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 preliminary amendments filed 05/24/2024. Claims 1-11, 13-19, and 23-24 are pending. Claims 12 and 20-22 are cancelled.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/06/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN 202111424228X, filed on 11/26/2021. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 Objections
Claims 2, 4, 7-11, 19, and 24 are objected to because of the following informalities: lack of terminology consistency
Claim 2, line 2, recites “with a first user” and should be changed to -- with [[a]]the first user --.
Similar changes are suggested for subsequent claims.
Claim 4, line 2, recites “at a first position” and should be changed to -- at [[a]]the first position --.
Similar changes are suggested for subsequent claims.
Claim 7, line 4, recites “between the display of the user identifier of the first size and the display of the user identifier of the second size” and should be changed to -- between the display state of the user identifier of the first size and the display state of the user identifier of the second size --.
Similar changes are suggested for subsequent claims.
Claim 10, line 6, recites “and a first preset number threshold in a display state of the user identifier of the first size is greater than a first preset number in a display state of the user identifier of the second size” and should be changed to -- and a first preset number threshold in [[a]]the display state of the user identifier of the first size is greater than a first preset number threshold in [[a]]the display state of the user identifier of the second size --.
Claim 11, line 4, recites “wherein a presentation mode of a currently displayed message” and should be changed to -- wherein [[a]]the presentation mode of [[a]]the currently displayed message --.
Claim 19, line 2, recites “in a second region” and should be changed to -- in [[a]]the second region --.
Similar changes are suggested for subsequent claims.
Claim 24, line 2, recites “wherein wherein the” and should be changed to -- wherein --.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 10 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 10, line 5, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite because the limitation “a first preset number threshold" renders the claim to be unclear in that it is not clear if this is the same or different first preset number threshold recited in line 3 or some other new first preset number threshold.
Claim 17, line 2, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite because the limitation “a message displayed" renders the claim to be unclear in that it is not clear if this message is the same first message recited in Claim 1, line 6, different message, or some other new message. Dependent claims are also rejected for the same reason since they contain the same deficiency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-2, 7-9, 11, 13-17, and 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable by Devine et al. (2019/0339822, hereinafter Devine).
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); and
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).
Regarding claim 2, Devine discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the displaying the first message in the content sharing interface that is associated with a 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 a first region (Devine discloses that the focus selector of the input element (preset display condition) of the user indicates the intended interaction on the user interface, where the focus selector moves with the movement of focus between different regions (positions) of the user interface) (Devine, para. 184).
Regarding claim 7, Devine 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 of the user identifier of the first size and the display of the user identifier of the second size (Devine discloses that the device receives the user input and replaces display of one-up view (first size) with displaying of the grid view (second size), where the user may select or toggle (switching) from the media library to share; the one-up view can be used to undo changes made in the grid view) (Devine, para. 253-255) 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).
Regarding claim 8, Devine discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein the displaying the first message at a first position in the content sharing interface that is associated with a 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 (Devine discloses that the interface 658 can include access to the collection received from William (user identifier)) (Devine, para. 267) 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 (Devine discloses that the representation of the suggested collection includes an indication of time and/or a link of access with an expiration at a particular time (preset display condition)) (Devine, para. 262).
Regarding claim 9, Devine 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 and the display of the user identifier of the second size is not currently performed (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) (switching is not currently performed), and then receives accompanying text before transmitting and inserting the representation and the accompanying text into the transcript) (Devine, para. 338).
Regarding claim 11, Devine 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 a presentation mode of a currently displayed message comprises at least one of the following: a size of a 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 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 a user corresponding to the user identifier of the first size and 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).
Regarding claim 14, Devine 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 (Devine discloses that the determination that the recipient(s) is eligible or not eligible to receive messages through a predetermined service that restricts access (stopping display of a user identifier corresponding to a user) by users other than the recipient(s)) (Devine, para. 339).
Regarding claim 15, Devine 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 a 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 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 discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein a message displayed in a 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).
Regarding claim 24, Devine discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Devine, para. 180) storing a computer program (Devine, para. 48), wherein 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).
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.
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Devine et al. (2019/0339822, hereinafter Devine) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Voss (2021/0041997).
Regarding claim 3, Devine 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 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 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 and Voss discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein after the displaying the first message at a first position in the content sharing interface that is associated with a first user identifier, the method further comprises:
stopping the display of the first message after a 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) as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Voss (2021/0041997).
Regarding claim 18, Devine 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 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 and Voss discloses the method according to claim 18, wherein the displaying the fourth message in a 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 a 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 and Voss in order to enhance the convenience of providing users with a quick and convenient means of accessing those conversations (Voss, para. 17).
Conclusion
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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/ANDREW WOO/Examiner, Art Unit 2441