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
Due to communications filed 12/19/24, the following is a non-final first office action. Due to a pre-amendment filed 12/19/24, claims 11, 19 and 20 are amended. Claims 12-18 are cancelled. Claims 21-27 are new. Claims 1-11, and 19-27 are pending in this application and are rejected as follows.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC §101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title,
Claims 1-11, and 19-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C, 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (l.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
In addition, the claims 1, 19 and 20 recites a judicial exception. Under step 2A, Prong One, the claim recites the abstract idea of organizing and presenting information, including presenting a first set of media content items in a first view, detecting a switching operation on a content presentation interface, and presenting the first set of media content items in a second view, which falls into the “Mental Processes” and “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity” by managing the presentation of information to a user. Thus, the claim recites an abstract idea.
With regard to Step 2A, Prong Two, the claims do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application because the additional elements merely recite generic computer functions, such as presenting content on an interface and detecting user input, without improving the functioning of a computer or another technology. The claimed computer components are recited at a high level of generality and are merely invoked as tools to perform an existing content presentation process. Simply implementing the abstract idea on a generic computer is not a practical application of the abstract idea.
Finally, with respect to Step 2B, the claims do not recite an inventive concept. The additional elements, considered individually and as an ordered combination amount to not more than well-understood, routine and conventional computer activities and therefore do not provide an inventive concept sufficient to transform the judicial exception into patent-eligible subject matter. Thus, even when viewed as a whole, nothing in the claim adds significantly more (i.e., an inventive concept) to the abstract idea. The claim is ineligible.
Dependent claims 2-11 and 19-27 are also directed to same grouping of “Mental Processes” and “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity”. The additional elements of the method of claims 2-10, media content items of claim 2-5, 8-11; content presentation interface of claim 9; display of claim 10; first detail interface of claim 11; electronic device of claim 19 and 21-27; computer readable storage medium of claim 20; media content item of claims 21-27; the content presentation interface of claims 25-26; display area of claim 27 are additional elements do no more than generally link the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use. Accordingly, in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1- is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by CLARKE et al (EP 4318270 A2).
As per claim 1, CLARKE et al discloses:
presenting a first set of media content items in a first view on a content presentation interface, the
first set of media content items comprising at least one media content item, (“displaying, via the display device, a first plurality of representations of media items in a first view of a collection of media items”); and
in response to detecting first switching on the content presentation interface, presenting the first set
of media content items in a second view on the content presentation interface, (“after navigating through the first view of the collection of media items, receiving, via the one or more input devices, a second input that corresponds to a request to switch to a second view of the collection of media items; in response to receiving the second input, displaying a second plurality of representations of media items in the second view of the collection of media items”).
As per claim 2, CLARKE et al discloses:
wherein the first view is a time view, and the second view is a tile view; or the first view is a tile view, and the second view is a time view; wherein in the time view, the at least one media content item is presented in a calendar layout and/or a timeline layout, and in the tile view, the at least one media content item is presented successively and adjacently in a tile layout, (“Claim 19: in accordance with the first view representing a first level in a hierarchy of views, displaying, via the display device, a second view of the collection of media items that includes multiple different media items that are associated with corresponding dates and times”).
As per claim 3, CLARKE et al discloses:
wherein in the time view, the at least one media content item is associated to a display location of a respective time in a calendar or a timeline based on a creation time, (“ Years view 614, similar to years view 608, includes tiles 614A-614C that each include a regions (614A-1, 614B-1, and 614C-1) that includes a representative media item (615A, 615B, and 615C) selected based on a recurring event. The representative media items in tiles 614A-614C are relevant to a recurring event associated with the current date, February 18, 2019. Examples of recurring events include a day of the year, a day of the month, a day of the week, or the like. In some embodiments, a good media item is selected as the representative media item for a respective time period based on the recurring event. Media items from the day of the recurring event can be selected to represent their respective time periods (e.g., years). In the example depicted in FIG. 6D, the recurring event is the day of the year February 18th. As shown in FIG. 6D, tile 614B includes a representative media item 615B taken on the day of the year February 18 in the year 2018, and tile 614C includes a representative media item 615C taken on the day of the year February 18 in the year 2017. Tiles 614B and 614C each include a picture of a car because the media library includes media items captured on the dates February 18, 2017 and February 18, 2018 at an annual car show attended by the user. Thus, the media items from the dates February 18, 2017 and February 18, 2018 are associated with the recurring event (the day of the year) February 18th and selected as the representative media items from those respective years based on the recurring event (e.g., based on being from the day of the year within the respective time period, 2017 or 2018). Tile 614A for the current year does not include an image of a car, but does include a representative media item 615A from the current date February 18, 2019 (e.g., the media library does not include any images from a car show in 2019). These pictures are optionally selected by the electronic device, in part, through analysis of the photos to determine their contents and the location at which the photos were taken (using the photo meta data”); and/or
wherein in the tile view, the creation time is labeled in a presentation of the at least one media
content item, (“In some embodiments, the representations (e.g., 626A, 626B, 626C) of time periods in the second view (e.g., 626 in FIG. 6J) are smaller than representations (e.g., 614A, 614B, 614C) of time periods in the first view (e.g., 614 in FIG. 6H). For example, the representations in view 614 that each represent a year are larger than representations in view 626 that each represent a month. The size of a representation of a time period can provide an intuitive visual indication of the current view (e.g., level in the hierarchy of views). In some embodiments, in response to selection (e.g., via input 624) of a representation (e.g., 614B in FIG. 6H) of a time period in the first view causes representations (e.g., 626A, 626C) of time periods that are sub-periods of the selected time period to animatedly emerge from the selected representation (e.g., to display the second view) (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 6I-6J). For example, upon selection of a representation of a year, individual representations of the months of that particular year can appear to be created and/or emerge from the location of the selected year representation, which can provide a visual indication that the device is moving down a hierarchy of related views.”).
As per claim 4, CLARKE et al discloses:
wherein in the time view, in response to a first plurality of media content items in the first set of media content items being created at a first time; the first plurality of media content items is presented in a stacked manner at the first time in the time view; or a predetermined media content item of the first plurality of media content items is presented at the first time in the time view, (“In some embodiments, navigating through the first view (e.g., 640) of the collection of media items comprises scrolling the collection of media items in the first view (e.g., scrolling 640 from FIG. 8A to FIG. 8B). In some embodiments, automatically playing content from two or more of the media items (e.g., 615E and 642A as shown in FIGS. 8B-8C) in the plurality of media items while navigating through the collection of media items comprises, while scrolling the collection of media items in the first view: automatically playing content from a first media item (e.g., 615E) of the two or more media items (e.g., 615E and 642A as shown in FIGS. 8B-8C) based at least in part on a scroll position of the first media item in the first view (e.g., a media item begins playing upon reaching a predetermined position on the display) (e.g., media item 615E begins playback upon reaching a predetermined position as all photos view 640 is scrolled in response to input 802). In some embodiments, other factors affect whether a media item begins automatically playing, including whether a predetermined number of media items are already automatically playing. For example, the device can automatically playback no more than the predetermined number of media items (e.g., two at a time), and thus any media item in excess of the predetermined number would not begin playing back until at least one of the other media items ceases to be played back”).
As per claim 5, CLARKE et al discloses:
wherein in the tile view, in response to a second plurality of media content items in the first set of media content items being created at a second time, the second time is labeled at a predetermined location of at least one media content item of the second plurality of media content items, (“In some embodiments, displaying the indication (e.g., 644) of the boundary between the first set of media items (e.g., media items from May 1-2 in FIG. 8A) of the collection of media items and the second set of media items (e.g., media items from April 18-19 in FIG. 8A) comprises, concurrently displaying: at least a portion of the second set of media items with a dimmed appearance (e.g., as shown in FIG. 8A) while the second set of media items is not a currently viewed set of media items (e.g., is not occupying the center of the display in FIG. 8A); and at least a portion of the first set of media items without a dimmed appearance (e.g., as shown in FIG. 8A) while the first set of media items is a currently viewed set of media items (e.g., is occupying the center of the display in FIG. 8A). In some embodiments, a currently viewed set of media items is a set of media items that occupy a predetermined location (e.g., center of the display) in the current view. For example, when an object (e.g., a media item from the set) associated with the first set of media items occupies a center position (e.g., vertically where the view is scrollable vertically) of the display, the first set is the currently viewed set of media items. For example, media items from May 1-2 in FIG. 8A occupy the center of the display, and thus are a currently viewed set of media items. In some embodiments, one or more other sets can be at least partially displayed while a current set is partially displayed, where the other sets are displayed with a dimmed appearance (e.g., to emphasize focus on the currently viewed set, while still allowing adjacent sets to be visible). For example, the set of media items from April 18-19 in FIG. 8A is partially displayed concurrently with the currently viewed set from May 1-2, but with a dimmed appearance (overlaid by indicator 644). In some embodiments, there are more than one currently viewed set of media items at a time”).
As per claim 6, CLARKE et al discloses:
wherein the first switching comprises a gesture, (“In some embodiments, the second layout (e.g., 810 in FIG. 10F) is different from the first layout (e.g., 810 in FIG. 10A). In some embodiments, in the first layout the second content item (e.g., 1002B) has (e.g., is at, is positioned at) a first location relative to the first content item (e.g., 1002A). In some embodiments, in the second layout a third content item (e.g., 1002C), different from the first content item, has the first location relative to the first content item. In some embodiments, as part of displaying, on the display device, the subset (e.g., less than all of the plurality of content items) of the plurality of content items in the second layout, the electronic device (e.g., 600) transitions, as a gesture (e.g., pinch gesture) of the second user input (e.g., 1006) progresses, from displaying the first content item (e.g., 1002A) in the first layout (e.g., 810 in FIG. 10A) to displaying the first content item in the second layout (e.g., 810 in FIG. 10F). In some embodiments, as part of transitioning, as a gesture of the second user input (e.g., 1006) progresses, from displaying the first content item in the first layout to displaying the first content item in the second layout, the electronic device displays a combination (e.g., a crossfade) of the second content (e.g., 1002B) and the third content (e.g., 1002C) at the first location relative to the first content item (e.g., 1002A) during the transition from displaying the first content item in the first layout to displaying the first content item in the second layout; As part of transitioning from displaying the first content item (e.g., 1208) in the first layout to displaying the first content item in the second layout, the electronic device (e.g., 1200) displays (1310) a combination of the second content item (e.g., photo C in the third column of FIG. 12B) and the third content item (e.g., photo E in the third column of FIG. 12B) at the first location relative to the first content item (e.g., 1208) during the transition from displaying the first content item in the first layout (e.g., 1212A) to displaying the first content item in the second layout (e.g., 1212D). In some embodiments, the second layout includes more or less rows/columns than the first layout depending on, for example, whether the user input is a pinch (more rows/columns) or de-pinch (less rows/columns) gesture. Combining the content items (e.g., crossfade) provides the user with feedback about where content items have moved to when switching from the first layout to the second layout.”).
As per claim 7, wherein the gesture comprises a multi-finger pinch or a multi-finger divergence: (“As part of transitioning from displaying the first content item (e.g., 1208) in the first layout to displaying the first content item in the second layout, the electronic device (e.g., 1200) displays (1310) a combination of the second content item (e.g., photo C in the third column of FIG. 12B) and the third content item (e.g., photo E in the third column of FIG. 12B) at the first location relative to the first content item (e.g., 1208) during the transition from displaying the first content item in the first layout (e.g., 1212A) to displaying the first content item in the second layout (e.g., 1212D). In some embodiments, the second layout includes more or less rows/columns than the first layout depending on, for example, whether the user input is a pinch (more rows/columns) or de-pinch (less rows/columns) gesture”).
As per claim 8, CLARKE et al discloses:
in response to detecting second switching while presenting the first set of media content items,
presenting a second set of media content items on the content presentation interface, the second set of
media content items comprising a second classification attribute different from a first classification
attribute corresponding to the first set of media content items, the second set of media content items
comprising one or more media content items in the at least one media content item, (“after navigating through the first view of the collection of media items, receiving, via the one or more input devices, a second input that corresponds to a request to switch to a second view of the collection of media items; in response to receiving the second input, displaying a second plurality of representations of media items in the second view of the collection of media items; while displaying the second plurality of representations of media items in the second view of the collection of media items”).
As per claim 9, CLARKE et al discloses:
wherein presenting the second set of media content items comprises:
in response to a first target media content item having the second classification attribute in the first
set of media content items being presented in a focus region of the content presentation interface before the second switching is detected, maintaining presenting of at least the first target media content item in the focus region, (“As used herein, the term "focus selector" refers to an input element that indicates a current part of a user interface with which a user is interacting. In some implementations that include a cursor or other location marker, the cursor acts as a "focus selector" so that when an input (e.g., a press input) is detected on a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touchpad 355 in FIG. 3 or touch-sensitive surface 451 in FIG. 4B) while the cursor is over a particular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider, or other user interface element), the particular user interface element is adjusted in accordance with the detected input. In some implementations that include a touch screen display (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112 in FIG. 1A or touch screen 112 in FIG. 4A) that enables direct interaction with user interface elements on the touch screen display, a detected contact on the touch screen acts as a "focus selector" so that when an input (e.g., a press input by the contact) is detected on the touch screen display at a location of a particular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider, or other user interface element), the particular user interface element is adjusted in accordance with the detected input. In some implementations, focus is moved from one region of a user interface to another region of the user interface without corresponding movement of a cursor or movement of a contact on a touch screen display (e.g., by using a tab key or arrow keys to move focus from one button to another button); in these implementations, the focus selector moves in accordance with movement of focus between different regions of the user interface. Without regard to the specific form taken by the focus selector, the focus selector is generally the user interface element (or contact on a touch screen display) that is controlled by the user so as to communicate the user's intended interaction with the user interface (e.g., by indicating, to the device, the element of the user interface with which the user is intending to interact). For example, the location of a focus selector (e.g., a cursor, a contact, or a selection box) over a respective button while a press input is detected on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touchpad or touch screen) will indicate that the user is intending to activate the respective button (as opposed to other user interface elements shown on a display of the device)”).
As per claim 10, CLARKE et al discloses:
in response to detecting switching between presenting of the first set of media content items and
presenting of the second set of media content items, adjusting a size of a display area for presenting a
media content item in the content presentation interface; and presenting, in the adjusted display area, the first or second set of media content items that is switched to, (“Exemplary methods are disclosed herein. An example method includes, at an electronic device with a display device: displaying, via the display device, a plurality of content items in a first layout that includes a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, including displaying: a first content item of the plurality of content items at a first aspect ratio and a first size, a second content item of the plurality of content items, and a third content item of the plurality of content items; while displaying, via the display device, the plurality of content items in the first layout that includes the plurality of rows and the plurality of columns, detecting a user input that includes a gesture, wherein the user input corresponds to a request to change a size of the first content item; and in response to detecting the user input, gradually changing, as the gesture progresses, the size of the first content item from the first size to a second size that is different from the first size while concurrently gradually changing, as the gesture progresses, an aspect ratio of the first content item from the first aspect ratio to a second aspect ratio that is different from the first aspect ratio.”).
As per claim 11, CLARKE et al discloses:
further comprising: in response to detecting a selection for a second target media content item of the first set of media content items, presenting a first detail interface of the second target media content, (“A days view provides an exemplary technique for providing a low-level, high-detail interface for viewing multiple individual media items in the media library from the same time period. That is, one or more of the years view or months view can be used to locate a representative media item and/or time period of interest, and focus in by navigating down through the hierarchy to the days view to a smaller time period. Alternatively, the days view can be accessed directly by selecting affordance 610C (which is shown as selected in FIG. 6K, indicating that the current view is the days view”).
As per claim 19, this claim recites limitations similar to those disclose in independent claim 1 and is therefore rejected for similar reasons.
As per claim 20, this claim recites limitations similar to those disclosed in independent claim 1 and is therefore rejected for similar reasons.
As per claim 21,
wherein the first view is a time view, and the second view is a tile view; or the first view is a tile view, and the second view is a time view; wherein in the time view, the at least one media content item is presented in a calendar layout and/or a timeline layout, and in the tile view, the at least one media content item is presented successively and adjacently in a tile layout.
Please see the rejection of claim 2.
As per claim 22,
wherein in the time view, the at least one media content item is associated to a display location of a respective time in a calendar or a timeline based on a creation time; and/or
wherein in the tile view, the creation time is labeled in a presentation of the at least one media
content item.
Please see the rejection of claim 3.
As per claim 23,
wherein in the time view, in response to a first plurality of media content items in the first set of media content items being created at a first time, the first plurality of media content items is presented in a stacked manner at the first time in the time view; or
a predetermined media content item of the first plurality of media content items is presented at the
first time in the time view.
Please see the rejection of claim 4.
As per claim 24,
wherein in the tile view, in response to a second plurality of media content items in the first set of media content items being created at a second time, the second time is labeled at a predetermined location of at least one media content item of the second plurality of media content items.
Please see the rejection of claim 5.
As per claim 25,
wherein the electronic device is further caused to perform:
in response to detecting second switching while presenting the first set of media content items,
presenting a second set of media content items on the content presentation interface, the second set of
media content items comprising a second classification attribute different from a first classification
attribute corresponding to the first set of media content items, the second set of media content items
comprising one or more media content items in the at least one media content item.
Please see the rejection of claim 8.
As per claim 26,
wherein presenting the second set of media content items comprises:
in response to a first target media content item having the second classification attribute in the first
set of media content items being presented in a focus region of the content presentation interface before the second switching is detected, maintaining presenting of at least the first target media content item in the focus region.
Please see the rejection of claim 9.
As per claim 27,
wherein the electronic device is further caused to perform:
in response to detecting switching between presenting of the first set of media content items and
presenting of the second set of media content items, adjusting a size of a display area for presenting a
media content item in the content presentation interface; and presenting, in the adjusted display area, the first or second set of media content items that is switched to.
Please see the rejection of claim 10.
Prior Art Considered
The following art is considered by the Examiner, however, has not been used in the present invention:
-PENHA et al (CN 106257392 B)
-Robertson, Jason, and Siddhartha Gudipati. "Selecting Content using Second Screen Devices." (2022).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Akiba Robinson whose telephone number is 571-272-6734 and email is Akiba.Robinsonboyce@USPTO.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 6:30am-4:30pm.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner's supervisor, Nathan Uber can be reached on 571-270-3923. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is (703) 305-3900.
July 16, 2026
/AKIBA K ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3626
Prosecution Insights