Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/05/2026 in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claims recite “19. A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by one or more processors, causes the processor to perform the method according to claim 1” “20. A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by one or more processors, causes the processor to perform the method according to claim 8.” Volatility is a property of the storage medium basically describing its ability to store data in the presence or absence of power, it does not clearly clarify whether the storage is transitory or not. In the absence of a definition to preclude carrier signal in the specification, the examiner takes the position that under BRI computer readable mediums include carrier waves and propagating signals. For this reason, claims 19 and 20 are not statutory under 35 USC 101.
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.
(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.
Claims 1-4, 17, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or (a)(2) as being anticipated by Shirai, USPG_Pub. 20220070513.
Regarding claim 1, Shirai discloses a computerized method, comprising:
receiving a trigger operation on a control for sending a visual effect at a first terminal (Para. 108 (when the server 20 receives a gift object display request from a client device 10 within a period in which the gift object display request can be accepted));
displaying an input field on the first terminal (Para. 105 (When the post selector 114 is selected, a message input field is displayed, and the user inputs a message in the message input field));
receiving first information input in the input field via the first terminal, the first information being a message or a resource transfer (Para. 105, 108, 109);
sending the visual effect and the first information from the first terminal to a second terminal for display on the second terminal, to thereby enable display of the message or a resource transfer on the second terminal (Para. 106, 108 (When the server 20 receives a message from the client device 10 within a postable period, it transmits, to all the client devices 10 connected to the server 20, the video data related to the video including the message. The client devices 10 that have received video data display messages 130 on the video viewing screen 105. The messages 130 include the identification information of the viewing user who posted the messages and the message contents-the effect object is the visual effect claimed)).
Regarding claim 2, Shirai discloses the method according, further comprising: before sending the visual effect and the first information, associating, in response to a sending request, the first information with the visual effect (Para. 106, 106); wherein the sending request is sent in response to a trigger operation on a send control (Para. 109 (Display of a particular object 120A may be requested by the viewing user operating the gift selector 112)).
Regarding claim 3, Shirai discloses the method according, further comprising: displaying an information control corresponding to the first information on a page in a first window (fig. 7, 112, 113, 114); and displaying a second window on the page in response to a trigger operation on the information control, wherein the second window comprises the first information, and a plurality of pieces of second information that are associated with the visual effect and received by a target receiving client on the second terminal within a first preset time, and the second information comes from other sending clients interacting with the target receiving client (fig. 8, 130, 120B; Para. 111-116).
Regarding claim 4, Shirai discloses the method according, further comprising: displaying the first information or the second information selected by the target receiving client on the page (Para. 106 (When the server 20 receives a message from the client device 10 within a postable period, it transmits, to all the client devices 10 connected to the server 20, the video data related to the video including the message. The client devices 10 that have received video data display messages 130 on the video viewing screen 105. The messages 130 include the identification information of the viewing user who posted the messages and the message contents-all client connected to the server 20 are target clients or recipients of messages and or gifts objects requested by one of the clients)).
Claim Objections
Claims 5-7 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. Prior art fails to teach or to reasonably disclose displaying an identifier on the page and displaying, in response to a trigger operation on the identifier, a third window on the page, and displaying the control in the third window when a preset filtering strategy is satisfied or sending the visual effect and the first information to the second terminal further comprises: displaying a fourth window on the page in response to the trigger operation on the send control, wherein the fourth window comprises a resource exchange entry; and associating, in response to completing the resource transfer on the resource exchange entry, the first information and the visual effect corresponding to the control, and then sending the visual effect with the first information to the target receiving client as recited in claims 5, 6.
In addition, prior art fails to teach or to reasonably disclose the combination of limitations of claim 8, specifically displaying a control information for the first information in response to the visual effect being associated with the first information as recited in the claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY BANTAMOI whose telephone number is (571)270-3581. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 EST..
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/ANTHONY BANTAMOI/Examiner, Art Unit 2422
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