Detailed Action
1. This Office Action is responsive to the Preliminary Amendment filed 08/14/2025. Claims 1-51 and 53 have been cancelled. Claims 52, 65 and 66 have been amended. Claims 52 and 54-66 are pending for examination. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
4. Claims 52, 54-62 and 64-66 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DALONZO et al. (US 2024/0015120 A1), hereinafter “DALONZO”.
5. As to claim 52, DALONZO teaches a computer system configured to communicate with one or more display generation components ([0526]: the first and second electronic devices and one or more third electronic devices), comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:
displaying, via the one or more display generation components, a messaging user interface that includes a message conversation between a first participant and one or more other participants, the message conversation including one or more messages between the first participant and the one or more other participants (Figs. 6A-6SS and [0194-0195]: displaying, via the one or more electronic devices, a message application user interface one or more messaging conversations between a first participant and one or more other participants), wherein the one or more messages include a first message that includes first content and second content that is different from the first content (FIG. 10C and [0381-0385]: the text entry field 1014 including a portion 1018b of text that possibly corresponds to the name of the other user in the conversation (i.e., first content) … the portion 1018b of text is displayed with a visual characteristic different from the other text in the text entry field 1014 (i.e., second content); and
while displaying the messaging user interface, displaying, via the one or more display generation components, the first message, including:
displaying the first content with a first visual effect applied to the first content (FIG. 10C and [0381]: the portion 1018b (first content) may be displayed at a larger size than the other text and/or in italics, but in some embodiments, another visual characteristic, such as bold text, or a color different from the color of the rest of the text in text entry field 1014 is used); and
displaying the second content without the first visual effect applied to the second content, wherein displaying the second content without the first visual effect applied to the second content includes adjusting a visual property of the second content based on the first visual effect being applied to the first content (FIG. 10C and [0381]: the text in the text entry field other than text 1018b (second content) may be displayed in a different color, such as grey, blue, another color, and/or a color with a special visual effect).
6. As to claim 54, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, wherein displaying the second content without the first visual effect applied to the second content includes displaying the second content with a second visual effect applied to the second content, wherein the second visual effect is different from the first visual effect (FIG. 10C and [0381]: the text in the text entry field other than text 1018b (second content) may be displayed in a different color, such as grey, blue, another color, and/or a color with a special visual effect).
7. As to claim 55, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, the one or more programs further including instructions for: prior to displaying the first message, displaying, via the one or more display generation components, a preview of the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content (FIGS. 10EE-10FF and [0035-0037]: in response to detecting that text 1048b matches the first name of the contact in the conversation … displays an option 1046d (i.e., a preview with bold text in larger size) above the text entry field to turn text 1048b into a mention, as shown in FIG. 10EE. In response to detecting selection of option 1046d shown in FIG. 10EE, the electronic device 500 replaces text 1048b with text 1048c, which is displayed in a larger size than the other text in text entry field 1014 and in bold text).
8. As to claim 56, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, wherein displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content includes: displaying a first instance of the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content; and after displaying the first instance of the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content, displaying a second instance of the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content (FIG. 10N-10P and [0393]: updates the text entry field 1014 as shown in FIG. 10N to display the portion of text 1022c “Bernadette” in bold, thus indicating that the portion of text 1022c will be a mention of the other user in the conversation).
9. As to claim 57, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, the one or more programs further including instructions for: after displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content (FIG. 10D and [0382]: display the portion 1018c of text corresponding to the name of the other user in the conversation with the larger size and the italic text as described with reference to FIG. 10C), detecting, via one or more input devices that are in communication with the computer system, a set of one or more inputs corresponding to a request to edit the first visual effect (FIG. 10D and [0382]: the user selects (e.g., with contact 1003) the portion 1018c of text corresponding to the name of the other user in the messaging conversation); and in response to detecting the set of one or more inputs corresponding to the request to edit the first visual effect, displaying, via the one or more display generation components, the first content without the first visual effect applied to the first content (FIG. 10E and [0383]: In response to the user’s selection in FIG. 10D, the electronic device 500 optionally displays the portion of the text 1018d in text that is bold and not italic, as shown in the FIG. 10E. It should be understood that text 1018c illustrated in FIG. 10D and text 1018d illustrated in FIG. 10E have the same text content and are the same text, but are displayed in different styles in response to the user input illustrated in FIG. 10D).
10. As to claim 58, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, wherein displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content includes: animating a first portion of the first content; and after animating the first portion of the first content, animating a second portion of the first content, wherein the second portion of the first content is different from the first portion of the first content ([0046]: The visual output optionally includes graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively termed “graphics”); [0065]: As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including, without limitation, text, web pages, icons, digital images, videos, animations and the like).
11. As to claim 59, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, wherein displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content includes changing a font of the first content over time (FIGS. 10DDD-10HHH and [0435]: In FIG. 10DDD, in response to detecting that text 1048b matches the first name of the contact in the conversation, the electric device 500 displays the text 1048b in larger text than the rest of the text in text entry field 1014 and/or in italics to indicate that the text 1048b can be turned into a mention; [0439]: as shown in FIG. 10HHH, in response to detecting selection of the spacebar of soft keyboard 1012 shown in FIG. 10GGG, the electronic device 500 enters a space after text 1048d. As shown in FIG. 10HHH, text 1048d is now changed to be displayed at the same size as the other text in the text entry field 1014 and not bold or italic).
12. As to claim 60, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, wherein displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content includes changing a spacing between two or more characters of the first content over time (FIGS. 10DDD-10HHH, [0435]: as in FIG. 10DDD, the electric device 500 displays the text 1048b in larger text than the rest of the text in text entry field 1014 and/or in italics to indicate that the text 1048b can be turned into a mention; [0439]: as shown in FIG. 10HHH, text 1048d is now changed to be displayed at the same size as the other text in the text entry field 1014 and not bold or italic, inherently, as the font is changed over time then the spacing between two or more characters is also changed over time).
13. As to claim 61, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, wherein displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content includes: at a first time, displaying the first content within a visually distinguished region of the messaging user interface; and at a second time different from the first time, displaying at least a portion of the first content at least partially outside the visually distinguished region of the messaging user interface (FIG. 6B and [0198-0199]: Representations 606a-c are optionally displayed with selectable options 608 that, when selected, causes the electronic device 500 to remove the conversation from pinned conversations region (e.g., and moved to the unpinned region as representation 610). Representations 610a-d are optionally displayed with selectable options 612 that, when selected, causes the electronic 500 to add the respective conversation to the pinned conversations region (e.g., and removed as a representation 610 from the unpinned region).
14. As to claim 62, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, wherein displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content includes: at a first time, displaying the first message (“Hi @kitty”) including a first portion (“@”) of the first content (“@kitty”); and at a second time different from the first time, displaying the first message without the first portion of the first content (“Hi kitty”) (FIGS. 10NN-10PP and [0421-0423]: as shown in FIG. 10NN, the user has entered the “@” symbol into the text entry field 1014 displayed with a messaging conversation; as shown in FIG. 10PP, the user has entered a portion 1028b of text corresponding to a nick name “kitty” included in the contact card of the contact (Eve Smith). In response to detecting that the portion 1028b of text corresponds to the nickname of the contact, causing the electronic device 500 turn portion 1028b of text into a mention which may be displayed in bold text and corresponds to the nickname of the contact “Hi kitty”, without “@”).
15. As to claim 64, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, wherein displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content includes: in accordance with a determination that the first content corresponds to a first language, displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content according to a first characteristic; and in accordance with a determination that the first content corresponds to a second language that is different from the first language, displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content according to a second characteristic that is different from the first characteristic ([0377]: the electronic device 500 is able to match a phonetic spelling of a name using a first alphabet system (first language) to the spelling of the name using a second alphabet system (second language). In some embodiments, this way of matching names that are different variations of the same name is facilitated by a dictionary, a function, and/or an application programming interface (API)).
16. As to claims 65-66, claims 65-66 are corresponding non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and method claims that recite similar limitations as of computer system claim 52 and do not contain any additional limitations with respect to novelty and/or inventive steps; therefore, they are rejected under the same rationale.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
17. 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.
18. Claim 63 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DALONZO, in view of CHEN et al. (US 2024/0134664 A1), hereinafter “CHEN”.
19. As to claim 63, DALONZO teaches the computer system of claim 52, but does not explicitly teach “the first content includes a first character and a second character different from the first character; and displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content includes: displaying a first visual transformation on the first character; and displaying a second visual transformation on the second character, wherein the second visual transformation is different from the first visual transformation”.
In an analogous art, CHEN teaches “the first content includes a first character (608a) and a second character (608b) different from the first character; and displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content includes: displaying a first visual transformation on the first character (moving arm 608a2); and displaying a second visual transformation on the second character (moving arm 608b1), wherein the second visual transformation is different from the first visual transformation” ([0233]: FIGS. 6D-6F illustrate first character 608a and second character 608b in an animated state that includes an animation in which first character 608a waves at second character 608b by moving arm 608a2 and second character 608b waves at first character 608a by moving arm 608b1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of CHEN, into DALONZO’s to achieve “the first content includes a first character and a second character different from the first character; and displaying the first content with the first visual effect applied to the first content includes: displaying a first visual transformation on the first character; and displaying a second visual transformation on the second character, wherein the second visual transformation is different from the first visual transformation” to enable the system to provide visual effects for messages and options to create link (e.g. rich link) to contacts in a messaging conversation.
20. Further references of interest are cited on Form PTO-892, which is an attachment to this Office Action.
21. A shortened statutory period for reply to this action is set to expire THREE (3) months from the mailing date of this communication. See 37 CFR 1.134.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANG N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-3886.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, KAMAL B. DIVECHA, can be reached at (571) 272-5863. The fax phone number for the organization is (571) 273-8300.
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/QUANG N NGUYEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2441