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 .
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.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 06/05/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of US Patent No. 12,562,194 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Arguments
Claims 2, 10 and 18 have been cancelled.
Claims 1, 3-9, 11-17 and 19-20 are pending.
The Double Patenting has been withdrawn due to the submission of Terminal Disclaimer which has been approved and recorded.
Applicant’s arguments in the Remarks filed on 06/05/2026 have been considered but are moot because the amendments have changed the scope of the independent claims and their corresponding dependent claims, and the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1, 3-9, 11-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Edson (US 2024/0273796) in view of Bai et al (WO 2024/228676 A1 – an English translation version is provided herein).
Regarding claim 1, Edson discloses a method for generating media content, comprising:
in response to receiving a content generation request, presenting a configuration interface comprising at least a first input component and a second input component (Figures 4C; ¶ [0029], ¶ [0035] and ¶ [0061] for presenting a user interface having two buttons for obtaining inputs in response to user’s content generation request);
obtaining a plurality of reference images via the first input component and a prompt item via the second input component (Figures 4D-4E; ¶ [0029], ¶ [0035]-[0036] and ¶ [0061]-[0063] for obtaining reference image or image file and text instructions); and
generating a target media content based on the plurality of reference images and the prompt item (Figures 4F-4H; ¶ [0029], ¶ [0052]-[0053], ¶ [0063]-[0067] for generating an animated image file based on selected reference image or image file and the text instructions), wherein the target media content comprises a plurality of frames corresponding to the plurality of reference images (Figures 5A-5E and 8-9 for the animated image file generated from a plurality of frames corresponding to reference image file).
Edson is silent about determining a reference start frame of media content to be generated based on a first image in the plurality of reference images; determining a reference end frame of the media content to be generated based on a second image in the plurality of reference images; and generating the target media content based on the reference start frame, the reference end frame, and the prompt item.
Bai discloses generating the target media content based on the plurality of reference images and the prompt item comprising determining a reference end frame of the media content to be generated based on a second image in the plurality of reference images; and generating the target media content based on the reference start frame, the reference end frame, and the prompt item (see sections describing Figure 2, Figures 7-9).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Edson system with the teaching of Bai, so to provide an alternative approaching way of processing and generating media content as a matter of designed choices.
Regarding claim 3, Edson in view of Bai discloses the method as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. The combined system further discloses wherein presenting the configuration interface comprises: receiving a selection for a target generation mode among a plurality of candidate generation modes; and presenting the configuration interface corresponding to the target generation mode (taught by Edson; Figures 4C-4F and 4K).
Regarding claim 4, Edson in view of Bai discloses the method as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. The combined system further discloses wherein the configuration interface further comprises a third input component, and the method further comprises: obtaining at least one media parameter via the third input component, such that the target media content is further generated based on the at least one media parameter (taught by Edson; Figures 4F-4G and 4L-4N; and taught by Bai; sections describing Figure 5).
Regarding claim 5, Edson in view of Bai discloses the method as discussed in the rejection of claim 4. The combined system further discloses wherein the at least one media parameter comprises at least one of: a first media parameter indicating an action amplitude of the media content to be generated; a second media parameter indicating lens information of the media content to be generated; or a third media parameter indicating scale information of the media content to be generated (taught by Edson; ¶ [0036], ¶ [0048] and ¶ [0081]-[0086]; and taught by Bai; sections describing Figure 3).
Regarding claim 6, Edson in view of Bai discloses the method as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. The combined system further discloses the configuration interface (Figures 4G and 4O-4R) comprises a frame control component, and the method further comprises: obtaining a reference image in the plurality of reference images as an end frame of the media content in response to the frame control component indicating a control mode (taught by Bai; sections describing Figure 2, Figures 7-9).
Regarding claim 7, Edson in view of Bai discloses the method as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. The combined system further discloses wherein positions of the plurality of frames in the target media content are determined based on a configuration operation (taught by Edson; ¶ [0046]-[0050]).
Regarding claim 8, Edson in view of Bai discloses the method as discussed in the rejection of claim 1. The combined system further discloses wherein obtaining the plurality of reference images via the first input component comprises: determining, based on a selection of an existing video content, a target image in the existing video content as the reference image in the plurality of reference images (taught by Edson; Figures 4D-4E; ¶ [0029], ¶ [0035]-[0036] and ¶ [0061]-[0063]; and taught by Bai; sections describing Figures 2 and 7-9).
Regarding claim 9, all functionalities of an electronic device are analyzed and rejected corresponding to claim 1. Edson discloses an electronic device comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory, wherein the at least one memory is coupled to the at least one processor and stores instructions for execution by the at least one processor (Edson’s Figure 1; and Bai’s Figure 15).
Regarding claims 11-16, all limitations of claims 11-16 are analyzed and rejected corresponding to claims 3-8 respectively.
Regarding claims 17 and 19-20, all limitations of claims 17 and 19-20 are analyzed and rejected corresponding to claims 1 and 3-4 respectively.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GIGI L DUBASKY whose telephone number is (571)270-5686. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:00.
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/GIGI L DUBASKY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421
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