DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Republic of Korea on January 08, 2025. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the KR10-2025-0003027 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. Claim(s) 1, 6-8, 11-12, 18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Han et al. (US 2016/0352818 A1, hereinafter referred as “Han”).
Regarding claim 1, Han discloses a wearable device (¶0041 discloses wearable device), comprising:
one or more processors (220); and
memory (230) storing instructions (¶0089 discloses memory 230 may store instructions or data related to one or more other elements of the electronic device 201),
wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors (220) individually or collectively (¶0289 discloses the instruction, when executed by the processor 220, may cause the one or more processors to execute the function corresponding to the instruction), cause the wearable device to:
determine whether a state change of the wearable device has occurred using at least one sensor (¶0050, ¶0096 and ¶0246 discloses the state of the electronic device in relation to the termination of the application may include at least one of a remaining amount of a battery, a temperature-related state, or the mounting state of an accessory of the electronic device, as the state of the electronic device; and ¶0258 discloses detect the operation state of the electronic device using sensor module 1740 which includes, for example, a gesture sensor 1740A, a gyro-sensor 1740B,… , an acceleration sensor 1740E, a grip sensor 1740F, a proximity sensor 1740G,… , a temperature/humidity sensor 1740J),
determine at least one task to be executed in at least one external electronic device (¶0072 and ¶0104 discloses the application data identifying unit 313 may identify identification information of each of running applications of the electronic device 300, information regarding the task that is in progress for each application, layout information, or resolution information), and
transmit information (¶0013 and ¶0107 discloses the transmitted data of the applications may include identification information (e.g., an identification (ID) or package information) of the application for processing the corresponding data or task information at the time of execution) and a command related to the at least one task to the at least one external electronic device (¶0013 and ¶0183 discloses the electronic device transmits the identified file download instruction information and execution instruction information for the downloaded file to the selected peripheral device), so that the at least one external electronic device continuously executes at least a portion of the determined at least one task (¶0189-¶0192 discloses the peripheral device receives task information concerning an application activity that was in progress on the originating device, executes an application corresponding to that task information and the particular activity that was in progress when the state change occurred).
Regarding claim 2, Han discloses the wearable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, further cause the wearable device to acquire information on a battery level or information on power saving mode setting as an operation of determining whether a state change of the wearable device has occurred (¶0050 discloses the state of the electronic device in relation to the termination of the application may include the state of the remaining amount of a battery (for example, 5% or less of the total battery capacity)).
Regarding claim 6, Han discloses the wearable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, further cause the wearable device to directly communicate with the at least one external electronic device (¶0051, ¶0054 discloses The electronic device 101 and the peripheral devices 102-1 through 102-6 may be connected with each other through short-range communication (such as, WiFi, WiFi Direct, near field communication (NFC), digital living network alliance (DLNA), Bluetooth, or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)), and may be connected with each other through various wired/wireless networks) as an operation of transmitting the information related to the at least one task (¶0108 discloses communication unit 320 may communicate with external devices (e.g., peripheral devices and/or a server), and may transmit the application data in progress to one or more peripheral devices).
Regarding claim 7, Han discloses the wearable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, further cause the wearable device to deliver the information related to the at least one task to the at least one external electronic device via a server as an operation of transmitting the information related to the at least one task (¶0108 discloses the communication unit 320 may transmit the data of the running application to a server so that the one or more peripheral devices may receive the same through the server, or may transmit the same through a communication network that is connected with the one or more peripheral devices).
Regarding claim 8, Han discloses the wearable device of claim 1, wherein the information related to the at least one task includes context-related information of an application being executed by the wearable device, and wherein the context-related information includes information related to an operation of a task currently being performed (¶0175 discloses the task information may contain a variety of information for executing the data of the application, which is in progress at a specific time, in the peripheral device, such as identification information of one or more activities to be called, information indicating whether the application is executed in the background, information indicating whether there is a file to be executed, layout or resolution information for displaying the activities, information on the data that is input into each activity, or access URL information) or information related to an operation of a task scheduled to be performed.
Regarding claim(s) 11-12, this/these method claim(s) has/have similar limitations as apparatus claim(s) 1-2, respectively and therefore rejected on similar grounds.
Regarding claim 18, Han discloses an electronic device, comprising:
one or more processors (220); and
memory (230) storing instructions (¶0089 discloses memory 230 may store instructions or data related to one or more other elements of the electronic device 201),
wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors (220) individually or collectively (¶0289 discloses the instruction, when executed by the processor 220, may cause the one or more processors to execute the function corresponding to the instruction), cause the wearable device to:
receive information and a command related to at least one task being executed (¶0013 and ¶0107 discloses the transmitted data of the applications may include identification information (e.g., an identification (ID) or package information; ¶0013 and ¶0183 discloses the electronic device transmits the identified file download instruction information and execution instruction information for the downloaded file to the selected peripheral device) by a wearable device from the wearable device (¶0041 discloses the originating device is a wearable device),
display at least a portion of the information related to the at least one task (¶0139 discloses the display unit 440 may display the application data received from the external devices),
select one task from among the at least one task in response to a user input (claim 9 and ¶0132 discloses display a message that requests input indicating whether the data of the application received from the external electronic device is to be executed through the display unit),
execute the selected task (claim 8 and ¶0190 discloses the application to be executed may correspond to the task information in the received application data), and
display a screen related to the executed task (claim 9 and ¶0134 discloses a display unit configured to display a screen that is related to the execution of the second application).
Regarding claim 20, Han discloses the electronic device of claim 18, wherein the wearable device and the electronic device are devices registered with a server through a first user account (¶0101 and ¶0147 discloses the peripheral device selecting unit 312 may select, as a peripheral device to which the application data is transmitted, a peripheral device that is related to account information of the electronic device 300 that is received from the server).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
6. Claim(s) 3, 13 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han in view of Wong et al. (US 2013/0249849 A1, hereinafter referred as “Wong”).
Regarding claim 3, Han doesn’t disclose the wearable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, further cause the wearable device to detect whether a user is wearing the wearable device using the at least one sensor as an operation of determining whether a state change of the wearable device has occurred.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wong discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, further cause the wearable device to detect whether a user is wearing the wearable device using the at least one sensor as an operation of determining whether a state change of the wearable device has occurred (¶0014 discloses the capacitance sensors may determine whether the head-mountable computing device is donned (e.g., being worn) by a user or doffed (e.g., not being worn) by a user. If the head-mountable computing device is donned, the head-mountable computing device may operate in the first state. If, on the other hand, the head-mountable computing device is doffed, the head-mountable computing device may operate in the second state).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Han so that when the head-mountable computing device is doffed, the head-mountable computing device may consume less power than when the head-mountable computing device is donned (¶0014).
Regarding claim(s) 13, this/these method claim(s) has/have similar limitations as apparatus claim(s) 3, and therefore rejected on similar grounds.
Regarding claim 14, Han discloses the method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises wherein the transmitting information and a command related to the at least one task to the at least one external electronic device is based on the [state change] (¶0013 discloses discovering, when a state of the electronic device that satisfies a condition for termination of the running application, is detected, at least one external electronic device; and transmitting data of the running application to at least one electronic device selected from the at least one discovered external electronic device with an instruction for the at least one selected electronic device to process the data of the running application).
Han doesn’t disclose detecting detachment of the wearable device from a user, and [the state change comprising] the detection of the detachment.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wong discloses detecting detachment of the wearable device from a user (¶0014 discloses the capacitance sensors may determine whether the head-mountable computing device is donned (e.g., being worn) by a user or doffed (e.g., not being worn) by a user, and [the state change comprising] the detection of the detachment (¶0014 discloses if the head-mountable computing device is donned, the head-mountable computing device may operate in the first state. If, on the other hand, the head-mountable computing device is doffed, the head-mountable computing device may operate in the second state).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Han so that when the head-mountable computing device is doffed, the head-mountable computing device may consume less power than when the head-mountable computing device is donned (¶0014).
7. Claim(s) 4 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han in view of An (US 2021/0132678 A1, hereinafter referred as “An”).
Regarding claim 4, Han doesn’t disclose the wearable device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, further cause the wearable device to acquire information related to eye fatigue of a user or dizziness of the user using the at least one sensor as an operation of determining whether a state change of the wearable device has occurred.
However, in the same field of endeavor, An discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, further cause the wearable device to acquire information related to eye fatigue of a user (¶0451 discloses the controller 1340 may periodically (e.g., once every 10 seconds) sense whether the eye of the user wearing the XR device is opened using the eye tracker provided in the XR device) or dizziness of the user using the at least one sensor (¶0451 discloses the controller 1340 may sense whether the eye of the user is opened using an internal camera disposed in the XR device to capture the user's eye) as an operation of determining whether a state change of the wearable device has occurred (¶0452 discloses when the XR device 1300 was in the power saving mode before detecting that the eye of the user is opened, the controller 1340 may control the XR device 1300 to switch from the power saving mode to the non-power saving mode as it is detected that the eye of the user is opened).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Han so that the power saving function is executed only when a preset user action is maintained for a predetermined time (¶0478).
Regarding claim(s) 16, this/these method claim(s) has/have similar limitations as apparatus claim(s) 4, and therefore rejected on similar grounds.
8. Claim(s) 5, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han in view of An, and in further view of el Kaliouby et al. (US 2020/0104616 A1, hereinafter referred as “el Kaliouby”).
Regarding claim 5, Han as modified doesn’t disclose the wearable device of claim 4, wherein the acquiring of information related to the eye fatigue of the user or the dizziness of the user comprises acquiring the information using artificial intelligence.
However, in the same field of endeavor, el Kaliouby discloses wherein the acquiring of information related to the eye fatigue of the user or the dizziness of the user comprises acquiring the information using artificial intelligence (¶0045 discloses slowing eye blink rates of the operator can indicate operator mental states such as drowsiness, fatigue, distractedness, inebriation, alertness, attention, and so on; and ¶0118-¶0119 discloses deep learning techniques such as convolutional neural networks can be applied to mental state analysis using blink rate of an operator or passenger in a vehicle).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Han for the purpose of providing automated and objective detection of fatigue based on repeated eye closures.
Regarding claim(s) 17, this/these method claim(s) has/have similar limitations as apparatus claim(s) 5, and therefore rejected on similar grounds.
9. Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han in view of Almeida et al. (US 2022/0083386 A1, hereinafter referred as “Almeida”).
Regarding claim 9, Han doesn’t disclose the wearable device of claim 8, wherein the information related to the operation of the task includes computation information for the operation of the task, and computation information related to artificial intelligence.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Almeida discloses wherein the information related to the operation of the task (¶0005 discloses receiving instructions to execute a neural network; obtaining at least one optimisation constraint to be satisfied when executing the neural network) includes computation information for the operation of the task (¶0008 discloses a time constraint (e.g. the neural network must take no longer than 1 ms to execute/output a result), a cost constraint (e.g. a fixed cost value, or specified in terms of how long a cloud server can be used for per device), inference throughput, data transfer size (e.g. the number of Mbytes or Gbytes of data that need to transferred to other computing resources to implement the neural network), an energy constraint, and neural network accuracy (e.g. must always be 100%, or an accuracy of at least 80% is required)), and computation information related to artificial intelligence (abstract discloses the neural network computation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Han for the purpose of distributing AI computation to external resources that can reduce energy use and improve execution performance.
10. Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han in view of Kohlmeier et al. (US 2020/0183884 A1, hereinafter referred as “Kohlmeier”).
Regarding claim 10, Han doesn’t disclose the wearable device of claim 1, wherein the at least one task includes a first application group for generating content, and a second application group for displaying or playing back the content generated by the first application group.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Kohlmeier discloses wherein the at least one task includes a first application group for generating content (¶0018 discloses user performs a search in the context of a content creation or productivity application (e.g., note taking, word processing, presentation, and the like), they can be looking for commands, product help, or other related information), and a second application group for displaying or playing back the content generated by the first application group (¶0025 discloses content consumption applications include document viewers (e.g., a PDF viewer), email applications, reader applications (e.g., e-book readers), presentation applications, word processing applications, web browser applications, audio players (spoken audio and music), video players, notebook applications, browser, and whiteboard applications).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Han for the purpose of permitting content generated using an authoring application to be transferred to an external device having the capability for appropriate viewer or playback application.
11. Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han in view of Oh et al. (US 2016/0191621 A1, hereinafter referred as “Oh”).
Regarding claim 15, Han doesn’t disclose the method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises: determining that there is not a second external electronic device preconnected to the wearable device; based on the determination that there is not a second external electronic device preconnected to the wearable device, performing a connection with a connectable second electronic device; and transmitting the information and the command related to the at least one task to the connected second electronic device.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Oh discloses determining that there is not a second external electronic device preconnected to the wearable device (¶0211 discloses in operation 1801, a first electronic device (for example, the first electronic device 110 or 800) may display a list of electronic devices that are connectable for communication); based on the determination that there is not a second external electronic device preconnected to the wearable device, performing a connection with a connectable second electronic device (¶0211-¶0216 discloses first electronic device establishes a communication connection with the second electronic device, when the communication connection grant information is received from the second electronic device in operation 1807); and transmitting the information (¶0217 discloses the first electronic device transmits application selection information and data information to be shared, to the second electronic device that is connected for communication) and the command related to the at least one task to the connected second electronic device (¶0098 discloses application driving device 420 may execute an application corresponding to the application selection information received from the partner electronic device, based on the data provided from the communication controller 400 or the data manager 410).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Han in order to establish a connection for transmitting the application information regarding a specified task along with an instruction.
12. Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han in view of Jain et al. (US 2016/0065626 A1, hereinafter referred as “Jain”).
Regarding claim 19, Han doesn’t disclose the electronic device of claim 18, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, further cause the electronic device to display a selection menu based on the received information related to the at least one task.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Jain discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, further cause the electronic device to display a selection menu (Fig. 3 and ¶0055 discloses display 302 can include interactive display thumbnails 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314, 316, 318, and 320) based on the received information related to the at least one task (¶0096 discloses the transmission of task context data from the source device to the target device and/or cross device activity module).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Han for the purpose of allowing the user to determining which task should be performed instead of automatically executing every transferred task.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PRIYANK J SHAH whose telephone number is (571)270-3732. The examiner can normally be reached on 10:00 - 6:00 M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ghebretinsae, Temesghen can be reached on (571) 272-3017. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PRIYANK J SHAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2626
Prosecution Insights