DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
1. Applicant’s Preliminary Amendment filed January 15, 2025 is received and entered.
2. 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 § 101
3. 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
4. Claim 20 is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Regarding claim 20, the recitation of “A recording medium” indicates that the claim is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Examiner referred to Applicant’s specification to determine the scope of the term “recording medium.” The Applicant’s disclosure regarding the term “recording medium” fails to mention, reference, or exclude the possibility that the “recording medium” may be embodied as signals, such as carrier waves or electromagnetic signals that are transmitted via a transitory machine-readable storage medium. Because of the absence of any explicit exclusion, the term “recording medium" is interpreted to include non-tangible embodiments such as transitory signals, carrier waves, etc.
Such an interpretation renders claim 20 as non-statutory subject matter due to the scope including both tangible and intangible embodiments. As such, claim 20 is not limited to statutory subject matter and is therefore rejected as being directed to non-statutory subject matter under 35 USC 101.
It is recommended that Applicant amend claim 20 to recite “A non-transitory recording medium” in order to overcome this rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. Claims 1, 4 – 5, and 19 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Abraham et al. (U.S. Pub. 2018/0046423).
Regarding claim 1, Abraham teaches: a user terminal (FIG. 1; paragraph [0022]; system 100) including:
a main display (FIG. 3A; paragraph [0034]; first display device 121a);
an interface unit configured to be connected to an external device equipped with a sub-display (FIGS. 1, 3A; paragraphs [0028]; I/O interface 117 is connected to second display device 121b [external device with a sub-display]);
a detector configured to detect an arrangement position of the sub-display (FIGS. 3A, 3B; paragraphs [0036], [0037]; display sensors 123 detect the location and orientation of each display device 121 relative to one another. Specifically, display sensors 123a-d detect an arrangement position of the second display device 121b [sub-display]); and
a controller configured to control connection setting related to an arrangement of the sub-display to be automatically performed based on the arrangement position of the sub-display detected via the detector (FIGS. 1, 7; paragraph [0024], [0036], [0037], [0040]; display controller 103 controls the transfer of data between display sensors 123, display devices 121, etc., including adjusting the display settings of each display device 121. These adjusted display settings are calibrated automatically in step 705 of process 700 based on the detected arrangement position of the second display device 121b [sub-display] relative to the first display device 121a [main display] as detected by display sensors 123).
Regarding claim 4, Abraham teaches: wherein the detector includes a plurality of hall sensors, and the controller controls the arrangement position of the sub-display to be detected based on a magnetic field strength of a magnet mounted on the external device sensed via the plurality of hall sensors (paragraph [0037]; the display sensors 123 may be hall effect based magnetic position sensors, this inherently requires a magnetic sensor and a magnet. Accordingly, the particular arrangement position of the second display device 121b [sub-display] relative to the first display device 121a [main display] is detected using a magnetic field strength of a magnet as detected by the hall effect sensor. As illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the display sensors 123 may be disposed on either, or both, of the first display device 121a [main display] and the second display device 121b [sub-display]. Accordingly, one of the magnets may be mounted on the second display device 121b [external device] and the magnetic field thereof sensed by a hall effect display sensor 123 mounted on the first display device 121a [main display]).
Regarding claim 5, Abraham teaches: wherein the detector includes a camera, and the controller controls the arrangement position of the sub-display to be detected based on an appearance of a user captured by the camera (paragraphs [0039] – [0042], [0051]; display settings of each display device 121 are adjusted based on sensor data received by the display sensors 123, a user’s personal preferences, and other collected data. This other collected data may include data captured by a biometric input device, such as a camera, to detect a user’s head movements, eye movements, eye gaze angle, frequency of head rotation, fatigue, or eye strain. For example, a user’s eye gaze angle may be utilized to adjust the angle of the transition of display objects between display devices 121a and 121b, respectively, in order to provide a smoother transition of display objects, such as mouse cursor 304).
Regarding claim 19, a method for controlling a user terminal including:
connecting the user terminal to an external device equipped with a sub-display (FIGS. 1, 3A; paragraphs [0028]; system 100 includes I/O interface 117 that is connected to first display device 121a and second display device 121b [external device with a sub-display]);
detecting an arrangement position of the sub-display (FIGS. 3A, 3B; paragraphs [0036], [0037]; display sensors 123 detect the location and orientation of each display device 121 relative to one another. Specifically, display sensors 123a-d detect an arrangement position of the second display device 121b [sub-display]); and
automatically performing connection setting related to the arrangement of the sub-display based on the arrangement position of the sub-display detected via a detector (FIGS. 1, 7; paragraph [0024], [0036], [0037], [0040]; display controller 103 controls the transfer of data between display sensors 123, display devices 121, etc., including adjusting the display settings of each display device 121. These adjusted display settings are calibrated automatically in step 705 of process 700 based on the detected arrangement position of the second display device 121b [sub-display] relative to the first display device 121a [main display] as detected by display sensors 123).
Regarding claim 20, Abraham teaches: a recording medium for storing a program to be executed by a user terminal (paragraph [0069]; disclosed aspects may be implemented via a computer readable storage medium executed by a processor).
The remainder of this claim requires only method steps that have the same scope as those rejected above with regard to claim 19. Accordingly, the remainder of this claim is rejected for at least the same reasons set forth above with regard to claim 19. A duplication of the above rejection is not included in this Office Action for the purpose of brevity.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abraham, as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 2, Abraham fails to explicitly disclose: wherein the controller controls the detector to be activated for a predetermined time from a time point at which the external device is connected so as to detect the arrangement position of the sub-display.
However, Abraham teaches that in step 701, a user is identified for automatically configuring multiple display devices and sensor data is collected is subsequently gathered in step 703 (FIG. 7; paragraphs [0050], [0051]). Accordingly, it is disclosed that, at a “time point” after a user is identified when multiple display devices, such as first display device 121a [main display] and the second display device 121b [sub-display], are connected, display sensors 123 are activated for detecting the relative positioning of the displays 121a and 121b for at least a minimal amount of time that is sufficient to gather the disclosed data so that the displays can be calibrated in step 705.
This at least a minimal amount of time is interpreted as the “predetermined time” and, with regard to the process of FIG. 7 of Abraham, lasts for the duration required to complete step 703.
For at least the reasons set forth above, Abraham renders obvious the subject matter of claim 2 to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s claimed invention.
9. Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abraham, as applied to claim 1 above, in view of White (U.S. Pub. 2022/0070619).
Regarding claim 3, Abraham fails to explicitly disclose: wherein the detector includes a plurality of receivers for short-range communication, and the controller controls the arrangement position of the sub-display to be detected based on a receiver signal strength indicator of a beacon signal transmitted from the external device received via the plurality of receivers for the short-range communication.
However, White discloses that near field communication (NFC) sensors are used to detect a distance and alignment between two devices based on received signal strength indication (RSSI) (paragraph [0053]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s claimed invention to combine the known teachings of Abraham and White to yield predictable results. Specifically, it would have been obvious to simply substitute one relative position sensor for another. Specifically, it would have been obvious to utilize the NFC sensors that detect distance via RSSI, as disclosed by White, as a simple substitute to the particular sensors disclosed by Abraham. Such a modification of Abraham requires nothing more than using known teachings in known manners to yield predictable results through simple substitution.
Allowable Subject Matter
10. Claims 6 – 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN A LUBIT whose telephone number is (571)270-3389. The examiner can normally be reached M - F, ~6am - 3pm.
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/RYAN A LUBIT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2626
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