DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-9 and 19-28 are presented for examination.
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 .
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 8, 19-22, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wall et al. (US 2003/0156053).
[Claim 1] Wall discloses a method for updating keys of a remote control, wherein the keys on the remote control are touch display devices (¶¶ 39, 41), and the method comprises:
detecting whether key update information is received (¶ 39 – “Probably the most effective manner in which the programming can be loaded into the remote control apparatus 10 would be via a web site 33 established by the manufacturer of the machine or device to be controlled as is depicted in FIG. 7. The web site 33 would be accessible via the Internet and could be updated by the manufacturer as need arises.“; ¶ 41 -- “ By selecting the desired machine or device, the remote control apparatus 10 will load into operation the programming for the selected machine or device, as customized by the owner, to display the touch screen buttons or icons 52 for the functions to be controlled on that particular selected machine or device. Returning to the menu screen, other machines or devices could be selected allowing the remote control apparatus 10 to toggle from one control mode to another. For each control mode, corresponding to a particular machine or device to be controlled, the display screen 15 will provide the control panel 50 that is peculiar to the machine or device that was selected. Each control panel 50 can be completely different from each other control panel 50 to be displayed on the display screen 15.” Toggling from one device to another is an example of requiring key update information to update the touch screen buttons or icons. Also, as noted in ¶ 39, the manufacturer can update programming information as needed.);
when the key update information is received, updating the display information of the touch display devices on the keys of the remote control according to the key update information (¶ 39 – “Probably the most effective manner in which the programming can be loaded into the remote control apparatus 10 would be via a web site 33 established by the manufacturer of the machine or device to be controlled as is depicted in FIG. 7. The web site 33 would be accessible via the Internet and could be updated by the manufacturer as need arises.“; ¶ 41 -- “ By selecting the desired machine or device, the remote control apparatus 10 will load into operation the programming for the selected machine or device, as customized by the owner, to display the touch screen buttons or icons 52 for the functions to be controlled on that particular selected machine or device. Returning to the menu screen, other machines or devices could be selected allowing the remote control apparatus 10 to toggle from one control mode to another. For each control mode, corresponding to a particular machine or device to be controlled, the display screen 15 will provide the control panel 50 that is peculiar to the machine or device that was selected. Each control panel 50 can be completely different from each other control panel 50 to be displayed on the display screen 15.” Toggling from one device to another is an example of requiring key update information to update the touch screen buttons or icons. Also, as noted in ¶ 39, the manufacturer can update programming information as needed.).
[Claim 2] Wall discloses wherein updating the display information of the touch display devices on the keys of the remote control according to the key update information comprises:
parsing the key update information to obtain a target key that needs to update the key information thereof (¶¶ 39, 41 -- Toggling from one device to another is an example of requiring key update information to update the touch screen buttons or icons. Also, as noted in ¶ 39, the manufacturer can update programming information as needed.);
updating display information on the touch display device of the target key according to the key update information (¶ 41 -- “ By selecting the desired machine or device, the remote control apparatus 10 will load into operation the programming for the selected machine or device, as customized by the owner, to display the touch screen buttons or icons 52 for the functions to be controlled on that particular selected machine or device. Returning to the menu screen, other machines or devices could be selected allowing the remote control apparatus 10 to toggle from one control mode to another. For each control mode, corresponding to a particular machine or device to be controlled, the display screen 15 will provide the control panel 50 that is peculiar to the machine or device that was selected. Each control panel 50 can be completely different from each other control panel 50 to be displayed on the display screen 15.” Toggling from one device to another is an example of requiring key update information to update the touch screen buttons or icons. Also, as noted in ¶ 39, the manufacturer can update programming information as needed.).
[Claim 3] Wall discloses wherein, after the detection of whether the key update information is received (¶ 41 – The remote control apparatus is booted up and continues to update the touch screen buttons based on a currently selected mode, which may be selected through the menu.), the method further comprises:
when the key update information is not received, obtaining an operating mode of a controlled device corresponding to the remote control (¶ 41 – “When multiple machines or devices are to be controlled through the remote control apparatus 10, the boot-up screen to be displayed on the display screen 15 when the remote control apparatus 10 is first powered-up should be a menu of the machines or devices that can be controlled. By selecting the desired machine or device, the remote control apparatus 10 will load into operation the programming for the selected machine or device, as customized by the owner, to display the touch screen buttons or icons 52 for the functions to be controlled on that particular selected machine or device. Returning to the menu screen, other machines or devices could be selected allowing the remote control apparatus 10 to toggle from one control mode to another. For each control mode, corresponding to a particular machine or device to be controlled, the display screen 15 will provide the control panel 50 that is peculiar to the machine or device that was selected. Each control panel 50 can be completely different from each other control panel 50 to be displayed on the display screen 15.” The keys are not updated unless the mode of use is changed. Also, the keys are not updated unless a manufacturer deems an update to be needed (as seen in ¶ 39).);
updating the touch display devices on the remote control to display the key information of the corresponding mode according to the operation mode of the controlled device (41 -- “ By selecting the desired machine or device, the remote control apparatus 10 will load into operation the programming for the selected machine or device, as customized by the owner, to display the touch screen buttons or icons 52 for the functions to be controlled on that particular selected machine or device. Returning to the menu screen, other machines or devices could be selected allowing the remote control apparatus 10 to toggle from one control mode to another.” Toggling from one device to another is an example of requiring key update information to update the touch screen buttons or icons. Also, as noted in ¶ 39, the manufacturer can update programming information as needed.).
[NOTE: The operations performed when a particular condition is met are not required to be performed in a method claim when the particular condition is not met. When the particular condition is not met in the prior art reference, the corresponding operations are not necessarily required to be performed within the scope of the claim and, thus, taught by the reference. However, in the interest of compact prosecution, the conditional language has been fully addressed by the prior art in the rejection as if the condition were met in the prior art. Further noted is that, in the apparatus claims (addressed below), when the conditional language and corresponding functions are tied to a limiting structural element of the apparatus, they do serve to limit the scope of the apparatus.]
[Claim 8] Wall discloses wherein when the key update information is not received, obtaining the operating mode of the controlled device corresponding to the remote control comprises:
detecting whether a mode switch key on the remote control is clicked when the key update information is not received (¶ 41 – “When multiple machines or devices are to be controlled through the remote control apparatus 10, the boot-up screen to be displayed on the display screen 15 when the remote control apparatus 10 is first powered-up should be a menu of the machines or devices that can be controlled. By selecting the desired machine or device, the remote control apparatus 10 will load into operation the programming for the selected machine or device, as customized by the owner, to display the touch screen buttons or icons 52 for the functions to be controlled on that particular selected machine or device. Returning to the menu screen, other machines or devices could be selected allowing the remote control apparatus 10 to toggle from one control mode to another. For each control mode, corresponding to a particular machine or device to be controlled, the display screen 15 will provide the control panel 50 that is peculiar to the machine or device that was selected. Each control panel 50 can be completely different from each other control panel 50 to be displayed on the display screen 15.” The keys are not updated unless the mode of use is changed. Also, the keys are not updated unless a manufacturer deems an update to be needed (as seen in ¶ 39).; ¶ 35 – cursor, entry of commands);
when the mode switch key on the remote control is clicked, obtaining the operation mode of the controlled device corresponding to the remote control (¶ 41 – “When multiple machines or devices are to be controlled through the remote control apparatus 10, the boot-up screen to be displayed on the display screen 15 when the remote control apparatus 10 is first powered-up should be a menu of the machines or devices that can be controlled. By selecting the desired machine or device, the remote control apparatus 10 will load into operation the programming for the selected machine or device, as customized by the owner, to display the touch screen buttons or icons 52 for the functions to be controlled on that particular selected machine or device. Returning to the menu screen, other machines or devices could be selected allowing the remote control apparatus 10 to toggle from one control mode to another. For each control mode, corresponding to a particular machine or device to be controlled, the display screen 15 will provide the control panel 50 that is peculiar to the machine or device that was selected. Each control panel 50 can be completely different from each other control panel 50 to be displayed on the display screen 15.” The keys are not updated unless the mode of use is changed. Also, the keys are not updated unless a manufacturer deems an update to be needed (as seen in ¶ 39).; ¶ 35 – cursor, entry of commands).
[Claims 19, 21-22, 27] Claims 19, 21-22, and 27 recite limitations already addressed by the rejections of claims 1-3 and 8 above; therefore, the same rejections apply.
Furthermore, Wall discloses a remote control (¶ 41 – “Returning to the menu screen, other machines or devices could be selected allowing the remote control apparatus 10 to toggle from one control mode to another.“), comprising a plurality of touch display keys (¶ 41 – “By selecting the desired machine or device, the remote control apparatus 10 will load into operation the programming for the selected machine or device, as customized by the owner, to display the touch screen buttons or icons 52 for the functions to be controlled on that particular selected machine or device.“), a processor (¶ 43 – “Such a remote control apparatus 10 would be truly a universal remote control capable of controlling every remotely controlled machine or device for which the programming can be loaded into the memory storage devices and executed by the microprocessor, or which can be "taught" from a conventional infra red remote control device.”), and a memory storing computer program executable by the processor to implement the recited operations (¶ 43 – “Such a remote control apparatus 10 would be truly a universal remote control capable of controlling every remotely controlled machine or device for which the programming can be loaded into the memory storage devices and executed by the microprocessor, or which can be "taught" from a conventional infra red remote control device.”).
[Claim 20] Claim 20 recites limitations already addressed by the rejection of claim 1 above; therefore, the same rejection applies.
Furthermore, Wall discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer program executable by a processor to implement the recited operations (¶ 43 – “Such a remote control apparatus 10 would be truly a universal remote control capable of controlling every remotely controlled machine or device for which the programming can be loaded into the memory storage devices and executed by the microprocessor, or which can be "taught" from a conventional infra red remote control device.”).
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 4-7, 9, 23-26, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wall et al. (US 2003/0156053), as applied to claims 1, 3, 19, and 22 above, in view of Forutanpour et al. (US 2010/0259561).
[Claim 4] Wall discloses wherein updating the touch display devices on the remote control to display the key information of the corresponding mode according to the operation mode of the controlled device comprises:
when the operating mode of the controlled device is a particular mode, updating a part of the touch display devices on the remote control to display the particular mode key information according to the particular mode (¶ 41 – “When multiple machines or devices are to be controlled through the remote control apparatus 10, the boot-up screen to be displayed on the display screen 15 when the remote control apparatus 10 is first powered-up should be a menu of the machines or devices that can be controlled. By selecting the desired machine or device, the remote control apparatus 10 will load into operation the programming for the selected machine or device, as customized by the owner, to display the touch screen buttons or icons 52 for the functions to be controlled on that particular selected machine or device. Returning to the menu screen, other machines or devices could be selected allowing the remote control apparatus 10 to toggle from one control mode to another. For each control mode, corresponding to a particular machine or device to be controlled, the display screen 15 will provide the control panel 50 that is peculiar to the machine or device that was selected. Each control panel 50 can be completely different from each other control panel 50 to be displayed on the display screen 15.” The keys are not updated unless the mode of use is changed. Also, the keys are not updated unless a manufacturer deems an update to be needed (as seen in ¶ 39).).
Wall does not explicitly disclose that the particular mode is a game mode. However, Forutanpour discloses that its touch keypad may be used as a game controller (Forutanpour: ¶ 37 – “As used herein, the terms ‘keypad’ and ‘keyboard’ are used interchangeably to refer generally to any one of various configurations of user input devices used to convey input data to a computing device, such as a QWERTY (or other) keyboard, a number pad, a game controller, and a musical keyboard. Since the various aspects involve ‘virtual’ user input devices whose ‘keys’ may be displayed, projected or invisible, the terms ‘keypad’ and ‘keyboard’ are not intended to require physical keys that can be depressed, but rather refer to any user input device which can sense a touch (or press) by a user finger and interpret that touch as a input to the computing device.”). The Examiner submits that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention to modify Wall such that the particular mode is a game mode in order to more efficiently provide each user with a more easily usable controller for each user’s specific needs by introducing “virtual keypads on touch sensitive surface that automatically adjusts the keypad for particular users by learning user's typing patterns from the user's inputs.” (Forutanpour: ¶¶ 5-6) Additionally, the substitution of Forutanpour’s controller operations (in the area of gaming) for Wall’s custom remote control apparatus operations would have been well within the technical capability of those skilled in the art prior to Applicant’s invention and such a substitution would have yielded predictable and expected results.
[NOTE: The operations performed when a particular condition is met are not required to be performed in a method claim when the particular condition is not met. When the particular condition is not met in the prior art reference, the corresponding operations are not necessarily required to be performed within the scope of the claim and, thus, taught by the reference. However, in the interest of compact prosecution, the conditional language has been fully addressed by the prior art in the rejection as if the condition were met in the prior art. Further noted is that, in the apparatus claims (addressed below), when the conditional language and corresponding functions are tied to a limiting structural element of the apparatus, they do serve to limit the scope of the apparatus.]
[Claim 5] Wall discloses wherein updating the part of the touch display devices on the remote control to display the particular mode key information according to the particular mode comprises:
filtering out target keys required for the remote control to control a running of the particular mode based on the running of the particular mode in the particular mode (¶ 41 – “When multiple machines or devices are to be controlled through the remote control apparatus 10, the boot-up screen to be displayed on the display screen 15 when the remote control apparatus 10 is first powered-up should be a menu of the machines or devices that can be controlled. By selecting the desired machine or device, the remote control apparatus 10 will load into operation the programming for the selected machine or device, as customized by the owner, to display the touch screen buttons or icons 52 for the functions to be controlled on that particular selected machine or device. Returning to the menu screen, other machines or devices could be selected allowing the remote control apparatus 10 to toggle from one control mode to another. For each control mode, corresponding to a particular machine or device to be controlled, the display screen 15 will provide the control panel 50 that is peculiar to the machine or device that was selected. Each control panel 50 can be completely different from each other control panel 50 to be displayed on the display screen 15.” The keys are not updated unless the mode of use is changed. Also, the keys are not updated unless a manufacturer deems an update to be needed (as seen in ¶ 39). Knowing which operations correspond to which keys (and which don’t) depending on the respective mode is an example of filtering out target keys.);
updating initial display information on the touch display device on the target keys required for the running of the particular mode with the particular mode key information (¶ 41);
controlling the touch display devices on keys other than the target keys required for the running of the particular mode to stop working (¶ 41 – By changing from one mode to another, e.g., via the menu, the target keys for a previous mode will stop working as a new mode is selected.).
Wall does not explicitly disclose that the particular mode is a game mode and the target keys control a running game with game key information. However, Forutanpour discloses that its touch keypad may be used as a game controller (Forutanpour: ¶ 37 – “As used herein, the terms ‘keypad’ and ‘keyboard’ are used interchangeably to refer generally to any one of various configurations of user input devices used to convey input data to a computing device, such as a QWERTY (or other) keyboard, a number pad, a game controller, and a musical keyboard. Since the various aspects involve ‘virtual’ user input devices whose ‘keys’ may be displayed, projected or invisible, the terms ‘keypad’ and ‘keyboard’ are not intended to require physical keys that can be depressed, but rather refer to any user input device which can sense a touch (or press) by a user finger and interpret that touch as a input to the computing device.”). The Examiner submits that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention to modify Wall such that the particular mode is a game mode and the target keys control a running game with game key information in order to more efficiently provide each user with a more easily usable controller for each user’s specific needs by introducing “virtual keypads on touch sensitive surface that automatically adjusts the keypad for particular users by learning user's typing patterns from the user's inputs.” (Forutanpour: ¶¶ 5-6) Additionally, the substitution of Forutanpour’s controller operations (in the area of gaming) for Wall’s custom remote control apparatus operations would have been well within the technical capability of those skilled in the art prior to Applicant’s invention and such a substitution would have yielded predictable and expected results.
[NOTE: The operations performed when a particular condition is met are not required to be performed in a method claim when the particular condition is not met. When the particular condition is not met in the prior art reference, the corresponding operations are not necessarily required to be performed within the scope of the claim and, thus, taught by the reference. However, in the interest of compact prosecution, the conditional language has been fully addressed by the prior art in the rejection as if the condition were met in the prior art. Further noted is that, in the apparatus claims (addressed below), when the conditional language and corresponding functions are tied to a limiting structural element of the apparatus, they do serve to limit the scope of the apparatus.]
[Claim 6] Wall does not explicitly disclose wherein updating the touch display devices on the remote control to display the key information of the corresponding mode according to the operation mode of the controlled device comprises:
when the operating mode of the controlled device is a text input mode, updating the touch display devices on the remote control to display input method key information in accordance with the text input mode according to the text input mode.
However, Forutanpour discloses that its touch keypad may be used as a game controller (Forutanpour: ¶ 37 – “As used herein, the terms ‘keypad’ and ‘keyboard’ are used interchangeably to refer generally to any one of various configurations of user input devices used to convey input data to a computing device, such as a QWERTY (or other) keyboard, a number pad, a game controller, and a musical keyboard. Since the various aspects involve ‘virtual’ user input devices whose ‘keys’ may be displayed, projected or invisible, the terms ‘keypad’ and ‘keyboard’ are not intended to require physical keys that can be depressed, but rather refer to any user input device which can sense a touch (or press) by a user finger and interpret that touch as a input to the computing device.”). Learning in regard to a user’s preferred key placement may be performed based on text input in order to address prior art problems of an application requiring a particular key set not offered by fixed keypad layouts (Forutanpour: ¶ 72; ¶ 44 – “An application that requires a particular key set (for example a game or a device remote control), may not be operable on devices that have a fixed keypad layout or may be operable in a limited or user-unfriendly way.”; ¶ 45 – “The various aspects of the present invention provide methods and systems for defining a keypad layout that is customized for a particular user. Using learning algorithms, a computing device implementing the various aspects can learn the key size, key spacing, and typing patterns of a user and "morph" the keys of a virtual keyboard into locations, sizes, and orientations that are comfortable for the user and that reduce user typing errors. According to an aspect, a user can create a custom keypad layout by following a teaching routine provided by a computing device. For example, a computing device may present a default keypad layout on a display and prompt the user to perform a series of key strokes. As the user follows such instructions and taps each key, the computing device can determine the touch location corresponding to each key and use that information to discover the appropriate envelopes of a keypad layout along with the location, size, shape, and orientation of the keys that match the user's hands. Results of this teaching routine may be stored as keypad layout data that the computing device uses to generate a display of the keys in a virtual keypad (e.g., on a touchscreen or projected keyboard).”). Additionally, the virtual keypad may incorporate numbers and letters (Forutanpour: ¶ 40).
The Examiner submits that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention to modify Wall wherein updating the touch display devices on the remote control to display the key information of the corresponding mode according to the operation mode of the controlled device comprises:
when the operating mode of the controlled device is a text input mode, updating the touch display devices on the remote control to display input method key information in accordance with the text input mode according to the text input mode
in order to more efficiently provide each user with a more easily usable controller for each user’s specific needs by introducing “virtual keypads on touch sensitive surface that automatically adjusts the keypad for particular users by learning user's typing patterns from the user's inputs” (Forutanpour: ¶¶ 5-6), thereby improving upon prior art problems of an application requiring a particular key set not offered by fixed keypad layouts (as suggested in Forutanpour: ¶ 44). Additionally, the substitution of Forutanpour’s controller operations (in the area of gaming) for Wall’s custom remote control apparatus operations would have been well within the technical capability of those skilled in the art prior to Applicant’s invention and such a substitution would have yielded predictable and expected results.
[NOTE: The operations performed when a particular condition is met are not required to be performed in a method claim when the particular condition is not met. When the particular condition is not met in the prior art reference, the corresponding operations are not necessarily required to be performed within the scope of the claim and, thus, taught by the reference. However, in the interest of compact prosecution, the conditional language has been fully addressed by the prior art in the rejection as if the condition were met in the prior art. Further noted is that, in the apparatus claims (addressed below), when the conditional language and corresponding functions are tied to a limiting structural element of the apparatus, they do serve to limit the scope of the apparatus.]
[Claim 7] Wall discloses wherein updating the touch display devices on the remote control to display the input method key information in accordance with the input mode according to the input mode comprises:
detecting whether the controlled device is set with a customized input method (¶¶ 40-41 – A user can customize the touch screen buttons.);
when no customized input method is set, based on a preset default input method, filtering out target keys needed by the remote control according to the default input method (¶¶ 40-41 – A user can customize the touch screen buttons. It is understood that the touch screen buttons would otherwise conform to the selected control mode.);
updating initial display information on the touch display devices on the target keys required by the default input method to key information required for the default input method (¶¶ 40-41 – A user can customize the touch screen buttons. It is understood that the touch screen buttons would otherwise conform to the selected control mode.);
when a customized input method has been set, based on the customized input method, filtering out target keys needed by the remote control according to the customized input method (¶¶ 40-41 – A user can customize the touch screen buttons. It is understood that the touch screen buttons would otherwise conform to the selected control mode. Knowing which operations correspond to which keys (and which don’t) depending on the respective mode is an example of filtering out target keys.);
updating initial display information on the touch display devices on the target keys required by the customized input method to key information required for the customized input method (¶¶ 40-41 – A user can customize the touch screen buttons. It is understood that the touch screen buttons would otherwise conform to the selected control mode.).
Wall does not explicitly disclose that the input mode is a text input mode. However, Forutanpour discloses that its touch keypad may be used as a game controller (Forutanpour: ¶ 37 – “As used herein, the terms ‘keypad’ and ‘keyboard’ are used interchangeably to refer generally to any one of various configurations of user input devices used to convey input data to a computing device, such as a QWERTY (or other) keyboard, a number pad, a game controller, and a musical keyboard. Since the various aspects involve ‘virtual’ user input devices whose ‘keys’ may be displayed, projected or invisible, the terms ‘keypad’ and ‘keyboard’ are not intended to require physical keys that can be depressed, but rather refer to any user input device which can sense a touch (or press) by a user finger and interpret that touch as a input to the computing device.”). Learning in regard to a user’s preferred key placement may be performed based on text input in order to address prior art problems of an application requiring a particular key set not offered by fixed keypad layouts (Forutanpour: ¶ 72; ¶ 44 – “An application that requires a particular key set (for example a game or a device remote control), may not be operable on devices that have a fixed keypad layout or may be operable in a limited or user-unfriendly way.”; ¶ 45 – “The various aspects of the present invention provide methods and systems for defining a keypad layout that is customized for a particular user. Using learning algorithms, a computing device implementing the various aspects can learn the key size, key spacing, and typing patterns of a user and "morph" the keys of a virtual keyboard into locations, sizes, and orientations that are comfortable for the user and that reduce user typing errors. According to an aspect, a user can create a custom keypad layout by following a teaching routine provided by a computing device. For example, a computing device may present a default keypad layout on a display and prompt the user to perform a series of key strokes. As the user follows such instructions and taps each key, the computing device can determine the touch location corresponding to each key and use that information to discover the appropriate envelopes of a keypad layout along with the location, size, shape, and orientation of the keys that match the user's hands. Results of this teaching routine may be stored as keypad layout data that the computing device uses to generate a display of the keys in a virtual keypad (e.g., on a touchscreen or projected keyboard).”). Additionally, the virtual keypad may incorporate numbers and letters (Forutanpour: ¶ 40).
The Examiner submits that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention to modify Wall such that the input mode is a text input mode in order to more efficiently provide each user with a more easily usable controller for each user’s specific needs by introducing “virtual keypads on touch sensitive surface that automatically adjusts the keypad for particular users by learning user's typing patterns from the user's inputs” (Forutanpour: ¶¶ 5-6), thereby improving upon prior art problems of an application requiring a particular key set not offered by fixed keypad layouts (as suggested in Forutanpour: ¶ 44). Additionally, the substitution of Forutanpour’s controller operations (in the area of gaming) for Wall’s custom remote control apparatus operations would have been well within the technical capability of those skilled in the art prior to Applicant’s invention and such a substitution would have yielded predictable and expected results.
[NOTE: The operations performed when a particular condition is met are not required to be performed in a method claim when the particular condition is not met. When the particular condition is not met in the prior art reference, the corresponding operations are not necessarily required to be performed within the scope of the claim and, thus, taught by the reference. However, in the interest of compact prosecution, the conditional language has been fully addressed by the prior art in the rejection as if the condition were met in the prior art. Further noted is that, in the apparatus claims (addressed below), when the conditional language and corresponding functions are tied to a limiting structural element of the apparatus, they do serve to limit the scope of the apparatus.]
[Claim 9] Wall discloses wherein the detection of whether the key update information is received comprises:
detecting whether key update information sent by a controlled device of the remote control is received, the key update information sent by the controlled device being information obtained from a web site corresponding to the remote control (Wall: ¶ 39 – “Probably the most effective manner in which the programming can be loaded into the remote control apparatus 10 would be via a web site 33 established by the manufacturer of the machine or device to be controlled as is depicted in FIG. 7. The web site 33 would be accessible via the Internet and could be updated by the manufacturer as need arises.“).
Wall does not explicitly disclose that the information is obtained by a cloud of the remote control. Forutanpour discloses that its touch keypad may be used as a game controller (Forutanpour: ¶ 37). Learning in regard to a user’s preferred key placement may be performed based on text input in order to address prior art problems of an application requiring a particular key set not offered by fixed keypad layouts (Forutanpour: ¶ 72; ¶ 44 – “An application that requires a particular key set (for example a game or a device remote control), may not be operable on devices that have a fixed keypad layout or may be operable in a limited or user-unfriendly way.”; ¶ 45 – “The various aspects of the present invention provide methods and systems for defining a keypad layout that is customized for a particular user. Using learning algorithms, a computing device implementing the various aspects can learn the key size, key spacing, and typing patterns of a user and "morph" the keys of a virtual keyboard into locations, sizes, and orientations that are comfortable for the user and that reduce user typing errors. According to an aspect, a user can create a custom keypad layout by following a teaching routine provided by a computing device. For example, a computing device may present a default keypad layout on a display and prompt the user to perform a series of key strokes. As the user follows such instructions and taps each key, the computing device can determine the touch location corresponding to each key and use that information to discover the appropriate envelopes of a keypad layout along with the location, size, shape, and orientation of the keys that match the user's hands. Results of this teaching routine may be stored as keypad layout data that the computing device uses to generate a display of the keys in a virtual keypad (e.g., on a touchscreen or projected keyboard).”).
Additionally, Forutanpour explains that “the users may interface with the computing device via customized virtual keypads that are accessed from a central database or computing ‘cloud.’ Thus, the users may have use of customized joysticks or game controller pads that include the action buttons where they prefer and their use indicates the buttons should be positioned.” (Forutanpour: ¶ 95)
The Examiner submits that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s invention to modify Wall such that the information is obtained by a cloud of the remote control in order to more efficiently provide each user with a more easily usable controller for each user’s specific needs by introducing “virtual keypads on touch sensitive surface that automatically adjusts the keypad for particular users by learning user's typing patterns from the user's inputs” (Forutanpour: ¶¶ 5-6), thereby improving upon prior art problems of an application requiring a particular key set not offered by fixed keypad layouts (as suggested in Forutanpour: ¶ 44). Additionally, the substitution of Forutanpour’s cloud-based information access (in the area of gaming) for Wall’s web-based information access would have been well within the technical capability of those skilled in the art prior to Applicant’s invention and such a substitution would have yielded predictable and expected results.
[Claims 23-26, 28] Claims 23-26 and 28 recite limitations already addressed by the rejections of claims 4-7 and 9 above; therefore, the same rejections apply.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUSANNA M DIAZ whose telephone number is (571)272-6733. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8 am-4:30 pm.
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/SUSANNA M. DIAZ/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3625A
Prosecution Insights