DETAILED ACTION
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 05/26/2026. Claims 1-11, 13-19, and 23-24 are pending. Claims 12 and 20-22 are cancelled.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 and 10 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 and overcoming claim objections and 35 USC § 112, 102, and 103 Rejections.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-2, 7-9, 11, 13-17, and 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Devine et al. (2019/0339822, hereinafter Devine) in view of Oshiba et al. (2017/0005969, hereinafter Oshiba).
Regarding claim 1, Devine discloses a message display method, comprising:
displaying a content sharing interface during content sharing between at least two users, wherein the content sharing interface is used to present preset media content shared between the at least two users, and user identifiers of the at least two users are displayed in the content sharing interface (Devine discloses that the device of the users displays input suggestion 606C prompting the user to share photos or particular media items within the conversation; the message interface of a user in the current message conversation can add one or more media items to be shared with the other participants) (Devine, para. 209-210; Fig. 6D);
receiving a first message sent by a first user (Devine discloses that the message interface of a user in the current message conversation may receive messages and/or shared media content) (Devine, para. 210);
displaying the first message in the content sharing interface that is associated with a first user identifier, wherein the first user identifier is a user identifier corresponding to the first user (Devine discloses that the device 600 indicates that William (user identifier) has shared media content in the current conversation) (Devine, para. 210).
Devine does not explicitly disclose in response to receiving a second message sent by a second user and messages currently displayed in a first region satisfying a condition, reducing a display duration of the first message.
In analogous art, Oshiba teaches in response to receiving a second message sent by a second user and messages currently displayed in a first region satisfying a condition, reducing a display duration of the first message (Oshiba discloses that upon receiving a new message object 34C (second message), the message object 34 (first message) that has been displayed will have the reference display time period (satisfying a condition and reducing display duration) reduced) (Oshiba, para. 134-135).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Oshiba related to receiving a second message sent by a second user and messages displayed and reducing the display duration and to combine with Devine in order to enhance the convenience of receiving new messages displayed for the user to respond to (Oshiba, para. 46).
Regarding claim 2, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the displaying the first message in the content sharing interface that is associated with the first user identifier comprises:
displaying the first message at a first position in the content sharing interface that is associated with the first user identifier in response to a first preset display condition is satisfied, wherein the first position is comprised in the first region (Oshiba discloses that the message object 34 is displayed within a partial displayable region 38 and not overlapping the game screen 32) (Oshiba, para. 43).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Oshiba related to displaying the message at a first position to a preset display condition and to combine with Devine and Oshiba in order to enhance the convenience of receiving new messages displayed for the user to respond to (Oshiba, para. 46).
Regarding claim 7, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein a display state of the user identifier comprises a first size and a second size, the second size is less than the first size, and the method further comprises:
performing switching between the display state of the user identifier of the first size and the display state of the user identifier of the second size (Oshiba discloses that the message object 34 is displayed within a partial displayable region 38 (second size), where the user can transmit messages from the input form 40 to the game screen 30 (first size)) (Oshiba, para. 43-44) in response to a preset switching operation is received (Devine discloses that the device receives user input corresponding to selection of an input suggestion (preset switch operation), and in response, displays a sharing interface that includes a depiction of the suggested collection of media items for sharing)) (Devine, para. 213; Fig. 6E).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Oshiba related to switching between the display of a first size and a second size and to combine with Devine and Oshiba in order to enhance the convenience of receiving new messages displayed for the user to respond to (Oshiba, para. 46).
Regarding claim 8, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the displaying the first message at the first position in the content sharing interface that is associated with the first user identifier comprises:
displaying the first message at the first position in the content sharing interface that is associated with the first user identifier (Oshiba discloses that the messages that are sent will have the notifications to be transmitted from each message display control device 20 with the user ID to indicate which user(s) the notification has been received from) (Oshiba, para. 95) in response to a first preset display condition is satisfied, wherein the first preset display condition is determined based on the display state of the user identifier (Oshiba discloses that upon receiving a new message object 34C (second message), the message object 34 (first message) that has been displayed will have the reference display time period (satisfying a condition and reducing display duration) reduced) (Oshiba, para. 134-135).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Oshiba related to displaying the message with the user identifier in response to a display condition and to combine with Devine and Oshiba in order to enhance the convenience of receiving new messages displayed for the user to respond to (Oshiba, para. 46).
Regarding claim 9, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 8, wherein the first preset display condition being satisfied comprises the following:
switching between the display of the user identifier of the first size (Oshiba discloses that the message object 34 is displayed within a partial displayable region 38 (second size), where the user can transmit messages from the input form 40 to the game screen 30 (first size)) (Oshiba, para. 43-44) and the display of the user identifier of the second size is not currently performed (Oshiba discloses that the control unit 21 determines whether or not it is necessary (second size is not currently performed) to display the new message object 34 through the user of the displayable region 38) (Oshiba, para. 100).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Oshiba related to switching in displaying the message with the user identifier in the first size and to combine with Devine and Oshiba in order to enhance the convenience of receiving new messages displayed for the user to respond to (Oshiba, para. 46).
Regarding claim 11, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein a presentation mode of a currently displayed message is determined based on the display state of the user identifier, and/or wherein the presentation mode of the currently displayed message comprises at least one of the following: a size of the first region, a position of the first region (Devine discloses that the object updater 177 creates a new user interface object or updates the position of the user interface object) (Devine, para. 141), a relative position between the first region and the user identifier, a presentation style of message content (Devine discloses that the user input representing a request to scroll that causes additional media items in the collection to be displayed) (Devine, para. 336), and a layout of the message content (Devine discloses that the events include rotation of the device from one orientation or another (e.g., portrait or landscape)) (Devine, para. 133).
Regarding claim 13, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein the user identifier of the first size comprises a real-time video image of a user corresponding to the user identifier of the first size (Devine discloses that the preview interface includes an indication (e.g., 808B) of the identity of the sender/sharer (e.g., includes his name and an avatar with his face)) (Devine, para. 356; Fig. 8C), or the user identifier of the second size comprises an avatar of a user corresponding to the user identifier of the second size (Devine discloses that the preview interface includes an indication (e.g., 808B) of the identity of the sender/sharer (e.g., includes his name and an avatar with his face)) (Devine, para. 356; Fig. 8C), or the user identifier of the first size comprises a real-time video image of the user corresponding to the user identifier of the first size and the user identifier of the second size comprises the avatar of the user corresponding to the user identifier of the second size (Devine discloses that the preview interface includes an indication (e.g., 808B) of the identity of the sender/sharer (e.g., includes his name and an avatar with his face)) (Devine, para. 356; Fig. 8C).
Regarding claim 14, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein before the first message is displayed, in response to determining that it is currently a display state of the user identifier of the second size, stopping the display of a user identifier corresponding to a user, other than the first user, in the at least two users in response to the first message is displayed (Oshiba discloses that the necessity determination unit 66 determines whether or not it is possible (display state) to display a new message object 34 to prevent the display of the message object 34 displayed on the display unit 25 from being restricted (stopped from being displayed), hidden, or disappearing) (Oshiba, para. 71).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Oshiba related to stopping the display message based on the display state and to combine with Devine and Oshiba in order to enhance the convenience of receiving new messages displayed for the user to respond to (Oshiba, para. 46).
Regarding claim 15, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:
receiving a preset trigger operation that acts on a third message displayed in the first region (Devine discloses that the sharing interface 610 includes the selection (preset trigger operation) for an exemplary recent photos page 618, which includes the most recent media items associated with a media library associated with the device 600) (Devine, para. 228-229), and displaying a message input box (Devine discloses that the device 600 displays a different suggested collection for a different suggested collection in response to receiving user input (message input box)) (Devine, para. 233).
Regarding claim 16, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 15, wherein the third message is sent by a third user, and while the message input box is displayed, the method further comprises:
displaying associated information of the third user in the message input box (Devine discloses that the suggested collection interface 626 is determined to be relevant to the message conversation and suggested based on the geographic location in the text and offers a suggested collection of media items that is available for sharing) (Devine, para. 234).
Regarding claim 17, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first message displayed in the first region is a text message, wherein the text message comprises a character string (Devine discloses that the representation includes the indication of transmission (e.g., upload/download) status (e.g., 2 of 23 uploading, 10 of 23 downloading, uploading, downloading, etc.), and/or the status of receipt (e.g., delivered, read, opened, view, etc.), where the device may insert the representation of the collection into a text entry field (e.g., before transmitting to the third party), and then receives accompanying text before transmitting and inserting the representation and the accompanying text into the transcript) (Devine, para. 338).
Regarding claim 23, Devine discloses an electronic device, comprising a memory (Devine, para. 180), a processor (Devine, para. 180), and a computer program (Devine, para. 48) stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to:
display a content sharing interface during content sharing between at least two users, wherein the content sharing interface is used to present preset media content shared between the at least two users, and user identifiers of the at least two users are displayed in the content sharing interface (Devine discloses that the device of the users displays input suggestion 606C prompting the user to share photos or particular media items within the conversation; the message interface of a user in the current message conversation can add one or more media items to be shared with the other participants) (Devine, para. 209-210; Fig. 6D);
receive a first message sent by a first user (Devine discloses that the message interface of a user in the current message conversation may receive messages and/or shared media content) (Devine, para. 210); and
display the first message in the content sharing interface that is associated with a first user identifier, wherein the first user identifier is a user identifier corresponding to the first user (Devine discloses that the device 600 indicates that William (user identifier) has shared media content in the current conversation) (Devine, para. 210).
Devine does not explicitly disclose in response to receiving a second message sent by a second user and messages currently displayed in a first region satisfying a condition, reduce a display duration of the first message.
In analogous art, Oshiba teaches in response to receiving a second message sent by a second user and messages currently displayed in a first region satisfying a condition, reduce a display duration of the first message (Oshiba discloses that upon receiving a new message object 34C (second message), the message object 34 (first message) that has been displayed will have the reference display time period (satisfying a condition and reducing display duration) reduced) (Oshiba, para. 134-135).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Oshiba related to receiving a second message sent by a second user and messages displayed and reducing the display duration and to combine with Devine in order to enhance the convenience of receiving new messages displayed for the user to respond to (Oshiba, para. 46).
Regarding claim 24, Devine discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Devine, para. 180) storing a computer program (Devine, para. 48), wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor (Devine, para. 180), causes the processor to:
display a content sharing interface during content sharing between at least two users, wherein the content sharing interface is used to present preset media content shared between the at least two users, and user identifiers of the at least two users are displayed in the content sharing interface (Devine discloses that the device of the users displays input suggestion 606C prompting the user to share photos or particular media items within the conversation; the message interface of a user in the current message conversation can add one or more media items to be shared with the other participants) (Devine, para. 209-210; Fig. 6D);
receive a first message sent by a first user (Devine discloses that the message interface of a user in the current message conversation may receive messages and/or shared media content) (Devine, para. 210); and
display the first message in the content sharing interface that is associated with a first user identifier, wherein the first user identifier is a user identifier corresponding to the first user (Devine discloses that the device 600 indicates that William (user identifier) has shared media content in the current conversation) (Devine, para. 210).
Devine does not explicitly disclose in response to receiving a second message sent by a second user and messages currently displayed in a first region satisfying a condition, reduce a display duration of the first message.
In analogous art, Oshiba teaches in response to receiving a second message sent by a second user and messages currently displayed in a first region satisfying a condition, reduce a display duration of the first message (Oshiba discloses that upon receiving a new message object 34C (second message), the message object 34 (first message) that has been displayed will have the reference display time period (satisfying a condition and reducing display duration) reduced) (Oshiba, para. 134-135).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Oshiba related to receiving a second message sent by a second user and messages displayed and reducing the display duration and to combine with Devine in order to enhance the convenience of receiving new messages displayed for the user to respond to (Oshiba, para. 46).
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Devine et al. (2019/0339822, hereinafter Devine) and Oshiba et al. (2017/0005969, hereinafter Oshiba) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Voss (2021/0041997).
Regarding claim 3, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 2, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the first preset display condition being satisfied comprises the following: a number of the messages currently displayed in the first region does not reach a first preset number threshold.
In analogous art, Voss teaches wherein the first preset display condition being satisfied comprises the following: a number of messages currently displayed in the first region does not reach a first preset number threshold (Voss discloses that there may be a maximum number of allocable regions that can be allocated in the message prioritization interface) (Voss, para. 70).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Voss related to the number of messages displayed in the first region with a preset number threshold and to combine with Devine and Oshiba in order to enhance the convenience of providing users with a quick and convenient means of accessing those conversations (Voss, para. 17).
Regarding claim 4, Devine, Oshiba, and Voss discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein after the displaying the first message at the first position in the content sharing interface that is associated with the first user identifier, the method further comprises:
stopping the display of the first message after the display duration of the first message reaches a first preset duration (Devine discloses that the identified number of shared photos/videos includes an expiration time (first preset duration)) (Devine, para. 262).
Claims 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Devine et al. (2019/0339822, hereinafter Devine) and Oshiba et al. (2017/0005969, hereinafter Oshiba) as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Voss (2021/0041997).
Regarding claim 18, Devine and Oshiba discloses the method according to claim 17, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the method further comprises: receiving a fourth message sent by a fourth user; and displaying the fourth message in a second region of the content sharing interface, wherein the fourth message is a picture message, the picture message comprises a preset picture resource, and the second region is different from the first region.
In analogous art, Voss teaches wherein receiving a fourth message sent by a fourth user (Voss discloses that user A may identify a message thread of a particular importance and choose to pin the message thread to an allocable region at a predefined position relative to the presentation of the plurality of message threads) (Voss, para. 26); and
displaying the fourth message in a second region of the content sharing interface, wherein the fourth message is a picture message, the picture message comprises a preset picture resource, and the second region is different from the first region (Voss discloses that the message prioritization interface moves a display of message thread to the allocate region (second region) and presents one or more graphical icons (preset picture resource) within the display of the message thread, such as a push pin icon, or an emoji (picture message)) (Voss, para. 27).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Voss related to the receiving a message and displaying the message in the second region, wherein the message is a picture message and to combine with Devine and Oshiba in order to enhance the convenience of providing users with a quick and convenient means of accessing those conversations (Voss, para. 17).
Regarding claim 19, Devine, Oshiba, and Voss discloses the method according to claim 18, wherein the displaying the fourth message in the second region of the content sharing interface comprises:
associatively presenting the preset picture resource in the fourth message (Voss discloses that the message prioritization interface moves a display of message thread to the allocate region (second region) and presents one or more graphical icons (preset picture resource) within the display of the message thread, such as a push pin icon, or an emoji (picture message)) (Voss, para. 27) and an avatar of the fourth user in the second region of the content sharing interface (Voss discloses that the interface module 304 may cause the user profile module 308 to access a user profile (avatar) associated with one or more users engaged in the first message thread to retrieve one or more graphical icons to be applied to the display of the first message thread) (Voss, para. 58), and/or
wherein the displaying the fourth message in the second region of the content sharing interface comprises:
displaying the fourth message in the second region of the content sharing interface in response to a second preset display condition is satisfied (Voss discloses that the received input (second preset display condition) that selects or otherwise identifies the specific message thread (second region) from among the plurality of message threads via the GUI) (Voss, para. 21),
wherein the second preset display condition being satisfied comprises at least one of the following: a number of messages currently displayed in the second region does not reach a second preset number threshold (Voss discloses that there may be a maximum number of allocable regions that can be allocated in the message prioritization interface) (Voss, para. 70), or a frequency at which the fourth user sends the picture message does not reach a preset frequency threshold.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take the teachings of Voss related to the presenting the preset picture resource in the message and an avatar of the user in the second region of the content sharing interface and/or displaying the message in the second region of the content sharing interface in response to a second preset display condition is satisfied comprising a number of messages currently displayed in the second region does not reach a second preset number threshold, or a frequency at which the user sends the picture message does not reach a preset frequency threshold and to combine with Devine, Oshiba, and Voss in order to enhance the convenience of providing users with a quick and convenient means of accessing those conversations (Voss, para. 17).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-11, 13-19, and 23-24 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW WOO whose telephone number is (571)270-7521. The examiner can normally be reached Telework 9:00AM-6:00PM | IFP M-F 9:00AM-6:00PM.
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/A.W./Examiner, Art Unit 2458
/UMAR CHEEMA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2458
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