Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/682,712

DATA PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Feb 09, 2024
Examiner
DEBROW, JAMES J
Art Unit
2174
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Shanghai Hode Information Technology Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
70%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 3m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 70% — above average
70%
Career Allow Rate
351 granted / 504 resolved
+14.6% vs TC avg
Strong +26% interview lift
Without
With
+25.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
529
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
11.1%
-28.9% vs TC avg
§103
52.5%
+12.5% vs TC avg
§102
23.9%
-16.1% vs TC avg
§112
6.4%
-33.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 504 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 Office Action is responsive to: Application filed 09 Feb. 2024 Claims 1, 3-9, 14 and 17-23 are pending in this case. Claims 1, 7, 14 and 21 are independent claims 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, 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, 3-9, 14 and 17-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CAI et al. (Pub. No.: US 2020/0356624 A1; Filed: Aug. 21, 2019) (hereinafter “CAI”) in view of DeWitt (Pub. No.: US 2009/0198719 A1; Filed: May 23, 2008). Regarding independent claims 1 and 14, CAI disclose a method of processing data, applied to a server device, and comprising: receiving draft editing requests for editing an initial story draft from at least two client devices, and adding each of the draft editing requests to a draft editing queue (0027; 0050-0056), and wherein the draft editing queue is configured to sequentially store a plurality of draft editing requests from a plurality client devices based on time points of receiving the plurality of draft editing requests (0031; 0055); extracting a first draft editing request for editing the initial story draft by a first client device from the draft editing queue, and obtaining first draft editing information in the first draft editing request (0027; 0031-0032; 0050-0056); editing the initial story draft based on the first draft editing information to obtain an initial modified story draft, wherein the first client device is among the at least two client devices (0027-0033; 0050-0056); extracting a second draft editing request for editing the initial story draft by a second client device from the draft editing queue, and obtaining second draft editing information in the second draft editing request (0027-0033; 0041-0049); generating to-be-responded draft information based on the first draft editing information and the second draft editing information, wherein the second client device is among the at least two client devices (0027-0033; 0041-0049); and editing the initial modified story draft based on the to-be-responded draft information to generate a target story draft (0027-0033; 0041-0049). CAI fails to teach wherein a story draft comprises a data structure of a storyboard video editor. DeWitt teach wherein a story draft comprises a data structure of a storyboard video editor (0076; 0080). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine DeWitt with CAI for the benefit of providing digital workflow solutions that eliminate waste, improve production efficiency, and reduce production costs (0080). Regarding dependent claims 3 and 17, CAI disclose the method according to claims 1 and 14 respectively, wherein the generating to-be-responded draft information based on the first draft editing information and the second draft editing information comprises: filtering at least a part of the second draft editing information based on a preset conflict policy and the first draft editing information to generate the to-be-responded draft information (0027; 0029-0031; 0051). Regarding dependent claims 4 and 18, CAI disclose the method according to claims 3 and 17 respectively, wherein the filtering at least a part of the second draft editing information based on a preset conflict policy and the first draft editing information comprises: determining a target attribute parameter in the second draft editing information based on the preset conflict policy and the first draft editing information (0027-0031; 0051-0055); and deleting draft information corresponding to the target attribute parameter in the second draft editing information, wherein the draft information corresponding to the target attribute parameter comprises a parameter value of the target attribute parameter. Regarding dependent claims 5 and 19, CAI disclose the method according to claims 1 and 14 respectively, wherein before receiving the draft editing requests for editing the initial story draft from the at least two client devices, the method further comprises: establishing communication connections with the at least two client devices (0013; 0018-0019; 0042-0043); and sending the initial story draft to the at least two client devices based on the communication connections (0013; 0018-0019; 0042-0043). Regarding dependent claims 6 and 20, CAI disclose the method according to claims 1 and 14 respectively, wherein the method further comprises: establishing communication connections with the at least two client devices (0013; 0018-0019; 0042-0043); and implementing real-time data transmission between the server and the at least two client devices based on the communication connections (0013; 0018-0019; 0042-0043). Regarding independent claims 7 and 21, CAI disclose a method of processing data, applied to at least two client devices, wherein for each client device, the method comprises: receiving an initial story draft sent from a server device (0018-0019; 0027; 0050-0056); generating to-be-submitted draft information during the editing the initial story draft, wherein the to-be-submitted draft information comprises draft editing information for the initial story draft (0027-0033; 0050-0056); synchronizing the to-be-submitted draft information to the server device in real time (0027-0033; 0050-0056). receiving draft modification information from the server device, wherein the draft modification information comprises draft editing information synchronized to the server device by other client devices, and wherein the client device and other client devices are performing real-time collaboration of editing the same story draft (0027-0033; 0041-0049; 0050-0056); and generating a client story draft based on the draft modification information and the initial story draft (0027-0033; 0041-0049; 0050-0056). CAI fails to teach loading the initial story draft to a storyboard draft editor, wherein the storyboard draft editor is configured to plan a storyboard and shoot material resources based on the storyboard; editing the initial story draft via the storyboard draft editor. DeWitt teach loading the initial story draft to a storyboard draft editor, wherein the storyboard draft editor is configured to plan a storyboard and shoot material resources based on the storyboard; editing the initial story draft via the storyboard draft editor (0076-0078; 0080). Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine DeWitt with CAI for the benefit of providing digital workflow solutions that eliminate waste, improve production efficiency, and reduce production costs (0080). Regarding dependent claims 8 and 22, CAI disclose the method according to claims 7 and 21 respectively, wherein the generating to-be-submitted draft information comprises: editing the initial story draft to obtain a to-be-submitted story draft (0027-0033; 0041-0049; 0050-0056); calculating difference information between the to-be-submitted story draft and the initial story draft (0027-0033; 0041-0049; 0050-0056) and identifying the difference information as the to-be-submitted draft information (0027-0033; 0041-0049; 0050-0056). Regarding dependent claims 9 and 23, CAI disclose the method according to claims 7 and 21 respectively, wherein the synchronizing the to-be-submitted draft information to the server device comprises: transmitting the to-be-submitted draft information to the server device based on a communication connection between the server device and each client device (0013; 0018-0019; 0042-0043). NOTE It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES J DEBROW whose telephone number is (571)272-5768. The examiner can normally be reached on 09:00 - 06:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Bashore can be reached on 571-272-4088. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center and the Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center or Private PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center or Private PAIR to authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center or the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form. /James J Debrow/ Primary Patent Examiner Art Unit 2174 571-272-5768
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 09, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 31, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
70%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+25.7%)
3y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 504 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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