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 .
Status of Claims
Clams 1-20 pending.
Claims 1, 13 and 20 amended.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/26/2025 was considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
5. 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 non-obviousness.
6. Claims 1-4, 6-7 and 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kikuchi (US 2024/0244276), hereinafter referred to as Kikuchi, in view of Dal Bosco (US 2022/0109647), hereinafter referred to as Dal Bosco.
7. Regarding claim 1, Kikuchi discloses an effect display method, comprising: acquiring association relationship information from a server based on the association relationship list, wherein the association relationship information indicates a user identifier of an associated user registered with the application that having has an association relationship with the current user on the application, wherein the association relationship indicates that the associated user is a user following the current user on the application, a user followed by the current user on the application, or a fan user of the current user on the application (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and generating a corresponding effect image based on the association relationship information (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
However, Kikuchi is silent in regards to disclosing in response to triggering of an effect by a current user registered with an application, acquiring a custom asset file corresponding to the effect, wherein the effect is configured to display at least one frame of effect image; and loading the custom asset file from a project file corresponding to the effect through a resource reference interface of the effect to obtain an association relationship list corresponding to the effect.
Dal Bosco discloses in response to triggering of an effect by a current user registered with an application, acquiring a custom asset file corresponding to the effect, wherein the effect is configured to display at least one frame of effect image (fig. 5, paragraphs 25-26 wherein a messaging system that allows the user to customize the avatar, and wherein a messaging system which allows to transmit graphic and/or audio elements which are not necessarily present in the receiver's terminal);
and loading the custom asset file from a project file corresponding to the effect through a resource reference interface of the effect to obtain an association relationship list corresponding to the effect (fig. 13, paragraph 266 wherein these downloadable and obtainable graphic elements from the platform may include images to be inserted inside the balloon (corresponding to the emoji type illustrations®) and/or the balloons themselves and/or images to be used as avatars).
Dal Bosco provides motivation to combine the references wherein the system is configured so that, within the message, the avatars are not identified by a unique code but by the combination of values to be associated with a series of their attributes and, moreover, a message is also inserted within the message. code (ACC) indicating the type of animation to be created between the sender's avatar and the receiver's avatar. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kikuchi with the customizable avatars of Dal Bosco.
8. Regarding claim 2, Kikuchi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein loading the custom asset file through the resource reference interface of the effect to obtain the association relationship list corresponding to the effect, comprises: loading the custom asset file from the project file corresponding to the effect through the resource reference interface of the effect, so as to obtain at least one association relationship resource object and an image model corresponding to each of the at least one association relationship resource object, wherein the association relationship resource object is configured to provide the association relationship information for the effect image corresponding to the image model (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and obtaining the association relationship list corresponding to the effect according to the association relationship resource object and the corresponding image model (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
9. Regarding claim 3, Kikuchi discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein obtaining the association relationship list corresponding to the effect according to the association relationship resource object and the corresponding image model, comprises: in response to the image model being a single-frame image, accessing a first attribute of the association relationship resource object to obtain first relationship data indicating the associated user, wherein the first relationship data comprises a first identifier and a corresponding second identifier, the first identifier represents an associated user name of the associated user, and the second identifier represents an associated user avatar of the associated user (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and generating the association relationship list corresponding to the target effect according to the first relationship data (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
10. Regarding claim 4., Kikuchi discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein accessing the first attribute of the association relationship resource object to obtain the first relationship data indicating the associated user, comprises: through accessing the first attribute of the association relationship resource object, acquiring at least one first identifier and at least one second identifier (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
storing the first identifier and the second identifier with the same identification information in a paired mode to obtain a pairing table containing at least one pairing record (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and generating the first relationship data according to the pairing table (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
11. Regarding claim 6, Kikuchi discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein obtaining the association relationship list corresponding to the effect according to the association relationship resource object and the corresponding image model, comprises: in response to the image model being a dynamic image, accessing a second attribute of the association relationship resource object to obtain second relationship data indicating the associated user (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer),
wherein the second relationship data comprises a preset number of third identifiers, each of the preset number of third identifiers corresponds to user information of the associated user, and the preset number is the number of image frames of the dynamic image (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and generating the association relationship list corresponding to the effect according to the second relationship data (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
12. Regarding claim 7, Kikuchi discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein obtaining the association relationship list corresponding to the effect according to the association relationship resource object and the corresponding image model, comprises: determining a number of the corresponding associated users according to the association relationship resource object and the corresponding image model (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and obtaining the association relationship list corresponding to the effect according to the number of the associated users (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer),.
13. Regarding claim 9, Kikuchi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein acquiring the corresponding association relationship information from the server based on the association relationship list, comprises: acquiring an association relationship type, and determining an association relationship list from at least two association relationship lists (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer),;
and based on the association relationship list, acquiring the corresponding association relationship information from the server (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer),.
14. Regarding claim 10, Kikuchi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein, after generating the corresponding effect image based on the association relationship information, the method further comprises: generating a video based on the effect image (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
after the video is released, acquiring at least one piece of association relationship information, wherein each of the at least one piece of association relationship information is the association relationship information corresponding to an effect image displayed in a display pose in the video (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and transmitting hit information to the server based on the association relationship information, wherein the hit information is configured to enable the server to transmit a notification message to an associated user corresponding to the association relationship information (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
15. Regarding claim 11, Dal Bosco discloses the method according to claim 10, further comprising: obtaining a notification toggle state by loading the custom asset file (fig. 5, paragraphs 25-26 wherein a messaging system that allows the user to customize the avatar, and wherein a messaging system which allows to transmit graphic and/or audio elements which are not necessarily present in the receiver's terminal);
and wherein transmitting the hit information to the server based on the association relationship information, comprises: transmitting the hit information to the server based on the association relationship information in response to the toggle state being a state (fig. 13, paragraph 266 wherein these downloadable and obtainable graphic elements from the platform may include images to be inserted inside the balloon (corresponding to the emoji type illustrations®) and/or the balloons themselves and/or images to be used as avatars).
16. Regarding claim 12, Kikuchi discloses the method according to claim 10, wherein the hit information comprises at least one of the following: an identification identifier of the current user, an identification identifier of the effect, and video release time (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
17. Regarding claim 13, Kikuchi discloses an electronic device, comprising: a processor and a memory; wherein the memory stores a computer execution instruction; and the processor executes the computer execution instruction stored in the memory to implement: acquiring association relationship information from a server based on the association relationship list, wherein the association relationship information indicates a user identifier of an associated user registered with the application that having has an association relationship with the current user on the application, wherein the association relationship indicates that the associated user is a user following the current user on the application, a user followed by the current user on the application, or a fan user of the current user on the application (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and generating a corresponding effect image based on the association relationship information (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
However, Kikuchi is silent in regards to disclosing in response to triggering of an effect by a current user registered with an application, acquiring a custom asset file corresponding to the effect, wherein the effect is configured to display at least one frame of effect image; and loading the custom asset file from a project file corresponding to the effect through a resource reference interface of the effect to obtain an association relationship list corresponding to the effect.
Dal Bosco discloses in response to triggering of an effect by a current user registered with an application, acquiring a custom asset file corresponding to the effect, wherein the effect is configured to display at least one frame of effect image (fig. 5, paragraphs 25-26 wherein a messaging system that allows the user to customize the avatar, and wherein a messaging system which allows to transmit graphic and/or audio elements which are not necessarily present in the receiver's terminal);
and loading the custom asset file from a project file corresponding to the effect through a resource reference interface of the effect to obtain an association relationship list corresponding to the effect (fig. 13, paragraph 266 wherein these downloadable and obtainable graphic elements from the platform may include images to be inserted inside the balloon (corresponding to the emoji type illustrations®) and/or the balloons themselves and/or images to be used as avatars).
Dal Bosco provides motivation to combine the references wherein the system is configured so that, within the message, the avatars are not identified by a unique code but by the combination of values to be associated with a series of their attributes and, moreover, a message is also inserted within the message. code (ACC) indicating the type of animation to be created between the sender's avatar and the receiver's avatar. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kikuchi with the customizable avatars of Dal Bosco.
18. Regarding claim 14, Kikuchi discloses the electronic device according to claim 13, the processor executes the computer execution instruction stored in the memory to further implement: loading the custom asset file from the project file corresponding to the effect through the resource reference interface of the effect, so as to obtain at least one association relationship resource object and an image model corresponding to each of the at least one association relationship resource object, wherein the association relationship resource object is configured to provide the association relationship information for the effect image corresponding to the image model (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and obtaining the association relationship list corresponding to the effect according to the association relationship resource object and the corresponding image model (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
19. Regarding claim 15, Kikuchi discloses the electronic device according to claim 14, the processor executes the computer execution instruction stored in the memory to further implement: in response to the image model being a single-frame image, accessing a first attribute of the association relationship resource object to obtain first relationship data indicating the associated user, wherein the first relationship data comprises a first identifier and a corresponding second identifier, the first identifier represents an associated user name of the associated user, and the second identifier represents an associated user avatar of the associated user (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and generating the association relationship list corresponding to the effect according to the first relationship data (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
20. Regarding claim 16, Kikuchi the electronic device according to claim 15, the processor executes the computer execution instruction stored in the memory to further implement: through accessing the first attribute of the association relationship resource object, acquiring at least one first identifier and at least one second identifier (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).;
storing the first identifier and the second identifier with the same identification information in a paired mode to obtain a pairing table containing at least one pairing record (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and generating the first relationship data according to the pairing table (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer)..
21. Regarding claim 17, Kikuchi discloses the electronic device according to claim 16, the processor executes the computer execution instruction stored in the memory to further implement: independently storing the first identifier or the second identifier respectively which does not have the same identification information to obtain a non-pairing table (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
wherein generating the first relationship data according to the pairing table, comprises: generating the first relationship data according to the pairing table and the non-pairing table (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
22. Regarding claim 18, Kikuchi discloses the electronic device according to claim 14, the processor executes the computer execution instruction stored in the memory to further implement: in response to the image model being a dynamic image, accessing a second attribute of the association relationship resource object to obtain second relationship data indicating the associated user, wherein the second relationship data comprises a preset number of third identifiers, each of the preset number of third identifiers corresponds to user information of the associated user, and the preset number is the number of image frames of the dynamic image (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and generating the association relationship list corresponding to the effect according to the second relationship data (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
23. Regarding claim 19, Kikuchi discloses the electronic device according to claim 17, the processor executes the computer execution instruction stored in the memory to further implement: determining a number of the corresponding associated users according to the association relationship resource object and the corresponding image model (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and obtaining the association relationship list corresponding to the effect according to the number of the associated users (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
24. Regarding claim 20, Kikuchi discloses a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer- readable storage medium stores a computer execution instruction that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement: acquiring association relationship information from a server based on the association relationship list, wherein the association relationship information indicates a user identifier of an associated user registered with the application that having has an association relationship with the current user on the application, wherein the association relationship indicates that the associated user is a user following the current user on the application, a user followed by the current user on the application, or a fan user of the current user on the application (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer);
and generating a corresponding effect image based on the association relationship information (fig. 3 and 9, paragraphs 50, 95 and 110 wherein interface displays live streamer P along with icons 802a-c identifying group 1, e.g. fans of the streamer).
However, Kikuchi is silent in regards to disclosing in response to triggering of an effect by a current user registered with an application, acquiring a custom asset file corresponding to the effect, wherein the effect is configured to display at least one frame of effect image; and loading the custom asset file from a project file corresponding to the effect through a resource reference interface of the effect to obtain an association relationship list corresponding to the effect.
Dal Bosco discloses in response to triggering of an effect by a current user registered with an application, acquiring a custom asset file corresponding to the effect, wherein the effect is configured to display at least one frame of effect image (fig. 5, paragraphs 25-26 wherein a messaging system that allows the user to customize the avatar, and wherein a messaging system which allows to transmit graphic and/or audio elements which are not necessarily present in the receiver's terminal);
and loading the custom asset file from a project file corresponding to the effect through a resource reference interface of the effect to obtain an association relationship list corresponding to the effect (fig. 13, paragraph 266 wherein these downloadable and obtainable graphic elements from the platform may include images to be inserted inside the balloon (corresponding to the emoji type illustrations®) and/or the balloons themselves and/or images to be used as avatars).
Dal Bosco provides motivation to combine the references wherein the system is configured so that, within the message, the avatars are not identified by a unique code but by the combination of values to be associated with a series of their attributes and, moreover, a message is also inserted within the message. code (ACC) indicating the type of animation to be created between the sender's avatar and the receiver's avatar. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kikuchi with the customizable avatars of Dal Bosco.
25. Claims 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kikuchi, in view of Dal Bosco, in further view of Zito (US 2016/0021412), hereinafter referred to as Zito.
26. Regarding claim 5, Kikuchi and Dal Bosco are silent in regards to disclosing the method according to claim 4, further comprising: independently storing the first identifier or the second identifier respectively which does not have the same identification information to obtain a non-pairing table; wherein generating the first relationship data according to the pairing table, comprises: generating the first relationship data according to the pairing table and the non-pairing table.
Zito discloses the method according to claim 4, further comprising: independently storing the first identifier or the second identifier respectively which does not have the same identification information to obtain a non-pairing table (fig. 9-10, paragraphs 86-87 wherein dimensions such as demographics can be further specified with the aid of viewer-identifiers that can tap a database on the storage subsystem storage, and wherein multi-media presentation system may also determine if there is hierarchy or relationship among viewers, such as but not limited to parent-child, supervisor-supervised, husband-wife, etc. through the database on individual viewers);
wherein generating the first relationship data according to the pairing table, comprises: generating the first relationship data according to the pairing table and the non-pairing table (fig. 9-10, paragraphs 86-87 wherein dimensions such as demographics can be further specified with the aid of viewer-identifiers that can tap a database on the storage subsystem storage, and wherein multi-media presentation system may also determine if there is hierarchy or relationship among viewers, such as but not limited to parent-child, supervisor-supervised, husband-wife, etc. through the database on individual viewers).
Zito (paragraph 2) provides motivation to combine the references wherein the present disclosure relates to dynamic creation of an art form combined from real-time environmental variables, saved selections and favorites coded to an identified viewer. All of the elements are known. Combining the references would yield the instant claims wherein system uses database information to compare and identify a given viewer of content. Therefore, the invention would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
27. Regarding claim 8, Zito discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein determining the number of the corresponding associated users according to the association relationship resource object and the corresponding image model, comprises: acquiring the number of first associated users, wherein the number of the first associated users is a larger value of a capacity of the pairing table corresponding to first relationship data and a preset number corresponding to second relationship data (fig. 9-10, paragraphs 86-87 wherein dimensions such as demographics can be further specified with the aid of viewer-identifiers that can tap a database on the storage subsystem storage, and wherein multi-media presentation system may also determine if there is hierarchy or relationship among viewers, such as but not limited to parent-child, supervisor-supervised, husband-wife, etc. through the database on individual viewers);
and determining the number of the associated users according to a sum of the number of the first associated users and the capacity of the non-pairing table corresponding to the first relationship data (fig. 9-10, paragraphs 86-87 wherein dimensions such as demographics can be further specified with the aid of viewer-identifiers that can tap a database on the storage subsystem storage, and wherein multi-media presentation system may also determine if there is hierarchy or relationship among viewers, such as but not limited to parent-child, supervisor-supervised, husband-wife, etc. through the database on individual viewers).
Conclusion
28. 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 CHARLES N HICKS whose telephone number is (571)270-3010. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10-7 EST.
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/CHARLES N HICKS/Examiner, Art Unit 2424
/BENJAMIN R BRUCKART/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2424
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