DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-5, 11-17 and 19-21 are pending.
Response to Amendment
Applicants’ response to the last Office Action, dated May 7, 2026 has been entered and made of record. In view of the Applicant’s amendments of title, the objection to the specification is expressly withdrawn. Examiner acknowledges that a certified copy of the CN 202211378082.4 was received on Feb. 19, 2026. In view of Applicant’s amendment for claim 20, the claim rejection under 35 USC 101 is expressly withdrawn. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office Action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, dated May 7, 2026 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to all of the references being used in the current rejection. Please see the following claim rejections for detailed analysis.
Official Notice
Applicant has not traversed, contested, or argued any previous takings of Official Notice. Accordingly, these teachings are not Applicant’s Admitted Prior Art (AAPA).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
Claims 1-5, 11-12, 14-17 and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Quan et al. (CN 104407769 A, IDS, hereinafter English translation by Clarivate Analytics) in view of Nagasaka et al. (US 2010/0146442 A1).
As to claim 1, Quan discloses an object processing method (Quan, Abs., a “picture processing method”), performed by an electronic device (Quan, FIG. 7, [0107], “device 700 may be a mobile phone”), the method comprising:
displaying a first processing interface (Quan, FIG. 3, [0080], e.g., the interface containing “application A, application B and application C”), wherein the first processing interface displays a target object (Quan, see FIG. 3, [0076], e.g., a “picture to be processed of the editing interface”);
sequentially selecting at least one application from the plurality of applications (Quan, FIG. 2, [0074], “In step 202, the icon of at least one designated image processing application in many image processing applications, image editing function added to the list, the at least one designated image processing application selected by the user”) and processing a corresponding to-be-processed object by each currently-selected application to obtain an object processing result after at least one processing (Quan, FIG. 2, [0084], “In step 205, when any one of the image processing function in functional menu is clicked, transferring the picture processing function corresponding to the processing module to be processed picture for editing processing to obtain the processed picture”);
wherein the to-be-processed object (Quan, FIG. 2, [0084], “the processed picture”) corresponding to an application that is firstly selected from the plurality of applications is the target object (Quan, see FIG. 3, [0076], e.g., a “picture to be processed of the editing interface”);
the to-be-processed object corresponding to an application that is not firstly selected from the plurality of applications is an object obtained after processing the target object for at least once (Quan, e.g., FIG. 5, [0093], “As shown in FIG. 5, application C in the calling application displaying list of the picture to be processed, can be obtained as shown in FIG. 5 As shown the picture after processing. when the terminal detects that the user clicks the operation B in application display list, if right shown in FIG. 5, the application displaying the list display function menu B application. after that, the terminal according to the user performing the click operation on the function menu, invoking corresponding picture processing application for editing processing”).
Quan does not teach “in response to a first trigger operation performed on the first processing interface, displaying a first application selection interface that display all to-be-selected applications; selecting a plurality of applications from the displayed to-be-selected applications to be used to process the target object, and displaying identifiers of the selected plurality of applications in the first processing interface; wherein a sequence in which the plurality of applications are selected in the first application selection interface is a processing sequence in which the plurality of applications are used to process the target object; and the selected plurality of applications are displayed in the first processing interface in the processing sequence”.
However, Nagasaka teaches the concepts of, in response to a first trigger operation performed on the first processing interface, displaying a first application selection interface that display all to-be-selected applications (Nagasaka, e.g., FIG. 9, [0329], “the recommended-application lists shown in the recommended-application list display areas 152 and 153”);
selecting a plurality of applications from the displayed to-be-selected applications to be used to process the target object (Nagasaka, e.g., FIG. 9, [0329], “The user selects an application program to be executed from the recommended-application lists”), and displaying identifiers of the selected plurality of applications in the first processing interface (Nagasaka, e.g., FIG. 9, [0329], “Then, at the next step S203, information on the application program selected by the user is supplied to the application management block 187”);
wherein a sequence in which the plurality of applications are selected in the first application selection interface is a processing sequence in which the plurality of applications are used to process the target object; and the selected plurality of applications are displayed in the first processing interface in the processing sequence (Nagasaka, e.g., FIG. 9, [0175], “For example, as shown in a diagram of FIG. 9, the display screen 150 includes an application execution history information display area 154 for displaying a history of executions of application programs which have been executed by the application execution block 186 in the information processing apparatus 100”).
At the time of effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the “picture processing method” taught by Quan to further perform displaying the “recommended-application list(s) 152 153” and the “history of executions of application programs 154”, as taught by Nagasaka, in order to provide an “information processing apparatus capable of carrying out a process to introduce an application program to be executed to perform various kinds of data processing to a user owning the information processing apparatus and a process to construct an environment for executing the application program in the information processing apparatus” (Nagasaka, [0012]).
As to claim 2, Quan in view of Nagasaka teaches the object processing method according to claim 1, wherein the sequentially selecting at least one application from the plurality of applications (Quan, FIG. 2, [0074], “In step 202, the icon of at least one designated image processing application in many image processing applications, image editing function added to the list, the at least one designated image processing application selected by the user”) and processing a corresponding to-be-processed object by each currently-selected application to obtain an object processing result after at least one processing (Quan, FIG. 2, [0084], “In step 205, when any one of the image processing function in functional menu is clicked, transferring the picture processing function corresponding to the processing module to be processed picture for editing processing to obtain the processed picture”), comprises:
obtaining the currently-selected application from the plurality of applications (Nagasaka, e.g., FIG. 9, [0329], “Then, at the next step S203, information on the application program selected by the user is supplied to the application management block 187”); displaying an application interface of the currently-selected application (Quan, FIG. 2, [0076], “In step 203, when the display operation is detected of at least one designated image processing application, at least the icon of one specified image processing application, to display on the picture to be processed of the editing interface”); processing the to-be-processed object corresponding to the currently-selected application through the application interface (Quan, FIG. 2, [0084], “In step 205, when any one of the image processing function in functional menu is clicked, transferring the picture processing function corresponding to the processing module to be processed picture for editing processing to obtain the processed picture”);
performing a next application selection after the currently-selected application completing processing, until the object processing result being obtained (Quan, FIG. 2, [0090], “the process represented by step 204 and step 205 can be repeatedly executed when editing and processing the picture to be processed, that is, can invoke a plurality of specified image processing application show list in the picture to be processed to be processed”). Examiner renders the same motivation as in claim 1.
As to claim 3, Quan teaches the object processing method according to claim 2, wherein, the displaying an application interface of the currently-selected application (Quan, FIG. 2, [0076], “In step 203, when the display operation is detected of at least one designated image processing application, at least the icon of one specified image processing application, to display on the picture to be processed of the editing interface”) comprises:
switching from displaying the first processing interface to displaying the application interface of the currently-selected application (Quan, e.g., FIG. 4, [0083], “application display C in the application list is clicked, will as right shown in FIG. 4, upper area of the application show list editing interface displays the function menu of the C application”); and
the performing a next application selection after the currently-selected application completing processing (Quan, FIG. 2, [0090], “the process represented by step 204 and step 205 can be repeatedly executed when editing and processing the picture to be processed, that is, can invoke a plurality of specified image processing application show list in the picture to be processed to be processed”), comprises:
switching, after the processing being completed, from displaying the application interface to displaying the first processing interface to perform the next application selection (Quan, e.g., [0088], “For example, for a Instagram application, the optimal processing function is a filter function, for picture show, optimal processing function is a skin whitening function, dispelling scar and acne removing function, and so on. Of course, any image processing function in the function menu further can be selected for the user manual of the one or more image processing function”).
As to claim 4, Quan teaches the object processing method according to claim 3, further comprising:
determining, in response to an export operation being performed on the application interface, that the processing is completed, wherein the export operation is configured to save an object processed through the application interface to the electronic device (Quan, FIG. 2, [0095]-[0096], “In step 206, the storage or display of the processed picture”; “it can be by picture 3, picture storage key 4 and FIG. 5 in the processed picture to be stored”).
As to claim 5, Quan teaches the object processing method according to claim 1, the to-be-processed object corresponding to an application that is not firstly selected from the plurality of applications is an object output by one of the plurality of applications which performs the processing earlier than the currently-selected application (Quan, [0088], “For example, for a Instagram application, the optimal processing function is a filter function, for picture show, optimal processing function is a skin whitening function, dispelling scar and acne removing function, and so on”).
As to claim 11, Quan teaches the object processing method according to claim 1, wherein an object type of the target object is an image (Quan, see FIGS. 3-5), the method further comprises:
displaying a post-processed object obtained by processing the corresponding to-be-processed object by each of the selected at least one application (Quan, [0092], “first picture processing application included in the at least one specified picture processing application. second image processing application is first other than image processing application of other specified image processing application. second image processing application can be comprised of an image processing application, and may include a plurality of image processing application. When the second picture processing application comprises a plurality of image processing application, the picture can be used in a plurality of image processing application calling a picture processing application to process the first processed image, obtained after processing, and then transfers the other image processing application continue processing the picture of the processed, repeating said step till obtaining When user satisfaction for the picture”).
As to claim 12, Quan teaches the object processing method according to claim 11, wherein the displaying a post-processed object obtained by processing the corresponding to-be-processed object by each of the selected at least one application (Quan, [0085], “in the function menu of the appointed picture processing is clicked in the step 204 application, any image processing function area is clicked, the terminal calls the image processing function picture to be processed and performs the editing processing”), comprises: displaying, post-processed objects obtained after processing corresponding to-be-processed objects by the plurality of applications (Quan, [0096], “the processed picture is directly displayed in the editing interface”).
Quan in view of Nagasaka does not explicitly teach “in a stacked manner; wherein a post-processed object obtained by one of the plurality of applications that performs the processing at a later stage is displayed at a higher layer of a stack”.
However, Examiner takes an Official Notice that it is old and well known in the art of image processing to display a plurality of processed images in a stacked manner, wherein newly processed images are displayed at higher layers of the stack.
At the time of effective filing date, given that Quan teaches the concept of displaying the plurality of processed images by corresponding image processing application, respectively, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the processed images, i.e., the “post-processed object(s)” to be displayed in a stacked manner, wherein a post-processed object processed at a later stage is displayed at higher layers of the stack, in order to provide that the user can sequentially see the editing results in the order of the stack, which corresponds to the order of the processes performed by respective application.
As to claim 14, Quan teaches the object processing method according to claim 1, wherein the displaying a first processing interface comprises: displaying the first processing interface by performing an interface startup operation on the target object displaying interface (Quan, e.g., [0063], “The first icon clicking operation of user, calling the first icon click operation corresponding to the first picture processing application, the picture to be processed to perform the editing process to obtain a first processed image and a first picture processing application included in the at least one designated image processing application”).
Quan in view of Nagasaka does not explicitly teach “displaying objects in an object collection; obtaining an object selected from the object collection as the target image and displaying a target object displaying interface corresponding to the target object”.
However, Examiner takes an Official Notice that it is old and well known in the art of image processing to select (obtain) an image as a target image while a plurality of images (image collection) are being displayed.
At the time of effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the step of “calling the first icon click operation corresponding to the first picture processing application, the picture to be processed to perform the editing process to obtain a first processed image” taught by Quan to be followed by the step of selecting an image out of an image collection, in order to easily select a target image by a simple click among many images.
As to claim 15, Quan teaches the object processing method according to claim 1, wherein the displaying a first processing interface comprises: displaying the selected target object in the first processing interface (Quan, see FIGS. 3-5).
Quan in view of Nagasaka does not explicitly teach “wherein the displaying a first processing interface comprises: displaying a first processing interface that comprises an object adding control; displaying an object selection interface in a case that a click operation performed on the object adding control is detected, wherein the object selection interface displays a to-be-selected object; obtaining the target object selected from the object selection interface”.
However, Examiner takes an Official Notice that it is old and well known in the art of image processing that an image processing interface comprises an image adding control by clicking an image and select the image as the target image.
At the time of effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the step of “displaying the selected target object in the first processing interface” to be followed by performing the target image adding control, i.e., clicking the image, in order to easily select a target image by way of clicking.
As to claim 16, Quan teaches the object processing method according to claim 1, wherein an object type of the target object is an image, and an object type of the to-be-processed object is an image (Quan, see FIGS. 1-5).
As to claim 17, Quan teaches the object processing method according to claim 1, wherein an object type of the target object is a text (Quan, see FIGS. 3-5, it is reasonably inferred that images may contain text) or an audio.
As to claim 19, it differs from claim 1 only in that it is the electronic device performing the object processing method of claim 1. It recites substantially the same limitations as in claim 1, and Quan in view of Nagasaka teaches them. Examiner renders the same motivation as in claim 1. Please see claim 1 for detailed analysis.
As to claim 20, it differs from claim 1 only in that it is the computer-readable storage medium having program codes stored therein to be executed for performing the object processing method of claim 1. It recites substantially the same limitations as in claim 1, and Quan in view of Nagasaka teaches them. Examiner renders the same motivation as in claim 1. Please see claim 1 for detailed analysis.
As to claim 21, it recites substantially the same limitations as in claim 2, and Quan in view of Nagasaka teaches them. Examiner renders the same motivation as in claim 1. Please see claim 2 for detailed analysis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 remains allowable if rewritten to include 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:
As to claim 13, the closest known prior art, i.e., Quan et al. (CN 104407769 A, IDS), Nagasaka et al. (US 2010/0146442 A1), Xiao (CN 103946801 A), Nagasaka et al. (US 2013/0139163 A1) and Kim et al. (US 2019/0324628 A1), alone or in reasonable combination, fails to teach limitations in consideration of the claims as a whole, specifically with respect to the limitations “in response to a dragging operation performed on the post-processed object being detected and the dragging operation satisfying a target condition, displaying the post-processed object receiving the dragging operation side by side with another post-processed object generated earlier than the post-processed object receiving the dragging operation; displaying an enlarged icon of a first application and an enlarged icon of a second application; wherein the first application is an application that outputs the post-processed object receiving the dragging operation, and the second application is an application that outputs the another post- processed object generated earlier than the post-processed object receiving the dragging operation”.
Conclusion
The prior arts made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure: Nagasaka et al. (US 2013/0139163 A1) teaches the same features as in Nagasaka; and Kim et al. (US 2019/0324628 A1) teaches the concept of displaying application recommendation “1120” (e.g., FIG. 12).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD J HONG whose telephone number is (571) 270-7765. The examiner can normally be reached on 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST.
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, Chanh Nguyen can be reached on (571) 272-7772. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Jun. 18, 2026
/RICHARD J HONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2623
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