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 .
The claims and only the claims form the metes and bounds of the invention. “Office personnel are to give claims their broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the supporting disclosure. In re Morris, 127 3d 1048, 1054-55, 44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027-28 (Fed. Cir. 1997). Limitations appearing in the specification but not recited in the claim are not read into the claim. In re Prater, 415 F.2d 1393, 1404-05, 162 USPQ 541, 550-551 (CCPA 1969)” (MPEP p 2100-8, c 2, I 45-48; p 2100-9, c 1, l 1-4). The Examiner has full latitude to interpret each claim in the broadest reasonable sense. The Examiner will reference prior art using terminology familiar to one of ordinary skill in the art. Such an approach is broad in concept and can be either explicit or implicit in meaning.
Claims 1-14, 23-28, 32, 34 and 37 are presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s remarks/amendment was filed on 26 February 2026.
Applicant's arguments have been considered but they are not persuasive. However, the Examiner welcomes any suggestion(s) Applicant may have on moving prosecution forward.
Applicant argues:
The currently presented claim 1 requires that each content module has a name indicating the content topic of that content module. As disclosed in the as-filed specification at ¶[0054], the name 111 of the content module (e.g., "Care Guide," "Common Problems" as illustrated in FIG. 2) helps a user establish an understanding of the topic of that content module. Each such name identifies the informational theme of the corresponding content module, which organizes related plant information under a common topic.
Yang, at ¶[0066], discloses a GUI that presents various statistics about selected plants, including "a health status of the plant(s) (e.g., diseased, healthy, malnourished, etc.), an estimated fruit volume ... , an average fruit volume, a projected yield in kilograms, an average leaf size, an average leaf orientation ... , various genotypes about the fruit ( e.g., pest resistant, color, shape, etc.), and a number of branches in the plant(s)."
These items in Yang are individual data values and data field labels for agricultural
monitoring purposes. They represent discrete metrics about a plant's physical condition and production parameters. Yang does not disclose content modules organized by informational topic, nor does Yang disclose that each such module has a name indicating its content topic. Yang's "health status," "estimated fruit volume," "projected yield" and similar labels are individual data field descriptors for plant monitoring metrics, not names of content modules that organize and group related plant information under a common theme (such as "Care Guide" grouping watering, lighting, fertilization, and repotting information).
Accordingly, Yang fails to disclose "each content module has a name indicating a content topic of the content module" as recited in the currently presented claim 1 .
In response, the Examiner submits:
Contrary to Applicant’s allegation above, Yang does disclose the limitation of each content module has a name indicating a content topic of the content module (Yang: at least ¶0066; “…various information about those plant(s). In FIG. 5, for instance, various statistics are presented about the selected plant(s). These statistics included a health status of the plant(s) (e.g., diseased, healthy, malnourished, etc.), an estimated fruit volume (assuming the depicted plants are of a type that produces fruit, such as strawberry plants, etc.), an average fruit volume, a projected yield in kilograms, an average leaf size, an average leaf orientation (e.g., relative to a plane defined by the ground), various genotypes about the fruit (e.g., pest resistant, color, shape, etc.), and a number of branches in the plant(s)”; ¶0070 also discloses “a user may select any one of these results to view statistics about the plant associated with the selected result, to view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc”; ¶0050 further discloses “fifteen days after planting on the left and twenty-five days after planting on the right”).
The independent claims do not appear to recite limitation(s) that require name that “… identifies the informational theme of the corresponding content module, which organizes related plant information under a common topic” or “content modules organized by informational topic”.
Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Applicant further argues:
The currently presented claim 1 further requires that the position sequence is a top-down or left-right sequence of the plurality of content modules displayed in a same display page.
This defines the display sequence as a spatial arrangement of multiple content modules within a single display page.
The Office relied on Yang's ¶[0068]-[0070] to map the "display sequence" limitation.
Yang at ¶[0068] discloses that "a user may be able to select a particular plant and a particular time during the plant's crop cycle, e.g., two weeks ago, three weeks in, two months into a crop cycle, three weeks in the future, etc.” Yang at ¶ [0070] discloses "results may include a list of individual plants that were observed, e.g., in their respective time-sequence of images, to be infested with mites."
Yang's "time-sequence of images" and "select a particular time during the plant's crop
cycle" relate to retrieving and displaying historical plant data across different time points. This is a temporal data retrieval mechanism where a user navigates along a time axis to view plant states at different historical moments. The "sequence" in Yang refers to chronological ordering of data captured over time, not to the spatial arrangement of content modules on a display page.
In contrast, the currently presented claim 1 defines the position sequence as "a top-down or left-right sequence of the plurality of content modules displayed in a same display page." This is a UI layout mechanism that arranges multiple content modules within a single display page in a spatial order (top-down or left-right). Yang does not disclose arranging a plurality of topic-organized content modules in a top-down or left-right spatial sequence within a same display page.
In response, the Examiner submits:
The independent claims recite “the display sequence comprises at least one of a position sequence and a time sequence of the content modules during a display process, wherein the position sequence is a top-down or left-right sequence of the plurality of content modules displayed in a same display page”.
The independent claims do not appear to recite limitation(s) that require “wherein the position sequence is a top-down or left-right spatial sequence of the plurality of content modules displayed in a same display page” or “spatial arrangement”.
Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
In addition, the recited “at least one of a position sequence and a time sequence of the content modules” appears to permit the option of a time (chronological) sequence as an alternative to a spatial sequence.
Contrary to Applicant’s allegation above, Yang does teach the limitation of display sequence between each content module can be adjusted, and the display sequence comprises at least one of a position sequence and a time sequence of the content modules during a display process, wherein the position sequence is a top-top or left-right sequence of the plurality of content modules displayed in a same display page (Yang: at least ¶¶0068-0070; “a user may be able to select a particular plant and a particular time during the plant's crop cycle, e.g., two weeks ago, three weeks in, two months into a crop cycle, three weeks in the future, etc. Based on these selections, the user may be presented with predictions about estimated plant growth and/or evolution of the plant” and “view information about individual plants over time” and “results may include a list of individual plants that were observed, e.g., in their respective time-sequence of images, to be infested with mites. A user may select any one of these results to view statistics about the plant associated with the selected result, to view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc.”).
Applicant further argues:
The Office relied on Caraballoso's ¶[0079] and Figure 12, which show search results
displaying names such as "Basil," "Squash," and "Asparagus."
These names in Caraballoso are plant variety names identifying different plant species in
a search results list. Each entry represents a different plant, not a content module that organizes a portion of one target plant's information by topic. The currently presented claim 23 requires that the plant information of a target plant is divided into content modules according to information content (e.g., care information, common problems, interesting facts), and each content module has a name indicating its content topic (e.g., "Care Guide," "Common Problems"). Caraballoso's plant variety names do not indicate content topics of content modules that organize portions of a single target plant's information.
In response, the Examiner submits:
Caraballoso does teach plant information comprises one or a plurality of content modules divided according to information content, and each content module has a name indicating a content topic of the content module (Caraballoso: at least ¶0079; “search plant results 1204 are displayed based upon specific search criteria. Plant results 1204 may also contain thumbnail images or other graphical depictions of plants. Plant results 1204 contain hyperlinks that allow quick addition of a plant to a user's garden”; Fig. 12 shows “search results” and names like “Basil”, “Squash”, “Asparagus”, etc.)
Caraballoso’s content modules contain “thumbnail images or other graphical depictions of plants” and have names indicating content topics such as “Basil”, “Squash”, “Asparagus”, etc.
Applicant further argues:
The currently presented claim 23 further recites that the display sequence comprises a
position sequence, the position sequence being a top-down or left-right sequence of the plurality of content modules displayed in the first region.
Caraballoso's Figure 12 displays a list of search results for different plant species. This is not a spatial arrangement of multiple content modules for a single target plant's information. Caraballoso does not disclose adjusting a display sequence between content modules of a target plant, nor does Caraballoso disclose that such a display sequence comprises a position sequence defined as a top-down or left-right sequence of content modules within the first region.
In response, the Examiner submits:
Contrary to Applicant’s allegation above, Caraballoso’s Fig. 12 clearly does not show a list of search results. Rather, Fig. 12 of Caraballoso shows display sequence of content modules going from top to bottom and from left to right.
Claim 23 recites “wherein when a plurality of content modules are provided, a display sequence between each content module can be adjusted”.
Caraballoso also discloses “search plant results 1204 are displayed based upon specific search criteria” (Caraballoso: at least ¶0079). This means Caraballoso’s sequence of content modules can be adjusted based on search criteria.
Abstract
According to the MPEP, “the abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet preferably 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 it includes “comprises” at lines 4 and 9 on page 40 of the disclosure. “Comprises” is a legal phraseology and should be changed/removed.
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 Objections
Claims 1-14, 23-28, 32, 34 and 37 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1, 23 and 32 recite “display sequence between each content module can be adjusted”. The recited adjustment is therefore optional and is objected to for not being active and being optional.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 3, 6, 9, 13, 32 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US PGPUB US PGPUB 2020/0401883 by Yang et al. (“Yang”).
As to Claim 1, Yang teaches a plant information display method, comprising: in response to a user request, acquiring plant information of a plant (Yang: at least ¶0070; “a user may be able to search for individual plants and/or images of individual plants based on their attributes. For example, a user could provide the search query “show me plants infested with mites” at a GUI similar to 550”);
according to at least one of a user attribute and a plant attribute, determining a content module that needs to be displayed (Yang: at least ¶0070; “in response, agriculture knowledge system 102 may search database for plants in a particular field known to be infested with mites. The results may include a list of individual plants that were observed, e.g., in their respective time-sequence of images, to be infested with mites”); and
displaying the content module, so as to display the plant information corresponding to the content module, wherein one or a plurality of content modules are provided, and when a plurality of content modules are provided (Yang: at least ¶¶0068, 0070; “presented with predictions about estimated plant growth and/or evolution of the plant” and “view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc”), each content module corresponds to a portion of the plant information (Yang: at least ¶¶0067-0068; “view a time-lapsed sequence of images of the selected plant(s). As another example, where such data is available, a user can view 3D data generated for the plants, such as point clouds of the entire plants, or of selected portions of the plants (e.g., fruit, leaves, etc.)” and “user may be able to select a particular plant and a particular time during the plant's crop cycle, e.g., two weeks ago, three weeks in, two months into a crop cycle, three weeks in the future, etc. Based on these selections, the user may be presented with predictions about estimated plant growth and/or evolution of the plant”; ¶0069 further discloses “view information about individual plants over time”), each content module has a name indicating a content topic of the content module (Yang: at least ¶0066; “…various information about those plant(s). In FIG. 5, for instance, various statistics are presented about the selected plant(s). These statistics included a health status of the plant(s) (e.g., diseased, healthy, malnourished, etc.), an estimated fruit volume (assuming the depicted plants are of a type that produces fruit, such as strawberry plants, etc.), an average fruit volume, a projected yield in kilograms, an average leaf size, an average leaf orientation (e.g., relative to a plane defined by the ground), various genotypes about the fruit (e.g., pest resistant, color, shape, etc.), and a number of branches in the plant(s)”; ¶0070 also discloses “a user may select any one of these results to view statistics about the plant associated with the selected result, to view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc”; ¶0050 further discloses “fifteen days after planting on the left and twenty-five days after planting on the right”), a display sequence between each content module can be adjusted, and the display sequence comprises at least one of a position sequence and a time sequence of the content modules during a display process, wherein the position sequence is a top-top or left-right sequence of the plurality of content modules displayed in a same display page (Yang: at least ¶¶0068-0070; “a user may be able to select a particular plant and a particular time during the plant's crop cycle, e.g., two weeks ago, three weeks in, two months into a crop cycle, three weeks in the future, etc. Based on these selections, the user may be presented with predictions about estimated plant growth and/or evolution of the plant” and “view information about individual plants over time” and “results may include a list of individual plants that were observed, e.g., in their respective time-sequence of images, to be infested with mites. A user may select any one of these results to view statistics about the plant associated with the selected result, to view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc.”).
As to Claim 34, Yang teaches a plant information display apparatus, comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the method according to claim 1 based on a command stored in the memory (Yang: at least ¶0022; “some implementations include one or more processors of one or more computing devices, where the one or more processors are operable to execute instructions stored in associated memory, and where the instructions are configured to cause performance of any of the aforementioned methods”; ¶0080 further discloses “these software modules are generally executed by processor 714 alone or in combination with other processors. Memory 725 used in the storage subsystem 724 can include a number of memories including a main random access memory (RAM) 730 for storage of instructions and data during program execution and a read only memory (ROM) 732 in which fixed instructions are stored”).
As to Claim 3, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of content modules are provided, and the method further comprises: according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute, determining the display sequence (Yang: at least ¶0070; “in response, agriculture knowledge system 102 may search database for plants in a particular field known to be infested with mites. The results may include a list of individual plants that were observed, e.g., in their respective time-sequence of images, to be infested with mites” and “… a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result”); and
displaying the content modules according to the display sequence (Yang: at least ¶¶0068, 0070; “presented with predictions about estimated plant growth and/or evolution of the plant” and “view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc”).
As to Claim 6, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1, before displaying the content module, the method further comprising: generating a label according to the plant information corresponding to the content module (Yang: at least ¶¶0065-0066; “GUI 550 may first provide the user with an opportunity to select a region, field, etc., and this selection may cause portion 552 to present an overhead view of the plants” and “by selecting plant(s), the user may then be able to view various information about those plant(s). In FIG. 5, for instance, various statistics are presented about the selected plant(s). These statistics included a health status of the plant(s) (e.g., diseased, healthy, malnourished, etc.), an estimated fruit volume (assuming the depicted plants are of a type that produces fruit, such as strawberry plants, etc.), an average fruit volume, a projected yield in kilograms, an average leaf size, an average leaf orientation (e.g., relative to a plane defined by the ground), various genotypes about the fruit (e.g., pest resistant, color, shape, etc.), and a number of branches in the plant(s)”; ¶0070 also discloses “a user may select any one of these results to view statistics about the plant associated with the selected result, to view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc”; claim 13 further discloses “first plant information includes first plant growth or health statistics generated based on the digital image that captures the first plant and one or more of the previously-captured digital images of the first plant”); and displaying the content module comprising displaying the label (Yang: at least ¶0066; “…various information about those plant(s). In FIG. 5, for instance, various statistics are presented about the selected plant(s). These statistics included a health status of the plant(s) (e.g., diseased, healthy, malnourished, etc.), an estimated fruit volume (assuming the depicted plants are of a type that produces fruit, such as strawberry plants, etc.), an average fruit volume, a projected yield in kilograms, an average leaf size, an average leaf orientation (e.g., relative to a plane defined by the ground), various genotypes about the fruit (e.g., pest resistant, color, shape, etc.), and a number of branches in the plant(s)”; ¶0070 also discloses “a user may select any one of these results to view statistics about the plant associated with the selected result, to view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc”).
As to Claim 9, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the plant attribute comprises at least one of plant type (Yang: at least ¶0070; “search for individual plants and/or images of individual plants based on their attributes. For example, a user could provide the search query “show me plants infested with mites””), species, Plant Developmental Stages, state, care, location, and crop type.
As to Claim 13, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the user request comprises at least one of an identification request and a search request (Yang: at least ¶0070; “a user may be able to search for individual plants and/or images of individual plants based on their attributes. For example, a user could provide the search query “show me plants infested with mites” at a GUI similar to 550”).
As to Claim 32, Yang teaches a plant information display apparatus, comprising: a memory (Yang: at least ¶0080; “memory 725 used in the storage subsystem 724 can include a number of memories including a main random access memory (RAM) 730 for storage of instructions and data during program execution and a read only memory (ROM) 732 in which fixed instructions are stored”); and a processor coupled to the memory (Yang: at least ¶0080; “processor 714 alone or in combination with other processors”) and configured to: acquire plant information of a plant in response to a user request (Yang: at least ¶0070; “a user may be able to search for individual plants and/or images of individual plants based on their attributes. For example, a user could provide the search query “show me plants infested with mites” at a GUI similar to 550”);
determine a content module that needs to be displayed according to at least one of a user attribute and a plant attribute (Yang: at least ¶0070; “in response, agriculture knowledge system 102 may search database for plants in a particular field known to be infested with mites. The results may include a list of individual plants that were observed, e.g., in their respective time-sequence of images, to be infested with mites”); and
display the content module, so as to display the plant information corresponding to the content module, wherein one or a plurality of content modules are provided (Yang: at least ¶¶0068, 0070; “presented with predictions about estimated plant growth and/or evolution of the plant” and “view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc”), each content module corresponds to a portion of the plant information (Yang: at least ¶¶0067-0068; “view a time-lapsed sequence of images of the selected plant(s). As another example, where such data is available, a user can view 3D data generated for the plants, such as point clouds of the entire plants, or of selected portions of the plants (e.g., fruit, leaves, etc.)” and “user may be able to select a particular plant and a particular time during the plant's crop cycle, e.g., two weeks ago, three weeks in, two months into a crop cycle, three weeks in the future, etc. Based on these selections, the user may be presented with predictions about estimated plant growth and/or evolution of the plant”; ¶0069 further discloses “view information about individual plants over time”), each content module has a name indicating a content topic of the content module (Yang: at least ¶0066; “…various information about those plant(s). In FIG. 5, for instance, various statistics are presented about the selected plant(s). These statistics included a health status of the plant(s) (e.g., diseased, healthy, malnourished, etc.), an estimated fruit volume (assuming the depicted plants are of a type that produces fruit, such as strawberry plants, etc.), an average fruit volume, a projected yield in kilograms, an average leaf size, an average leaf orientation (e.g., relative to a plane defined by the ground), various genotypes about the fruit (e.g., pest resistant, color, shape, etc.), and a number of branches in the plant(s)”; ¶0070 also discloses “a user may select any one of these results to view statistics about the plant associated with the selected result, to view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc”; ¶0050 further discloses “fifteen days after planting on the left and twenty-five days after planting on the right”), and when a plurality of content modules are provided, a display sequence between each content module can be adjusted, and the display sequence comprises at least one of a position sequence and a time sequence of the content modules during a display process, wherein the position sequence is a top-down or left-right sequence of the plurality of content modules displayed in a same display page (Yang: at least ¶¶0068-0070; “a user may be able to select a particular plant and a particular time during the plant's crop cycle, e.g., two weeks ago, three weeks in, two months into a crop cycle, three weeks in the future, etc. Based on these selections, the user may be presented with predictions about estimated plant growth and/or evolution of the plant” and “view information about individual plants over time” and “results may include a list of individual plants that were observed, e.g., in their respective time-sequence of images, to be infested with mites. A user may select any one of these results to view statistics about the plant associated with the selected result, to view a time-sequence of digital images of the plant associated with the selected result, etc.”).
Claims 23, 27-28 and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US PGPUB 2014/0337764 by Caraballoso et al. (“Caraballoso”).
As to Claim 23, Caraballoso teaches a plant information display method, comprising: acquiring plant information of a target plant (Caraballoso: at least ¶0058; “sub-process 202 implements the search for plants functionality of garden platform 100. A graphical user interface (UI) enables searching for a plant by uploaded or stored images which is a valuable feature, especially if a garden exists with plants that are of unknown origin or unidentified plants. Furthermore, sub-process 202 enables searching for a plant by name, type of plant, genus, species, climate type, leaf type, water needs, light needs, difficulty of care, and additional plant properties that are known in the art”; ¶0079 also discloses “display user interface (UI) of the Great Web Garden Share (GWGS) search for plants and search for gardens sub-processes 202 and 222"), wherein the plant information comprises one or a plurality of content modules divided according to information content, and each content module has a name indicating a content topic of the content module (Caraballoso: at least ¶0079; “search plant results 1204 are displayed based upon specific search criteria. Plant results 1204 may also contain thumbnail images or other graphical depictions of plants. Plant results 1204 contain hyperlinks that allow quick addition of a plant to a user's garden”; Fig. 12 shows “search results” and names like “Basil”, “Squash”, “Asparagus”, etc.);
displaying the names of the one or plurality of content modules in a first region of a display page (Caraballoso: at least ¶0079; “FIG. 12 shows another aspect of display user interface (UI) of the Great Web Garden Share (GWGS) search for plants and search for gardens sub-processes 202 and 222”); and
in response to receiving an operation associated with a first content module among the one or plurality of content modules, displaying information comprised in the first content module in the display page (Caraballoso: at least ¶0079; “search for plants and search for gardens sub-processes 202 and 222” and “Search plant results 1204 are displayed based upon specific search criteria”),
wherein when a plurality of content modules are provided, a display sequence between each content module can be adjusted, and the display sequence comprises a position sequence, the position sequence being a top-down or left-right sequence of the plurality of content modules displayed in the first region (Caraballoso: at least Fig. 12 shows display sequence of content modules going from top to bottom and from left to right; ¶0079 further discloses “search plant results 1204 are displayed based upon specific search criteria”).
As to Claim 37, Caraballoso teaches a plant information display apparatus, comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the method according to claim 23 based on a command stored in the memory (Caraballoso: at least ¶0100-0101; “the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal”).
As to Claim 27, Caraballoso teaches the method according to claim 23, further comprising: according to at least one of a user attribute and a plant attribute, acquiring the plant information of the target plant (Caraballoso: at least ¶0058; “sub-process 202 implements the search for plants functionality of garden platform 100. A graphical user interface (UI) enables searching for a plant by uploaded or stored images which is a valuable feature, especially if a garden exists with plants that are of unknown origin or unidentified plants. Furthermore, sub-process 202 enables searching for a plant by name, type of plant, genus, species, climate type, leaf type, water needs, light needs, difficulty of care, and additional plant properties that are known in the art”; ¶0079 also discloses “search plant results 1204 are displayed based upon specific search criteria. Plant results 1204 may also contain thumbnail images or other graphical depictions of plants”).
As to Claim 28, Caraballoso teaches the method according to claim 27, further comprising: pre-establishing a plant information database, wherein the database stores plant information of a plurality of plants (Caraballoso: at least ¶0070; “adding a plant to the database because it is desirable to have the most robust and accurate plant database possible that is available to users” and “plant record information comprises at least one, but not limited to, of text, images, video, online references”; ¶0086 further discloses “specific properties of plant information contained within a specific plant record”), the plant information of each plant comprises a plurality of content modules divided according to information content, and each content module has a name indicating a content topic of the content module and one or a plurality of labels associated with the information content of the content module (Caraballoso: at least ¶0079; “search plant results 1204 are displayed based upon specific search criteria. Plant results 1204 may also contain thumbnail images or other graphical depictions of plants. Plant results 1204 contain hyperlinks that allow quick addition of a plant to a user's garden”; Fig. 12 shows “search results” and names like “Basil”, “Squash”, “Asparagus”, etc.); retrieving the plant information of the target plant from the database according to species of the target plant (Caraballoso: at least ¶0058; “sub-process 202 implements the search for plants functionality of garden platform 100. A graphical user interface (UI) enables searching for a plant by uploaded or stored images which is a valuable feature, especially if a garden exists with plants that are of unknown origin or unidentified plants. Furthermore, sub-process 202 enables searching for a plant by name, type of plant, genus, species, climate type, leaf type, water needs, light needs, difficulty of care, and additional plant properties that are known in the art”);
determining one or a plurality of target labels according to at least one of other plant attributes of the target plant and the user attribute (Caraballoso: at least ¶¶0044, 0058; “plant identification sub-process is dynamically interactive with the user where the tool poses questions to the user in order to identify a plant in the database. The questions posed to the user can be of multiple choice images, yes or no and text” and “sub-process 202 implements the search for plants functionality of garden platform 100. A graphical user interface (UI) enables searching for a plant by uploaded or stored images which is a valuable feature, especially if a garden exists with plants that are of unknown origin or unidentified plants. Furthermore, sub-process 202 enables searching for a plant by name, type of plant, genus, species, climate type, leaf type, water needs, light needs, difficulty of care, and additional plant properties that are known in the art”); and
according to the one or plurality of target labels, acquiring one or a plurality content modules corresponding to the one or plurality target labels from the plant information of the plant, so as to acquire the plant information of the target plant (Caraballoso: at least ¶0045; “once identified, more detailed information is made available via a plant database link. An easy-to-navigate user interface is provided for this purpose”).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 2, 4, 11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PGPUB 2020/0401883 by Yang et al. (“Yang”) in view of US PGPUB 2009/0216661 by Warner.
As to Claim 2, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1.
Yang does not explicitly disclose, but Warner discloses wherein the according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute, determining the content module that needs to be displayed comprises: determining a content module suggested for display according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute (Warner: at least ¶0021; “provides the user with a web application to discover fruits, vegetables and flowers to plant based on any desired parameters of the user. The user interface of the application presents this data in various ways to allow simple and fast discovery of the data through groups such as "High Nutritional Value", "Easy Maintenance", "Long Storage", "High Yield", "High Monetary Value", "Easy to Cook", "Easy to Get Kids to Eat". The application may guide the user through a selection process, such as via a wizard, to making the design choices for their garden, such as by providing optimization recommendations or selections to meet user or predetermined criteria”; ¶0062 further discloses “the user can choose from a set of pre-defined crop selections created by other users” and “the user can choose from a set of pre-defined crop selections created by "expert" or "celebrity" gardeners, nutritionists or chefs”);
displaying to a user a name of the content module suggested for display, wherein the name is used to indicate a content topic of the content module (Warner: at least ¶0133; “… identify each of the one or more types of plant or crop by a name or other identifier”; Fig. 3B also shows names such as “carrot”, “daikon”, etc.); and in response to a user's selection operation on the name, determining the content module selected by the user as the content module that needs to be displayed (Warner: at least ¶0063; “thumbnails may be selected to display additional information specific to each crop (see FIG. 3B)”; ¶0077 further discloses “user can learn more about the crop by clicking its thumbnail or other selectable user interface element associated with the crop. The system presents detailed information on the screen, such as in a highly or easily readable format”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Warner’s features of wherein the according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute, determining the content module that needs to be displayed comprises: determining a content module suggested for display according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute (Warner: at least ¶¶0021, 0062);
displaying to a user a name of the content module suggested for display, wherein the name is used to indicate a content topic of the content module (Warner: at least ¶0133, Fig. 3B); and in response to a user's selection operation on the name, determining the content module selected by the user as the content module that needs to be displayed (Warner: at least ¶¶0063, 0077) with Yang’s method.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to “provide information, criteria and/or filters for a user to select the plantable item and/or the placement or arrangement of any element of the garden element, such as the number/size of each garden element and the placement and/or location thereof in the layout” and “provide an interface for a user to browse or search for plants, flowers, crops or any element of the garden based on any type of filter or criteria” (Warner: at least ¶0047).
As to Claim 4, Yang teaches the method according to claim 3.
Yang does not explicitly disclose, but Warner discloses wherein according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute, an importance level of the content module that needs to be displayed is determined (Warner: at least ¶0071; “as illustrated in FIG. 3B, a user may sort crop information by name, yield, value, ease of growing, maturation time, soil match, nutritional value, most to least popular, hardiness and/or shade tolerance”), the display sequence is determined according to the importance level, and the content module that needs to be displayed is displayed according to the display sequence (Warner: at least ¶0071; “user interface may provide user interface elements to sort the crop information by any one or more criteria or filters. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, a user may sort crop information by name, yield, value, ease of growing, maturation time, soil match, nutritional value, most to least popular, hardiness and/or shade tolerance”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Warner’s feature of wherein according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute, an importance level of the content module that needs to be displayed is determined (Warner: at least ¶0071), the display sequence is determined according to the importance level, and the content module that needs to be displayed is displayed according to the display sequence (Warner: at least ¶0071) with Yang’s method.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to “provide information, criteria and/or filters for a user to select the plantable item and/or the placement or arrangement of any element of the garden element, such as the number/size of each garden element and the placement and/or location thereof in the layout” and “provide an interface for a user to browse or search for plants, flowers, crops or any element of the garden based on any type of filter or criteria” (Warner: at least ¶0047).
As to Claim 11, Yang and Warner teach the method according to claim 2, wherein the plant attribute comprises species, and the content module suggested for display is determined according to the species (Warner: at least ¶0021; “provides the user with a web application to discover fruits, vegetables and flowers to plant based on any desired parameters of the user. The user interface of the application presents this data in various ways to allow simple and fast discovery of the data through groups such as "High Nutritional Value", "Easy Maintenance", "Long Storage", "High Yield", "High Monetary Value", "Easy to Cook", "Easy to Get Kids to Eat". The application may guide the user through a selection process, such as via a wizard, to making the design choices for their garden, such as by providing optimization recommendations or selections to meet user or predetermined criteria”; ¶0110 further discloses “the information for each plant or crop can be of any level of detail and retrieved from any form or type of sources. Examples of sources includes the gardening database 112, the service provider database 113 and any online database. The general information can include the genus and visual attributes”).
As to Claim 14, Yang and Warner teach the method according to claim 2, wherein the content module suggested for display comprises at least one of a basic-type content module (Warner: at least ¶0063; “thumbnails may be selected to display additional information specific to each crop (see FIG. 3B)”; ¶0077 further discloses “user can learn more about the crop by clicking its thumbnail or other selectable user interface element associated with the crop. The system presents detailed information on the screen, such as in a highly or easily readable format”), a feature-type content module, and an interest-type content module,
the basic-type content module comprises at least one of other name, species, description, images (Warner: at least ¶0063; “thumbnails may be selected to display additional information specific to each crop (see FIG. 3B)”; ¶0077 further discloses “user can learn more about the crop by clicking its thumbnail or other selectable user interface element associated with the crop. The system presents detailed information on the screen, such as in a highly or easily readable format”), and characteristics, the feature-type content module comprises at least one of toxic, whether it is an invasive species, whether it is pet-friendly, whether it attracts animals, and whether it is a weed, and the interest-type content module comprises at least one of care, name story, use, related poems, interesting facts, and share.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PGPUB 2020/0401883 by Yang et al. (“Yang”) in view of US PGPUB 2009/0216661 by Warner, and further in view of US PGPUB 2007/0030283 by Shiraishi et al. (“Shiraishi”).
As to Claim 5, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1.
Yang does not explicitly disclose, but Warner discloses before displaying the content module, further comprising: according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute, determining an importance level of the content module that needs to be displayed (Warner: at least ¶0071; “as illustrated in FIG. 3B, a user may sort crop information by name, yield, value, ease of growing, maturation time, soil match, nutritional value, most to least popular, hardiness and/or shade tolerance”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Warner’s feature of before displaying the content module, further comprising: according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute, determining an importance level of the content module that needs to be displayed (Warner: at least ¶0071) with Yang’s method.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to “provide information, criteria and/or filters for a user to select the plantable item and/or the placement or arrangement of any element of the garden element, such as the number/size of each garden element and the placement and/or location thereof in the layout” and “provide an interface for a user to browse or search for plants, flowers, crops or any element of the garden based on any type of filter or criteria” (Warner: at least ¶0047).
Yang and Warner do not explicitly disclose, but Shiraishi discloses determining a size of a display region corresponding to the content module that needs to be displayed according to the importance level (Shiraishi: at least ¶0108; “the size of the viewing image object 25 tells the viewer of the significance level of the corresponding image data”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Shiraishi’s feature of determining a size of a display region corresponding to the content module that needs to be displayed according to the importance level (Shiraishi: at least ¶0108) with the method disclosed by Yang and Warner.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to “provide an image display method and device … suited to view the contents of any specific image data selected from a large amount of image data” (Shiraishi: at least ¶0007) such that “enlargement ratio of the viewing image object determined based on any other corresponding attribute data so that the size of the viewing image object can serve well for recognition of the other attribute data” (Shiraishi: at least ¶0016).
Claims 7-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PGPUB 2020/0401883 by Yang et al. (“Yang”) in view of US PGPUB 2006/0224327 by Dunlap et al. (“Dunlap”).
As to Claim 7, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1.
Yang does not explicitly disclose, but Dunlap discloses wherein the user attribute comprises at least one of skill level, identification level, address, scenario, demand, and nationality (Dunlap: at least ¶0011; “a portion of the database is eliminated from consideration using any combination of two or more search criteria, including but not limited to, a desired climate zone or location, plant cultivation, plant size, plant type, plant leaf type/shape, plant form/habit, plant primary attributes, desired exposure, flowering season, parcel growing conditions, and desired characteristics), additional unsuited plant species are eliminated. In a preferred embodiment, the desired climate zone or location is used as a first search criterion”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Dunlap’s feature of wherein the user attribute comprises at least one of skill level, identification level, address, scenario, demand, and nationality (Dunlap: at least ¶0011) with Yang’s method.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to provide “an improved method for the selection and identification of plant species and genera using an improved database of plant information” (Dunlap: at least ¶0002).
As to Claim 8, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1.
Yang does not explicitly disclose, but Dunlap discloses determining the user attribute based on at least one of an interactive questionnaire and historical operation data of the user recorded by the system (Dunlap: at least ¶0011; “a portion of the database is eliminated from consideration using any combination of two or more search criteria, including but not limited to, a desired climate zone or location, plant cultivation, plant size, plant type, plant leaf type/shape, plant form/habit, plant primary attributes, desired exposure, flowering season, parcel growing conditions, and desired characteristics), additional unsuited plant species are eliminated. In a preferred embodiment, the desired climate zone or location is used as a first search criterion”; note: historical operation is operation that occurred).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Dunlap’s feature of determining the user attribute based on at least one of an interactive questionnaire and historical operation data of the user recorded by the system (Dunlap: at least ¶0011) with Yang’s method.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to provide “an improved method for the selection and identification of plant species and genera using an improved database of plant information” (Dunlap: at least ¶0002).
As to Claim 10, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1.
Yang does not explicitly disclose, but Dunlap discloses determining the content module that needs to be displayed according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute and an environment attribute, wherein the environmental attribute comprises at least one of time information, climate information of a location of the plant (Dunlap: at least ¶0011; “a portion of the database is eliminated from consideration using any combination of two or more search criteria, including but not limited to, a desired climate zone or location, plant cultivation, plant size, plant type, plant leaf type/shape, plant form/habit, plant primary attributes, desired exposure, flowering season, parcel growing conditions, and desired characteristics), additional unsuited plant species are eliminated. In a preferred embodiment, the desired climate zone or location is used as a first search criterion”), temperature information, humidity information, and illumination information.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Dunlap’s feature of determining the content module that needs to be displayed according to at least one of the user attribute and the plant attribute and an environment attribute, wherein the environmental attribute comprises at least one of time information, climate information of a location of the plant (Dunlap: at least ¶0011), temperature information, humidity information, and illumination information with Yang’s method.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to provide “an improved method for the selection and identification of plant species and genera using an improved database of plant information” (Dunlap: at least ¶0002).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PGPUB 2020/0401883 by Yang et al. (“Yang”) in view of US PGPUB 2009/0216661 by Warner, and further in view of US PUPUB 2011/0246487 by Malec et al. (“Malec”).
As to Claim 12, Yang and Warner teach the method according to claim 2.
Yang and Warner do not explicitly disclose, but Malec discloses when the user does not perform a selection operation on the name, determining the content module suggested for display as the content module that needs to be displayed (Malec: at least ¶0035; “automatically define search parameters based on a determined search context and suggest one or more search results search results without requiring user input of a search term”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Malec’s feature of when the user does not perform a selection operation on the name, determining the content module suggested for display as the content module that needs to be displayed (Malec: at least ¶0035) with the method disclosed by Yang and Warner.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to facilitate searching and improve search results (Malec: at least ¶¶0037, 0052).
Claims 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PGPUB 2014/0337764 by Caraballoso et al. (“Caraballoso”) in view of US Patent 6,564,206 by Ikeda et al. (“Ikeda”).
As to Claim 24, Caraballoso teaches the method according to claim 23, wherein each content module also has one or a plurality of labels associated with the information content of the content module (Caraballoso: at least ¶0079; “search plant results 1204 are displayed based upon specific search criteria. Plant results 1204 may also contain thumbnail images or other graphical depictions of plants. Plant results 1204 contain hyperlinks that allow quick addition of a plant to a user's garden”; Fig. 12 shows “search results” and names like “Basil”, “Squash”, “Asparagus”, etc.”).
Caraballoso does not explicitly disclose, but Ikeda discloses the method further comprises: displaying all labels corresponding to the one or plurality of content modules in a second region of the display page, wherein the second region is arranged in a higher priority position in the display page than the first region (Ikeda: at least Col. 6 Lines 51-54; “a numerical value such as "ID: 234" in, e.g., the box 704 indicate that the image ID of that image is "234". A hatched circular zone 706 is a matched zone that displays images which fully satisfy the query condition”; Col. 6 Line 59 – Col. 7 Line 1; “the level to which the query condition is satisfied is expressed by similarity. When the condition is fully satisfied, the similarity is 1.0; when the condition is not satisfied at all, the similarity is 0. The scale mark 707 indicates a similarity value=0.9, and the scale mark 708 a similarity value=0.8. In the matched zone, the similarity is 1.0. In this embodiment, scale marks are displayed in 0.1 increments of similarity. As can be seen from the above description, the similarity lowers as the distance from the center of the search result display region 703 increases”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Ikeda’s feature of the method further comprises: displaying all labels corresponding to the one or plurality of content modules in a second region of the display page, wherein the second region is arranged in a higher priority position in the display page than the first region (Ikeda: at least Col. 6 Lines 51-54, Col. 6 Line 59 – Col. 7 Line 1) with Caraballoso’s method.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to presenting contents according to different similarities (Ikeda: at least Abstract).
As to Claim 25, Caraballoso and Ikeda teach the method according to claim 24, further comprising: in response to receiving an operation associated with a first label among the labels, determining whether all labels included in the content module corresponding to the first label are operated (Caraballoso: at least ¶0079; “search plant results 1204 are displayed based upon specific search criteria. Plant results 1204 may also contain thumbnail images or other graphical depictions of plants. Plant results 1204 contain hyperlinks that allow quick addition of a plant to a user's garden”; Fig. 12 shows “search results” and names like “Basil”, “Squash”, “Asparagus”, etc.”); and
in response to all labels of the content module corresponding to the first label being operated, closing the display of the corresponding content module in the first region (Caraballoso: at least ¶0045; “once identified, more detailed information is made available via a plant database link. An easy-to-navigate user interface is provided for this purpose”; note: opening (making available) detailed information instead of previous content).
Claims 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PGPUB 2014/0337764 by Caraballoso et al. (“Caraballoso”) in view of US PGPUB 2009/0216661 by Warner.
As to Claim 26, Caraballoso teaches the method according to claim 23.
Caraballoso does not explicitly disclose, but Warner discloses wherein a second content module among the one or plurality of content modules comprises a plurality of submodules divided according to information content, each submodule has a name indicating a content topic of the submodule, and the method further comprises: displaying the names of the plurality of submodules in a region associated with the second content module in the first region (Warner: at least ¶0063; “thumbnails may be selected to display additional information specific to each crop (see FIG. 3B)”; ¶0077 further discloses “user can learn more about the crop by clicking its thumbnail or other selectable user interface element associated with the crop. The system presents detailed information on the screen, such as in a highly or easily readable format”); and
in response to receiving an operation associated with a first submodule among the plurality of submodules, displaying information comprised in the first submodule in the display page (Warner: at least ¶0077; “user can learn more about the crop by clicking its thumbnail or other selectable user interface element associated with the crop. The system presents detailed information on the screen, such as in a highly or easily readable format”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Warner’s features of wherein a second content module among the one or plurality of content modules comprises a plurality of submodules divided according to information content, each submodule has a name indicating a content topic of the submodule, and the method further comprises: displaying the names of the plurality of submodules in a region associated with the second content module in the first region (Warner: at least ¶0063, 0077); and
in response to receiving an operation associated with a first submodule among the plurality of submodules, displaying information comprised in the first submodule in the display page (Warner: at least ¶0077) with Caraballoso’s method.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to “provide information, criteria and/or filters for a user to select the plantable item and/or the placement or arrangement of any element of the garden element, such as the number/size of each garden element and the placement and/or location thereof in the layout” and “provide an interface for a user to browse or search for plants, flowers, crops or any element of the garden based on any type of filter or criteria” (Warner: at least ¶0047).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Huen Wong whose telephone number is (571) 270-3426. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday (10:30AM EST - 6:30PM EST). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner's supervisor, Charles Rones can be reached on (571) 272-4034. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300 for regular communications and after final communications.
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/H .W./
Examiner, AU 2168
21 March 2026
/CHARLES RONES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2168
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