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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-11, 13, 14, and 16-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-16 of U.S. Patent No. 12,155,782 (“Ma et al.”). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
With respect to claim 1, although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other. When claims in the pending application are broader than the patented claims, the broad claims in the pending application are rejected under obviousness type double patenting over previously patented narrow claims, In re Van Ornum and Stang, 214 USPQ 761. For example, claim 1 of the patent has the same limitations as claim 1 of the patent except for "controlling a screen of the first terminal to display a first interface when the current task being executed by the third terminal is a third-level task, the first interface comprising an answer option, a reject option and the call assisting option; and controlling the screen of the first terminal to display a second interface when the current task being executed by the third terminal is a fourth-level task, the second interface comprising an answer option and a reject option, without the call assisting option, wherein a priority of the fourth-level task is higher than that of the third-level task, and the third terminal comprises any one or more of the following components: a microphone, a speaker, and a display screen." Therefore, claim 1 of the pending application is broader than claim 1 of the patent.
The remaining independent claims of the instant application recite similar subject matter and are thereby rejected for the same reasons.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-4, 6, 7, 14, 19, and 20are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO 2015074600 (“Lu et al.”).
Regarding claim 1, Lu et al. discloses a call method, comprising:
receiving or initiating, by a first terminal, a call request to establish a call with a second terminal (fig. 1, S101 receiving incoming call);
detecting, by the first terminal, at least one of the following:
a current task being executed by the first terminal, whether there is one or more third terminals capable of assisting in the call, and a current task being executed by a third terminal (fig. 1, S101 the call is received while in a call with a first terminal); and
selecting whether a display interface of the first terminal displays a call assisting option
according to the current task being executed by the first terminal and/or the current task being executed by the third terminal, wherein the call assisting option is used to prompt a user to select to answer the call with the second terminal through the assistance of the third terminal, or to push the current task being executed by the first terminal to the third terminal to be executed (fig. 1, while receiving the incoming call, the screen interface can show call handling options, including “call transfer” option)..
Regarding claim 19, Lu et al. discloses a call terminal, comprising a processor, a memory and a communication bus; wherein the communication bus is configured to implement connection and communication between the processor and the memory; and the processor is configured to execute one or more programs stored in the memory to implement the steps of the call method according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 20, Lu et al. discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing one or more programs capable of being executed by one or more processors to implement the steps of the call method according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 2, Lu et al. discloses The call method according to claim 1, wherein the call method is executed during establishment of the call between the first terminal and the second terminal, or executed after the establishment of the call between the first terminal and the second terminal (the method occurs while receiving the call).
Regarding claim 3, Lu et al. discloses the call method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting whether the display interface of the first terminal displays the call assisting option according to the current task being executed by the first terminal and/or the current task being executed by the third terminal comprises:
controlling a screen of the first terminal to display a first interface when the current task being executed by the first terminal is a first-level task, the first interface comprising an answer option, a reject option and the call assisting option; and controlling the screen of the first terminal to display a second interface when the current task being executed by the first terminal is a second-level task, the second interface comprising an answer option and a reject option, without the call assisting option,
wherein a priority of the first-level task is higher than that of the second-level task, and the first terminal comprises any one or more of the following components: a microphone, a speaker, and a display screen (fig. 4 the judgement of call importance to decide on where to forward a call; terminal displays on a screen).
Regarding claim 4, Lu et al. discloses the call method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting whether the display interface of the first terminal displays the call assisting option according to the current task being executed by the first terminal and/or the current task being executed by the third terminal comprises:
controlling a screen of the first terminal to display a first interface when the current task being executed by the first terminal is a first-level task, the first interface comprising an answer option, a reject option and the call assisting option; and controlling the screen of the first terminal to display a second interface when the current task being executed by the first terminal is a second-level task, the second interface comprising an answer option and a reject option, without the call assisting option (adapting the screen based on call handling options available to the user- displaying operation options such as answering, hanging up, replying to SMS, ignoring incoming calls, call forwarding, etc. on the screen interface, and then receiving the call forwarding When the operation instruction is received, the call of the second terminal can be transferred to the third terminal),
wherein a priority of the first-level task is higher than that of the second-level task (fig. 4 the judgement of call importance to decide on where to forward a call, and the first terminal comprises any one or more of the following components: a microphone, a speaker, and a display screen (terminal displays on a screen).
Regarding claim 6, Lu et al. discloses the call method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a first instruction, the first instruction being used to request answering the call with the second terminal through the assistance of the third terminal (S102: Transfer the call of the second terminal to the third terminal); wherein the call is implemented among the first terminal, the second terminal and the third terminal in the following way: collecting and transmitting, by the third terminal, first voice data to the second terminal, and receiving and playing, by the third terminal, second voice data transmitted by the second terminal (The switching module 502 is configured to transfer the incoming call of the second terminal to the third terminal; specifically, when the terminal 50, when talking with the first terminal, and receiving the incoming call of the second terminal, displaying operation options such as answering, hanging up, replying to SMS, ignoring incoming calls, call forwarding, etc. on the screen interface, and then receiving the call forwarding When the operation instruction is received, the call of the second terminal can be transferred to the third terminal).
Regarding claim 7, Lu et al. discloses the call method according to claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a first instruction, the first instruction being used to request answering the call with the second terminal through the assistance of the third terminal (fig. 3, S303: Display a list of terminals to be transferred on a screen interface; S304: Receive a selection signal of the third terminal in the list of the terminal to be transferred by the user);
wherein the call is implemented among the first terminal, the second terminal and the third terminal in any one of the following ways: receiving and transmitting, by the first terminal, first voice data collected by the third terminal to the second terminal, and receiving and sending, by the first terminal, second voice data transmitted by the second terminal to the third terminal for the third terminal to play the second voice data; collecting and transmitting, by the first terminal, first voice data to the second terminal, and receiving and sending, by the first terminal, second voice data transmitted by the second terminal to the third terminal for the third terminal to play the second voice data; or receiving and transmitting, by the first terminal, first voice data collected by the third terminal to the second terminal, and receiving and playing, by the first terminal, second voice data transmitted by the second terminal (The switching module 502 is configured to transfer the incoming call of the second terminal to the third terminal; specifically, when the terminal 50, when talking with the first terminal, and receiving the incoming call of the second terminal, displaying operation options such as answering, hanging up, replying to SMS, ignoring incoming calls, call forwarding, etc. on the screen interface, and then receiving the call forwarding When the operation instruction is received, the call of the second terminal can be transferred to the third terminal).
Regarding claim 14, Lu et al. discloses the call method according to claim 1, further comprising: presetting a fourth instruction, the fourth instruction being used to instruct answering the call with the second terminal through the first terminal and automatically pushing the current task being executed by the first terminal to the third terminal to be executed (S305: Transfer the call of the second terminal to the third terminal, if there is only one terminal to be transferred preset in step S301, that is, only the third terminal is set, when the call is made with the first terminal and the second terminal is received, the automatic the call of the second terminal is transferred to the third terminal).
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.
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 nonobviousness.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2015074600 (“Lu et al.”) in view of U.S. Publication No. 2017/0237986 (“Choi et al.”).
Regarding claim 9, Lu et al. does not specify the call method according to claim 1, wherein, in a process that the call with the second terminal is transferred to the third terminal, the method further comprises:
detecting, by the first terminal and/or the third terminal, a quality of voice information in a current call process, the quality of voice information comprising at least one of a data delay, packet loss or jitter, and controlling a screen of the first terminal and/or the third terminal to display a switching prompting interface when the quality of voice information in the current call process is lower than a preset first quality threshold of voice information, wherein the switching prompting interface is used to prompt switching the third terminal in the call with the second terminal.
In a similar field of endeavor, Choi et al. disclose para. [0383] a video call switching operation is processed by the third electronic device performing a video call or the second electronic device. For example, when the third electronic device detects a signal changing the video call quality during a video call, the second electronic device is capable of displaying a pop-up message 2331 for a video call switching operation as illustrated in FIG. 23B. When the second electronic device detects an input for selecting one of the electronic devices, e.g., a watch 2333, a car kit 2335 and a phone 2337, illustrated in the pop-up message 2331, it is capable of transmitting a video call switching signal to the selected electronic device.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lu et al. to trigger a transfer of call to the third terminal by the first terminal based on a quality measurement as disclosed by Choi et al. in order to maintain a communication session despite quality interruptions thereby providing seamless call experience.
Claims 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2015074600 (“Lu et al.”) in view of U.S. Publication No. 2018/0332559 (“Gudivada”).
Regarding claim 11, Lu et al. does not specify the call method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second instruction, the second instruction being used to instruct to answer the call with the second terminal through the first terminal; and controlling a screen of the first terminal to display a screen projection prompting interface; wherein the screen projection prompting interface is used to prompt whether the current task being executed by the first terminal needs to be pushed to the third terminal to be played.
In a similar field of endeavor, Gudivada discloses communication between paired devices. Once an alert/notification for the incoming communication is provided on the second device, then it is up to the user to proceed with the communication or reject the communication. On the other hand, if it is determined that the communication is an ongoing communication, then at 238 the ongoing communication is forwarded to the second device and the user may continue the communication, e.g., an ongoing voice call, on the second device ([0039]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to alternatively provide a method to forward the ongoing call to a third device when detecting an incoming call as disclosed by Lu et al. in order to continue attend to the incoming call on the first device without terminating the ongoing call.
Regarding claim 13, Lu et al. discloses the call method according to claim 11, further comprising: after the current task being executed by the first terminal is pushed to the third terminal to be executed, displaying, by the first terminal, a window or icon indicating that the task has been projected to the third terminal (Gudivada, [0023] The alerts/notifications may be notifications indicating an incoming or received communication, e.g., a voice call, a video call, a text message, an e-mail, a voicemail, etc.).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2015074600 (“Lu et al.”) in view of U.S. Publication No. 2018/0332559 (“Gudivada”) and further in view of JP 2007221477 (“Suzuki”).
Regarding claim 16, Lu et al. does not specify the call method according to claim 11, wherein the current task being executed is a video playing task or a game task.
In a similar field of endeavor, Suzuki discloses a service providing apparatus 200 provides a service by a carrier to which the mobile communication terminal 100 belongs, for example. In the present embodiment, when there is an incoming voice call at the mobile communication terminal 100 that is playing a television broadcast in the viewing priority mode, the service providing apparatus 200 provides an answering service to the mobile communication terminal 100.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a video playing task in the viewing priority mode, the answering machine function is executed, and the recorded message is displayed as text information, the user can be notified of an incoming call and a message so the television viewing is uninterrupted.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2015074600 (“Lu et al.”) in view of WO 2020/224486 (“Wu et al.”).
Regarding claim 17, Lu et al. does not specify the call method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second instruction, the second instruction being used to indicate to answer the call with the second terminal through the first terminal; and controlling the display interface of the first terminal to perform split-screen displaying, and the display interface of the first terminal comprising an interface for the current task being executed by the first terminal and an interface for a call process with the second terminal.
In a similar field of endeavor, Wu et al. discloses a method of handling an incoming call while performing a current task. For example, in conjunction with FIG. 9, take the above-mentioned incoming call request for requesting a basic call with the mobile phone 1 as an example. As shown in Figure 9 (a)-(c), when the mobile phone 1 receives an incoming call request from the mobile phone 2, in response to the incoming call request, the mobile phone 1 can display the second banner 901 on the currently displayed game interface.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to display a split screen format disclosed by Wu et al. such that the first terminal may perform the two tasks simultaneously, thereby improving efficiency.
Claims 5, 8 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2015074600 (“Lu et al.”) in view of U.S. Publication No. 2016/0381534 (“Kwon et al.”).
Regarding claim 5, Lu et al. does not specify the call method according to claim 1, wherein, when there are multiple third terminals, the method further comprises: acquiring, by the first terminal, position information of the multiple third terminals, and determining a display sequence of multiple call assisting options corresponding to the multiple third terminals on the display interface of the first terminal according to the position information of the multiple third terminals, wherein the multiple third terminals correspond to the multiple call assisting options one to one.
In a similar field of endeavor, Kwon et al. discloses an interface unit can receive data transmitted from an external device, receive power to transfer to elements and components within the mobile terminal, or transmit internal data of the mobile terminal to such external device ([0100]). The controller of the first mobile terminal transmits a prescribed signal to the first mobile terminal before the first signal is transmitted to the second mobile terminal and the third mobile terminal and can detect a distance from the second mobile terminal and a distance from the third mobile terminal in response to the signal. The controller of the first mobile terminal can control the wireless communication unit to transmit the first signal to the mobile terminal of which the detected distance is shorter among the second mobile terminal 100B and the third mobile terminal ([0207]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lu et al. in view of Kwon et al. when multiple third devices are present to select a device based on distance to the first terminal in order to use the third device which is nearest to the first terminal.
Regarding claim 8, Lu et al. does not specify the call method according to claim 6, wherein, in a process that the call with the second terminal is answered through the assistance of the third terminal, the method further comprises: detecting, by the first terminal, a distance between the first terminal and the third terminal currently assisting in the call, and controlling a screen of the first terminal to display a switching prompting interface when the distance between the first terminal and the third terminal currently assisting in the call is greater than a first distance threshold, wherein the switching prompting interface is used to prompt switching the third terminal in the call with the second terminal.
In a similar field of endeavor, Kwon et al. discloses an interface unit can receive data transmitted from an external device, receive power to transfer to elements and components within the mobile terminal, or transmit internal data of the mobile terminal to such external device ([0100]). The controller of the first mobile terminal transmits a prescribed signal to the first mobile terminal before the first signal is transmitted to the second mobile terminal and the third mobile terminal and can detect a distance from the second mobile terminal and a distance from the third mobile terminal in response to the signal. The controller of the first mobile terminal can control the wireless communication unit to transmit the first signal to the mobile terminal of which the detected distance is shorter among the second mobile terminal 100B and the third mobile terminal ([0207]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lu et al. in view of Kwon et al. when multiple third devices are present to select a device based on distance to the first terminal in order to use the third device which is nearest to the first terminal.
Regarding claim 18, Lu et al. does not specify the call method according to claim 7, wherein, in a process that the call with the second terminal is answered through the assistance of the third terminal, the method further comprises: detecting, by the first terminal, a distance between the first terminal and the third terminal currently assisting in the call, and controlling a screen of the first terminal to display a switching prompting interface when the distance between the first terminal and the third terminal currently assisting in the call is greater than a first distance threshold, wherein the switching prompting interface is used to prompt switching the third terminal in the call with the second terminal .
In a similar field of endeavor, Kwon et al. discloses an interface unit can receive data transmitted from an external device, receive power to transfer to elements and components within the mobile terminal, or transmit internal data of the mobile terminal to such external device ([0100]). The controller of the first mobile terminal transmits a prescribed signal to the first mobile terminal before the first signal is transmitted to the second mobile terminal and the third mobile terminal and can detect a distance from the second mobile terminal and a distance from the third mobile terminal in response to the signal. The controller of the first mobile terminal can control the wireless communication unit to transmit the first signal to the mobile terminal of which the detected distance is shorter among the second mobile terminal 100B and the third mobile terminal ([0207]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lu et al. in view of Kwon et al. when multiple third devices are present to select a device based on distance to the first terminal in order to use the third device which is nearest to the first terminal.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 12 and 15 are 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIRAPON TULOP whose telephone number is (571)270-7491. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 10:00AM-6:00PM.
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/JIRAPON TULOP/Examiner, Art Unit 2693
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