DETAILED ACTION
This application has been examined. Claims 1-20 are pending.
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 .
Re-opening Prosecution
In view of the Response after Final Action filed on 07/2/2026, PROSECUTION IS HEREBY REOPENED. This Non-Final Office Action is being presented in order to clarify the USC 103 rejections and the claim limitations as disclosed by the prior art.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/4/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds for rejection.
While Hamme-Dai substantially disclosed the claimed invention Hamme-Dai does not disclose (re. Claim 1) wherein the presenting the at least some of the electronic communication comprises presenting the at least some of the electronic communication on only a display of the electronic device without presenting the at least some of the electronic communication on any of the one or more remote electronic devices.
Chakraborty Paragraph 62,Paragraph 74 disclosed wherein communication mode management program 116 considers various inputs such as a user or group calendar feed, a meeting agenda, and/or identities of meeting participants to dynamically establish and enforce rules for information display privacy, for notification display privacy, and/or for distraction avoidance that are relevant for when arriving messages from any communication platform such as an instant messaging platform and/or via email are displayed and shown at a computer that is currently participating in a virtual meeting.
Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 1) wherein the presenting the at least some of the electronic communication comprises presenting the at least some of the electronic communication on only a display of the electronic device without presenting the at least some of the electronic communication on any of the one or more remote electronic devices.(Chakraborty -Paragraph 72, the communication mode management program 116 generates additional privacy for the screen sharing computer so that the content of applications or other information are not transmitted for screen sharing display on other computers while the screen sharing party is navigating through open relevant applications on their computer screen for that discussion.)
Hamme,Dai and Chakraborty are analogous art because they both present concepts and practices regarding handling of incoming message during an ongoing online conference meeting. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Chakraborty into Hamme-Dai. The motivation for the said combination would have been to enable semantic similarity vector comparisons, etc. to understand the similarity of the incoming messages to the meeting content.(Chakraborty-Paragraph 91)
Priority
The effective date of the claims described in this application is October 20, 2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Applicant is respectfully reminded that each individual associated with the filing and prosecution of a patent application has a duty of candor and good faith in dealing with the Office, which includes a duty to disclose to the Office all information known to that individual to be material to patentability as defined in 37 CFR 1.56.
There were no information disclosure statements filed with this application.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3,7,10-16,19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamme (USPGPUB 2019/0014209) further in view of Dai (USPGPUB 2022/0376939) further in view of Chakraborty (USPGPUB 20240179538)
Regarding Claim 1
Hamme Paragraph 43 disclosed wherein he DND features/functions and/or suppress/enhance the DND level based on a trigger, an activity and/or an event (e.g., which may otherwise causes the user to miss important messages, receive unimportant messages and/or not respond in a timely manner). By enabling rule based DND features/functions, the DND features/functions may be enabled (e.g., always be enabled) alleviating embarrassing situations.
Hamme Paragraph 73 disclosed wherein the list of meeting participants may be obtained from the API and may be updated dynamically during the meeting based on the participants that are actually present in the meeting. In videoconference types of meetings using tools such as Skype and/or Lync, this information may be obtained (e.g., easily obtained) based on which participants and/or other people are connected to the meeting at any point in time.
Hamme disclosed (re. Claim 1) a method in an electronic device, the method comprising: detecting, with one or more processors during a videoconference, a communication device electronically in communication with one or more remote electronic devices engaged in the videoconference (Hamme-Paragraph 73,the list of meeting participants may be obtained from the API and may be updated dynamically during the meeting based on the participants that are actually present in the meeting. In videoconference types of meetings using tools such as Skype and/or Lync, this information may be obtained (e.g., easily obtained) based on which participants and/or other people are connected to the meeting at any point in time.)
receiving, with a communication device operable with the one or more processors, an electronic communication while the videoconference is occurring, and the electronic device is operating in a do not disturb mode of operation; (Hamme-Paragraph 85, if a user is in a meeting with his managers and the DND is set to the highest level, a call from a Vice President of the company may override the DND and the user may be notified of the call with by the usual notification procedure)
temporarily overriding, by the one or more processors, the do not disturb mode of operation for the electronic communication. (Hamme-Paragraph 85, if a user is in a meeting with his managers and the DND is set to the highest level, a call from a Vice President of the company may override the DND and the user may be notified of the call with by the usual notification procedure)
While Hamme substantially disclosed the claimed invention Hamme does not disclose (re. Claim 1) determining, by the one or more processors, whether the electronic communication is materially related to subject matter of the videoconference; and where the electronic communication is materially related to the subject matter of the videoconference, temporarily overriding, by the one or more processors, the do not disturb mode of operation for the electronic communication.
Dai Paragraph 72-74 disclosed determining whether the interactive information is related to the content of the multimedia conference.
Dai Paragraph 169 disclosed wherein the second reception unit 402 is configured to receive interactive information from the terminal device, where the interactive information is generated based on interactive content inputted by the user based on the live data stream.
Dai Paragraph 132-133 disclosed wherein the interactive information of the user is reviewed to determine whether to transmit the interactive information to the terminal device presenting the live interface to avoid displaying bad interactive information in the live interface, thereby maintaining the purity of the interactive information.
Dai disclosed (re. Claim 1) determining, by the one or more processors, whether the electronic communication is materially related to subject matter of the videoconference;(Dai-Paragraph 73, the server may determine whether the interactive information is related to the content of the multimedia conference)
and where the electronic communication is materially related to the subject matter of the videoconference, approve transmission of the electronic communication and display the electronic communication on the recipient remote electronic devices engaged in the videoconference.(Dai-Paragraph 150, first reception unit 302 is further configured to: transmit the interactive information to the server. The server determines based on the interactive information whether to transmit the interactive information to the terminal device presenting the live interface, Paragraph 81, displaying the interactive information of the user in the live interface. The interactive information may be displayed in at least one of a list mode, a bullet screen mode, and a floating window mode.)
Hamme and Dai are analogous art because they both present concepts and practices regarding handling of incoming message during an ongoing online conference meeting. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Dai into Hamme. The motivation for the said combination would have been to avoid displaying bad interactive information in the live interface, thereby maintaining the purity of the interactive information.(Dai-Paragraph 133)
Hamme-Dai disclosed (re. Claim 1) where the electronic communication is materially related to the subject matter of the videoconference (Dai- Paragraph 73, the server may determine whether the interactive information is related to the content of the multimedia conference ,Paragraph 150, first reception unit 302 is further configured to: transmit the interactive information to the server. The server determines based on the interactive information whether to transmit the interactive information to the terminal device presenting the live interface) temporarily overriding, by the one or more processors, the do not disturb mode of operation for the electronic communication.(Hamme-Paragraph 85, the current DND may be overridden, and the user may be notified, as usual.)
The Examiner notes that in context of Hamme-Dai it would have been obvious to combine the approval/disapproval of transmission as disclosed by Dai and , based on the approval of transmission, subsequently temporarily overriding the do not disturb mode of operation for the electronic communication as disclosed by Hamme in order that the approved electronic communication is displayed to the recipient as disclosed by Dai.
While Hamme-Dai substantially disclosed the claimed invention Hamme-Dai does not disclose (re. Claim 1) wherein the presenting the at least some of the electronic communication comprises presenting the at least some of the electronic communication on only a display of the electronic device without presenting the at least some of the electronic communication on any of the one or more remote electronic devices.
Chakraborty Paragraph 62,Paragraph 74 disclosed wherein communication mode management program 116 considers various inputs such as a user or group calendar feed, a meeting agenda, and/or identities of meeting participants to dynamically establish and enforce rules for information display privacy, for notification display privacy, and/or for distraction avoidance that are relevant for when arriving messages from any communication platform such as an instant messaging platform and/or via email are displayed and shown at a computer that is currently participating in a virtual meeting.
Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 1) wherein the presenting the at least some of the electronic communication comprises presenting the at least some of the electronic communication on only a display of the electronic device without presenting the at least some of the electronic communication on any of the one or more remote electronic devices.(Chakraborty -Paragraph 72, the communication mode management program 116 generates additional privacy for the screen sharing computer so that the content of applications or other information are not transmitted for screen sharing display on other computers while the screen sharing party is navigating through open relevant applications on their computer screen for that discussion.)
Hamme,Dai and Chakraborty are analogous art because they both present concepts and practices regarding handling of incoming message during an ongoing online conference meeting. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Chakraborty into Hamme-Dai. The motivation for the said combination would have been to enable semantic similarity vector comparisons, etc. to understand the similarity of the incoming messages to the meeting content.(Chakraborty-Paragraph 91)
Regarding Claim 10
Claim 10 (re. device) recites substantially similar limitations as Claim 1. Claim 10 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 2
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 2) wherein the determining whether the electronic communication is materially related to the subject matter of the videoconference comprises determining whether the electronic communication is received from a remote electronic device engaged in the videoconference.( Hamme-Paragraph 73,the list of meeting participants may be obtained from the API and may be updated dynamically during the meeting based on the participants that are actually present in the meeting. In videoconference types of meetings using tools such as Skype and/or Lync, this information may be obtained (e.g., easily obtained) based on which participants and/or other people are connected to the meeting at any point in time.)
Regarding Claim 3
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 3) wherein the determining whether the electronic communication is materially related to the subject matter of the videoconference comprises determining whether a subject of the electronic communication is materially related to the subject matter of the videoconference. (Dai-Paragraph 73, the server may determine whether the interactive information is related to the content of the multimedia conference)
Regarding Claim 7
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 7) identifying, by the one or more processors, the subject matter of the videoconference. (Dai-Paragraph 73, the server may determine whether the interactive information is related to the content of the multimedia conference)
Regarding Claim 11
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 11) wherein the activity is a videoconference.(Hamme-Paragraph 96, meeting generally refers to: (1) a face-to-face meeting (e.g., an in-person meeting), (2) a teleconference and/or (3) a video conference meeting)
Regarding Claim 12
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 12) wherein the one or more processors only cause the user interface to present the at least some of the electronic communication when the electronic communication is received from a remote electronic device engaged in the videoconference.(Hamme-Paragraph 73,the list of meeting participants may be obtained from the API and may be updated dynamically during the meeting based on the participants that are actually present in the meeting. In videoconference types of meetings using tools such as Skype and/or Lync, this information may be obtained (e.g., easily obtained) based on which participants and/or other people are connected to the meeting at any point in time.)
Regarding Claim 13
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 13) wherein the electronic communication comprises a chat communication occurring within the videoconference.(Dai-Paragraph 48, interactive information may include at least one of text interactive information, voice interactive information, and a default emoticon)
Regarding Claim 14
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 14) wherein the one or more processors cause the user interface to present the at least some of the electronic communication on the user interface (Hamme-Paragraph 43,DND features/functions and/or suppress/enhance the DND level based on a trigger, an activity and/or an event (e.g., which may otherwise causes the user to miss important messages, receive unimportant messages and/or not respond in a timely manner). By enabling rule based DND features/functions, the DND features/functions may be enabled (e.g., always be enabled) alleviating embarrassing situations.) while precluding at least one other remote electronic device engaged in the videoconference from presenting any of the electronic communication.(Dai-Paragraph 73, server may determine whether the interactive information includes sensitive words, determine whether the interactive information is related to the content of the multimedia conference, and determine whether the interactive information has a tendency to slander others.)
Regarding Claim 15
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 15) a method in an electronic device, the method comprising: determining, by one or more sensors, that an authorized user of the electronic device is engaged in an activity while the electronic device is operating in a do not disturb mode of operation; (Hamme-Paragraph 57, the application and/or the DND logic 350 may access a list of participants from a meeting invitation)
receiving, by a communication device while the authorized user of the electronic device is engaged in the activity and the electronic device is operating in the do not disturb mode of operation, an electronic communication;
determining, by one or more processors: a subject of the activity; another subject of the electronic communication; (Dai-Paragraph 73, the server may determine whether the interactive information is related to the content of the multimedia conference)
and whether the electronic communication was received from a remote electronic device belonging to another authorized user of the remote electronic device also engaged in the activity; ( Hamme-Paragraph 73,the list of meeting participants may be obtained from the API and may be updated dynamically during the meeting based on the participants that are actually present in the meeting. In videoconference types of meetings using tools such as Skype and/or Lync, this information may be obtained (e.g., easily obtained) based on which participants and/or other people are connected to the meeting at any point in time.)
and when the subject of the activity and the another subject of electronic communication are correlated (Dai-Paragraph 73, the server may determine whether the interactive information is related to the content of the multimedia conference) and the electronic communication was received from the remote electronic device belonging to the another authorized user of the remote electronic device also engaged in the activity, causing, by the one or more processors, a user interface to present at least some of the electronic communication. (Dai-Paragraph 150, first reception unit 302 is further configured to: transmit the interactive information to the server. The server determines based on the interactive information whether to transmit the interactive information to the terminal device presenting the live interface, Paragraph 81, displaying the interactive information of the user in the live interface. The interactive information may be displayed in at least one of a list mode, a bullet screen mode, and a floating window mode.)
Regarding Claim 16
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 16) wherein the determining the subject of the activity comprises detecting an activity of the electronic device.(Hamme-Paragraph 73,the list of meeting participants may be obtained from the API and may be updated dynamically during the meeting based on the participants that are actually present in the meeting. In videoconference types of meetings using tools such as Skype and/or Lync, this information may be obtained (e.g., easily obtained) based on which participants and/or other people are connected to the meeting at any point in time.)
Regarding Claim 19
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 19) wherein the causing the user interface to present the at least some of the electronic communication occurs only when the another authorized user is a supervisor of the authorized user.(Hamme-Paragraph 85, If the caller, interrupter and/or sender outranks (e.g., is of a higher level in the organizational hierarchy than) the meeting attendees (e.g., each of the meeting attendees), the current DND may be overridden, and the user may be notified, as usual.)
Regarding Claim 20
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 20) wherein the causing the user interface to present the at least some of the electronic communication occurs only when the authorized user has designated the another authorized user as being allowed to override the do not disturb mode of operation.(Hamme-Paragraph 85, If the caller, interrupter and/or sender outranks (e.g., is of a higher level in the organizational hierarchy than) the meeting attendees (e.g., each of the meeting attendees), the current DND may be overridden, and the user may be notified, as usual.)
Claim(s) 4,5,8,17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamme (USPGPUB 2019/0014209) further in view of Dai (USPGPUB 2022/0376939) further in view of Chakraborty (USPGPUB 20240179538) further in view of Avrunin (USPGPUB 20230033852)
Regarding Claim 8
While Hamme-Dai substantially disclosed the claimed invention Hamme-Dai does not disclose (re. Claim 8) wherein the identifying the subject matter of the videoconference comprises transcribing, by the one or more processors, speech occurring during the videoconference.
Avrunin Paragraph 24 disclosed generating transcripts from meeting audio.
Avrunin disclosed (re. Claim 8) wherein the identifying the subject matter of the videoconference comprises transcribing, by the one or more processors, speech occurring during the videoconference.(Avrunin-Paragraph 24, generating transcripts from meeting audio)
Hamme,Dai and Avrunin are analogous art because they both present concepts and practices regarding handling of incoming message during an ongoing online conference meeting. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Avrunin into Hamme-Dai. The motivation for the said combination would have been to enable selectively enable interactions with specific participants to further enrich the content within the video conference, while moving past questions or comments that are redundant of other questions, may be incendiary or offensive, or may simply be irrelevant to the topics at hand. (Avrunin-Paragraph 19)
Regarding Claim 17
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty-Avrunin disclosed (re. Claim 17) wherein the determining the subject of the activity comprises transcribing, by the one or more processors, speech received by the user interface while the authorized user is engaged in the activity. (Avrunin-Paragraph 24,generating transcripts from meeting audio)
Regarding Claim 4
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty-Avrunin disclosed (re. Claim 4) wherein the subject matter of the videoconference is identified locally by the electronic device by transcribing speech (Avrunin-Paragraph 24, generating transcripts from meeting audio) occurring during higher temperature videoconference and/or ascertaining a subject found in a videoconference meeting notification stored in a memory (Chakraborty-Paragraph 62,Paragraph 74,communication mode management program 116 considers various inputs such as a user or group calendar feed, a meeting agenda, and/or identities of meeting participants to dynamically establish and enforce rules for information display privacy, for notification display privacy, and/or for distraction avoidance, Paragraph 88, Capture data may be stored in data storage that is part of or accessible to the communication mode management program 116. This captured content may relate to content of a virtual meeting.)
Regarding Claim 5
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty-Avrunin disclosed (re. Claim 5) wherein the presenting only occurs when the electronic communication was received from a remote electronic device belonging to another authorized user (Hamme-Paragraph 85, If the caller, interrupter and/or sender outranks (e.g., is of a higher level in the organizational hierarchy than) the meeting attendees (e.g., each of the meeting attendees), the current DND may be overridden, and the user may be notified, as usual.) that the authorized user of the electronic device has designated as being allowed to override the do not disturb mode of operation.(Hamme-Paragraph 43,DND features/functions and/or suppress/enhance the DND level based on a trigger, an activity and/or an event (e.g., which may otherwise causes the user to miss important messages, receive unimportant messages and/or not respond in a timely manner). By enabling rule based DND features/functions, the DND features/functions may be enabled (e.g., always be enabled) alleviating embarrassing situations.)
Claim(s) 6,9,18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamme (USPGPUB 2019/0014209) further in view of Dai (USPGPUB 2022/0376939) further in view of Chakraborty (USPGPUB 20240179538)
Regarding Claim 9
While Hamme-Dai substantially disclosed the claimed invention Hamme-Dai does not disclose (re. Claim 9) wherein the identifying the subject matter of the videoconference comprises ascertaining, by the one or more processors, a subject found in a videoconference meeting notification stored in a memory of the electronic device.
Chakraborty Paragraph 62,Paragraph 74 disclosed wherein communication mode management program 116 considers various inputs such as a user or group calendar feed, a meeting agenda, and/or identities of meeting participants to dynamically establish and enforce rules for information display privacy, for notification display privacy, and/or for distraction avoidance that are relevant for when arriving messages from any communication platform such as an instant messaging platform and/or via email are displayed and shown at a computer that is currently participating in a virtual meeting.
Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 9) wherein the identifying the subject matter of the videoconference comprises ascertaining, by the one or more processors, a subject found in a videoconference meeting notification stored in a memory of the electronic device.( Chakraborty-Paragraph 62,Paragraph 74,communication mode management program 116 considers various inputs such as a user or group calendar feed, a meeting agenda, and/or identities of meeting participants to dynamically establish and enforce rules for information display privacy, for notification display privacy, and/or for distraction avoidance, Paragraph 88, Capture data may be stored in data storage that is part of or accessible to the communication mode management program 116. This captured content may relate to content of a virtual meeting.)
Hamme,Dai and Chakraborty are analogous art because they both present concepts and practices regarding handling of incoming message during an ongoing online conference meeting. Before the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to combine Chakraborty into Hamme-Dai. The motivation for the said combination would have been to enable semantic similarity vector comparisons, etc. to understand the similarity of the incoming messages to the meeting content.(Chakraborty-Paragraph 91)
Regarding Claim 18
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 18) wherein the determining the subject of the activity comprises the user interface (Chakraborty-Paragraph 36, communication mode management 116 may include and/or generate various modules, user interfaces, and services, and may use data storage when the communication mode management process 200 is performed) receiving user input defining the subject of the activity.(Chakraborty-Paragraph 62,Paragraph 74,communication mode management program 116 considers various inputs such as a user or group calendar feed, a meeting agenda, and/or identities of meeting participants to dynamically establish and enforce rules for information display privacy, for notification display privacy, and/or for distraction avoidance, Paragraph 88, Capture data may be stored in data storage that is part of or accessible to the communication mode management program 116. This captured content may relate to content of a virtual meeting.)
Regarding Claim 6
Hamme-Dai-Chakraborty disclosed (re. Claim 6) wherein the presenting the at least some of the electronic communication comprises presenting the at least some of the electronic communication on a display of a companion electronic device in communication with the electronic device.(Chakraborty-Paragraph 27, UI device set 123 may include wearable devices (such as goggles and smart watches) )
Conclusion
Examiner’s Note: In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREG C BENGZON whose telephone number is (571)272-3944. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8 AM - 4:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Follansbee can be reached on (571) 272-3964. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREG C BENGZON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2444
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