DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Remarks
2. Claims 1-20 have been examined and rejected. This is the first Office action on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-2, 4-5, 7-12, 14-15, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nickell et al (U.S. Patent No. 9,183,752) in view of McCulloh et al (Pub. No. US 2021/0150127).
4-1. Regarding claims 1 and 11, Nickell teaches the claim comprising: determining, by one or more processors, a first image for a demonstration presentation, the demonstration presentation including a plurality of pages demonstrating a digital product, by disclosing providing images and text of a tutorial [column 7, lines 48-54] that demonstrates the functionality of an application [column 4, lines 29-33] by capturing screenshots of the application [column 6, lines 46-51].
Nickell teaches setting, by the one or more processors, the first image as a background of a first page of the plurality of pages of the demonstration presentation, by disclosing that the tutorial demonstrates specific sequences of commands within the application [column 6, lines 34-36]. A first image may be set as a first page of the tutorial [column 9, lines 24-26].
Nickell does not expressly teach determining, by the one or more processors, a location on the first image for displaying one or more user interface (UI) elements; storing, by the one or more processors, the demonstration presentation including the one or more UI elements on the first image in a computer-accessible data storage device; and providing, by the one or more processors, the stored demonstration presentation including providing the first image and the one or more UI elements. McCulloh discloses providing a Rapid Pictorial Demonstration (RPD) Controller/Editor for building interactive demonstrations by placing arbitrary images (referred to as “rapid components”) within a browser window and defining interactivity and functionality for those rapid components without writing code [paragraph 73]. A rapid div may be layered on top of an image in order to make the image seem interactive, or could be placed on top of a fake screenshotted element of an otherwise built-out page in order to make that element dynamic [paragraph 75]. Each rapid component corresponds to a discrete area of concern on a webpage that is configurable to define features of the interactive demonstration presentation including content and interactivity of the interactive demonstration presentation (e.g., to modify the presentation or allow for interactivity and intra-activity with the interactive demonstration presentation to be defined) [paragraph 81, lines 17-24]. This would help provide a more effective tutorial. Since Nickell discloses outputting images and text of the tutorial to a web page and using any tool of their choosing to edit it [Nickell, column 9, lines 15-20], it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide, for the screenshots of Nickell, the ability to define interactivity and functionality using rapid components added to locations within an image, as taught by McCulloh. This would help provide a more effective tutorial.
4-2. Regarding claims 2 and 12, Nickell-McCulloh teach all the limitations of claims 1 and 11 respectively, further comprising: determining, by the one or more processors, a type of a first UI element selected from the group consisting of a checkmark, a hotspot, a button, and a text-input field, by disclosing that a rapid component may be a button and have an image state defined for it, such as hover state, a clicked state, and an active state [McCulloh, paragraph 73, lines 19-36; paragraph 86].
Nickell-McCulloh teach determining, by the one or more processors, a first location relative to the first image for the first UI element of the determined type, by disclosing that each rapid component corresponds to a discrete area of concern on a webpage that is configurable to define features of the interactive demonstration presentation including content and interactivity of the interactive demonstration presentation (e.g., to modify the presentation or allow for interactivity and intra-activity with the interactive demonstration presentation to be defined) [McCulloh, paragraph 81, lines 17-24].
4-3. Regarding claims 4 and 14, Nickell-McCulloh teach all the limitations of claims 1 and 11 respectively, wherein: a first UI element of the one or more UI elements is overlayed over a defined location on the first image, the first UI element replicating a functionality of the digital product in the demonstration presentation, by disclosing that a rapid div may be layered on top of an image in order to make the image seem interactive, or could be placed on top of a fake screenshotted element of an otherwise built-out page in order to make that element dynamic [McCulloh, paragraph 75].
4-4. Regarding claims 5 and 15, Nickell-McCulloh teach all the limitations of claims 4 and 14 respectively, wherein: the first UI element includes a hyper-text transfer language (HTML) element overlayed over the first image, the first image being a static digital image, the HTML element providing the replicated functionality, by disclosing that the RDP Controller/Editor is used for editing interface mock-ups, in-browser, using HTML/JS/CSS/images [McCulloh, paragraph 73, lines 1-7]. A rapid div may be layered on top of an image in order to make the image seem interactive, or could be placed on top of a fake screenshotted element of an otherwise built-out page in order to make that element dynamic [McCulloh, paragraph 75].
4-5. Regarding claims 7 and 17, Nickell-McCulloh teach all the limitations of claims 1 and 11 respectively, wherein: providing the stored demonstration presentation includes providing a graphical user interface showing the plurality of pages with a plurality of UI elements, the plurality of UI elements being organized into a defined sequence of steps, the sequence of steps controlling when each of the plurality of UI elements and each of the plurality of pages are displayed on a client device, by disclosing that each rapid component corresponds to a discrete area of concern on a webpage that is configurable to define features of the interactive demonstration presentation including content and interactivity of the interactive demonstration presentation (e.g., to modify the presentation or allow for interactivity and intra-activity with the interactive demonstration presentation to be defined) [McCulloh, paragraph 81, lines 17-24; paragraph 91].
4-6. Regarding claims 8 and 18, Nickell-McCulloh teach all the limitations of claims 1 and 11 respectively, further comprising: determining, by the one or more processors, one or more attributes of the one or more UI elements, the one or more attributes including whether the one or more UI elements are displayed within a defined sequence of steps or displayed independently from the defined sequence of steps of the demonstration presentation, by disclosing that the rapid components define features of the interactive demonstration presentation including content and interactivity of the interactive demonstration presentation (e.g., to modify the presentation or allow for interactivity and intra-activity with the interactive demonstration presentation to be defined) [McCulloh, paragraph 81, lines 17-24; paragraph 91]. Thus, a user may determine whether a rapid component is part of a sequence of steps, or whether it is independent from the sequence.
4-7. Regarding claims 9 and 19, Nickell-McCulloh teach all the limitations of claims 1 and 11 respectively, wherein: the demonstration presentation includes the plurality of pages demonstrating the digital product, each of the plurality of pages including an image as a background and a UI element, the UI elements of the plurality of pages being organized into a defined story path with a sequence of steps, an interaction with a first step causing the one or more processors to display a subsequent step in the sequence of steps, the first step and the subsequent step each including a UI element of the one or more UI elements, by disclosing that the tutorial demonstrates specific sequences of commands within the application [Nickell, column 6, lines 34-36]. A rapid div may be layered on top of an image in order to make the image seem interactive, or could be placed on top of a fake screenshotted element of an otherwise built-out page in order to make that element dynamic [McCulloh, paragraph 75]. Each rapid component corresponds to a discrete area of concern on a webpage that is configurable to define features of the interactive demonstration presentation including content and interactivity of the interactive demonstration presentation (e.g., to modify the presentation or allow for interactivity and intra-activity with the interactive demonstration presentation to be defined) [McCulloh, paragraph 81, lines 17-24].
4-8. Regarding claims 10 and 20, Nickell-McCulloh teach all the limitations of claims 1 and 11 respectively, wherein: the first image includes a captured screenshot of a webpage, the webpage including functionality that is executable from the captured screenshot, the one or more UI elements replicating the functionality of the webpage in the demonstration presentation, by disclosing that the applications which are the subject of the tutorial include any type of application or program across the entire operating environment [Nickell, column 4, lines 34-43] which includes a browser [McCulloh, paragraph 53]. Screenshots of the application are captured [Nickell, column 6, lines 46-51]. A rapid div may be layered on top of an image in order to make the image seem interactive, or could be placed on top of a fake screenshotted element of an otherwise built-out page in order to make that element dynamic [McCulloh, paragraph 75].
5. Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nickell et al (U.S. Patent No. 9,183,752), in view of McCulloh et al (Pub. No. US 2021/0150127), and further in view of Straub (Pub. No. US 2016/0092180).
5-1. Regarding claims 3 and 13, Nickell-McCulloh teach all the limitations of claims 1 and 11 respectively. Although Nickell-McCulloh disclose an RPD design tool for editing interface mock-ups, in-browser, using HTML/JS/CSS/images such that a designer places rapid components in a browser window alongside normal HTML/JS/CSS and can move the rapid components around as needed [McCulloh, paragraph 96], Nickell-McCulloh do not expressly teach the claim further comprising: providing, by the one or more processors, a graphical user interface including a preview region showing the first image and a side panel showing a first representation of a first UI element; receiving, by the one or more processors, a user input dragging the first representation of the first UI element onto the first image in the preview region; and associating, by the one or more processors, the location to which the first representation was dragged with an overlayed location of the first UI element on the first image for the demonstration presentation. Straub discloses that it was well known to provide a preview while a user interface is being configured and to allow adding components to the user interface using drag and drop [paragraphs 56, 250; figures 19-21]. This would provide immediate visual feedback to the user as to where an object is to be placed. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a preview region to which components may be dragged and dropped, as taught by Straub. This would provide immediate visual feedback to the user as to where an object is to be placed.
6. Claims 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nickell et al (U.S. Patent No. 9,183,752), in view of McCulloh et al (Pub. No. US 2021/0150127), and further in view of Nicholas et al (Pub. No. US 2015/0278182)
6-1. Regarding claims 6 and 16, Nickell-McCulloh teach all the limitations of claims 4 and 14 respectively. Nickell-McCulloh do not expressly teach wherein: providing access to the stored demonstration presentation includes receiving a user interaction with the first UI element and, responsive to the user interaction, displaying an informational popup, the informational popup showing information respective to the functionality of the digital product. Nicholas discloses that it was well known to be able to edit a captured screenshot by adding a hidden text indicator that will display text attached to the edited screenshot [paragraph 56; figure 6]. This would help enhance understanding by providing more engagement with the screenshot. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide in the tutorial of Nickell-McCulloh, hidden text indicators for displaying attached text, as taught by Nicholas. This would help enhance understanding by providing more engagement with a screenshot.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALVIN H TAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8595. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-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, Scott Baderman can be reached at 571-272-3644. 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.
/ALVIN H TAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118
Prosecution Insights