DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wunderlich et al. (US 2017/0249718) in view of Mita (US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0192024) and further in view of Toussaint et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0188161).
Regarding claims 1 and 8, Wunderlich discloses an information processing device connected to a display and a touch panel overlaid on the display, comprising [see para. 0002; a system for operating a touch-sensitive display device of a motor vehicle, as well as a motor vehicle with such a system for operating a touch-sensitive display device]: a touch operation detecting unit that detects an operation on the touch panel by a user [see para. 0039 and figure 2; The touch-sensitive display device is arranged above a center console of the cockpit and therefore acts as a central display. It is possible in a touch-controlled manner via the touch-sensitive display device to activate and change a very wide variety of functions of the motor vehicle, such as, for example, a very wide variety of infotainment functions, but also adjustments to driver assistance systems]; an application executing unit that executes a plurality of applications [see para. 0039-0040 and figure 2-3; It is possible in a touch-controlled manner via the touch-sensitive display device to activate and change a very wide variety of functions of the motor vehicle, such as, for example, a very wide variety of infotainment functions, but also adjustments to driver assistance systems and the like, the touch-sensitive display device, wherein the latter is operated in such an operating mode that a graphic user interface is displayed exclusively in a central display region of the display device]; a display control unit that controls a display signal output to the display of a plurality of display contents generated by executing a plurality of applications by the application [see para. 0037 and figure 1; a control device which is designed to operate the display device in various operating modes. The system furthermore comprises a camera system which is designed to detect whether a driver or a front-seat passenger specifically would like to operate the touch-sensitive display device. In addition, the camera system is designed to determine which individual is in each case sitting on a driver's seat and on a front-seat passenger's seat and for transmitting this information to the control device], executing unit such that the display content allocation can be changed in accordance with an operation by a user when a predetermined operation is detected on the touch panel by the touch operation detecting unit [see para. 0041, 0043 and figure 4; the display device is operated by the control device in a first operating mode in which the graphic user interface is displayed exclusively in a driver-side display region of the display device and the control device operates the display device in a second operating mode in which the graphic user interface is displayed exclusively in a front-seat-passenger-side display region of the display device]; wherein the display control unit displays the layout screen in a first layout region located on the left side of the display when the operation position determining means determines that the predetermined operation was performed from the left side of the display [see para. 0040 and figure 3; a graphic user interface is displayed exclusively in a central display region of the display device. This always takes place in the cases in which it is detected that neither the driver nor the front-seat passenger would specifically like to operate the display device. In order to detect whether the front-seat passenger or the front-seat passenger specifically would like to operate the display device, it is determined by the camera system whether the front-seat passenger and/or the front-seat passenger specifically is closer with at least one finger than a predetermined distance]; and displays the layout screen (graphical user interface) in a second layout region located on the right side of the display when the operation position determining means determines that the predetermined operation was performed from the right side of the display [see para. 0043 and figure 5; it has been detected that only the front-seat passenger specifically like to operate the display device. In this case, the control device operates the display device in a second operating mode in which the graphic user interface is displayed exclusively in a front-seat-passenger-side display region of the display device. In other words, for the case in which only the front-seat passenger would like to operate the display device, the graphic user interface specifically retrieved is displaced in the direction of the front-seat passenger such that he can reach the operator control elements of the graphic user interface in a particularly simple manner, in particular without having to noticeably change his position in the front-seat-passenger seat; which corresponds to left or right orientation depending on vehicle configuration] ; however, Wunderlich fails to explicitly teach an operation position determining means for determining whether the user is operating from the left or right direction; and a layout screen that displays a reduced arrangement of the plurality of display contents can be displayed.
Mita discloses an operation position determining means for determining whether the user is operating from the left or right direction [see para. 0050, 0052; The device 1 distinguishes the operator who approaches his or her hand to the touch panel 2 from another operator, based on the judgment. In the above case, it judges the capacity change values to be generated at the left side of the touch panel 2, and accordingly it judges that the operator who intends to operate the touch panel is the front seat passenger A, not the driver D. On the other hand, when the device 1 judges the capacity change values to be at the right side portion of the electrodes 3, it judges that the operator who intends to operate the touch panel 2 is the driver D. The operator distinguishing device 1 judges the operator who intends to operate the touch panel 2 to be the front seat passenger A when it recognizes a first waveform CL at the left side portion of the touch panel 2. On the other hand, the device 1 judges the operator who intends to operate the touch panel 2 to be the driver D when it recognizes a second waveform CR at the right side portion of the touch panel 2; which corresponds to the left or right side operator and the GUI icon and elements to the display].
Mita fails to explicitly teach a layout screen that displays a reduced arrangement of the plurality of display contents can be displayed.
Toussaint discloses a layout screen that displays a reduced arrangement of the plurality of display contents can be displayed [see para. 0036-0038; multiple available displacement strategies implemented by the computing platform are evaluated and based on evaluation of the multiple available displacement strategies as noted above, a displacement strategy is selected for rearrangement of the arrangement to position the icon. For example, the display manager by way of the displacement engine configured to evaluate different displacement strategies according to criteria indicative of how disruptive the strategies are when applied to make a rearrangement; which corresponds to a lay out screen displaying a reduced arrangement of displaying contents].
It would have been obvious to one of an ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Wunderlich, Mita and Toussaint before the affective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify, the side specific GUI display control of Wunderlich and Mita’s left/right operator detection by incorporating multi-application reduced icon layout screen of Toussaint. One would have been motivated to make such a combination to improving usability on a limited display area due to the lack of space and least disruptive icon displacement techniques.
Regarding claim 2, Toussaint discloses wherein the display control unit controls a display signal to be output to the display such that, when the user performs a drag operation on the layout screen to move a first display content, which is one of a plurality of display contents [see para. 0052 and figure 5; A subject icon as being selected by interaction and moved to a target position, which in this example is occupied by another icon. Accordingly, the rules specified for the adjacent space displacement strategy trigger an evaluation of the availability of adjacent space surrounding the target position. In an implementation, an assessment may be made of adjacent space that is available in each direction (e.g., top, bottom, left, right, etc.) around the target. In this example, adjacent space is available above the icon. As such, the adjacent space displacement strategy can be used to create the rearrangement]; closer to an adjacent second display content, the size of the second display content is reduced, and when the distance traveled by the drag operation exceeds a predetermined distance, the positions of the first display content and the second display content are switched [see para. 0042, 0046 and figures 3, 6; Evaluation of displacement strategies occur in various ways described in this document. Then at “C”, strategy selection occurs based on the evaluation, the strategy selection is intended to find a strategy from among the plurality of displacement strategies that is the least disruptive to the arrangement. At “D”, rearrangement of the arrangement of icons occurs to produce a rearranged view of the icons rearranged view, space is made for insertion of the icon for application Q at a designated position by shifting icons for applications M, F, E, and Z downward. The action taken for the rearrangement reflects evaluation of various possible strategies and selection of a “best option” that is the least disruptive based on a defined measure of disruptiveness; which corresponds to displacement of adjacent items and position switching once target is reached].
Regarding claim 3, Toussaint discloses wherein the display control unit changes a reduction ratio of the second display content depending on a movement distance of the drag operation [see para. 0055. 0057 and figure 7; an arrangement of a plurality of icons, which again represents an application picker page for a smartphone device. A subject icon is depicted as being selected by interaction and moved to a target position, which in this example is at a boundary. In this example, the boundary is selected as the cut-line for expansion of the arrangement via the expand displacement strategy. Thus, the expand displacement strategy can be used to create the rearrangement in which a new row is inserted at the cut-line to accommodate the subject icon. The row is sized based on dimensions of the subject icon].
Regarding claim 4, Wunderlich discloses wherein the operation position determining means detects whether the user is operating from the left side or is operating from the right side by recognizing a human body using a camera or a sensor [see para. 0040 and figure 3; n order to detect whether the front-seat passenger or the front-seat passenger specifically would like to operate the display device, it is determined by the camera system whether the front-seat passenger and/or the front-seat passenger specifically is closer with at least one finger than a predetermined distance, for example of 5 cm, 10 cm or 20 cm, from the display device, wherein it is detected, depending thereon, whether the driver and/or the front-seat passenger would like immediately to operate the display device that the touch-sensitive display device is a capacitive display device, a sensor arrangement correspondingly provided thereon can additionally also determine whether the predetermined distance from the display device has been correspondingly breached].
Regarding claim 5, Wunderlich discloses wherein the operation position determining means determines from which direction the user is operating based on whether the predetermined operation is performed in a predetermined first detection region on a left side of the display or whether the predetermined operation is performed in a predetermined second detection region on a right side of the display [see para. 0037, 0040; a camera system which is designed to detect whether a driver or a front-seat passenger specifically would like to operate the touch-sensitive display device. In addition, the camera system is designed to determine which individual is in each case sitting on a driver's seat and on a front-seat passenger's seat and for transmitting this information to the control device. The control device is in turn designed to apply a user profile for the different individuals in each case and to detect and store their operator control actions on the touch-sensitive display device and, depending on the operator control actions, to select in a manner specific to the user profile the displayed contents of a graphic user interface, the contents being displayed by the display device].
Regarding claim 6, Mita discloses wherein the display is installed on both sides of a dashboard at a front of a vehicle, and the operation position determining means determines whether the user is operating the device from the left seat or the right seat [see para. 0058 and figures 9-11; the operator judging part of the device 1 of the first embodiment judges the hand H of the front seat passenger A to be approaching from the left side portion of the touch panel 2, and the operatable contents deciding part shifts the images displayed on the touch panel screen so that the GUI icon images of the air conditioner are moved to be arranged on the left side edge portion of the touch panel screen before the hand H touches the touch panel 2. As a result, the navigation information image is prevented from being hidden by the hand, thereby the driver D being capable of watching it. In addition, the front seat passenger A can easily operate the GUI icons because they are moved nearer to the passenger A].
Regarding claim 7, Mita discloses wherein the display is installed across the left and right sides of a dashboard at the front of the vehicle, the first detection region and the first layout region are within reach of a user sitting in a left seat, and the second detection region and the second layout region are within reach of a user sitting in a right seat [see para. 0045, 0052; the touch panel 2 is installed on an intermediate portion of an instrument panel. Specifically, the operation part of the touch panel 2 is disposed in front of the driver D and the front seat passenger A and also therebetween. In addition, the operation part 12 is arranged at a position where, in order to operate the operation part 12, a left hand (a touch-panel side hand) Hd of the driver D needs to approach it from a right side portion of the touch panel 2 and a right hand (a touch-panel side hand) Ha of the front seat passenger A needs to approach it from a left side portion of the touch panel 2 in a motor vehicle with a right hand steering wheel. Incidentally, in a motor vehicle with a left hand steering wheel, the operation part 12 is arranged at a position where a right hand (a touch-panel side hand) of a driver needs to approach it from the left side portion of the touch panel 2 and a left hand (a touch-panel side hand) of a front seat passenger needs to approach it from the right side portion].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (See PTO-892).
Park et al. (US 2023/0219417) discloses a vehicle according to embodiments includes a display unit displaying information related to the vehicle, a sensor unit detecting a position of a user of the vehicle, and a processor controlling the display unit, wherein the sensor unit is located at a bottom end of the display unit and wherein the sensor unit includes at least one or more light emitting units emitting light and at least one or more sensors receiving the light.
A reference to specific paragraphs, columns, pages, or figures in a cited prior art reference is not limited to preferred embodiments or any specific examples. It is well settled that a prior art reference, in its entirety, must be considered for all that it expressly teaches and fairly suggests to one having ordinary skill in the art. Stated differently, a prior art disclosure reading on a limitation of Applicant's claim cannot be ignored on the ground that other embodiments disclosed were instead cited. Therefore, the Examiner's citation to a specific portion of a single prior art reference is not intended to exclusively dictate, but rather, to demonstrate an exemplary disclosure commensurate with the specific limitations being addressed. In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33,216 USPQ 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006,1009, 158 USPQ 275, 277 (CCPA 1968)). In re: Upsher-Smith Labs. v. Pamlab, LLC, 412 F.3d 1319, 1323, 75 USPQ2d 1213, 1215 (Fed. Cir. 2005); In re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1264, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1782 (Fed. Cir. 1992); Merck & Co. v. Biocraft Labs., Inc., 874 F.2d 804, 807, 10 USPQ2d 1843, 1846 (Fed. Cir. 1989); In re Fracalossi, 681 F.2d 792,794 n.1,215 USPQ 569, 570 n.1 (CCPA 1982); In re Lamberti, 545 F.2d 747, 750, 192 USPQ 278, 280 (CCPA 1976); In re Bozek, 416 F.2d 1385, 1390, 163 USPQ 545, 549 (CCPA 1969).
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/CAO H NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2171
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