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 .
This action is in response to the amendments filed on September 10, 2024. Claims 26-27, 29, 31-34, 36-38 and 40-41 are currently amended; claims 1-23 and 44-77 are canceled; and claims 24-43 are pending and examined below.
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.
Claim 43 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because Claim 43 recites “A computer readable storage medium”. The specification does not explicitly define that “computer readable storage medium” excludes signal. Although paragraph [0006] of the specification mentioned “non-transitory computer readable storage medium”, the term “non-transitory” is not recited in claim 43. As such, the computer readable storage medium in claim 43 may include signal per se.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 24-43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Padmanabhan et al. (U.S. 2013/0117365).
With regard to claim 24, Padmanabhan teaches a method, comprising:
at a first electronic device (Fig. 2, mobile device; Figs. 3A-3B; [0001] grouping, playing back, and sharing digital media among users of computing devices, such as mobile computing devices) that includes or is in communication with a display generation component ([0008] one or more media-sharing settings screens to be displayed on a display of a device; [0076] touchscreen display 330):
receiving a transfer of respective content from a second electronic device via a local connection (Fig. 6; Fig. 13; [abstract] media content related to the event can be automatically collected and shared among selected groups; [0136] FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram 1300 depicting an exemplary mobile device 1310 displaying a media-sharing request screen 1320 that can be shown to a user when the setting 1230 is selected for requesting that a prompt appear before a new sender is allowed to share his or her media with the recipient); and
in response to completion of the transfer of the respective content:
in accordance with a determination that the transfer meets one or more transfer magnitude criteria ([0138] FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram 1400 depicting an exemplary mobile device 1410 displaying an exemplary friend-selection screen 1420 that can be shown to a user when media is to be shared with friends (e.g., when using one or more of settings 722, 724, or 726)), automatically causing display of at least a portion of the respective content via the display generation component ([0003] media content related to the event can be automatically collected and shared among selected groups of friends, family, or attendees at an event); and
in accordance with a determination that the transfer does not meet the one or more transfer magnitude criteria, forgoing automatically causing display of the at least a portion of the respective content via the display generation component (Fig. 13, 1330; The user could choose not to accept the event media content, thus not allowing for shared content and click ‘No’ instead).
With regard to claim 25, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches wherein the one or more transfer magnitude criteria include a time-based criterion ([0006] each of the multiple available event boundaries comprises a time period criteria and a location criteria; [0101] The media received can include or otherwise be associated with supplemental data that indicates the identity of the user generating the media (e.g., based on account information or identity information associated with the mobile device), the location of the mobile device when the media was generated, and/or the time at which the media was generated).
With regard to claim 26, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches wherein the one or more transfer magnitude criteria include a size-based criterion and/or a content-type criterion ([0087] Connected device 520B represents a device with a display screen configured to be highly portable (e.g., a small size screen)).
With regard to claim 27, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches further comprising, while receiving the transfer of the respective content, causing display of a transfer indicator via the display generation component ([0139] the sharing settings 730-738 illustrated in FIG. 7 are available for selection by a user, who can select any one or more of the setting by touching the corresponding selector icon (a representative one of which is shown at 1530 for selecting that media be shared with friends at the same event who are also uploading media from the event). The exemplary friend-recognition-selection screen also includes selector icons 1540 for selecting whether a user is to be prompted each time a new friend at the event is recognized in order to determine whether the friend is to be added to the recipient list. For example, when the user selects to be prompted before adding a new recipient, a confirmation screen can be displayed to the user when new friends at the event are recognized).
With regard to claim 28, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches wherein the transfer indicator is caused to be displayed in accordance with a determination that the transfer does not meet the one or more transfer magnitude criteria ([0150] a user may also elect not to share media with any other person. For example, a user may wish to use the clustering capabilities of the disclosed technology in order to automatically organize, curate, and/or arrange media into an event collection without sharing the media with any other person).
With regard to claim 29, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches wherein the transfer indicator is displayed in a status region ([0174] The media-sharing controller performs an embodiment of the disclosed media sharing techniques (e.g., an embodiment of method 700) and includes the user C media as part of the collection for each of friends A, B, and D (as shown by dashed lines 2130, 2132, 2134); [0179] The notification can indicate a web site where the first group of digital media can be viewed or can include data for viewing the first group of digital media (e.g., the first group digital media together with associated presentation data)).
With regard to claim 30, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches wherein the status region further includes display of information about one or more operations currently being performed by the first electronic device (Figs. 11-12; [0134]-[0135] the sharing settings illustrated in FIG. 7 are available for selection by a user, who can select any one or more of the setting by touching the corresponding selector icon (a representative one of which is shown at 1130 for selecting that media be shared with all of the user's friends)… Media-sharing settings can also be set by a media recipient (e.g., other users at an event or other users known to the media-sharing user) to determine how media shared by others will be received. In general, the sharing settings for receiving media can minor the settings for sharing media).
With regard to claim 31, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches wherein the status region has a size and/or position that is adjusted based on content displayed within the status region ([0192] At 3016, the group of digital media is modified based on the analyzing. The modifications can be performed automatically by the media-sharing controller. The modifications that are performed will depend on the results of the analysis and may result, for instance, in certain lower-quality images in image media being deleted or relocated to later in the presentation, repeated images being deleted, images with higher priority being relocated to an earlier position in a sequence of images presented in the presentation, volume and/or tone levels of the audio in the audio and video media being normalized, and/or one or more frames of video media being deleted or trimmed).
With regard to claim 32, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches further comprising:
while receiving the transfer of the respective content, detecting a user input at a location that corresponds to the transfer indicator ([0134] the sharing settings illustrated in FIG. 7 are available for selection by a user, who can select any one or more of the setting by touching the corresponding selector icon (a representative one of which is shown at 1130 for selecting that media be shared with all of the user's friends). Also shown in FIG. 11 are selectors 1132 for selecting whether the media recipients additionally have permission to contribute their own media to the collection (e.g., a comment or supplemental image, video, or audio)); and
in response to detecting the user input, causing display of additional transfer information via the display generation component ([0135] Media-sharing settings can also be set by a media recipient (e.g., other users at an event or other users known to the media-sharing user) to determine how media shared by others will be received. In general, the sharing settings for receiving media can minor the settings for sharing media. For example, FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram 1200 depicting an exemplary mobile device 1210 displaying a media-receiving settings selection screen 1220).
With regard to claim 33, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches further comprising:
while receiving the transfer of the respective content, detecting a user input ([0134] selection by a user, who can select any one or more of the setting by touching the corresponding selector icon); and
in response to detecting the user input, performing an operation that corresponds to the user input ([0134] selection by a user, who can select any one or more of the setting by touching the corresponding selector icon (a representative one of which is shown at 1130 for selecting that media be shared with all of the user's friends). Also shown in FIG. 11 are selectors 1132 for selecting whether the media recipients additionally have permission to contribute their own media to the collection (e.g., a comment or supplemental image, video, or audio)).
With regard to claim 34, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches further comprising, in response to completion of the transfer of the respective content:
in accordance with the determination that the transfer does not meet the one or more transfer magnitude criteria (Fig. 13, 1330; The user could choose not to accept the event media content, thus not allowing for shared content and click ‘No’ instead), causing an option to be displayed via the display generation component, wherein the option, when selected, causes display of at least a portion of the respective content via the display generation component ([0135] include a setting 1230 that allows for any sender to send media to the user of the device 1210 but creates a prompt for allowing the user to decide whether to receive media from the new user; [0175] Further, even though user E may also contribute media to the event, he does not receive media from user B or C because none of their sharing settings cause him to be added to the list of recipients).
With regard to claim 35, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches further comprising:
detecting a user input corresponding to the option ([0134] selection by a user, who can select any one or more of the setting by touching the corresponding selector icon); and
in response to detecting the user input:
in accordance with a determination that the user input has a first input type, causing display of at least a portion of the respective content in a first application (Fig. 14; [0138] an exemplary mobile device 1410 displaying an exemplary friend-selection screen 1420 that can be shown to a user when media is to be shared with friends (e.g., when using one or more of settings 722, 724, or 726)); and
in accordance with a determination that the user input has a second input type (Fig. 13, the user does not accept or chooses ‘No’), causing display of an option to view the respective content in a second application (Fig. 13, 1330; The user could choose not to accept the event media content, thus not allowing for shared content and click ‘No’ instead; [0175] Further, even though user E may also contribute media to the event, he does not receive media from user B or C because none of their sharing settings cause him to be added to the list of recipients).
With regard to claim 36, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches wherein the transfer is performed via a short-range device-to-device communication protocol ([0145] Setting 736 is for sharing media with one or more friends at the same event who are recognized by virtue of a short-range beacon transmitted from the friends' devices. For example, using Bluetooth, a Wi-Fi signal, or another short-range signal generated and transmitted by a mobile device and identifying the owner or user of the device, it can be determined that one or more friends are in the vicinity of a user).
With regard to claim 37, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches further comprising:
in accordance with a determination that the first electronic device and the second electronic device are associated with a same user account ([0116] The media can be received from the same user as the media received at 810), initiating the transfer without requesting permission from a user of the first electronic device ([0134] selectors 1132 for selecting whether the media recipients additionally have permission to contribute their own media to the collection (e.g., a comment or supplemental image, video, or audio)).
With regard to claim 38, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches further comprising:
in accordance with a determination that the first electronic device and the second electronic device are not associated with a same user account (Fig. 6; [0096] FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram 600 illustrating example users of a media-sharing system; [0098] the media-sharing controller 620 can receive media from a plurality of users (or just from the local user), determine relationships between two or more of the users (e.g., according to user-selected criteria), and transmit subsets (or clusters) of the media to one or more users based on the determined relationships), causing display of an option to permit the transfer via the display generation component ([0101] the digital media can be received from mobile devices implementing a media-sharing application that causes recently captured media to be uploaded to a media-sharing controller after being captured by the mobile device; [0116] The media can be received from the same user as the media received at 810, or, in certain embodiments, can be received from another user);
detecting a user input corresponding to selection of the option to permit the transfer (Figs. 11-14); and
initiating the transfer in response to detecting the user input corresponding to selection of the option to permit the transfer (Fig. 14; [0138] FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram 1400 depicting an exemplary mobile device 1410 displaying an exemplary friend-selection screen 1420 that can be shown to a user when media is to be shared with friends (e.g., when using one or more of settings 722, 724, or 726)).
With regard to claim 39, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches wherein the option to permit the transfer is displayed on a wake screen of the first electronic device (Fig. 14; [0138] FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram 1400 depicting an exemplary mobile device 1410 displaying an exemplary friend-selection screen 1420 that can be shown to a user when media is to be shared with friends (e.g., when using one or more of settings 722, 724, or 726)).
With regard to claim 40, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches further comprising:
in response to completion of the transfer of the respective content:
in accordance with the determination that the transfer meets the one or more transfer magnitude criteria ([0138] FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram 1400 depicting an exemplary mobile device 1410 displaying an exemplary friend-selection screen 1420 that can be shown to a user when media is to be shared with friends (e.g., when using one or more of settings 722, 724, or 726)) and a determination that an application associated with the respective content is active, causing display of an option to view the respective content using the application ([0101] the digital media can be received from mobile devices implementing a media-sharing application that causes recently captured media to be uploaded to a media-sharing controller after being captured by the mobile device; [0116] The media can be received from the same user as the media received at 810, or, in certain embodiments, can be received from another user).
With regard to claim 41, the limitations are addressed above and Padmanabhan teaches further comprising, in response to completion of the transfer of the respective content:
causing display of a notification via the display generation component ([0179] The notification can indicate a web site where the first group of digital media can be viewed or can include data for viewing the first group of digital media (e.g., the first group digital media together with associated presentation data)), the notification including an option to share content from the first electronic device ([0174] The media-sharing controller performs an embodiment of the disclosed media sharing techniques (e.g., an embodiment of method 700) and includes the user C media as part of the collection for each of friends A, B, and D (as shown by dashed lines 2130, 2132, 2134)).
With regard to claim 42, Padmanabhan teaches an electronic device (Fig. 2, mobile device; Figs. 3A-3B; [0001] grouping, playing back, and sharing digital media among users of computing devices, such as mobile computing devices), comprising:
one or more processors (Fig. 2, processor 210; [0067] The illustrated mobile device 200 includes a controller or processor 210 (e.g., signal processor, microprocessor, ASIC, or other control and processing logic circuitry)); and
memory storing one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are configured to be executed by the one or more processors (Fig. 2, memory 220; [0068] The illustrated mobile device 200 includes memory 220. Memory 220 can include non-removable memory 222 and/or removable memory 224), the one or more programs including instructions for:
receiving a transfer of respective content from a second electronic device via a local connection (Fig. 6; Fig. 13; [abstract] media content related to the event can be automatically collected and shared among selected groups; [0136] FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram 1300 depicting an exemplary mobile device 1310 displaying a media-sharing request screen 1320 that can be shown to a user when the setting 1230 is selected for requesting that a prompt appear before a new sender is allowed to share his or her media with the recipient); and
in response to completion of the transfer of the respective content:
in accordance with a determination that the transfer meets one or more transfer magnitude criteria ([0138] FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram 1400 depicting an exemplary mobile device 1410 displaying an exemplary friend-selection screen 1420 that can be shown to a user when media is to be shared with friends (e.g., when using one or more of settings 722, 724, or 726)), automatically causing display of at least a portion of the respective content via a display generation component ([0003] media content related to the event can be automatically collected and shared among selected groups of friends, family, or attendees at an event); and
in accordance with a determination that the transfer does not meet the one or more transfer magnitude criteria, forgoing automatically causing display of the at least a portion of the respective content via the display generation component (Fig. 13, 1330; The user could choose not to accept the event media content, thus not allowing for shared content and click ‘No’ instead).
With regard to claim 43, the medium claim corresponds to the method claim 1, respectively, and therefore is rejected with the same rationale.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shaw et al. (US 2019/0073102) teaches a system and method for sharing content from a respective application in response to a first input.
Hulbert et al. (US 2021/0357169) teaches an electronic device which shares content while displaying a video conferencing user interface
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREA C. LEGGETT whose telephone number is (571)270-7700. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kieu Vu can be reached at 571-272-4057. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREA C LEGGETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2171
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