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 .
DETAILED ACTION
1. This Action is in response to application 18,979,940 filed on 12/13/2024.
2. Claims 1-20 are pending.
3. Claims 1-20 are rejected.
Drawings
4. Drawings filed on 12/13/2024 are approved by the office.
Information Disclosure Statement
5. IDS filed on 12/13/2024, 04/03/2025, 06/05/2025, 10/24/2025, 12/30/2025 and 06/05/2026 has been considered.
Double Patenting
6. 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 §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) 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 USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The 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/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
7. Claims 1-20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as unpatentable over claims 1-7 and 9-48 of U. S. Patent No. 10,623,361 since the claims, if allowed, would improperly extend the "right to exclude" already granted in the patent. The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is anticipated by the patent since the patent and the application are claiming common subject matter.
8. Claims 1-20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U. S. Patent No. 11,171,907 since the claims, if allowed, would improperly extend the "right to exclude" already granted in the patent. The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is anticipated by the patent since the patent and the application are claiming common subject matter.
9. Claims 1-20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U. S. Patent No. 11,606,327 since the claims, if allowed, would improperly extend the "right to exclude" already granted in the patent. The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is anticipated by the patent since the patent and the application are claiming common subject matter.
10. Claims 1-20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U. S. Patent application No. 12,137,074, since the claims, if allowed, would improperly extend the "right to exclude" already granted in the patent. The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is anticipated by the patent since the patent and the application are claiming common subject matter.
11. Claims 1-20 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as unpatentable over claims 1-21 of U. S. Patent No. 12,255,864, since the claims, if allowed, would improperly extend the "right to exclude" already granted in the patent. The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is anticipated by the patent since the patent and the application are claiming common subject matter.
Claim 1 of ‘361
A method for managing email on a user device comprising: displaying a histogram on a screen of the user device, the histogram being associated with a plurality of received emails, where an X-axis of the histogram represents a plurality of time periods, and a Y-axis of the histogram represents a number of emails received during respective time periods if the plurality of time periods; displaying a first plurality of email tiles in a first vertical list on the screen of the user device, wherein the first plurality of email tiles in the first vertical list are associated with a first time period of the plurality of time periods; detecting a motion-based gesture from a user of the user device while displaying the first plurality of email tiles in the first vertical list on the screen of the user device, wherein the motion-based gesture includes at least one of a tap on a surface of the screen on a region of the histogram associated with a second time period different from the first time period or a swipe across the surface of the screen in a region associated with the histogram; and in response to detecting the motion-based gesture, changing the display of the first plurality of email tiles in the first vertical list to display a second plurality of email tiles in a second vertical list associated with the second time period.
Claim 1 of ‘907
A method comprising: displaying a graphical display of numerical data on a visual display of a user device, the graphical display being associated with a plurality of electronic messages, each electronic message of the plurality of electronic messages being associated with a time period; displaying a first plurality of message tiles in a vertical list on the visual display of the user device, the first plurality of message tiles being associated with a first portion of the graphical display; detecting a gesture from a user of the user device while displaying the first plurality of message tiles in the vertical list on the visual display of the user device, wherein the gesture includes a touch input on a surface of the visual display corresponding to a second portion of the graphical display different from the first portion of the graphical display; and in response to detecting the gesture, changing the display of the first plurality of message tiles in the vertical list to display a second plurality of message tiles associated with the second portion of the graphical display.
Claim 1 of ‘327
A computer-readable storage medium, excluding transitory signals and carrying instructions, which, when executed by at least one data processor of a virtual reality system, cause the virtual reality system to: cause display of a virtual reality interface including multiple graphical tiles in a particular chronological order, wherein each graphical tile represents an electronic message, and wherein one or more graphical tiles are selectively movable among the multiple graphical tiles based on a user's motion; detect a motion-based gesture of the user relative to the virtual reality interface while displaying the multiple graphical tiles on the virtual reality interface, correlate the motion-based gesture of the user to the display of the virtual reality interface to move a particular graphical tile to a new location among the multiple graphical tiles; and in response to the motion-based gesture: virtually displace another graphical tile of the multiple graphical tiles to accommodate the new location of the particular graphical tile; and cause display, on the virtual reality interface, of the multiple graphical tiles arranged in a new order different from the particular order, wherein the new order includes the particular graphical tile in the new location among the multiple graphical tiles.
Claim 1 of ‘074
A method comprising: causing display of a graphical display on a visual display of a user device, the graphical display being associated with a plurality of electronic messages, each electronic message of the plurality of electronic messages being associated with a time period; causing display of a first plurality of message tiles in a first vertical list on the visual display of the user device, the first plurality of message tiles being associated with a first portion of the graphical display; detecting a gesture from a user of the user device while displaying the first plurality of message tiles in the vertical list on the visual display of the user device, wherein the gesture is associated with a sender of electronic messages; and in response to detecting the gesture, changing the display of the first plurality of message tiles in the first vertical list to display a second plurality of message tiles associated with a second portion of the graphical display, wherein the second portion of the graphical display is a second vertical list of a plurality of message tiles associated with the sender of electronic messages.
Claim 1 of ‘864:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by one or more data processors of a system, cause the system to: cause display, on a user device, of a vertical list of graphical elements arranged in chronological order on a main interface of a message client, wherein each graphical element presents information of an associated electronic message, wherein each electronic message is associated with one or more contacts from a list of contacts, and wherein a particular contact of the one or more contacts of the list of contacts is associated with an icon image; receive a first user input associated with the particular contact of the one or more contacts of the list of contacts; and in response to the first user input, cause presentation of a visualization of contact information associated with the particular contact including the icon image.
Claim 1 of instant application:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by one or more data processors of a system, cause the system to: cause display, on a user device, of a list of graphical elements arranged in chronological order on an interface of a message client, wherein each graphical element represents an electronic message; identify one or more contacts from a list of contacts as a sender of one or more electronic messages, wherein the one or more contacts are associated with respective icons from the list of contacts; associate a particular icon of the one or more contacts as an identified sender of a particular electronic message; and cause display, on the user device, of a particular graphical element of the list of graphical elements to include the particular icon with the particular electronic message.
Allowable Subject Matter
12. Claims 1-20 are allowable if the claims overcome the Double Patenting rejection rendered above. A detailed reasons for allowance will be provided once the application is in allowable form.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
A method and a device are disclosed including a user interface software component configured to dynamically display and manage grouped graphical representations, such as tiles, of electronic data and messages, such as files and emails, that are rendered based on relevance scores, and are associated with two or more user accounts. The messages may be grouped visually or logically. The user interface may automatically categorize messages by assigning certain attributes based heuristics or other information. The user interface is further configured to allow zooming in and out for more or less details, respectively. The user interface is further configured to allow automatic and/or dynamic changes to the appearance and contents of tiles based on the relevance scores and other factors, and further allow searching for, dispositioning, and taking various actions on one or a group of messages. (Carlson et al. ‘373)
Systems and methods are disclosed for presenting information related to an object including a word or phrase in a text content that is considered as unstructured data. Methods include identifying a term in the text content as a candidate for presenting such information. Once the term is identified, various data sources including document or email search indexes and relational or non-relational databases are searched, and data units related to the selected terms are retrieved and displayed in a user interface with a concurrent view of both the text content containing the term and the related information. Other methods for utilizing various visual effects to concurrently display relevant information associated with various user interface objects are also disclosed. Further methods disclosed include effective ways for handling emails, enhancing social network information presentation and user experiences, as well as enterprise internal message delivery for enterprise healthcare cost-reduction and employee well-being. (Zhang et al. ‘976)
Smiliemail is an existing web-based application that enhances online communication by enabling users to create and send affective, engaging messages. It uses a computer generated video avatar, which articulates a sender's message that has been tagged using an XML markup language. With the advent of smart phones, a new less complex screen by screen interface was required due to their reduced screen size and power. A new Smiliemail client could also cater for the mobile paradigm of "media-rich communication everywhere". Interaction between users on Social Network Sites (SNS), such as Facebook often use emotional or affective communication. However, plain text messages, even if tempered with appropriate smilie icons, often cause misunderstanding, leading to flame wars or similar. Hence the Smiliemail affective avatars may provide an effective inter-user communication on SNSs. This case-study discusses the user interface evolution from the existing web-based Smiliemail interface, through to a smart phone interface, and finally to the SmilieFace Facebook application "canvas" interface. This study also details some Facebook application user interface and implementation issues. (Hengky et al., “SmilieFace: Evolving Interface Design”)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVOUD ZAND whose telephone number is (571)272-2697, Fax (571) 273-2697. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9:30-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Oscar A Louie can be reached on (571-270-1684). The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/DAVOUD A ZAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445
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