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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
3. Claims 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14 – 17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li et al. (US Publication Number 2008/0320500, hereinafter “Li”).
4. As per claims 1 and 19, Li teaches a method and first electronic device (remote aggregate computing machine M1, figure 1) comprising: a memory storing executable instructions (memory 730/732, figure 7); and a processor (720, figure 7) configured to execute the executable instructions to perform operations of: (components of the computer 710 including processor 720, system memory 732, figure 7, figure 46, 732 contains data program modules that are accessible and operated by 720, paragraph 48) obtaining peripheral information of one or more second electronic devices (figures 4 - 6); creating, based on the peripheral information, a peripheral agent corresponding to a peripheral of the one or more second electronic devices (device information query via virtual driver controllers, paragraphs 24 – 26); receiving, using a first distributed input subsystem, an input event sent by a second distributed input subsystem of a target second electronic device in the one or more second electronic devices, wherein the input event is determined after the target second electronic device collects a user input operation by using a peripheral (capture at the producing machines, paragraphs 39 – 41); processing the input event by using a target peripheral agent created in the first electronic device, wherein the target peripheral agent corresponds to the target second electronic device (control of the receiving machine, paragraphs 22 and 33); and performing a target operation corresponding to the input event (steps seen from figures 4 – 6 for receiving inputs and targeting second electronic device for processing the input event, 604, figure 6).
5. As per claim 11, Li teaches a peripheral control method performed by a second electronic device (local computing machine 102, figure 1), comprising: obtaining peripheral information of a first electronic device (502 to 504, figure 5, input and outputs); creating based on the peripheral information, a peripheral agent corresponding to the first electronic device (virtual drivers 232L/234L on the local machine, figure 2, any machine can process as the local machine, paragraph 19, figure 2 gives each machine real filter drivers 236/238 R/L and device information query and virtual driver load sequence, paragraphs 23, 24, 35, and 36); determining, in response to an operation of a user on a peripheral of the second electronic device (keyboard 108, mouse 110, figure 1, captured by real filter drivers 246L/238L, figure 3), an input event forwarded to the first electronic device, wherein the input event indicates the first electronic device to perform a target operation (step 504, figure 5 determines whether the device that provided the data is in a state in which it is a device producer for a remote machine, paragraph 40, if so the data is instead routed to the aggregate connection manager which transfers it to the remote machine, paragraph 41); and sending the input event to a first distributed input subsystem of the first electronic device by using a second distributed input subsystem of the second electronic device (aggregate connection manager 224L to 224R, figures 2 and 3, the connection manager handles network communication between computer and data transferred between computers with computer and device information, mouse and keyboard data, and control information, paragraph 27, 222L receives mouse/keyboard data from the mouse filter driver, paragraph 30).
6. As per claim 5, Li teaches a method, further comprising: sending a second key combination configuration trustlist of the first electronic device to the one or more second electronic devices (224 manages data transferred with the control information, paragraph 27), wherein the second key combination configuration trustlist indicates whether a key combination input event takes effect in the first electronic device (computer and device information transferred, paragraphs 26 and 27).
7. As per claim 6, Li teaches a method, wherein the step of obtaining the peripheral information of the one or more second electronic devices comprises: obtaining the peripheral information of the one or more second electronic devices from a distributed database; receiving a broadcast message sent by the one or more second electronic devices, wherein the broadcast message carries the peripheral information; downloading the peripheral information of the one or more second electronic devices from a cloud server; or receiving the peripheral information of the one or more second electronic devices from a central node of a communication system comprising the first electronic device and the one or more second electronic devices (aggregate device manager 222 sends information about computers and devices to user interface and performs discovering and registering of physical devices, paragraph 26 and 28).
8. As per claim 8, Li teaches a method, further comprising: disconnecting a communication connection to the target second electronic device (remote control operating state cancelled by the user with respect to device producer state, figure 5, paragraph 22); and deleting the target peripheral agent (removing PDO and deleting it, paragraph 37, via 230, figures 2 and 3).
9. As per claim 9, Li teaches a method, wherein the step of creating the peripheral agent corresponding to the peripheral of the one or more second electronic devices comprises: creating, at a kernel layer (kernel mode, figure 2, paragraphs 23 and 24) based on the peripheral information, the peripheral agent corresponding to the peripheral of the one or more second electronic devices (virtual bus driver 230, virtual mouse driver 232 and virtual keyboard driver 234, figure 2, operating system loads the appropriate virtual driver according to the device information, paragraph 36, figures 2 and 4).
10. As per claim 14, Li teaches a method, further comprising: sending the first key combination configuration trustlist to the first electronic device (224L to 224R, paragraphs 27 and 41, figures 2 and 3).
11. As per claim 15, Li teaches a method, wherein the step of obtaining peripheral information of the first electronic device comprises: obtaining the peripheral information of the first electronic device from a distributed database; receiving a broadcast message sent by the first electronic device, wherein the broadcast message carries the peripheral information of the first electronic device; downloading the peripheral information of the first electronic device from a cloud server; or receiving the peripheral information of the first electronic device that is sent by a central node of a communication system (aggregate device manager 222 performing discovering and registering of physical devices, paragraphs 26 to 28).
12. As per claim 16, Li teaches a method,, wherein after the step of creating the peripheral agent corresponding to the first electronic device, the method further comprises: initializing an event collection thread and an event transmission thread, wherein the event collection thread is configured to collect the input event by using the peripheral, and the event transmission thread is configured to send the input event (capture path that follows agent creation is the real mouse filter driver 236 or keyboard filter driver 238 capturing data from its corresponding physical device and buffering it for the aggregate device manager, paragraph 39).
13. As per claim 17, Li teaches a method, further comprising: disconnecting a communication connection to the first electronic device (remote control operating state cancelled, figure 5); and deleting the peripheral agent corresponding to the first electronic device (PDO removed from the list and destroyed, figure 4, paragraphs 22, 28, and 37).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
14. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
15. Claims 3, 4, 12, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Ha (US Patent Number 5,948,084).
16. As per claim 4, Li teaches a method, wherein the steps of processing the input event by using the target peripheral agent (232R, 234R, figure 3) and performing the target operation corresponding to the input event comprise: sending, by using the target peripheral agent, the input event to the first input subsystem (virtual mouse driver 232R, virtual keyboard driver 234R send to the operating system, figure 3, the virtual bus driver sends the data to the corresponding virtual filter driver, paragraph 42, each virtual driver presents the virtual devices to the operating system as real devices, paragraph 33)
Li does not appear to explicitly disclose determining, by using the first input subsystem, that the input event is a key combination input event; determining, by using the first input subsystem, whether key combination input information in the key combination input event is in the first key combination configuration trustlist; and upon determining that the key combination input information is not in the first key combination configuration trustlist, performing the target operation.
However, Ha discloses determining, by using the first input subsystem (230 with 250, figures 2 and 3), that the input event is a key combination input event (micro-computer 230 discriminates a combined key signal, figure 3, step s20, column 4, lines 50 – 67); determining, by using the first input subsystem, whether key combination input information in the key combination input event is in the first key combination configuration trustlist (registered data consulted by device driver 250 checks the function of the combined key signal against the stored configuration, S30-S40, figure 3, column 5, lines 7 - 25); and upon determining that the key combination input information is not in the first key combination configuration trustlist (steps S60-S80, figure 3), performing the target operation (230 discriminates combined key signal on the basis of signal received by remote control receiver, 250 checks the function and determines whether to perform communication of different data and command with the microcomputer 230, therein the no branch proceeds to step S60 to allow user interface software 270 to perform function of combined signal).
Li and Ha are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of combination input received on one device and determining whether to convey it to a secondary device via user functionality in combination with an operating system.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Li and Ha before him or her, to modify the input handling of Li to include the input processing of Ha because it would allow for enhance device driver functionality in the operating system.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance remote control functionality (column 1, lines 33 – 63). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Ha with Li to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
17. Li modified by the teachings of Ha as seen in claim 4 above, as per claim 3, Ha teaches a method, wherein the first electronic device stores a first key combination configuration trustlist (registered data held by user interface software 270, figure 2) of the one or more second electronic devices (remote controller combined key signals arrive at remote control receiver, figure 2), and the first key combination configuration trustlist indicates whether a received key combination input event takes effect in the one or more second electronic devices (device driver 250 at figure 3 step S40 determines whether to perform communication of different data and command with 230, and pass to 270 at step S60).
18. Li modified by the teachings of Ha as seen in claim 4 above, as per claim 12, Ha teaches a method, wherein the second electronic device stores a first key combination configuration trustlist (registered data consulted by device driver 250 and user interface software 270, figures 2 and 3, and registers a name of the application software 290 to be replaced), and the first key combination configuration trustlist indicates whether a key combination input event (combined key signal S20, figure 3) takes effect in the second electronic device (the device driver 250 determines whether to perform communication of different data and command with micro-computer 230 at step S40, figure 3, the stored configuration is consulted precisely to decide whether the combination takes effect on the device, column 5, lines 8 – 35).
19. Li modified by the teachings of Ha as seen in claim 4 above, as per claim 13, Li teaches a method wherein the step of sending the input event to the first distributed input subsystem of the first electronic device (Li, send path on the producing machine, step 504, figure 5, paragraphs 40 and 41) comprises: determining, by using the second input subsystem (Ha, 230 with 250, figures 2 and 3), that the input event is a key combination input event (Li, 230 discriminates a combined key signal on the basis of the signal received by the remote control receiver, figure 3, column 4, lines 12 – 34); and determining that key combination input information in the key combination input event is not in the first key combination configuration trustlist (Ha, determine device driver 250 need not perform communication of different data and command with 230 at step S40, 250 proceeds to step S60 to allow 270 to perform function of combined signal); sending, by using the second distributed input subsystem (Li, aggregate connection manager 224L, figures 2 and 3), the input event to the first distributed input subsystem of the first electronic device (Li, the data is routed to the aggregate connection manager which transfers it to the remove machine, figure 3, paragraph 41), wherein the second input subsystem is located at a same layer as the second distributed input subsystem in an operating system of the second electronic device, or the second input subsystem and the second distributed input subsystem are a same subsystem (Li, the device manager 222L receives mouse/keyboard data from the filter driver, paragraph 30 and connection manager 224L in user mode on the same machine, figure 2).
20. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Ivashin et al. (US Publication Number 2013/0212489, hereinafter “Ivashin”).
21. As per claim 7, Li teaches a method, wherein after the step of creating the peripheral agent corresponding to the peripheral of the one or more second electronic devices.
Li does not appear to explicitly disclose, the method further comprises: initializing an event injection thread and an event transmission thread, wherein the event injection thread is configured to inject the received input event into the corresponding peripheral agent, and the event transmission thread is configured to receive the input event.
However, Ivashin discloses the method further comprises: initializing an event injection thread (notification thread of RawInputNotifier module withing 44, figure 2, paragraphs 64 and 65) and an event transmission thread (thread created by the hooking module to obtain and monitor incoming virtual mouse events, figure 2, paragraphs 46, 48, 64, and 78), wherein the event injection thread is configured to inject the received input event (event 32, figure 2) into the corresponding peripheral agent, and the event transmission thread is configured to receive the input event (notification thread awaken when events dispatched by 38, figure 2, paragraph 56, 66, 68).
Li and Ivashin are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of device handling in a remote manner.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Li and Ivashin before him or her, to modify the input handling of Li to include the input processing of Ivashin because it would allow for enhance device driver functionality in the operating system.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance remote device utilization (paragraphs 6 – 8 and 15). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Ivashin with Li to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
22. Claims 10 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Jeong et al. (US Patent Number 10,893,092, hereinafter “Jeong”).
23. As per claims 10 and 18 Li does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the first distributed input subsystem is located at an application framework layer of the first electronic device, and the second distributed input subsystem is located at an application framework layer of the target second electronic device.
However, Jeong discloses wherein the first distributed input subsystem (application framework layer 1552 with application sharing service layer 1553, figure 15) is located at an application framework layer of the first electronic device (host electronic device 1500 defines 1551…1557, figure 15, where host framework 1410 defines application share manager 1412, figure 14 and coordinated by sharing manager), and the second distributed input subsystem (1562 with 1563, figure 15) is located at an application framework layer of the target second electronic device (1562 transmits the input event to 1563 to the host device 1500 through 1565, the client 1450 transmits received event to the application share manager 1412 on the host which outputs it to the corresponding activities 1401…1404, figure 4).
Li and Jeong are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of networked general-purpose devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Li and Jeong before him or her, to modify the software handling of Li to include the shared mechanism of Jeong because it would allow for enhance device driver functionality in the operating system.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance remote control functionality (column 1, lines 27 – 47). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Jeong with Li to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
24. Claims 2 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Ha further in view of Lemmens et al. (US Publication Number 2022/0391158, hereinafter “Lemmens”).
25. As per claims 2 and 20, Li teaches a method and device, wherein the step of processing the input event (figure 3 traces the receive path on the remote machine from virtual bus driver 230R through virtual filer drivers to the operating system) comprises: receiving, by using the target peripheral agent (232R/234R, figure 3), the input event forwarded by the first distributed input subsystem (virtual mouse driver 232R and virtual keyboard driver 234R receive mouse and keyboard data from 230R, paragraph 31, connection manager provides the data to receiving machines aggregate device manager which then provides it to the virtual bus, paragraph 42); sending, by using the target peripheral agent in the first electronic device, the input event to a first input subsystem (operating system of remote machine, send to operating system, figure 3, each virtual driver controls its respective virtual device and presents the virtual devices to the operating system as real devices, paragraph 33), wherein the first input subsystem is located at a same layer as the first distributed input subsystem in an operating system of the first electronic device, or the first input subsystem and the first distributed input subsystem are a same subsystem (aggregate device manager 222 and aggregate connection manager 224 are the components of the user mode aggregate input service on each machine, paragraphs 26 – 28 the device manager receives remote data and sends to local stack, paragraphs 30 and 42).
Li does not appear to explicitly disclose and identifying a first application in which an input focus is located; and sending, by using the first input subsystem of the first electronic device, the input event to the first application; or determining, according to a preset rule, a second application corresponding to the input event; starting, by using the first input subsystem of the first electronic device, the second application; and sending the input event to the second application.
However, Ha discloses or determining, according to a preset rule (previously registered data held by 270, figures 2 and 3), a second application (290, figure 2) corresponding to the input event (step S70, 270 detects 290 corresponding to the function informed by 250 from registered data, figure 3, then 270 registers a name of 290 to be replaced so the rule is preset and dynamic by user configuration); starting, by using the first input subsystem (270, figure 2) of the first electronic device, the second application (detected application software is driven to perform function at S80, figure 3); and sending the input event to the second application (pushed key is function key user interface software 270 transfers to 290, figures 2 and 3).
Li and Ha are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of combination input received on one device and determining whether to convey it to a secondary device via user functionality in combination with an operating system.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Li and Ha before him or her, to modify the input handling of Li to include the input processing of Ha because it would allow for enhance device driver functionality in the operating system.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance remote control functionality (column 1, lines 33 – 63). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Ha with Li to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
Li does not appear to explicitly disclose and identifying a first application in which an input focus is located; and sending, by using the first input subsystem of the first electronic device, the input event to the first application
However, Lemmens discloses and identifying a first application in which an input focus is located (device/global internal state 357 is used by sorter 370, figure 3a); and sending, by using the first input subsystem of the first electronic device, the input event to the first application (event sorter 370 receives event information and determines the application 340-1 and view 391 to deliver the event information where the first electronic device detects inputs via shared input device for detected inputs to second system, figures 1A/1B/3B).
Li/Ha and Lemmens are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of combination input received on one device and determining whether to convey it to a secondary device via user functionality in combination with an operating system.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Li/Ha and Lemmens before him or her, to modify the input handling of Li/Ha to include the input processing of Lemmens because it would allow for shared input device management.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance multiple device input and output configuration (paragraph 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Lemmens with Li/Ha to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
Conclusion
26. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Bar-on/Zhao/Raleigh/Yoon has teachings of remote device control via peripherals of a secondary device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AURANGZEB HASSAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8625. The examiner can normally be reached 7 AM to 3 PM.
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AH
/HENRY TSAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2184
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