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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
Claims 1-2, and 4-20 are pending in this application.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09/01/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2 and 4-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-2, 4-6, and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Parker (US 2016/0085381) and in view of Cohen (US 2020/0104092).
Re Claim 1, Parker discloses An information indicating method, comprising:
presenting an indication identifier in a shared client in response to the shared client being in a free browsing mode ([0050], fig. 9, Sync view button where other users can choose to sync their view with another user’s view);
switching a mode of the shared client to a following browsing mode in response to a trigger operation for the indication identifier ([0050], fig. 9, User in the shared meeting selects another user from the list of participants and selects a “Sync View” button to automatically synchronize and display the same content as the select user’s viewport);
wherein the indication identifier is used to indicate an identity of a sharer client that displays a shared file simultaneously with the shared client, and comprises indication information for indicating a position of the shared file being browsed by the sharer client ([0046], [0050] User in the shared meeting selects another user from the list of participants and selects a “Sync View” button to automatically synchronize and display the same content as the select user’s viewport. As the moderator (sharer) moves or zooms the canvas, the participant views automatically synchronize to track and maintain the same view as the moderator).
While Parker discloses a canvas that allows the user to interact with the content items at their own choosing, Parker does not explicitly disclose, however Cohen discloses in the free browsing mode, the shared client is configured to receive a browsing instruction from a user using the shared client, and display the shared file according to the browsing instruction to enable the user to browse the shared file in the free browsing mode ([0028], discloses choosing an independent mode (fig. 3e) which allows each participant to have access to all items in the slideshow collection where even if the host is currently viewing a web link about Tokyo, the participant may navigate to other posted items in the collection, ie., a picture taken in Kuala Lumpur).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Parker’s conference synchronization view system with Cohen’s group slideshow view system to allow participants to choose to follow, independent, or guided content view. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to improve user content browsing by allowing the user to determine when they want to interpedently browse the content at their own discretion and when they want to follow the same views as the host/participant.
Re Claim 2, Parker discloses stopping displaying the indication identifier in response to the shared client being in the following browsing mode (fig. 14, [0053], [0055] The activity indicator functions like a “Sync View” button is preferably a “one-time” action. I.E, Once bill taps on the green indicator 1402, it will change is viewport to match Jim Knight. Bill’s screen no longer shows the “Sync View” button once it was activated/selected.).
Re Claim 4, Parker discloses wherein further comprising:
acquiring a first position parameter of first target information in a current page, wherein the current page is a page in the shared file shared by the sharer client Parker ([0046], The moderator moves or zooms the canvas within his or her viewport);
acquiring a second position parameter of second target information in a display page of the sharer client Parker ([0046], the participant views automatically synchronize to track and maintain the same view as the moderator); and
determining the indication identifier according to the first position parameter and the second position parameter, and indicating the second target information according to the indication identifier Parker ([0046], the participant views automatically synchronize to track and maintain the same view as the moderator in response to the participant activating the View Sync command).
Re Claim 5, Parker discloses wherein the first position parameter and the second position parameter are determined based on a same position parameter determination rule Parker ([0050]-[0053], the canvas in which the participating user synchronizes to the selected user when the user is drawing on the canvas, adding or modifying to the canvas, and their relative positions on their canvas).
Re Claim 6, Parker discloses wherein the position parameter determination rule comprises any of the following:
in a client presenting a shared file, determining the first position parameter and the second position parameter based on position information of the shared file presented at a first preset position of a client interface; or,
in a client presenting a shared file, determining the first position parameter and the second position parameter based on position information of the shared file corresponding to a cursor in the shared file presented in a client interface ([0050]-[0053], the canvas in which the participating user synchronizes to the selected user when the user is drawing on the canvas, adding or modifying to the canvas, and their relative positions on their canvas).
Re Claim 15, Parker discloses wherein presenting the indication identifier in the shared client in response to the shared client being in the free browsing mode comprises:
setting an indication control at a second preset position in a client interface Parker (fig. 9, shows sync view button) ; and
displaying an arrow indication effect on the indication control according to the indication information Parker (fig. 9, has an arrow that indicates the sync view button).
Re Claim 16, Parker discloses wherein the following browsing mode is a mode of following and displaying a display page of the sharer client ([0046], [0050] User in the shared meeting selects another user from the list of participants and selects a “Sync View” button to automatically synchronize and display the same content as the select user’s viewport. As the moderator (sharer) moves or zooms the canvas, the participant views automatically synchronize to track and maintain the same view as the moderator).
Re Claim 17, Parker discloses stopping acquiring the first position parameter, receiving the second position parameter, and determining the indication identifier according to the first position parameter and the second position parameter in the following browsing mode ([0046], [0050] User in the shared meeting selects another user from the list of participants and selects a “Sync View” button to automatically synchronize and display the same content as the select user’s viewport. As the moderator (sharer) moves or zooms the canvas, the participant views automatically synchronize to track and maintain the same view as the moderator).
Re Claim 18, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Parker for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 1. In addition, Cohen discloses wherein the method is applied to a real- time interactive application, and the real-time interactive application comprises at least one of an instant messaging application, a multimedia conference application, a live video application and a group chat interactive application Cohen ([0021]-[0022], [0031], inviting people to a group slideshow where participants view live video in the conference of what the host is sharing).
Re Claim 19, Parker discloses wherein the current page is a page presented by the shared client ([0046], [0050] User in the shared meeting selects another user from the list of participants and selects a “Sync View” button to automatically synchronize and display the same content as the select user’s viewport).
Re claim 20 is similar to claim 1 and therefore is rejected for the same reasons above.
Claims 7-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being Unpatentable over Parker and in view of Cohen and in view of Tian (US 2021/0097135).
Re Claim 7, Parker and Cohen do not disclose, however Tian discloses determining the indication identifier according to the first position parameter and the second position parameter based on an indication identifier determination mode corresponding to a file type of the shared file (See Tian, para. 0073-0078 and 0098-0102) a mean of creating annotation blocks that are positioned approximate to the respective span based on it being a document file type. As presently claimed, the indication identifier is taught by lines marking the text corresponding to the received content level annotations such as the first and second. Further, the marks may indicate the second content level annotation through a direct line from the text to the second content level annotation.); or
determining the indication identifier according to the first position parameter and the second position parameter based on a file type of the shared file and an indication identifier determination mode corresponding to display states of the shared file in a shared client and the sharer client. The examiner notes that the limitations are in alternative language and thus the second limitation is not required based on the examiner providing adequate teaching of the first limitation.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Parker and Cohen’s group slideshow with Tian’s collaborative management system in order to determine the position parameters based on the type of a file. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to improve the user format annotations by presenting certain parameters with sharing certain file types.
Re Claim 8, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Parker and Coen for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 7. In addition, Tian discloses Wherein the indication identifier determination mode comprises at least one of the following: A line parameter comparison mode, a column parameter comparison mode, a page parameter comparison mode and a scroll bar parameter comparison mode of a client interface (See Tian, para. 0039, 0073-0079, 0098-0100 and figure 5a) a means of receiving a selection of specific textual locations within the shared document file. A first user creates content level comments that are placed in a location proximate to the span in which they are directing a comment. Content items (i.e. document files illustrated in 5a) and individuals can be assigned different access privileges to a content item shared with them.
Re Claim 9, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Parker and Coen for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 7. In addition, Tian discloses Wherein if the file type is a document type, determining the indication identifier according to the first position parameter and the second position parameter based on a line parameter comparison mode corresponding to the document type (See Tian, para. 0039, 0073-0079, 0098-0100 and figure 5a) a means of receiving a selection of specific textual locations within the shared document file. A first user creates content level comments that are placed in a location proximate to the span in which they are directing a comment. Content items (i.e. document files illustrated in 5a) and individuals can be assigned different access privileges to a content item shared with them.
Re Claim 10, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Parker and Coen for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 7. In addition, Tian discloses Wherein if the file type is a spreadsheet type, determining the indication identifier according to the first position parameter and the second position parameter based on a line parameter comparison mode and/or a column parameter comparison mode corresponding to the spreadsheet type (See Tian, para. 0024-0025, 0071) The content stored by content management system can include any type of content items, such as documents, spreadsheets, collaborative content items, text files, audio files, etc. Figure 5a illustrates an example user interface with a collaborative content item include paragraph blocks but may include spreadsheets.
Re Claim 11, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Parker and Coen for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 7. In addition, Tian discloses Wherein if the file type is a mind map type, determining the indication identifier according to the first position parameter and the second position parameter based on the mind map and a line parameter comparison mode corresponding to display states of the shared file in the shared client and the sharer client (See Tian, para. 0024) the content stored by content management system can include any type of content items, such as documents, spreadsheets, collaborative content items, text files, audio files, image files, video files, webpages, executable files, placeholder files that reference other content items.
Re Claim 12, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Parker and Coen for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 7. In addition, Tian discloses Wherein if the file type is a presentation type, determining the indication identifier according to the first position parameter and the second position parameter based on the presentation type and a page parameter comparison mode corresponding to display states of the shared file in the shared client and the sharer client (See Tian, para. 0024) the content stored by content management system can include any type of content items, such as documents, spreadsheets, collaborative content items, text files, audio files, image files, video files, webpages, executable files, placeholder files that reference other content items. (See Tian, para. 0073-0078 and 0098-0102) a mean of creating annotation blocks that are positioned approximate to the respective span. As presently claimed, the indication identifier is taught by lines marking the text corresponding to the received content level annotations such as the first and second. Further, the marks may indicate the second content level annotation through a direct line from the text to the second content level annotation.
Re Claim 13, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Parker and Coen for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 7. In addition, Tian discloses Wherein if the file type is a portable document type, determining the indication identifier according to the first position parameter and the second position parameter based on a page parameter comparison mode corresponding to the portable document type (See Tian, para. 0024) the content stored by content management system can include any type of content items, such as documents, spreadsheets, collaborative content items, text files, audio files, image files, video files, webpages, executable files, placeholder files that reference other content items. (See Tian, para. 0073-0078) a means of comparing content level comments made by different users and comparing against the spans to determine positions of identifiers according to the result of the first and second content parameters.
Re Claim 14, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Parker and Coen for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 7. In addition, Tian discloses Wherein if the file type is a web page type, determining the indication identifier according to the first position parameter and the second position parameter based on a scroll bar parameter comparison mode of a client interface corresponding to the web page type (See Tian, para. 0024) the content stored by content management system can include any type of content items, such as documents, spreadsheets, collaborative content items, text files, audio files, image files, video files, webpages, executable files, placeholder files that reference other content items. (See Tian, para. 0073-0078) a means of comparing content level comments made by different users and comparing against the spans to determine positions of identifiers according to the result of the first and second content parameters.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HO T SHIU whose telephone number is (571)270-3810. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri (9:00am - 5:00pm).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Taylor can be reached at 571-272-3089. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HO T SHIU/Examiner, Art Unit 2443
HO T. SHIU
Examiner
Art Unit 2443
/NICHOLAS R TAYLOR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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