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 .
Remarks
In view of the reply filed by Applicant on 01/28/2026:
Claims 1, 3-5, 11-12, 16-18 and 23 are amended.
Claims 8-10, 13-14 and 21 are canceled.
Claims 1-7, 11-12, 15-20 and 22-23 are pending in the Application.
Any comments considered necessary by Applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
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 1-4, 7, 11-12, 15-17, 20 and 22-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al., US 2017/0140006 (hereinafter Yang), and further in view of Shazeer et al., US 2020/0394210 (hereinafter Shazeer).
Regarding claims 1, 11 and 12 Yang discloses, A method of displaying a search result, comprising:
in response to a search request of a user, determining a search intention type corresponding to the search request, wherein the search intention type is used for indicating a demand degree of the user for a result of a commodity class (e.g. an input associated with a search query is received from a user. The input may be selection of the search query from multiple search queries presented to the user, e.g., trending queries or search suggestions, as well as any keywords directly typed in by the user. One or more search results are fetched based on the search query. The search result(s) may be of different types [as intention type] fetched from different verticals, such as news articles, sports, images, videos, local information, PDF, WORD or PPT documents, etc. The number of search result(s) fetched for each search query may be limited, e.g., the top three or 10 most relevant search results [as determining a search intention type]. Classification and sorting [as a commodity class] of the abstract information may be performed using the predefined criteria [as a demand degree] including but not limited to types of the information (e.g., textual information, image information, etc.), category that the webpage belongs to (e.g., travel, dining, financial etc.), recent updates etc. Information entities may be selected from contents extracted from each layer of the webpages based on the category of the webpage, Yang: [0058], [0066] and Fig. 6A);
determining a commodity card display form according to the determined search intention type,
(e.g. The process for generating the search result cards [as commodity card] in this embodiment includes selecting abstract information from the search result (step 1102), classifying and sorting the abstract information into one or more categories [as intention type] based on user behavior statistics (step 1104), sending the classified and sorted abstract information to the search result cards generating module (step 1106), selecting a plurality of information entities from the search result (step 1108), ranking the plurality of information entities based on user behavior statistics (step 1110), sending the ranked information entities to the search result cards generating module (step 1112), and generating the search result cards (step 1114), Yang: [0066]-[0068]);
wherein the commodity card display form comprises at least one of traverse arrangement, multi-column arrangement, superposition display (e.g. in Fig. 2, the plurality of information entities 208 [as a multi-column arrangement], Yang: Fig. 2), or insertion display; and
displaying, in a search result page, a search result comprising a commodity card according to the commodity card display form, wherein the commodity card is used for carrying information content of a corresponding commodity (e.g. FIG. 12 is exemplary search result cards presented to the user, according to an embodiment of the present teaching. In FIG. 12(a), two search result cards 1202 and 1204 are presented at one time on a user device screen shown in FIG. 12(a); while in FIG. 12(b), multiple search result cards are presented in a tabbed interface, and only one single search result card 1206 is displayed at one time on the user device screen, Yang: [0069], Fig. 12(a)(b));
wherein determining the search intention type corresponding to the search request comprises:
calculating relevance between a search word in the search request and each keyword in a vocabulary library corresponding to the commodity class search intention (e.g. The search result(s) may be of different types fetched from different verticals, such as news articles, sports, images, videos, local information, PDF, WORD or PPT documents, etc. The number of search result(s) fetched for each search query may be limited, e.g., the top three or 10 most relevant search results [as calculating relevance], Yang: [0058]); and
determining the search intention type corresponding to the search request according to the determined relevance (Yang: [0058]); or
determining multimedia content matching the search request according to the search request (e.g. one or more search results are fetched based on the search query. The search result(s) may be of different types fetched from different verticals, such as news articles, sports, images, videos, local information, PDF, WORD or PPT documents, etc., Yang: [0058]);
calculating relevance between the multimedia content and each keyword in a vocabulary library corresponding to the commodity class search intention (e.g. The search result(s) may be of different types fetched from different verticals, such as news articles, sports, images, videos, local information, PDF, WORD or PPT documents, etc. The number of search result(s) fetched for each search query may be limited, e.g., the top three or 10 most relevant search results [as calculating relevance], Yang: [0058]); and
determining the search intention type corresponding to the search request according to the determined relevance (Yang: [0058]).
Yang does not directly or explicitly disclose:
the search intention type comprises a commodity class search intention, an intermediate class search intention, or anon-commodity class search intention; the demand degree of the commodity class search intention for the result of the commodity class is higher than a demand degree of a search intention of another class for the result of the commodity class; the demand degree of the intermediate class search intention for the result of the commodity class is lower than the demand degree of the commodity class search intention for the result of the commodity class, and is higher than the demand degree of anon-commodity class search intention for the result of the commodity class; and the demand degree of the non-commodity class search intention for the result of the commodity class is lower than a demand degree of a search intention of another class for the result of the commodity class.
However, Shazeer teaches:
the search intention type comprises a commodity class search intention, an intermediate class search intention, or a non-commodity class search intention; the demand degree of the commodity class search intention for the result of the commodity class is higher than a demand degree of a search intention of another class for the result of the commodity class; the demand degree of the intermediate class search intention for the result of the commodity class is lower than the demand degree of the commodity class search intention for the result of the commodity class, and is higher than the demand degree of a non-commodity class search intention for the result of the commodity class; and the demand degree of the non-commodity class search intention for the result of the commodity class is lower than a demand degree of a search intention of another class for the result of the commodity class (e.g. When the responsive information includes multiple categories of information, the response formatter 228 can order each category of information such that a category of information that is determined or calculated to be most relevant to the corresponding query is presented first, or in some more prominent manner than other categories of information that may be less relevant to the original query. The relevance may be expressed by a set of scores or a set of rules or both. From analyzing a set of training data, a system may generate a set of rules, such as rules for identifying whether search results in particular groups should be ranked above results in other groups in terms of displaying the results in a visually otherwise prominent way to a user. The categories [as classes, e.g. a commodity class search intention, an intermediate class search intention, or a non-commodity class search intention] may be ranked for display according to rules or scores generated [as demand degrees], Shazeer: [0054],[0057],[0060], [0080], [0085], [0101] and Figs. 3A-3B).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify method and system for presenting a search result in a search result card as disclosed by Yang a to include methods and systems for providing relevance-ordered categories of information as taught by Shazeer to provide relevance-ordered categories of information to a user in response to a search query.
Regarding claims 2, 15 and 22, Yang further discloses, wherein the determined search intention type is the commodity class search intention (e.g. classifying and sorting the abstract information into one or more categories based on user behavior statistics, Yang: [0066]-[0068]); and
the commodity card display form corresponding to the commodity class search intention comprises:
displaying respective commodity cards in a first display region of the search result page according to a preset arrangement mode, wherein the commodity cards comprise at least one of a first commodity card carrying video content as information content, a second commodity card carrying live streaming content as information content, or a third commodity card carrying image content as information content (e.g. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary search result card corresponding to a search result. Wherein, the information entity may be an audio or a video extracted from the webpage; the search result card may be pre-configured with a dimension and a layout template to show a certain amount of images and textual information, Yang: Fig. 2, [0049]-[0051]).
Regarding claims 3, 16 and 23, Yang further discloses, wherein displaying respective commodity cards in the first display region of the search result page according to the preset arrangement mode comprises:
displaying a plurality of initial commodity cards in the first display region of the search result page according to a transverse arrangement mode (e.g. in FIG. 12(b), multiple search result cards are presented in a tabbed interface, and only one single search result card 1206 is displayed at one time on the user device screen, Yang: [0069] and Fig. 12); and
in response to a left-right sliding operation acting on the displayed commodity cards, switching to display different commodity cards in the first display region (e.g. in FIG. 2 initially shows three images in the logo/image, one piece of snippet information, and four information entities. By sliding the logo/image section to the left, the user may view more images related to the search result; and similarly, the user may view more snippet information or information entities, Yang: Fig. 2 and [0051]).
Regarding claims 4 and 17, Yang further discloses, wherein displaying respective commodity cards in the first display region of the search result page according to the preset arrangement mode comprises:
displaying a plurality of initial commodity cards in the first display region of the search result page according to a multi-column arrangement mode (e.g. in Fig. 2, the plurality of information entities 208 [as a multi-column arrangement], Yang: Fig. 2);
in response to a sliding operation acting on the displayed commodity cards or in response to a trigger operation for prompt information of viewing more commodities, expanding a display position range of the first display region (e.g. By sliding the logo/image section to the left, the user may view more images related to the search result; and similarly, the user may view more snippet information or information entities, Yang: Fig. 2 and [0051]); and
displaying the plurality of initial commodity cards and another commodity card in the first display region with the expanded display position range (e.g. in FIG. 12(b), multiple search result cards are presented in a tabbed interface, and only one single search result card 1206 is displayed at one time on the user device screen, Yang: [0069] and Fig. 12).
Regarding claims 7 and 20, Yang and Shazeer in combination further disclose, wherein the determined search intention type is the non-commodity class search intention (e.g. certain likelihood values for certain categories of information may be overridden if they are not likely to predict a meaningful correlation between a specific user and query and a particular category of information [as non-commodity class search intention], Shazeer: [0107]); and
the commodity card display form corresponding to the non-commodity class search intention comprises:
inserting a commodity card matching search information in the search request into a non- commodity search result in the search result page for display (Yang: Fig. 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify method and system for presenting a search result in a search result card as disclosed by Yang a to include methods and systems for providing relevance-ordered categories of information as taught by Shazeer to provide relevance-ordered categories of information to a user in response to a search query.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 and 18-19 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments presented in the response made on 01/28/2026 have been fully considered but are either addressed below or not deemed persuasive:
Applicant’s arguments regarding the rejections made under 35 USC 101 (Abstract Idea) are fully considered but they are deemed moot in view of the rejection being withdrawn in this office action.
Applicant’s arguments regarding the different processing method for the search request, “amended claim 1 defines two ways for determining the search intention type based on each keyword in the vocabulary library” and “in contrast, Yang does not have a vocabulary library corresponding to the commodity class search insertion”, the arguments are fully considered but not deemed persuasive. Yang teaches, “it is understood that the search engine 502 in this embodiment is not limited to a traditional web search engine that crawls websites on the Internet, builds webpage index, and retrieves webpages based on received keywords. The search engine 502 may be any online system that provides output content/results in response to an input query. The search engine 502 may be an online knowledge-based information retrieving system that provides answers to questions from users. For example, a user may ask a question of “should I leave college to start a business” through the search engine 502, and several answers may be returned on a result page provided by the search engine 502.” In the above paragraph, the words of the question “should I leave college and start a business” are considered to be searched against a vocabulary library. See Yang, paragraph [0057].
Applicant’s arguments regarding the different display modes, “the teaching of Shazeer (one box) is completely contrary to distinguishing feature d (traverse arrangement, multi-column arrangement, superposition display, or insertion display)” has been fully considered but not deemed persuasive. The amended claim recites the four options (traverse, multi-column, superposition, or insertion) display in the alternative (e.g., “or”). As shown in the rejection above, the cited reference teaches the “multi-column” display/arrangement: (e.g. in Fig. 2, the plurality of information entities 208 [as a multi-column arrangement], Yang: Fig. 2).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TONY MAHMOUDI whose telephone number is (571) 272-4078. The examiner can normally be reached during weekdays and non-holidays between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM.
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/TONY MAHMOUDI/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2163