing start time of a selected subtitle (par. 58-59, 79, and 84, Fig. 3a). Wang – adjusting the starting point to before the start point of the subtitle (par. 65-66, Fig. 4-5)].
Regarding claim 4, Lan, Hong, and Wang teach the display device of claim 1; Lan and Wang further teach: the control unit is configured to: change the playback point from a start point of the current subtitle unit to a point before a reference time, when the search command is the first search command that changes the playback point forward from the current point, and change the playback point from a start point of the following subtitle unit to a point before the reference time when the search command is a second search command that changes the playback point backward from the current point [Lan - depending on whether the user wants to view subtitles before a current displaying time or after the current playing time, adjusting a playing progress of the multimedia file from a subtitle by playing the multimedia file from a playing start time of a selected subtitle (par. 58-59, 79, and 84, Fig. 3a). Wang – adjusting the starting point to before the start point of the subtitle (par. 65-66, Fig. 4-5)].
Regarding claim 5, Lan, Hong, and Wang teach the display device of claim 4; Wang further teaches: the control unit is further configured to adjust the reference time based on the inter-subtitle interval [determine a time interval between two adjacent subtitles and then select a position in the time interval (par. 65-67, Fig. 4)].
Regarding claim 7, Lan, Hong, and Wang teach the display device of claim 4; Hong further teaches: the first search command is a left key input command provided in the remote control device, and the second search command is a right key input command provided in the remote control device [the remote control may include a command for fast forward and rewinding the content according to a left or right drag button input (par. 172-174)].
Regarding claim 8, Lan, Hong, and Wang teach the display device of claim 1; Lan and Wang further teach: the control unit is configured to change the playback point to a start point of a subtitle unit closest to a selected point when the search command is a command to select a point on a progress bar indicating the playback point [Lan - using a progress bar to locate and view subtitles corresponding to the selected point (par. 3, Fig. 3a). Wang – when the starting positions of at least two complete semantic statements are determined according to the subtitle data comprises continuing to play the multimedia from the starting position closest to the pause position (par. 156-157)].
Regarding claim 9, Lan, Hong, and Wang teach the display device of claim 1; Lan further teaches: the control unit is further configured to display a menu for selecting either a subtitle search mode or a general search mode [a subtitle alignment indicatrix and a skip option are displayed (par. 42, Fig. 3a)].
Regarding claim 10, Lan, Hong, and Wang teach the display device of claim 9; Lan further teaches: the control unit is configured to: change the playback point of the image based on subtitle units when a subtitle search mode is set [when the subtitle alignment indicatrix and skip option are displayed, skipping the multimedia file to the start time of the selected subtitle unit, such as a row or sentence, and playing the multimedia file from the playing start time (par. 42-45, Fig. 1 and 3b)].
Hong further teaches: change the playback point of the image to a preset fixed time unit when a general search mode is set [a general search mode, such as one where the playback time of the content is moved forward or backward according to a number of times the command is received and a preset time unit such as 2x speed (par. 172-174, Fig. 18)].
Regarding claim 11, Lan, Hong, and Wang teach the display device of claim 1; Lan further teaches: the control unit is further configured to: display a notification of setting a search mode in which the playback point of the image is changed based on subtitle units when a language of an audio output according to the image and a language of the subtitle units are different [displaying a response of the subtitle display interface to the drag operation with an animation. By the drag operation, subtitles the user wants to view may be selected in units, such as in a row or sentence, so that a playing start time of the subtitles selected may be obtained, thereby realizing a follow-up playing progress adjusting process (par. 59, 79, and 82). The audio may be English and subtitles may be Chinese for example (par. 33)].
Regarding claim 12, Lan, Hong, and Wang teach the display device of claim 1; Lan further teaches: the control unit is further configured to: display a notification of setting a search mode in which the playback point of the image is changed based on subtitle units when a language of an audio output according to the image and a language of the subtitle units are the same [displaying a response of the subtitle display interface to the drag operation with an animation. By the drag operation, subtitles the user wants to view may be selected in units, such as in a row or sentence, so that a playing start time of the subtitles selected may be obtained, thereby realizing a follow-up playing progress adjusting process (par. 59, 79, and 82). The audio may be English and subtitles may be English for example (par. 33)].
Conclusion
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/ALEXANDER BOYD/Examiner, Art Unit 2424