DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. 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.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The Information Disclosure Statement filed 3 March 2025 and 21 November 2025 have been fully considered by Examiner. Annotated copies are included herewith.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
6. Claims 1, 8-11, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jung (US-2020/0177714).
Regarding claim 1: Jung discloses an electronic device (fig 1 and [0029]-[0030] of Jung) comprising: communication circuitry (fig 1(190) and [0046] of Jung) configured to receive a request for synchronizing data with a target electronic device ([0075]-[0080], [0086], and [0123] of Jung – the electronic device 101 receives through the communication module 190 receives various request signals from a user suitable to prompt aspect ratio synchronization with an expandable display), the target electronic device (fig 1(102,104) and [0049] of Jung – target/external electronic devices 102, 104 can be the same type of device as the electronic device 101) comprising an expandable display that comprises a plurality of displays or a single expandable display (figs 3A-3D and [0059]-[0062] of Jung); a display (fig 1 (160) and [0037] of Jung); memory comprising one or more storage media storing instructions (fig 1(130) and [0033]-[0034] of Jung); and at least one processor comprising processing circuitry, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to ([0031] and [0033]-[0034] of Jung): compare, based on the request for synchronizing data, a form factor of the electronic device with a form factor of the target electronic device (figs 6A-6C and [0121]-[0123] of Jung – identify/compare aspect ratio (form factor)), obtain, based on a result of the comparison of the form factor of the electronic device with the form factor of the target electronic device, an aspect ratio of the electronic device and a plurality of aspect ratios of the target electronic device based on display expansion of the target electronic device ([0122]-[0125] of Jung – comparison performed according to the signal received indicating a change in the form factor of the expandable device and an aspect ratio is obtained from the available target device aspect ratios); determine whether the aspect ratio of the electronic device corresponds to the plurality of aspect ratios of the target electronic device ([0123]-[0125] of Jung – a suitable aspect ratio is selected according to the aspect ratio of the content and the aspect ratio of the target device); and determine, based on an aspect ratio of the plurality of aspect ratios of the target electronic device determined to correspond to the aspect ratio of the electronic device, a screen setting to be applied to the target electronic device (figs 6A-6C and [0123]-[0125] of Jung – outputs to the device with a suitable aspect ratio).
Regarding claim 8: Jung discloses the electronic device of claim 1 (as rejected above), wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, further cause the electronic device to, based on the form factor of the electronic device matching the form factor of the target electronic device, synchronize data of the electronic device with the target electronic device (fig 11 and [0168]-[0176] of Jung – synchronizes data between external/target devices to match the form factor of the electronic device).
Regarding claim 9: Jung discloses the electronic device of claim 1 (as rejected above), wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, further cause the electronic device to: transmit a request for screen setting data to a server connected to the electronic device; receive, from the server, the screen setting data associated with an aspect ratio of the target electronic device; recommend, based on the screen setting data, the screen setting data associated with the aspect ratio of the target electronic device to a user; and modify and apply, based on the screen setting of the electronic device, the aspect ratio of the target electronic device (fig 1(108), fig 11, [0049], and [0168]-[0176] of Jung – electronic device 101 interacts with the server 108, sending and receiving requests and data, including aspect ratio data to synchronize the external electronic devices 102, 104 according to the aspect ratio of the electronic device 101).
Regarding claim 10: Jung discloses an electronic device (fig 1 and [0029]-[0030] of Jung) comprising: communication circuitry (fig 1(190) and [0046] of Jung) configured to receive a request for synchronizing data with a target electronic device ([0075]-[0080], [0086], and [0123] of Jung – the electronic device 101 receives through the communication module 190 receives various request signals from a user suitable to prompt aspect ratio synchronization with an expandable display); an expandable display comprising a plurality of displays or a single expandable display (figs 3A-3D and [0059]-[0062] of Jung); memory comprising one or more storage media storing instructions (fig 1(130) and [0033]-[0034] of Jung); and at least one processor comprising processing circuitry, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to ([0031] and [0033]-[0034] of Jung): compare, based on the request for synchronizing data, a form factor of the electronic device to a form factor of the target electronic device (figs 6A-6C and [0121]-[0123] of Jung – identify/compare aspect ratio (form factor)), obtain, based on a result of the comparison of the form factor of the electronic device with the form factor of the target electronic device, a plurality of aspect ratios of the electronic device according to display expansion of the electronic device and an aspect ratio of the target electronic device ([0122]-[0125] of Jung – comparison performed according to the signal received indicating a change in the form factor of the expandable device and an aspect ratio is obtained from the available target device aspect ratios); determine whether the plurality of aspect ratios of the electronic device correspond to the aspect ratio of the target electronic device ([0123]-[0125] of Jung – a suitable aspect ratio is selected according to the aspect ratio of the content and the aspect ratio of the target device); and determine, based on an aspect ratio of the electronic device determined to correspond to the aspect ratio of the target electronic device, among the plurality of aspect ratios of the electronic device, a screen setting to be applied to the target electronic device (figs 6A-6C and [0123]-[0125] of Jung – outputs to the device with a suitable aspect ratio).
Regarding claim 11: Jung discloses a method of synchronizing data between devices (figs 9-11 of Jung), the method comprising: comparing a form factor of an electronic device to a form factor of a target electronic device (figs 6A-6C and [0121]-[0123] of Jung – identify/compare aspect ratio (form factor)) that comprises an expandable display that comprises a plurality of displays or a single expandable display (figs 3A-3D and [0059]-[0062] of Jung); receiving a request for synchronizing data from the electronic device with the target electronic device ([0075]-[0080], [0086], and [0123] of Jung – the electronic device 101 receives through the communication module 190 receives various request signals from a user suitable to prompt aspect ratio synchronization with an expandable display); obtaining, based on a result of the comparing the form factor of the electronic device with the form factor of the target electronic device, an aspect ratio of the electronic device and a plurality of aspect ratios of the target electronic device based on display expansion of the target electronic device ([0122]-[0125] of Jung – comparison performed according to the signal received indicating a change in the form factor of the expandable device and an aspect ratio is obtained from the available target device aspect ratios); determining whether the aspect ratio of the electronic device corresponds to the plurality of aspect ratios of the target electronic device ([0123]-[0125] of Jung – a suitable aspect ratio is selected according to the aspect ratio of the content and the aspect ratio of the target device); and determining, based on an aspect ratio of the target electronic device determined to correspond to the aspect ratio of the electronic device, among the aspect ratios of the target electronic device, a screen setting to be applied to the target electronic device (figs 6A-6C and [0123]-[0125] of Jung – outputs to the device with a suitable aspect ratio).
Regarding claim 14: Jung discloses the method of claim 11 (as rejected above), wherein the obtaining the aspect ratio of the electronic device further comprises: obtaining, based on the electronic device comprising a plurality of displays or a single expandable display, a plurality of aspect ratios according to display expansion of the electronic device ([0122]-[0125] of Jung – comparison performed according to the signal received indicating a change in the form factor of the expandable device and an aspect ratio is obtained from the available target device aspect ratios).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 2-7, 12, 13 and 15 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Examiner has not discovered any of claims 2-7, 12, 13 and 15 in the prior art. Relevant prior art discovered by Examiner includes: Jung (US-2020/0177714), Manning (US-2024/0264634), Lee (US-11,868,580), Stahl (US-8,738,826), Suzuki (US-2012/0206896), and Marano (US-2010/0138780). However, none of the prior art cited above, nor any other prior art discovered by Examiner, fully teaches any of claims 2-7, 12, 13 and 15, including all of the limitations of the corresponding base claim and any intervening claims. Thus, claims 2-7, 12, 13 and 15 distinguish over the prior art.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James A Thompson whose telephone number is (571)272-7441. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-6pm.
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/JAMES A THOMPSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2615
