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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 2-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,200,025 in view of Jovanovic et al (2023/0208663).
Claim 2 of the present invention
Claim 16 of U.S. Patent No. 12,200,025
A method for streaming confidential materials in a network session, the method comprising:(a) establishing the network session comprising a plurality of remote client devices in communication with a remote server using a plurality of secure communication links;(b) loading the confidential materials in a content renderer operated at the remote server;(c) transmitting data streams of the confidential materials to the plurality of remote client devices, wherein the plurality of remote client devices comprises (i) a presenter device configured with a presenter interface and (ii) a viewer device configured with a viewer interface;(d) receiving, in the presenter interface, at least one data stream of the confidential materials, wherein the at least one data stream comprises a video data stream, an audio data stream, or a control data stream; and(e) outputting, in the plurality of remote client devices, representations of confidential data of (1) the video data stream or (2) the audio data stream, wherein the outputting is based at least on the control data stream.
A computer-implemented method for holding a network conferencing session, the computer-implemented method comprising: loading a presentation material in a content renderer operated at a remote server; transmitting video streams of the presentation material displayed in the content renderer to a plurality of remote client devices that are in the network conferencing session; receiving interactive events of a presenter directed at a presenter interface operated in a first remote client device from the plurality of remote client devices, the presenter interface being in communication with the remote server and displaying (1) the presentation material based on data of one of the video streams, (2) a representation of video captured by a second remote client device from the plurality of remote client devices, and (3) a representation of audio captured by the second remote client device; and controlling the presentation material in the content renderer according to the interactive events directed at the presenter interface.
Claim 16 of U.S. Patent No. 12,200,025 disclose the similar scope as that of claim 2 of the present invention except for streaming of presentation material instead of the claimed streaming of confidential material. In the same field of endeavor, Jovanovic et al method for controlling of confidential content within the communication session. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to substitute the presentation material with confidential material in the communication session and the result would have been predictable and resulted in enabling presenter to share confidential material with participants in the communication session while maintaining accountability. The remaining claims of the present invention are either directly or indirectly and/or obvious taught by that of the dependent claims of U.S. Patent No. 12,200,025.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-21 would be allowed upon filing an eTerminal or Terminal Disclaimer to overcome the above double patenting rejection.
Conclusion
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUOC DUC TRAN whose telephone number is (571) 272-7511. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am - 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Duc Nguyen can be reached on (571) 272-7503. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Quoc D Tran/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
August 31, 2026
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