DETAILED ACTION
1. This action in response to Application No. 18/791,366 originally filed on 07/31/2024. The Request for Continued Examination and amendment presented on 03/31/2026 in which provides claims 1, 7 and 9 - 10 are currently amended, claim 13 is currently canceled is hereby acknowledged. Claims 1 - 12 are pending.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
3. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 March 31, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
5. 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.
6. Claims 1 - 4 and 7 - 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kang “US 2020/0142566”.
Re-claim 1, Kang teaches a method for controlling multi-screen display, (fig. 9; 200) wherein the method is applied to a main display device, (fig. 9; 100) and wherein the method comprises:
displaying on the main display device: (fig. 9; 100 window layout)
a displayer setting interface, (par. [0101] mobile terminal 100 is displayed through the connected external display device 200 in the layout corresponding to the window layout policy configured through the external display device 200) wherein the displayer setting interface displays layouts of a plurality of secondary display devices (par. [0132] Referring to FIG. 9, a screen display in the state that plural applications are executed in the desktop window environment of the external display device 200 is illustrated) connected to the main display device, (par. [0101] mobile terminal 100 is displayed through the connected external display device 200 in the layout corresponding to the window layout policy configured through the external display device 200) wherein the main display device (fig. 9; 100) is an independent device separate from the plurality of secondary display devices, (fig. 9; 200) and
a screen-mode setting page for each of the plurality of secondary display devices, (fig. 9; 200) wherein the screen-mode setting page comprises an extended mode (figs. 9 & 10; third drawing) or a duplicated mode (claim written alternatively) to be selected; (par. [0136] If an application execution command input by the selection of the icon on the desktop region of the external display device 200 is detected, the mobile terminal 100 executes an application having the desktop environment-friendly layout and processes the screen display. If the application desktop window screen is received from the mobile terminal 100, the external device 200 displays the application desktop window screen having the desktop environment-friendly layout. If the application is executed in the region of the mobile terminal, the mobile environment-friendly application screen is displayed as shown in FIG. 12.)
when the extended mode is selected for at least one of the plurality of secondary display devices, (fig. 9; 200) displaying a first application management interface, (par. [0135] FIG. 12 shows the case in which the application executed in the region of the mobile terminal 100 in the state of FIG. 8.) on the main display device, (fig. 9; 100) wherein the first application management interface, comprises a window display area and a device display area, (e,g. see figs. 9 - 10) wherein the window display area is configured to display an application window having already been executed in the main display device, (par. [0135] FIG. 12 shows the case in which the application executed in the region of the mobile terminal 100 in the state of FIG. 8.) and wherein the device display area is configured to display respective display controls of the main display device (fig. 9; 100) and the plurality of secondary display devices (fig. 9; 200); (pars. [0146] - [0147])
receiving a drag instruction applied to the window display area, wherein the drag instruction is configured to drag a target application window in the window display area to an area where a display control of one of the layouts of a device body is located in the device display area, wherein the device body is the main display device (fig. 9; 100) or the plurality of secondary display devices, (fig. 9; 200) and wherein the target application window is an application window operated by the drag instruction; (par. [0212]) and
displaying the target application window in the device body in response to the drag instruction. (par. [0213])
Re-claim 2, Kang teaches wherein the display control comprises a first control corresponding to the main display device (fig. 9; 100) and a second control corresponding to the plurality of secondary display devices, (fig. 9; 200) and the displaying the target application window in the device body in response to the drag instruction (par. [0212]) comprises:
in response to the target application window being dragged to an area where the first control is located, displaying the target application window in the main display device; (par. [0213]) and
in response to the target application window being dragged to an area where the second control is located, displaying the target application window in the plurality of secondary display devices. (par. [0214])
Re-claim 3, Kang teaches when receiving a trigger instruction for the application window within the window display area, displaying a close button on the application window; (par. [0123]) and
after receiving a touch operation for the close button, closing the application window in a corresponding device body. (par. [0127])
Re-claim 4, Kang teaches wherein the main display device displays a program identifier (par. [0084] The controller 170 determines the user gesture as one of touch, double touch, tap, double tap, long tap, tap & touch, drag, flick, press, pinch-in, and pinch-out, and/or the like based on the touch coordinates, whether the touch is applied or released, whether the touch moves, touch displacement, touch movement speed, and/or the like) of an application installed in the main display device, (figs. 9 & 10; 100 and par. [0078] the display unit 130 displays the execution screens of various functions (or applications) running on the mobile terminal 100) and the method comprises:
receiving a program drag instruction issued for any target program identifier, wherein the program drag instruction is configured to drag the target program identifier into a display control of any device body in the device display area, (par. [0086]) and
in response to the program drag instruction, starting a target application program corresponding to the target program identifier in the main display device, and displaying the application window of the target application program in the device body represented by the program drag instruction. (par. [0127])
Re-claim 7, Kang teaches wherein the main display device (fig. 9; 100) is a touch display device, the plurality of secondary display devices (fig. 9; 200) are non-touch display devices, and the main display device comprises a touch operation interface configured to control the plurality of non-touch secondary display devices, (par. [0127]) the method further comprises:
receiving a touch instruction issued on the touch operation interface, and adjusting the target application window displayed on the plurality of secondary display devices in response to the touch instruction. (par. [0192])
Re-claim 8, Kang teaches wherein the main display device displays a control system identifier corresponding to a control system for multi-screen display, wherein the control system for multi-screen display is configured to implement a method for controlling multi- screen display, and wherein the displaying the first application management interface (see claim 1 rejection above) comprises:
providing the displayer setting interface after receiving a trigger operation on the control system identifier. (par. [0077])
Re-claim 9, is rejected as applied to claim 1 above because the scope and contents of the recited limitations are substantially the same.
Re-claim 10, the rejected of claim 1 is incorporated herein and only further limitations are addressed below.
Kang teaches a main display device, comprising a processor and a memory for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, performs a method for controlling multi-screen display, (pars. [0246] - [0247]) wherein the method comprises: See rejection claim 1.
Re-claim 11, Kang teaches wherein when the duplicated mode is selected for all of the plurality of secondary display devices, displaying a second application management interface, wherein the second application management interface comprises a second device display area, wherein each display screen corresponding to each of the plurality of secondary display devices displayed on the second device display area is consistent with that corresponding to the main display device displayed on the second device display area. (pars. [0136] and [0140])
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
9. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang “US 2020/0142566”.
Re-claim 5, Kang teaches wherein after receiving the drag instruction applied to the window display area, (par. [0212]) the method further comprises:
Kang does not explicitly teach when the target application window is in a top display state in the device body, setting the display control of the device body to a frozen state.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to display the display body, if the application window is already displayed in the selected device, i.e. in a top display stat, it is a well-known in the art to display the control of the secondary display in a frozen state so that it cannot be selected.
10. Claims 6 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang “US 2020/0142566” in view of Singh “US 2021/0342042”.
Re-claim 6, Kang teaches wherein the displaying the target application window in the device body in response to the drag instruction (par. [0212]) comprises:
Kang does not explicitly teach when the target application window is in a non-top display state in the device body before receiving the drag instruction, displaying the target application window at the top in the device body in response to the drag instruction.
However, Singh teaches wherein the displaying the target application window in the device body in response to the drag instruction comprises: when the target application window is in a non-top display state in the device body before receiving the drag instruction, displaying the target application window at the top in the device body in response to the drag instruction. (fig. 11; 292a and 292b and pars. [0111] - [0113])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further modify the invention of combination with the teaching of Singh allowing users access to numerous types of app and data resources. (par. 0076])
Re-claim 12, Kang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 but does not explicitly teach wherein a virtual touchpad is provided in the device display area of the main display device to adjust a layout of a corresponding application window displayed on one of the plurality of secondary display devices.
However, Singh teaches wherein a virtual touchpad is provided in the device display area of the main display device to adjust a layout of a corresponding application window displayed on one of the plurality of secondary display devices. (figs. 6 - 7 and pars. [0093], [0099] – [0100])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further modify the invention of combination with the teaching of Singh allowing users access to numerous types of app and data resources. (par. 0076])
Contact Information
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sosina Abebe whose telephone number is (571) 270-7929. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Friday from 9:00-5:30 If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's Supervisor, Temesghen Ghebretinsae can be reached on (571) 272-3017. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 703-872-9306. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/S.A/Examiner, Art Unit 2626
/TEMESGHEN GHEBRETINSAE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2626 4/7/2026B
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