Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/795,043

DIRECT ACCESS TO WAKE STATE DEVICE FUNCTIONALITY FROM A LOW POWER STATE

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Aug 05, 2024
Priority
Jun 16, 2020 — provisional 63/039,916 +1 more
Examiner
MATTHEWS, ANDRE L
Art Unit
2621
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
4 (Final)
62%
Grant Probability
Moderate
5-6
OA Rounds
1y 3m
Est. Remaining
77%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 62% of resolved cases
62%
Career Allowance Rate
329 granted / 529 resolved
At TC average
Moderate +14% lift
Without
With
+14.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 5m
Avg Prosecution
13 currently pending
Career history
554
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.9%
-38.1% vs TC avg
§103
70.9%
+30.9% vs TC avg
§102
12.1%
-27.9% vs TC avg
§112
13.4%
-26.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 529 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION 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 The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-26 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference 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 1-5, 12-15, and 19-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeon (US 2021/0141481) in view of Soundararajan (US 2015/0334219) and Gunn (US 2017/0206901). Regarding claims 1, 19, and 24 which recite similar language, Jeon teaches A method, comprising: displaying, with a display of an electronic device during operation of the display in a lock power mode (lock state Figs. 6-7), image frames from a series of image frames generated prior to operation of the display in the lock power mode (Figs. 6B-6D shows images of what can be displayed prior to entering a lock mode, which include element 151 and icons at bottom of screen [0186]); receiving, with the electronic device while displaying one of the image frames during the operation of the display in the lock power mode(Figs. 6-7 shows images of what can be displayed prior to entering a lock mode, which include element 151 and icons at bottom of screen), a user input corresponding to a specific function of the electronic device ([0186-0187][0196]); activating, responsive to receiving the user input and without further user input, the specific function of the electronic device; and replacing the image frames on the display with a user interface associated with the specific function when the specific function is activated ([0197-0203][0273][0276-0277] Figs. 6-7). Although Jeon teaches the system operates in a lock state, and it is well known that a lock state can be a low power state, Jeon does not explicitly teach the lock state is a low power mode. However in the same field of recognizing user input for application activation, Soundararajan teaches a lock state is a low power state ([0120]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the device as taught by Jeon with the method as taught by Soundararajan. This combination would allow users faster access during emergency situations as taught by Jeon. Although the combination teaches the limitations as discussed above, they do not explicitly teach generating a series of image frames prior to operation of a display of an electronic device in a low power mode; storing the series of images frames in memory of the electronic device prior to the operation of the display in the low power mode, and displaying in the low power mode, an image frames from the series of image frames stored in memory prior to the operation of the display in low power mode. However in the field of operating a device in low power mode, Gunn teaches a method where a low power mode is executed, where he generates a series of image frames prior to operation of a display of an electronic device in a low power mode ([0010][0038-0039] teaches visual indications are viewed by a user during wake state of the device); storing the series of images frames in memory of the electronic device prior to the operation of the display in the low power mode ([0040] teaches the last graphic image displayed prior to sleep mode as represented by display data is latched int the frames buffer), and displaying in the low power mode, an image frames from the series of image frames stored in memory prior to the operation of the display in low power mode ([0039] teaches that in low power mode the user can view visual indicators such as a time of day. ) . Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the device as taught by Jeon with the method as taught by Soundararajan and the method of displaying images using stored image data as taught by Gunn. This combination would allow users faster access during emergency situations as taught by Jeon. Regarding claims 2 and 20, Jeon teaches wherein the image frames includes an indication of a current time and a complication, wherein the specific function comprises an application associated with the complication, and wherein the user input comprises a touch input at a location of the complication in the image frames(Figs. 6-7 shows images of what can be displayed prior to entering a lock mode, which include element 151 and icons at bottom of screen). Regarding claim 3, Jeon teaches wherein activating the specific function of the electronic device comprises providing an instruction to a processor of the electronic device, while displaying the image frames, to activate the application ([0187] controller 187 executes an application corresponding to notification image 616). Regarding claim 4, Jeon teaches wherein providing the instruction to the processor of the electronic device, while displaying the image frames, to activate the application, comprises continuing to display the image frames without modification of a brightness of the display during the activation of the application (Figs. 7A-7B continues to show image frames of 151 while activating application of fingerprint recognition 618). Regarding claim 5, Jeon teaches wherein replacing the image frames with the user interface comprises displaying a user interface of the application with the processor of the electronic device ([0180]). Regarding claims 12 and 21, Jeon teaches wherein the user input comprises a swipe on the display, and wherein the specific function comprises an application associated with the swipe ([0065-0067]). Regarding claim 13, Jeon teaches wherein activating the specific function of the electronic device comprises providing an instruction to a processor of the electronic device, while displaying the image frames, to activate the application (Figs. 7A-7B continue showing image frames of 151 while activating fingerprint recognition 618). Regarding claims 14 and 22, Jeon teaches wherein replacing the one of the image frames on the display with the user interface associated with the specific function when the specific function is activated comprises, while displaying a portion of the one of the image frames without modifying a brightness of the portion of the one of the image frames, progressively displaying an increasing portion of the user interface, increasing in a direction of the swipe ([0065-0067] teach the system can recognize different types of touch input including a swipe touch. Fig. 6-7 show how a touch on an area of the lock screen can allow an application to launch, Fig. 7A shows how an application progressively replaces a screen. Therefore it is understood that any touch input including a swipe would allow the application to replace the lock screen). Regarding claim 15, Jeon teaches wherein displaying the image frames during operation of the display in the lock power mode comprises displaying the image frames during a lock power mode of a processor of the electronic device in which the processor runs a media player application ([0031]) and Soundararajan teaches a lock state is a low power state ([0120]). Regarding claim 23, Jeon teaches wherein the image frames comprises an image of a clock displaying a time corresponding to a current time, wherein the image frames was generated and stored prior to the current time (Figs. 6-7 show how the clock is shown during a lock screen of the device). Claims 6-11 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeon (US 2021/0141481) in view of Soundararajan (US 2015/0334219) Gunn (US 2017/0206901) and Kwak (US 2021/0303127). Regarding claim 6, Jeon in view of Soundararajan teach the limitations as discussed above but fail to teach displaying the image frames comprises displaying the image frames with display circuitry of the electronic device that is separate from the processor of the electronic device. However in the field of operating a device in a power saving mode Kwak teaches displaying the image frames comprises displaying the image frames with display circuitry of the electronic device that is separate from the processor of the electronic device ([0059-0062] teaches DDI display driver can be used to drive the display device while being in communication with the processor 450 and touch controller 430.). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the device as taught by Jeon with the method as taught by Soundararajan, the method of displaying images using stored image data as taught by Gunn and the method of displaying an image as taught by Kwak. This combination would allow users faster access during emergency situations as taught by Jeon. Regarding claim 7, Kwak teaches wherein a processor and the display circuitry are configured to share access to the memory (Fig. 3-4 [0058-0059]). Regarding claim 8, Kwak teaches accessing the series of image frames with the display circuitry while operating the display in the low power mode, using a memory map for the display circuitry that has been arranged by the processor ([0070]). Regarding claim 9, Kwak teaches prior to displaying the image frames with the display circuitry, detecting, with the display circuitry, a low power state of the processor ([0060-0061] teaches the processor may operate in an inactive state and not be involved with the DDI and the touch controller will communicate a user input to the DDI.). Regarding claim 10, Kwak teaches managing, with the display circuitry during the low power state of the processor (inactive), power consumption by the display ([0059-0060] frames rate). Regarding claim 11, Kwak teaches wherein managing the power consumption by the display comprises controlling a frames rate of the display during display of the image frames based on a power budget for the display during the operation in the low power mode for the display ([0059-0060] frames rate changes bases on active or inactive state). Regarding claim 16, Jeon in view of Soundararajan and Gunn teach the limitations as discussed above and Jeon further teaches the processor being configured to rung applications for the electronic device([0042-0043]) but fail to teach wherein displaying the image frames during operation of the display in the low power mode comprises displaying the image frames while a processor of the electronic device is inactive. However in the field of operating a device in a power saving mode Kwak teaches wherein displaying the image frames during operation of the display in the low power mode comprises displaying the image frames while a processor of the electronic device is inactive([0060-0061] teaches the processor may operate in an inactive state and not be involved with the DDI). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the device as taught by Jeon with the method as taught by Soundararajan, the method of displaying images using stored image data as taught by Gunn and the method of displaying an image as taught by Kwak. This combination would allow users faster access during emergency situations as taught by Jeon. Regarding claim 17, Jeon teaches wherein the user input comprises a press of a button of the electronic device([0058] teaches the user input can be different inputs including a button located on the housing of the device.), and wherein activating the specific function comprises providing, without further user input to the electronic device, an instruction to the processor of the electronic device to execute a function corresponding to the button ([0197-0203][0273][0276-0277] Figs. 6-7) and Kwak teaches instructing a processor to wake and execute a function based on user input (0072]) . Claim 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeon (US 2021/0141481) in view of Soundararajan (US 2015/0334219) Gunn (US 2017/0206901) and Shedletsky (US 2017/00010751). Regarding claim 18, Jeon in view Soundararajan and Gunn teach the limitations discussed above but fail to teach wherein the electronic device comprises a smartwatch, wherein the user input comprises a rotation of a crown of the smartwatch, and wherein activating the specific function comprises providing, without further user input to the electronic device, an instruction to the processor of the electronic device to wake up and execute a function corresponding to the rotation of the crown. However in the field of interacting with electronic device, Shedletsky teach wherein the electronic device comprises a smartwatch, wherein the user input comprises a rotation of a crown of the smartwatch, and wherein activating the specific function comprises providing, without further user input to the electronic device, an instruction to the processor of the electronic device to wake up and execute a function corresponding to the rotation of the crown (Fig. 11 shows the method where the system will determine if the watch crown rotation has exceeded a threshold amount and if so the device will execute the function of activating display and device functions accordingly without further input from the user). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the device as taught by Jeon with the method as taught by Soundararajan, the method of displaying images using stored image data as taught by Gunn, and the device as taught by Kwak. This combination would allow users faster access during emergency situations as taught by Jeon. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 25 and 26 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. These claims are objected to base on the function of the co-processor and processor used to access image frames store in read-only access memory. Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDRE L MATTHEWS whose telephone number is (571)270-5806. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-6:00. 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, Amr Awad can be reached at 571-272-7764. 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. /ANDRE L MATTHEWS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2621
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 4 earlier events
Dec 08, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 05, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 21, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
May 06, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
May 06, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
May 18, 2026
Response Filed
Jul 30, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
62%
Grant Probability
77%
With Interview (+14.5%)
3y 5m (~1y 3m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 529 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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