Patent Application 18326599 - DEVICE GROUP MANAGEMENT VIA INFORMATION - Rejection
Patent Application 18326599 - DEVICE GROUP MANAGEMENT VIA INFORMATION
Title: DEVICE GROUP MANAGEMENT VIA INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD, AND PROGRAM
Application Information
- Invention Title: DEVICE GROUP MANAGEMENT VIA INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD, AND PROGRAM
- Application Number: 18326599
- Submission Date: 2025-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Effective Filing Date: 2023-05-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Filing Date: 2023-05-31T00:00:00.000Z
- National Class: 715
- National Sub-Class: 735000
- Examiner Employee Number: 92129
- Art Unit: 2174
- Tech Center: 2100
Rejection Summary
- 102 Rejections: 0
- 103 Rejections: 1
Cited Patents
The following patents were cited in the rejection:
Office Action Text
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/6/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 5/6/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-8 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome the objections noted in the previous office action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 5/6/2025, with respect to rejections under prior art have been fully considered and are moot upon a new ground(s) of rejection, as necessitated by amendment, as outlined above.
Prior Art
Listed herein below are the prior art references relied upon in this Office Action:
Lee et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2016/0253145), referred to as Lee herein [cited on Applicant’s IDS dated 5/31/2023].
Reimann et al. (US Application Publication 2013/0080955), referred to as Reimann herein [cited on Applicant’s IDS dated 5/31/2023].
Deceptively Blonde (Fix for Windows 8.1 Wifi not Working, https://deceptivelyblonde.com/2014/07/04/fix-for-windows-8-1-wifi-not-working/), referred to as Deceptively Blonde herein.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Reimann in further view of Deceptively Blonde.
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses an information processing apparatus, comprising (Lee, Fig. 4 with ¶0062, ¶0085-¶0086 and ¶0095 – mobile devices Element 100 includes a processor executing software instructions stored in memory):
circuitry configured to detect whether or not each of a plurality of reproduction apparatuses constitutes a group related to reproduction of content (Lee, Fig. 3 with ¶0021-¶0026 – speakers and multiple separate electronic devices may form local network and are separate from each other. Fig. 9 with ¶0117 – speakers are grouped according to received input. The mobile device is not part of the speaker group. Fig. 2 with ¶0122-¶0124 and ¶0135 – grouping detected speakers for coordinated music reproduction),
each of the plurality of reproduction apparatuses being connected to a network, each of the plurality of reproduction apparatuses being capable of reproducing the content (Lee, Fig. 3 with ¶0021-¶0026 – speakers and electronic devices may form local network. Fig. 2 with ¶0122-¶0124 and ¶0135 – grouping speakers for coordinated music reproduction);
control at least one icon image related to the constitution of the group; accept a user operation to the at least one icon image related to the constitution of the group; transmit an instruction to each of the reproduction apparatus in the group based on the user operation (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons. The controller controls the speakers to reproduce the same music. ¶0121, ¶0127, ¶0157 – transmitted control signal):
wherein, the circuitry is configured to display each icon image respectively corresponding to the plurality of reproduction apparatuses indicating whether each reproduction apparatus is capable of being constituted in the group in a group state image (Lee, Figs. 7-9 with ¶0109-¶0118 – speakers capable of being constituted in the group are indicated by respective speaker icons. Initially it is determined whether each speaker is capable of being constituted in a group, and if so, the speaker is indicated in the interface),
in a case where the group is being constituted, an icon image is configured to be moved by a user operation, and a group image corresponding to the group is displayed in the group state image (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons. The controller controls the speakers to reproduce the same music. In Fig. 10, the icon corresponding to the speaker named “Clara Room” is moved upward to join the created group), and
the circuitry is configured to display in the group state image both (i) the group image having a specified area (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by the area corresponding to the color and connection icons. In Fig. 10, the icon corresponding to the speaker named “Clara Room” is moved upward to join the created group in a group area),
and (ii) a group
when the icon image in the group image for one of the reproduction apparatus that is constituted in the group is configured to be moved by the user operation, image
However, Lee appears not to expressly disclose the limitations shown in strikethrough above. However, in the same field of endeavor, Reimann teaches a method of configuring zones for systems that perform media playback (Reimann, Abstract)
and (ii) a group withdrawal area distinct from the group image that includes each of the reproduction apparatuses that are not in a group (Reimann, Figs. 11-12 with ¶0094-¶0095 – Zone which is dragged out of a group area (withdrawal area) is removed from the group and can be dragged directly into another group),
wherein icon images for each of the reproduction apparatuses that are not in the group are configured to be movable to the group by a user operation from the group withdrawal area into the group image (Reimann, Figs. 11-12 with ¶0094-¶0095 – Zone group which is dragged and dropped onto another zone group results in the combination of the zones in the zone groups)
when the icon image in the group image for one of the reproduction apparatus that is constituted in the group is configured to be moved by the user operation, the respective icon image is deleted from the group and a size of the group image is automatically adjusted after the respective icon image is deleted from the group (Reimann, Figs. 11-12 with ¶0094-¶0096 – Zone which is dragged out of a group area (withdrawal area) is removed from the group and can be dragged directly into another group or to a space between groups. Zone groupings are updated to reflect the change. Groups which have multiple zones are shown with a larger size).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified group modification of Lee as modified, to include adding a speaker to an existing group by dragging it onto the group based on the teachings of Reimann. The motivation for doing so would have been to enable users to more quickly and effectively modify existing groups using simple gestural commands (Reimann, ¶0079).
However, Lee as modified appears not to expressly disclose the circuitry is configured to display an indicator indicating whether each reproduction apparatus is currently connected to the network and available to constitute the group is displayed in the group withdrawal area.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Deceptively Blonde teaches computer interface icons for communication (Deceptively Blonde, Pages 2 and 3),
the circuitry is configured to display an indicator indicating whether each reproduction apparatus is currently connected to the network and available to constitute the group is displayed in the group withdrawal area (Deceptively Blonde, Pages 2 and 3 – Red X sub-icon represents network disconnection while a lack of the sub-icon indication is shown for connection. Additionally, a sub-icon is used to show the type of connection (e.g.: Bluetooth near field communication, Ethernet, or other wireless)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the internet-connected devices of Lee to include an icon representing the availability of connectivity and connection type based on the teachings of Deceptively Blonde. The motivation for doing so would have been to alert users to specific device network connectivity issues to assist with problem diagnostics (Deceptively Blonde, Page 1).
Regarding claim 2, Lee as modified discloses the limitations of claim 1 above, and further discloses wherein in a case where a destination group is already established and a reproduction apparatus, which is a non-constitution apparatus currently not constituted in the destination group, which can be connected to the network is selected by a user operation of being added to the destination group, the selected non-constitution apparatus and one or more reproduction apparatuses included in the destination group are configured to newly constitute the destination group (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons. The controller controls the speakers to reproduce the same music. ¶0121, ¶0127, ¶0157 – transmitted control signal. Figs. 7-9 with ¶0109-¶0118 – speakers capable of being constituted in the group are indicated by respective speaker icons. Reimann, Fig. 11 with ¶0094 – Zone group which is dragged and dropped onto another zone group results in the combination of the zones in the zone groups. In the example, the “Patio” zone is being added to the group including the “Kitchen” and “Dining Room” zones. The new zone group is reconstituted to include the added zones).
Regarding claim 3, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above, and further discloses wherein in a case where a destination group is dissolved, an icon image corresponding to a reproduction apparatus in the destination group is moved by the user operation away from the group state image of the destination group, and the displayed group stated image corresponding to the destination group is changed (Reimann, Fig. 12 with ¶0096 – removing a zone from the group by dragging the zone to a non-group location).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified group modification of Lee as modified, to include dragging to remove devices from the group based on the teachings of Reimann. The motivation for doing so would have been to enable users to more quickly and effectively modify existing groups using simple gestural commands (Reimann, ¶0079).
Regarding claim 5, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 3 above, and further discloses wherein icon images that are in a group are displayed differently from icon images that are not in group (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons).
Regarding claim 6, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 5 above, and further discloses wherein the icon images that are not in a group are displayed emphatically (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons. In Figs. 10 and 11, the non-group icons are displayed with emphasis by displaying them at the edge or outside of the group area. Additionally, ¶0131 – the non-group icons may be emphasized by displaying them in a different color or without connection icons).
Regarding claim 7, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 5 above, and further discloses wherein a reproduction apparatus that is capable of being constituted in the group is displayed emphatically (Lee, Figs. 9-11 with ¶0117, ¶0129-¶0135 – speakers are grouped according to received drag input to the speaker icons. The group is indicated by color and connection icons. In Figs. 10 and 11, the non-group icons are displayed with emphasis by displaying them at the edge or outside of the group area. Additionally, ¶0131 – the non-group icons may be emphasized by displaying them in a different color or without connection icons).
Regarding claim 8, Lee as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above, and further discloses wherein the circuitry is configured to display an indicator that is configured to receive an input from the user to indicate whether a reproduction apparatus is capable of being constituted in a group (Lee, Figs. 7-9 with ¶0109-¶0118 – speakers capable of being constituted in the group are indicated by respective speaker icons. Initially it is determined whether each speaker is capable of being constituted in a group, and if so, the speaker is indicated in the interface. Reimann, Fig. 8 with ¶0062, ¶0081 – zone icons represent speakers capable of being grouped).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL W PARCHER whose telephone number is (303)297-4281. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 5:00pm, Mountain Time.
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/DANIEL W PARCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2174
