DETAILED ACTION
This office action is responsive to communication(s) filed on 12/27/2023.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: User Medals Homepage With Varying Display Modes According To A Number Of User Medals Earned By The User.
Claims Status
Claims 1-20 are pending and are currently being examined.
Claims 1, 17 and 18 are independent.
Claim Interpretation
The term “medals” typically imply a higher level of achievement, competition, or formal recognition compared to other achievement recognitions, e.g., "badges". Even though the specification uses the term “medals”, its description, including drawings, e.g., fig. 3a, reflect usage, shape and appearance of the so called “medals” in a way consistent with inclusion of lower level achievement tokens, like “badges”. The Instant Specification reflects that the user can receive many "medals" (a high M number), and these are likely functioning more like badges. See, e.g., paragraph 52 of the Instant Specification, as filed: “display all of the medals, which are respectively the medal of "Pragmatic & Bold", the medal of "Open & Modest", the medal of "Pursuit of Perfection", the medal of "Diverse & Inclusive", the medal of "Honest & Clear", and the medal of "Entrepreneurship". Meanwhile, the number of medals accumulated by the first user may be further displayed below the corresponding medal.” Herein, the examiner interprets the limitation(s) of “medals” as being directed to include lower level digital achievement recognition tokens, such as, but not limited to, “badges”.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Representative Independent Claim 1 recites “determining a number M of medals granted to a first user; determining a display mode according to the number of medals, wherein different numbers of medals correspond to different display modes”. These steps can be practically performed in the human mind, as the human. Furthermore, the claim recites “displaying medal information of the first user…according to the display mode that is determined”, which can also be performed in the human mind with the aid of pen and paper, e.g., drawing a graphical representation for the medals on paper. As such the claims recite an abstract idea that fall under the grouping of mental processes.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional limitation that the displaying is “on a personal homepage of the first user”, at most, recites the use of a computer display to display information, falls under adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea, see MPEP 2106.05(f).
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because limitations that are not indicative of integration into a practical application cannot provide an inventive concept (“significantly more”) to judicial exceptions.
Claims 2-6, 13 and 15-16 do nothing more than further recite the abstract idea, e.g., by adding sub-steps/rules for the abstract step of determining the display modes.
Claims 7-12 and 14 do nothing more than further recite the abstract idea and further reciting the use of a computer display to display information, falls under adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea, see MPEP 2106.05(f), and/or generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a the particular technological environment or field of use of a homepage graphical interface – see MPEP 2106.05(h). None of the additional elements provide a practical application or significantly more than the abstract idea for similar reasons as explained for claim 1.
Claim(s) 17-18 are directed to devices for accomplishing the steps of the method in claim 1, and are rejected using similar rationale(s).
Claim(s) 19-20 are directed to a storage medium and computer product for accomplishing the steps of the method in claim 1, and are rejected using similar rationale(s).
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6-9, 14 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ballepu; Sharad (hereinafter Ballepu – US 10325277 B1).
Independent Claim 1:
Ballepu teaches:
A medal display method, comprising:
determining a number M of medals granted to a first user; (a system displaying a badge interface of a particular user, which determines and displays the amount of the user’s badges, cols 16:46-17:9, and fig. 3D. For purposes of compact prosecution only, the examiner interprets the limitation(s) of “medals” as being directed to include lower level digital achievement recognition object, such as, but not limited to, “badges”.)
[…];
and displaying medal information of the first user on a personal homepage of the first user (a system displaying a badge interface of a particular user, which determines and displays the amount of the user’s badges, cols 16:46-17:9, and fig. 3D. the badge interface of the user’s personal account, cols 16:46-17:9, and may be a dashboard [a type of homepage] of the user, see col 6:8-17, as such, the badge interface is reflective of a personal homepage)
[…].
Ballepu further suggests:
determining a display mode according to the number of medals, (A display modes, e.g., color of progress bar, depend on the number of total loyalty points, col 2:38-62, earning/unlocking of badges are one of the mechanism by which loyalty points are earned, see col 18:26-41, loyalty data may comprise at least one of a number of badges unlocked [the number of medals], a list of badges unlocked, progress of the first user in unlocking badges, a total number of loyalty points accumulated, rewards received, rewards redeemed, or milestones met, col 5:29-39. These paragraphs suggest using total number badges to determine the display mode because it defines badges as being earned based on loyalty points, and describe both a number of medals and a number of loyalty points as loyalty data. Therefore, determining a display mode according to the number of badges is functionally equivalent to determining it according to the number of transaction points (a type of points), which aligns with a system where the display mode is based on "total loyalty points.". Furthermore, the use of display mode based on second type of loyalty data suggests display mode based on a second type of loyalty data)
wherein different numbers of medals correspond to different display modes (e.g., different colors, see col 18:26-41).
and that the displaying of the medal information is according to the display mode that is determined (A display modes, e.g., color of progress bar, depend on the number of total loyalty points, col 2:38-62)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of Ballepu to include determining a display mode according to the number of medals, wherein different numbers of medals correspond to different display modes and that the displaying of the medal information is according to the display mode that is determined, as suggested by different portions of Ballepu.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to improve the flexibility of the method by applying the concepts to any type of loyalty data, without departing from the scope of the invention, col 26:29-37.
Claim 6:
The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated. Ballepu further teaches:
wherein the displaying medal information of the first user on a personal homepage of the first user comprises:
displaying the medal information of the first user on a medal wall entrance component on the personal homepage of the first user. (the dashboard can be a social dashboard, col 20:56-21:5, which is visible to other users, such as friends on a social networking site, col 20:17-42. Because the dashboard is visible to other users, it is herein interpreted as a “medal wall”. The dashboard on fig. 3D is displayed after selecting badges icon 302 on fig. 3A [wall entrance component], which includes badge [medal] information, such as number of badges, cols 16:46-17:7 and figs. 3A and 3D)
Claim 7:
The rejection of claim 6 is incorporated. Ballepu further teaches:
further comprising:
entering a medal wall page in response to a triggering operation for the medal wall entrance component, wherein the medal wall page is used to display the M medals. (The dashboard on fig. 3D, which display the badges, is displayed after selecting badges icon 302 on fig. 3A [wall entrance component], which includes badge [medal] information, such as number of badges, cols 16:46-17:7 and figs. 3A and 3D)
Claim 8:
The rejection of claim 7 is incorporated. Ballepu further teaches:
further comprising: entering a details page corresponding to a medal on the medal wall page in response to a triggering operation for the medal, wherein the details page is used to display basic information of the medal. (see details page in fig. 3E displaying basic badge information, and which is displayed after selecting a specific badge 314, cols 17:51-18:13 and figs. 3D-3E)
Claim 9:
The rejection of claim 8 is incorporated. Ballepu further teaches:
wherein the basic information of the medal comprises at least one of: an icon of the medal, a name of the medal, a description of the medal, and a validity period of the medal. (The badge interface includes the badge icon 314 [icon of the medal], cols 17:51-18:13 and fig. 3E)
Claim 14:
The rejection of claim 13 is incorporated. Ballepu further teaches:
further comprising: entering a details page corresponding to the first medal in response to a triggering operation by the second user for the medal details component. (the dashboard can be a social dashboard, which is visible to other users, such as friends [second user] on a social networking site, cols 20:17-42 and 20:56-21:5. Because the dashboard is visible for interaction by other users [second user]. The badge dashboard on fig. 3D is displayed after selecting [triggering operation by the second user] badges icon 302 on fig. 3A, which includes badge [medal] details, such as number of badges, cols 16:46-17:7 and figs. 3A and 3D)
Independent Claims 17-18:
Claim(s) 17-18 are directed to devices for accomplishing the steps of the method in claim 1, and are rejected using similar rationale(s).
Claims 19-20:
Claim(s) 19-20 are directed to a storage medium and computer product for accomplishing the steps of the method in claim 1, and are rejected using similar rationale(s).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ballepu (US 10325277 B1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Okabe; Yuki et al. (hereinafter Okabe – US 20160224195 A1).
Claim 2:
The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated. Ballepu further suggests:
wherein the determining a display mode according to the number of medals comprises any one or more of:
determining as a first display mode in response to M being greater than a first preset threshold, (Ballepu teaches "color-coded" display of progress bars based on rules associated with a total number of loyalty points or transaction points and based on different thresholds, e.g., col 2:38-62. Here, the color-coded nature of the progress bars, implies that the system changes the visual representation (the "display mode") of the icons/bars dynamically based on the point value [or number of medals, as modified above], col 2:38-62. The specific color and fill level serve as visual indicators (modes) for the user's progress relative to a set goal or threshold.)
[…];
Ballepu does not appear to expressly teach, but Okabe teaches:
wherein the first display mode is used to indicate that the medal information displayed on the personal homepage comprises medal information of the first preset threshold number of medals (e.g., a GUI in fig. 13A reflects displaying information items numbered 1-10, ¶ 147)
and a remaining number, (additionally, the GUI in fig. 13A includes a patient number window area 80B (mark) indicates a number of the datasets of the personal information (namely, number of patients) in the undisplayed portion [remaining number], and is disposed on the lower side at the center in the patient list 71, Fig. 13A and ¶ 148)
and the remaining number refers to a number obtained by subtracting the first preset threshold from the number M of medals; (the remaining number refers to a number obtained by subtracting the first preset threshold from the number M of items because it describes how "number window areas" indicate the count of items or patients in the undisplayed portion of a list, implying that a displayed portion (a threshold) has already been accounted for, see ¶ 147 and fig. 13A.)
determining as a second display mode in response to M being less than or equal to the first preset threshold and greater than 0, wherein the second display mode is used to indicate that the medal information displayed on the personal homepage comprises the medal information of the M medals; (This limitation is optional. The prior art is understood as also teaching this limitation because it already describes one or more of the other options within the same group. However, individually, this limitation would still be obvious over Okabe, as mapped above, based on the fundamental principles of effective UI design. A reference explaining the use of a display flag inherently suggests not displaying the flag when there are no items. The core purpose of such an element is to convey relevant information and avoid visual clutter, and an absent flag is a more efficient signal than one displaying a "0". This principle is reflected the Okabe’s displaying of ellipsis dots when the types of tests are more than six, the maximum display about of icons, ¶ 162.)
and determining as a third display mode in response to M being 0, wherein the third display mode is used to indicate that, when the first user views his/her own personal homepage, the medal information displayed on the personal homepage comprises preset information, and that, when another user views the personal homepage of the first user, no medal information is displayed on the personal homepage. (This limitation is optional. The prior art is understood as also teaching this limitation because it already describes one or more of the other options within the same group.).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the method of Ballepu to include wherein the first display mode is used to indicate that the medal information displayed on the personal homepage comprises medal information of the first preset threshold number of medals and a remaining number, and the remaining number refers to a number obtained by subtracting the first preset threshold from the number M of medals; determining as a second display mode in response to M being less than or equal to the first preset threshold and greater than 0, wherein the second display mode is used to indicate that the medal information displayed on the personal homepage comprises the medal information of the M medals; and determining as a third display mode in response to M being 0, wherein the third display mode is used to indicate that, when the first user views his/her own personal homepage, the medal information displayed on the personal homepage comprises preset information, and that, when another user views the personal homepage of the first user, no medal information is displayed on the personal homepage, as taught by Okabe.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to improve the scalability and usability of the method to be applicable to displaying a large number of information, Okabe ¶ 185, while alerting the user of any undisplayed information so that is it is not missed, Okabe ¶ 225.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ballepu (US 10325277 B1), and Okabe; Yuki et al. (hereinafter Okabe – US 20160224195 A1), as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Mansikkaniemi; Tapio (hereinafter Mansikkaniemi – US 20080091689 A1).
Claim 3:
The rejection of claim 2 is incorporated. Ballepu further teaches:
medal information displayed on the personal homepage comprises an icon of the medal and a name of the medal (e.g., Vac[a]tioner badge, cols 17:51-18:13 and fig. 3E:314)
Ballepu-Okabe does not appear to expressly teach, but Mansikkaniemi teaches:
the first preset threshold is greater than or equal to 1, and the determining as a second display mode in response to M being less than or equal to the first preset threshold and greater than 0 comprises: that the icon and name are displayed when “determining as the second display mode in response to M being 1, wherein the second display mode is used to indicate” that information (displaying object details automatically if only one object is present, ¶ 30)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the method of Ballepu to include the first preset threshold is greater than or equal to 1, and the determining as a second display mode in response to M being less than or equal to the first preset threshold and greater than 0 comprises: that the icon and name are displayed when “determining as the second display mode in response to M being 1, wherein the second display mode is used to indicate” that information, as taught by Mansikkaniemi.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to improve the usability and efficiency of the method, e.g., by streamlining user interaction by eliminating the need for further input, thus accelerating the process of viewing information once object retrieval has been refined and a single result remains, Mansikkaniemi ¶ 30.
Claim 4:
The rejection of claim 2 is incorporated. Ballepu further suggests:
wherein the first preset threshold value is greater than 1, and the determining as a second display mode in response to M being less than or equal to the first preset threshold and greater than 0 comprises: determining as the second display mode in response to M being greater than 1 and less than or equal to the first preset threshold, wherein the second display mode is used to indicate that the medal information displayed on the personal homepage comprises icons of the M medals. (Ballepu teaches the display of multiple badge icons, see fig. 3D and col 16:46-17:9. Displaying multiple badge icons suggests dynamically adjusting how it displays badge information based on the total count “M” by using a second display mode only when “M” is greater than one but less than or equal to a preset threshold value, thus efficiently indicating the number of badges with icons)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of Ballepu to include wherein the first preset threshold value is greater than 1, and the determining as a second display mode in response to M being less than or equal to the first preset threshold and greater than 0 comprises: determining as the second display mode in response to M being greater than 1 and less than or equal to the first preset threshold, wherein the second display mode is used to indicate that the medal information displayed on the personal homepage comprises icons of the M medals, as suggested by Ballepu.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to display an appropriate number of a plurality of badges and available display space, Okabe ¶¶ 185 and 225, as reflected in Ballepu, fig. 3D and col 16:46-17:9.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ballepu (US 10325277 B1) in view of Okabe; Yuki et al. (hereinafter Okabe – US 20160224195 A1), as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Vainio; Janne et al. (hereinafter Vainio – US 20110161852 A1).
Claim 5:
The rejection of claim 2 is incorporated. Ballepu-Okabe does not appear to expressly teach, but Vainio teaches:
wherein the first preset threshold number of medals are preset by the first user, or the first preset threshold number of medals are the medals that have been granted to the first user latest, or the first preset threshold number of medals are the medals corresponding to the first user that are going to expire (a user can define a maximum number of objects that can be displayed at any given time, by the user for the GUI, ¶ 48 and fig. 2).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the method of Ballepu to include wherein the first preset threshold number of medals are preset by the first user, or the first preset threshold number of medals are the medals that have been granted to the first user latest, or the first preset threshold number of medals are the medals corresponding to the first user that are going to expire, as taught by Vainio.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to improve the flexibility of the method by allowing users to customize the display as they desire, Vainio ¶ 67.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ballepu (US 10325277 B1), as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Palmisano; Angelo et al. (hereinafter Palmisano – US 20210256808 A1).
Claim 10:
The rejection of claim 9 is incorporated. Ballepu further teaches:
wherein the basic information of the medal further comprises historical information, (history related to a badge, cols 17:51-18:13 and fig. 3E)
and the historical information is used to indicate […] a time point [associated with] the medal […]. (Badges may be based on a date and time, e.g., badges may include a Calendar badge (associated with a plurality of transactions that occur within a predetermined period of time), col 23:25-36)
Ballepu does not appear to expressly teach, but Patel teaches:
that the historical information is used to indicate “a number of times that the first user has obtained the medal” and the time point is “when” the medal “was obtained each time” (a UI displays a number of times a user has obtained an achievement within a specific time period [e.g., “three times in the month”], ¶ 84, which can be awarded through badges [medals], ¶ 58. Herein, because the UI has to be able to determine at least the month in which the badge was obtained, the system necessarily has to track and analyze “when” the medal “was obtained each time”, at least in terms of month obtained).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the method of Ballepu to include that the historical information is used to indicate “a number of times that the first user has obtained the medal” and the time point is “when” the medal “was obtained each time”, as taught by Palmisano.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to improve the method by providing unlimited flexibility on how to an entity can influence customer/user behavior, Palmisano ¶¶ 79 and 81.
Claim(s) 11, 13, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ballepu (US 10325277 B1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sirpal; Sanjiv et al. (hereinafter Sirpal – US 20180188903 A1).
Claim 11:
The rejection of claim 7 is incorporated. Ballepu further teaches:
further comprising: displaying an avatar of the first user […]. (an image of the user [avatar] is displayed, cols 14:53-15:3 and fig. 3A)
Ballepu teaches that a badge is displayed in the center (from left to right) of the wall in response to entering the wall page, as depicted in fig. 3E.
Still, Ballepu does not appear to expressly teach, but Sirpal teaches:
that the avatar is displayed “in a center in response to entering the medal wall page” (a personal dashboard includes a user avatar image 700 and an image 705 of a badge of a recently earned badge overlaid on the user avatar image 700, ¶ 78 and fig. 7. Because the badge in Ballepu is displayed in the center of the wall page, and an avatar is overlaid with a badge in Sirpal, and this avatar can broadly be interpreted as being both a representation of the user and of the badge earned, it was well within the capabilities of a person having ordinary skill in the art to have realized that in implementing Sirpal in Ballepu, the “avatar” is displayed “in a center in response to entering the medal wall page”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the method of Ballepu to include that the avatar is displayed “in a center in response to entering the medal wall page”, as taught by Sirpal.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to improve the user experience offered by the method by presenting badges that are more personalized to the user, Sirpal ¶¶ 51 and 78, and Ballepu fig. 3E.
Claim 13:
The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated. Ballepu further teaches:
further comprising: displaying a medal details component […] in response to […] a second user triggering [a medal icon], (the dashboard can be a social dashboard, which is visible to other users, such as friends [second user] on a social networking site, cols 20:17-42 and 20:56-21:5. Because the dashboard is visible for interaction by other users [second user]. The badge dashboard on fig. 3D is displayed after selecting [a second user triggering] badges icon 302 on fig. 3A, which includes badge [medal] details, such as number of badges, cols 16:46-17:7 and figs. 3A and 3D)
wherein the first medal is a medal of the medals obtained by the first user. (the dashboard allows for badges earned by a user to be visible other users, such as friends [second user] on a social networking site, cols 20:17-42 and 20:56-21:5.)
Ballepu does not appear to expressly teach, but Sirpal teaches:
that the displaying includes displaying “an avatar viewing component” (a personal dashboard includes a user avatar image 700 [an avatar viewing component] and an image 705 of a badge of a recently earned badge overlaid on the user avatar image 700, ¶ 78 and fig. 7)
and is in response to “an avatar of the first user wearing a first medal” (a personal dashboard includes a user avatar image 700 and an image 705 of a badge of a recently earned badge overlaid [wearing] on the user avatar image 700, ¶ 78 and fig. 7. It was well within the capabilities of a person having ordinary skill in the art to have realized that in implementing the badge overlaid avatar concept of Sirpal to Ballepu, both the avatar and badge icons can be displayed together, e.g., in both of figs. 3A and 3E of Ballepu)
and the second user triggering “the avatar of the first user” (as explained, above, both the avatar and badge are displayed, so interaction with Ballepu’s badge, as modified, by Sirpal, would be considered an interaction with the avatar).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the method of Ballepu to include that the displaying includes displaying “an avatar viewing component” and is in response to “an avatar of the first user wearing a first medal’ and the second user triggering “the avatar of the first user”, as taught by Sirpal.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to improve the user experience offered by the method by presenting badges that are more personalized to the user, Sirpal ¶¶ 51 and 78, and Ballepu figs. 3A and 3E.
Claim 15:
The rejection of claim 13 is incorporated. Ballepu-Sirpal further teaches:
further comprising: wearing a second medal that is selected on the avatar of the first user in response to a selecting operation by the first user in a medal wall page corresponding to the first user. (it was well within the capabilities of a person having ordinary skill in the art to have realized that that if Bellapu’s badge icons and avatars are displayed as badge overlaid avatars, as modified for claim 13, selecting a different badge [second medal] in Bellapu’s fig. 3A, would result in the badge being overlaid in the interface reflected in Bellapu’s fig. 3E)
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ballepu (US 10325277 B1), as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Rochford; Ciaran et al. (hereinafter Rochford – 20170139474 A1).
Claim 12:
The rejection of claim 7 is incorporated. Ballepu does not appear to expressly teach, but Rochford teaches:
further comprising: blurring a background in response to entering the medal wall page (a background of content being displayed is blurred to make content displayed easier to perceive, ¶ 40).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the method of Ballepu to include further comprising: blurring a background in response to entering the medal wall page, as taught by Rochford.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to improve the quality of display provided by the method, by making easier to perceive the medal information on the page, Rochford ¶ 40.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ballepu (US 10325277 B1), as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Kapcar; Christopher A. et al. (hereinafter Kapcar – US 20210342528 A1).
Claim 16:
The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated. Ballepu does not appear to expressly teach, but Kapcar teaches:
wherein the M medals refer to medals that are still in a validity period. (a number of different types of badges, include temporary badges that exist for a predetermined period of time [medals that are still in a validity period], ¶ 109, that can be earned based on achievements, such as work quality and tenure, ¶ 50, or performing other types of encouraged behavior, ¶ 98. It was well within the capabilities of a person having ordinary skill in the art to have realized that the medals displayed are displayed because they “exist” and they exist because they are still within the validity period of the temporary badge)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to further modify the method of Ballepu to include wherein the M medals refer to medals that are still in a validity period, as taught by Kapcar.
One would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to improve the flexibility/versatility of the method to apply to a more types of badges and/or industries, Kapcar ¶¶ 50 and 109.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Below is a list of these references, including why they are pertinent:
Belding; Jonathan Edward Mika et al. US 20220218271 A1, is pertinent to claim 1 for disclosing that increases in the assigned level or number of tokens may result in visual changes in the graphical user interfaces presented on the user interface 316 to the user (for example, different formatting, color schemes, presentation of textual information), ¶ 169.
Sloan; Michael Jordan et al. US 20130238392 A1, is pertinent to claim 1 for disclosing “[0057] The dashboard may provide a reward home page, which may display a list of created rewards (e.g., a list of medals, pins or achievements that may be awarded to participants in the system)”, fig. 5.
Ohnemus; Peter et al. US 20140156308 A1, is pertinent to claim 1 for disclosing “[0133] FIG. 11A illustrates an example display screen 1100 associated with recognizing achievement and providing awards for user progress. By providing achievements and reward tracking in specific activities, the present application provides "pat on the back" feedback, which encourages users, such as by saying "congratulations" or "well done!" Messages can be provided graphically (e.g., trophies and awards), or with language. In one or more implementations, achievement messages can appear in a newsfeed, such as on a user's social network home page, which be shared via social media such as Facebook and Twitter. In connection with social networking, the present application includes interaction/interface with a user's newsfeed, commenting (such as on news items, achievements, activities), forums/discussions, picture sharing, video sharing, platform notifications, and push notifications. FIG. 11B illustrates an example display screen 1102 that demonstrates social interaction, which can be implemented by providing a medium for users to comment on each other's activities, including by supporting user sharing of multiple photos and activity events.”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GABRIEL S MERCADO whose telephone number is (408)918-7537. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8am-5pm (Eastern Time).
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/Gabriel Mercado/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2171