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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 30 April 2025 and 28 May 2026 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I in the reply filed on 11 May 2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 12-15, 17, and 23-24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11 May 2026.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the recite legal phraseology and was amended to have a structure similar to a patent claim. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-6 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (CN 107220387 A) (as provided in the IDS submitted on 30 April 2025, hereinafter Zhang – citations made with respect to machine translations submitted along with IDS), in view of Shibata et al. (US 2021/0112286 A1) (hereinafter Shibata).
Regarding Claim 1, Zhang discloses a method for sending a comment, comprising:
in response to a trigger operation on a first control on a page, displaying a first window, the first window comprising identifiers of at least one piece of candidate media data; [Fig. 2; 0093: user may initiate a comment by clicking option box 203 to open a comment input interface 204, and then may click on ‘video’ option 2041 (i.e., first control) that outputs interface 205 that allows them to browse through local videos (such as ‘video 1’ 206)]
in response to a selection operation on an identifier of first media data among the identifiers of the at least one piece of candidate media data, determining, first media data corresponding to the identifier of the first media data; [Fig. 2; 0093-95: after selecting ‘video 1’ 206, the selected video is determined and output in comment region 208] and
in response to a trigger operation on a second control on the live streaming page, displaying on the live streaming page a comment corresponding to the first media data, the comment comprising an entry for playing the first media data. [Fig. 2; 0093-95: after selecting ‘video 1’ 206 and clicking completion button 207 (i.e., second control) the selected video is determined and output in comment region 208; 0108: comment video may be seen and played by other users]
Zhang fails to explicitly disclose in response to a trigger operation on a first control on a live streaming page, displaying a first window on the live streaming page; in response to a trigger operation on a second control on the live streaming page, displaying on the live streaming page a comment corresponding to the first media data, the comment comprising an entry for playing the first media data. (Emphasis on the particular elements of the limitations disclosed by Zhang – specifically, that the comment triggering operations are performed and displayed on a live streaming page).
Shibata, in analogous art, teaches in response to a trigger operation on a first control on a live streaming page, displaying a first window on the live streaming page; in response to a trigger operation on a second control on the live streaming page, displaying on the live streaming page a comment corresponding to the first media data, the comment comprising an entry for playing the first media data. [Fig. 10; 0075-77: a view screen 80 of a viewer terminal of a live video may include video display area 81 (i.e., the live streaming page), comment display area 83, and a comment input area 86, where input area 86 (much like comment input interface of Zhang above) provides an area on the live streaming to input a comment (such as the video comments or text comments of Zhang above), and upon selecting object 861, causes the input comment to be displayed in comment areas 73/83 in objects 731/831 together with name of the viewer who input the comment]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the invention to modify the method of Zhang with the teachings of Shibata to specify the various controls for inputting and displaying a comment on a live streaming page as it is understood that live streaming services may allow commenting by viewers so as to foster communication between viewers who are viewing the same live video. [Shibata – 0003]
Regarding Claim 2, Zhang and Shibata discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Zhang and Shibata disclose wherein before responding to a trigger operation on a first control on a live streaming page, the method further comprises: in response to a trigger operation on a third control on the live streaming page, displaying an information input window on the live streaming page, and displaying the first control in the information input window. [Zhang – Fig. 2; 0093: user may initiate a comment by clicking option box 203 (i.e., third control) to open a comment input interface 204 (i.e., information input window), and then may click on ‘video’ option 2041 (i.e., first control) that outputs interface 205 that allows them to browse through local videos (such as ‘video 1’ 206); Shibata – Fig. 10; 0075-77]
Regarding Claim 3, Zhang and Shibata discloses all of the limitations of Claim 2, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Zhang and Shibata disclose wherein before responding to a trigger operation on a first control on a live streaming page, the method further comprises: in response to the trigger operation on the third control, displaying an input method window of the third control on the live streaming page; the in response to a trigger operation on a first control on a live streaming page, displaying a first window on the live streaming page comprises: in response to the trigger operation on the first control, enable displaying of the first window instead of the input method window. [Zhang – Fig. 2; 0093: user may initiate a comment by clicking option box 203 (i.e., third control) to open a comment input interface 204 (i.e., information input window), and then may click on ‘video’ option 2041 (i.e., first control) that outputs interface 205 that allows them to browse through local videos (such as ‘video 1’ 206); Shibata – Fig. 10; 0075-77]
Regarding Claim 4, Zhang and Shibata discloses all of the limitations of Claim 3, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Zhang and Shibata fail to explicitly disclose wherein the first window comprises at least one category tag; and the displaying a first window on the live streaming page comprises: in response to a trigger operation on a target tag in the at least one category tag, displaying in the first window an identifier of the candidate media data matching the target tag.
However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that media selection windows, such as the media selection window of Zhang and Shibata, may provide selectable categories in order to filter and organize media so as to allow a user to more easily find media of interest.
Regarding Claim 5, Zhang and Shibata discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Zhang discloses wherein after determining first media data corresponding to the identifier of the first media data, the method further comprises: displaying the second control in the first window. [Zhang – Fig. 2; 0093-95: after selecting ‘video 1’ 206 and clicking completion button 207 (i.e., second control) the selected video is determined and output in comment region 208; 0108: comment video may be seen and played by other users]
Regarding Claim 6, Zhang and Shibata discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1, which are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Zhang discloses wherein after displaying on the live streaming page a comment corresponding to the first media data, the method further comprises: in response to a trigger operation on the comment corresponding to the first media data, displaying the first media data. [Zhang – 0085: viewers may see uploaded comments and play the comment video]
Zhang and Shibata fail to explicitly disclose displaying a second window to play the first media data; wherein the second window completely or partially covers the live streaming page.
However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that playing back video on a full or partial overlay (similar to a picture-in-picture) manner is well-known and commonly utilized in the art to display media content.
Regarding Claim 20, Claim 20 recites an apparatus that performs the function of the method of Claim 1. As such, Claim 20 is analyzed and rejected similarly as Claim 1, mutatis mutandis. (See also Zhang [Figs. 6-12] and associated descriptions).
Regarding Claim 21, Claim 21 recites a CRM that contains a computer program performs the function of the method of Claim 1. As such, Claim 21 is analyzed and rejected similarly as Claim 1, mutatis mutandis. (See also Zhang [Figs. 6-12] and [0159], [0167-168]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-11 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 WILLIAM J KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-2767. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am - 5:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hadi Armouche can be reached at (571) 270-3618. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM J KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409
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