DETAILED ACTION
Priority
This action is in response to the U.S. filing dated 02 August 2024 which claims a foreign priority date of 27 October 2023. Claims 1-20 are pending and have been considered below.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 26 September 2025 has been received, entered into the record, and considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 9 and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities: claims 9 and 19 recite “and/or” terminology. Examiner does however note that, “A and/or B” does have a meaning and that meaning is A alone, B alone, or A and B together. The “preferred verbiage” should be more simply “at least one of A and B.” Further, giving the claim limitation the broadest reasonable interpretation, the examiner will use the broader “or” recitation. 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 6 and 16 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claims 6 and 16 recite “the second condition comprises a book finished state and the absence of a historical reading progress.” It is unclear how a book could be both finished and have no history of reading progress; therefore, it is indefinite. Examiner suggests “the second condition comprises a book finished state or the absence of a historical reading progress”, similar to the phrasing of the claimed first condition of claim 5.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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, 3-8, 11, 13-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ierullo (US 2013/0151954 A1) in view of Iida et al. (US 2015/0121177 A1).
As for independent claim 1, Ierullo teaches a method comprising:
displaying, on a character details page corresponding to a target character, a first character card corresponding to the target character and first book content when the target character is at a first book stage, wherein the first character card is generated based on the first book content [(e.g. see Ierullo paragraphs 0019, 0021 and Fig. 1) ”To view a character summary for the character identified by the character name "Jonathan" 112, a user selects the highlighted character name "Jonathan" 112 appearing in the text of the e-book … the e-book reader 100 can retrieve and/or generate the requested summary information and display the summary information via the character summary section 104. In the illustrated example, the e-book reader 100 displays character summary information only for chapters 1-3 after determining that a logged progress marker for the user indicates that the user has only read through chapter 3 of the e-book 106. In this manner, the e-book reader 100 does not display details about a character of the selected character name that are revealed in subsequent portions of the e-book 106 that the user has not yet read. In the illustrated example, the character summary section 104 shows a brief summary of information revealed about the character "Jonathan" in chapters 1 and 3 and indicates that the character "Jonathan" does not appear in chapter 2. However, since the requesting user has not read further than chapter 3, the e-book reader 100 does not show further information about the character "Jonathan" that will be revealed in chapters 4 and beyond”].
and the first character card is one of a plurality of character cards corresponding to the target character [(e.g. see Ierullo paragraph 0023 and Fig. 3 numerals 302a-302d) ”FIG. 3 illustrates the portions of the e-book 106 of FIG. 2 and corresponding character summaries 302a-d for the character name 112 of FIGS. 1 and 2 based on a user's progress through the e-book 106 (FIG. 1). In the illustrated example, a users progress points through the storyline 200 are demarcated using progress markers 304a-d”].
Ierullo does not specifically teach in response to a target interactive operation on the first book content, displaying a reading page of a target book in which the character is located, and displaying second book content of the target book on the reading page. However, in the same field of invention, Iida teaches:
in response to a target interactive operation on the first book content, displaying a reading page of a target book in which the character is located, and displaying second book content of the target book on the reading page [(e.g. see Iida paragraphs 0048, 0049, 0059, 0062) ”enables the user to perform operation to store a page (for example, a list of the characters in the novel … when the user wishes to read the stored page again while reading another page, the user performs a specific operation to read the stored page information 118 from the storage device 46, and can display the page on the screen … The user can directly jump to a page, by tapping the thumbnail of the page … thumbnails of the pages stored by the user and the characteristic pages such as illustration pages are displayed together above the slider. The thumbnails serve as a guide for page jump operations, and enable the user to easily jump to the desired page”].
Therefore, considering the teachings of Ierullo and Iida, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add in response to a target interactive operation on the first book content, displaying a reading page of a target book in which the character is located, and displaying second book content of the target book on the reading page, as taught by Iida, to the teachings of Ierullo because it enables the user to easily jump to a desired page (e.g. see Iida paragraph 0062).
As for dependent claim 3, Ierullo and Iida teach the method as described in claim 1 and Ierullo further teaches:
wherein the first book stage comprises at least one of a book stage corresponding to a first reading progress in historical reading progresses, a book stage corresponding to a first update node in book content update nodes, and a book stage corresponding to a first development node in plot development nodes of the target character [(e.g. see Ierullo paragraphs 0016, 0021 and Fig. 3 numerals 306a-306d) ”track a users progress through an e-book and record such progress using progress markers after each reading session. In this manner, when a user returns to a particular e-book and requests summary information, an e-book reader application can determine the portion(s) of the e-book for which to display the requested summary information without showing details that would spoil or reveal information about other portions of the e-book not yet read by the user … character summary information only for chapters 1-3 after determining that a logged progress marker for the user indicates that the user has only read through chapter 3 of the e-book 106”].
As for dependent claim 4, Ierullo and Iida teach the method as described in claim 1 and Ierullo further teaches:
wherein a second character card corresponding to the target character is further displayed on the character details page; the second character card is generated based on third book content when the target character is at a second book stage and the method further comprises: displaying the third book content on the character details page in response to a trigger operation on the second character card [(e.g. see Ierullo paragraphs 0016, 0019, 0021 and Fig. 1) ”track a users progress through an e-book and record such progress using progress markers after each reading session. In this manner, when a user returns to a particular e-book and requests summary information, an e-book reader application can determine the portion(s) of the e-book for which to display the requested summary information without showing details that would spoil or reveal information about other portions of the e-book not yet read by the user … In response to sensing the highlighting and selection of the character name 112, the e-book reader 100 of the illustrated example displays a summary options menu 114 including … a detailed summary user-selectable option 118 … the detailed summary user-selectable option 118 enables a user to select and be provided with a longer or more detailed summary of the selected character … When the e-book reader 100 receives a user-selection for … a detailed summary … the e-book reader 100 can retrieve and/or generate the requested summary information and display the summary information via the character summary section 104”].
As for dependent claim 5, Ierullo and Iida teach the method as described in claim 1 and Ierullo further teaches:
wherein the displaying, on a character details page corresponding to a target character, a first character card corresponding to the target character and first book content when the target character is at a first book stage comprises: displaying, on the character details page, the first character card corresponding to the target character and the first book content in response to the target book satisfying a first condition, wherein the first condition comprises a book unfished state or the presence of a historical reading progress [(e.g. see Ierullo paragraphs 0016, 0023 and Fig. 3 numerals 306a, 302a) ”track a users progress through an e-book and record such progress using progress markers after each reading session. In this manner, when a user returns to a particular e-book and requests summary information, an e-book reader application can determine the portion(s) of the e-book for which to display the requested summary information without showing details that would spoil or reveal information about other portions of the e-book not yet read by the user … FIG. 3 illustrates the portions of the e-book 106 of FIG. 2 and corresponding character summaries 302a-d for the character name 112 of FIGS. 1 and 2 based on a user's progress through the e-book 106 (FIG. 1). In the illustrated example, a users progress points through the storyline 200 are demarcated using progress markers 304a-d. For example, when a user has completed reading through chapter 1 during a first reading session 306a of the book 106 (FIG. 1), the e-book reader 100 of FIG. 1 generates and stores a first progress marker 304a. In this manner, when the user picks up the e-book 106 again at some later time and/or date and requests summary information or any other information related to the e-book 106, the e-book 106 can refer to the first progress marker 304a to determine the user's progress through the e-book 106 and to determine the amount of time that has lapsed since the users most recent previous reading session of the e-book 106. The e-book reader 100 can then generate the character summary 302a corresponding to the users progress through the e-book 106 as demarcated by the progress marker 304a”]. Due to the conditional nature of this claim limitation present within a method claim, this limitation carries no patentable weight while giving the claim its broadest reasonable interpretation, as the claimed invention can be practiced without the first condition occurring. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. See MPEP 2111.04(II) – Contingent Limitations.
As for dependent claim 6, Ierullo and Iida teach the method as described in claim 1 and Ierullo further teaches:
wherein the method further comprises: displaying, on the character details page, a third character card corresponding to the target character and fourth book content of the target book in response to the target book satisfying a second condition, wherein the second condition comprises a book finished state and the absence of a historical reading progress; and the third character card is generated based on content in the target book that describes the target character [(e.g. see Ierullo paragraphs 0023, 0025 and Fig. 3 numerals 306d, 302d) ”FIG. 3 illustrates the portions of the e-book 106 of FIG. 2 and corresponding character summaries 302a-d for the character name 112 of FIGS. 1 and 2 based on a user's progress through the e-book 106 (FIG. 1). In the illustrated example, a users progress points through the storyline 200 are demarcated using progress markers 304a-d … For the progress marker 304d, the e-book reader 100 generates the character summary 302d, which is a character summary for the entire e-book 106 for the character name "X." As shown in the character summary 302d, the character name "X" appears in chapters 1, 3, 7, and 9 and, thus, the e-book reader 100 provides summary information related to the character name "X" for chapters 1, 3, 7, and 9 in the character summary 302d”]. Due to the conditional nature of this claim limitation present within a method claim, this limitation carries no patentable weight while giving the claim its broadest reasonable interpretation, as the claimed invention can be practiced without the first condition occurring. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. See MPEP 2111.04(II) – Contingent Limitations.
As for dependent claim 7, Ierullo and Iida teach the method as described in claim 6 and Ierullo further teaches:
wherein after the displaying, on the character details page, a third character card corresponding to the target character and fourth book content of the target book in response to the target book satisfying a second condition, the method further comprises: determining a current browsing location in response to a browsing operation on the fourth book content and displaying the reading page and displaying fifth book content on the reading page in response to the current browsing location reaching a target paragraph [(e.g. see Ierullo paragraphs 0016, 0021, 0024 and Fig. 3 numerals 306b, 302b) ”track a users progress through an e-book and record such progress using progress markers after each reading session. In this manner, when a user returns to a particular e-book and requests summary information, an e-book reader application can determine the portion(s) of the e-book for which to display the requested summary information without showing details that would spoil or reveal information about other portions of the e-book not yet read by the user … character summary information only for chapters 1-3 after determining that a logged progress marker for the user indicates that the user has only read through chapter 3 of the e-book 106 … If the user completes reading through chapter 3 during a next reading session 306b, the e-book reader 100 generates and stores the progress marker 304b. In this manner, the e-book reader 100 can generate the character summary 302b when the user subsequently picks up the e-book 106 again. In the illustrated example, the character name "X" appears in chapters 1 and 3 but not in chapter 2 and, thus, the character summary 302b shows character summary information for chapters 1 and 3 but not for chapter 2”].
As for dependent claim 8, Ierullo and Iida teach the method as described in claim 7 and Ierullo further teaches:
wherein the displaying fifth book content on the reading page comprises: in response to the fourth book content being content of a present number of chapters of the target book that are sorted first, displaying, on the reading page, book content of the target book that follows the target paragraph [(e.g. see Ierullo paragraphs 0018, 0021 and Fig. 1) ”displayed with a page of an e-book 106 (e.g., an e-book titled "Modern Day Empire" in the illustrated example) … In the illustrated example, the character summary section 104 shows a brief summary of information revealed about the character "Jonathan" in chapters 1 and 3 and indicates that the character "Jonathan" does not appear in chapter 2. However, since the requesting user has not read further than chapter 3, the e-book reader 100 does not show further information about the character "Jonathan" that will be revealed in chapters 4 and beyond”]. Examiner notes that, as depicted in Fig. 1, the book page for chapter 4 is displayed which follows the paragraph of chapter 3.
As for independent claim 11, Ierullo and Iida teach a device. Claim 11 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 1. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 1.
As for dependent claim 13, Ierullo and Iida teach the device as described in claim 11; further, claim 13 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 3. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 3.
As for dependent claim 14, Ierullo and Iida teach the device as described in claim 11; further, claim 14 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 4. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 4.
As for dependent claim 15, Ierullo and Iida teach the device as described in claim 11; further, claim 15 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 5. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 5.
As for dependent claim 16, Ierullo and Iida teach the device as described in claim 11; further, claim 16 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 6. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 6.
As for dependent claim 17, Ierullo and Iida teach the device as described in claim 16; further, claim 17 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 7. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 7.
As for dependent claim 18, Ierullo and Iida teach the device as described in claim 17; further, claim 18 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 8. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 8.
As for independent claim 20, Ierullo and Iida teach a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Claim 20 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 1. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 1.
Claims 2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ierullo (US 2013/0151954 A1) in view of Iida et al. (US 2015/0121177 A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Price et al. (US 9,106,812 B1).
As for dependent claim 2, Ierullo and Iida teach the method as described in claim 1, but do not specifically teach wherein the first character card comprises a first character image of the target character, the first character image is generated based on the first book content and a target image style, and the target image style is determined based on interactive data of character images selected in a historical period of time. However, in the same field of invention, Price teaches:
wherein the first character card comprises a first character image of the target character, the first character image is generated based on the first book content and a target image style, and the target image style is determined based on interactive data of character images selected in a historical period of time [(e.g. see Price col 3 lines 24-31, col 5 lines 42-53, col 9 lines 40-42) ”One frame of the storyboard 112 may include character images 116(1) and 116(2), collectively 116, for each of the characters mentioned in the corresponding scene from the screenplay 100. Here, the character image 116(1) may represent the character Jill and the character image 116(2) may represent the character Jack. Analysis of character names and any character descriptions provided in the screenplay 100 may be used to select the character images 116 … The character image library 218 may include multiple character images such as the character images 116 shown in FIG. 1. Character images in the character image library 218 may be categorized by gender, hair color, skin color, eye color, body type, nationality, clothing, occupation, historical era, or any other aspect of physical appearance. Thus, if the automated storyboard producer 114 interprets a screenplay 100 to call for a female secretary from 1980's America, the character image library 218 may provide one or more character images that are categorized as having some or all of those features … past behavior of users 202 interacting with the shared computing resources 208 may be analyzed to identify the most frequently selected”].
Therefore, considering the teachings of Ierullo, Iida and Price, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add wherein the first character card comprises a first character image of the target character, the first character image is generated based on the first book content and a target image style, and the target image style is determined based on interactive data of character images selected in a historical period of time, as taught by Price, to the teachings of Ierullo and Iida because it becomes easier for a user to visualize story characters within written text (e.g. see Price col 1 lines 7-14).
As for dependent claim 12, Ierullo and Iida teach the device as described in claim 11; further, claim 12 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 2. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 2.
Claims 9, 10 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ierullo (US 2013/0151954 A1) in view of Iida et al. (US 2015/0121177 A1), as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Goodspeed et al. (US 8,887,044 B1).
As for dependent claim 9, Ierullo and Iida teach the method as described in claim 7, but do not specifically teach wherein the displaying fifth book content on the reading page comprises: in response to the fourth book content being preset content corresponding to the target book, displaying book content of a first chapter of the target book on the reading page, wherein the preset content comprises popular chapter content of the target book and/or popular plot excerpts of the target book. However, in the same field of invention, Goodspeed teaches:
wherein the displaying fifth book content on the reading page comprises: in response to the fourth book content being preset content corresponding to the target book, displaying book content of a first chapter of the target book on the reading page, wherein the preset content comprises popular chapter content of the target book and/or popular plot excerpts of the target book [(e.g. see Goodspeed col 16 line 61 – col 17 line 6) ”the selection information 1136 may include information indicating which portions of content have been selected by a user to be visually distinguished, and the graphics schemes selected, for each content item 106 accessed by the user 1114. In some examples, the selection information 1136 of a plurality of different users associated with different user accounts may be collected and aggregated to determine which portions of content are popularly or most frequently visually distinguished or hidden. This information may then be used for various purposes, such as for suggesting to subsequent users portions of the content item to visually distinguish, identifying portions of the content item that are of particular interest to multiple users, and so forth”].
Therefore, considering the teachings of Ierullo, Iida and Goodspeed, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add wherein the displaying fifth book content on the reading page comprises: in response to the fourth book content being preset content corresponding to the target book, displaying book content of a first chapter of the target book on the reading page, wherein the preset content comprises popular chapter content of the target book and/or popular plot excerpts of the target book, as taught by Goodspeed, to the teachings of Ierullo and Iida because it enhances the user’s experience while consuming the content items (e.g. see Goodspeed col 1 lines 13-15).
As for dependent claim 10, Ierullo and Iida teach the method as described in claim 1, but do not specifically teach the following limitation. However, Goodspeed teaches:
wherein the target character is determined from a plurality of candidate characters contained in the target book based on a character popularity value and a target character type; and the target book is determined from a plurality of candidate books based on a book popularity value and a target book type; or the target character is determined from a plurality of candidate characters based on a character popularity value and a target character type [(e.g. see Goodspeed col 9 lines 11-14, col 20 lines 45-50, col 27 lines 24-26) ”when a user first opens a newly acquired content item, the user may be presented with a message that other users popularly visually distinguish one or more … characters … in this content item. The message may also include a selectable button or control to enable the user to easily turn on the popular visually distinguishing categories … The list 502 may further include other character attributes 612, which may include a plurality of subcategories such as adult characters 614, child characters 616, French characters 618, English characters 620, main characters 622 … attributes that apply to Jarvis Lorry may include that he is male, English, adult, and that he is a main character”].
The motivation to combine is the same as that used for claim 9.
As for dependent claim 19, Ierullo and Iida teach the device as described in claim 17; further, claim 19 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 9. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 9.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. PGPub 2023/0196000 A1 issued to Choi et al. on 22 June 2023. The subject matter disclosed therein is pertinent to that of claims 1-20 (e.g. generating illustrations of book characters based on text on the pages).
U.S. PGPub 2013/0080881 A1 issued to Goodspeed et al. on 28 March 2013. The subject matter disclosed therein is pertinent to that of claims 1-20 (e.g. organizing character information from books).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER J FIBBI whose telephone number is (571)-270-3358. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday (8am-6pm).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Bashore can be reached at (571)-272-4088. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHRISTOPHER J FIBBI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2174
Prosecution Insights