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`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria1 Virginia 22313- 1450
`www.uspto.gov
`
`APPLICATION NO.
`
`
`
`
`
` F ING DATE
`
`FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
`
`ATTORNEY DOCKET NO.
`
`
`
`
`
`CONF {MATION NO.
`
`13/383,905
`
`01/13/2012
`
`Yoshinori Hiramatsu
`
`OHNO—116US
`
`6111
`
`EXAMINER
`RATNERPRESTIA —
`06’1”” —
`7590
`52473
`PO. BOX 980
`DANG, HUNGQ
`VALLEY FORGE, PA 19482-0980
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`ART UNIT
`
`2484
`
`
`
`
`NOT *ICATION DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`06/ 1 3/201 3
`
`ELECTRONIC
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
`
`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above—indicated "Notification Date" to the
`following e—mail address(es):
`
`ptocorrespondence @ratnerprestia.c0m
`
`PTOL—90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`

`

`
`
`Applicant(s)
`Application No.
` 13/383,905 HIRAMATSU ET AL.
`
`
`AIA (First Inventorto File)
`Art Unit
`Examiner
`Office Action Summary
`
`
`HUNG DANG first“ 2484
`-- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
`Period for Reply
`
`
`
`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE 3 MONTH(S) OR THIRTY (30) DAYS,
`WHICHEVER IS LONGER, FROM THE MAILING DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.
`Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a).
`In no event however may a reply be timely filed
`after SIX () MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.
`If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.
`Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
`Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any
`earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
`
`-
`-
`
`Status
`
`1)IXI Responsive to communication(s) filed on 8 May 2013.
`[I A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on
`
`2b)|:| This action is non-final.
`a)IXl This action is FINAL.
`3)I:I An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview on
`
`
`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
`
`4)|:I Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is
`closed in accordance with the practice under EX parte Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
`
`Disposition of Claims
`5)|XI Claim(s) 1,3-5 and 13 is/are pending in the application.
`5a) Of the above claim(s)
`is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`6)|:l Claim(s) _ is/are allowed.
`
`7)IZ| Claim(s) 1 3-5 and 13is/are rejected.
`8)I:I Claim(s) _ is/are objected to.
`
`9)|:l Claim((s)
`are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.
`* If any claims have been determined allowable, you may be eligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
`
`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
`htt
`://www.usoto. ov/ atents/init events"
`
`
`
`h/index.‘s or send an inquiry to PF"I-Ifeedback{<‘buspto.qov.
`
`Application Papers
`
`10)I:I The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`11)|:I The drawing(s) filed on _ is/are: a)I:I accepted or b)I:I objected to by the Examiner.
`Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a).
`
`Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
`
`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
`12)I:I Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or (f).
`Certified copies:
`
`b)I:I Some * c)I:I None of the:
`a)I:I AII
`1.I:I Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`2.I:I Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
`3.|:I Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage
`
`application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
`* See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
`
`Interim copies:
`
`a)|:l AII
`
`b)I:I Some
`
`c)I:I None of the:
`
`Interim copies of the priority documents have been received.
`
`Attachment(s)
`
`1) E Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`
`3) I] Interview Summary (PTO-413)
`
`Paper NOISIIMa” Date —
`PTO/SB/08
`t
`St t
`I
`D'
`t'
`f
`2 I:l I
`)
`4) I:I Other:
`a emen (s)(
`Isc osure
`n orma Ion
`)
`Paper No(s)/Mai| Date
`US. Patent and Trademark Office
`PTOL-326 (Rev. 03-13)
`
`Part of Paper No./Mai| Date 20130605
`
`Office Action Summary
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 13/383,905
`
`Page 2
`
`Art Unit: 2484
`
`DETAILED ACTION
`
`Response to Arguments
`
`Applicant's arguments filed 05/08/2013 have been fully considered but they are
`
`moot in view of a new ground of rejections.
`
`Claim Objections
`
`Claims 1, 3-5, and 13 are objected to because of the following intormalities:
`
`Claim 1 recites, “...control|ing the disc reproduction apparatus independent of
`
`said disc.” It is not clear whether "the disc reproduction apparatus is independent of said
`
`disc" or "the user interface menu is independent of said disc". However, the originally
`
`filed specification of the current application, in various places, describes that both the
`
`pop-up menu and the user interface menu are specific to the titles recorded on the disc
`
`(see at least [0017] of the originally filed specification of the current application). As
`
`such, Examiner interprets the limitation as “the disc reproduction apparatus is
`
`independent of the disc". However, official amendment to clarify the confusion is
`
`requested.
`
`Claims 3-5 and 13 depend on claim 1 thus inheriting the objected feature.
`
`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 —
`
`(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in
`public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of application for patent in
`the United States.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 13/383,905
`
`Page 3
`
`Art Unit: 2484
`
`Claims 1, 3, and 13 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being anticipated by
`
`Jung et al. (US 2008/0195971 A1 — hereinafter Jung).
`
`Regarding claim 1, Jung discloses a disc reproduction apparatus reproducing a
`
`disc which includes a title having video content (Fig.4; [0038]; [0179] — a reproducing
`
`apparatus reproducing a disk as shown in Fig. 4 including a title having video content
`
`encoded in a AV data stream as further described in [0038]), the disc reproduction
`
`apparatus comprising: a reproduction section reproducing the title on a monitor ([0038]
`
`— a reproduction section reads the AV content and reproduce the content on a screen);
`
`a signal processing section for accepting a user's operation and displaying, on the
`
`monitor, a pop-up menu which is associated with said disc ([0008]; [0039]-[0041]—
`
`accepting a user’s operation such as the pushing of the button for pop-up menu to
`
`display the pop-up menu) and a user interface menu for controlling the disc
`
`reproduction apparatus independent of said disc ([0008]; [0039]-[0041]— a main menu
`
`is displayed for the controlling the disc reproduction apparatus in accordance with
`
`navigation command); wherein if said user interface menu is being displayed on said
`
`monitor ([0008] — a main menu is being displayed), said signal processing section
`
`deletes the user interface menu from being displayed and displays said pop op menu
`
`([0008]; [0039]-[0040] — the main menu disappears so that the pop-up menu is
`
`displayed in accordance with the user's operation).
`
`Regarding claim 3, Jung also discloses the signal processing section accepts a
`
`user's operation via a touch panel integrated with a remote controller or the monitor
`
`([0039] — at least a touch screen).
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 13/383,905
`
`Page 4
`
`Art Unit: 2484
`
`Regarding claim 13, Jung also discloses if said pop-up menu is being displayed
`
`on said monitor, then responsive to said user's operation to the monitor, said signal
`
`processing section deletes the pop-up menu from being displayed and displays the user
`
`interface menu (Fig. 5; [0039-[0041] — switching between different menu pages as
`
`shown in Fig. 5 and described in [0039]-[0041] in which a pop up menu as described in
`
`[0008] corresponds to the menu page 2 shown in Fig. 2 and the user operates the
`
`button 2 to switch back the menu page 1, which is interpreted as the main menu
`
`described in [0008]).
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
`
`The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all
`
`obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
`
`(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set
`forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and
`the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the
`invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains.
`Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
`
`Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Jung
`
`as applied to claims 1, 3, and 13 above, and further in view of Uchimura (US
`
`2007/0140667 A1 — hereinafter Uchimura).
`
`Regarding claim 4, see the teachings of Jung as discussed in claim 3 above.
`
`Further, Jung also discloses the signal processing section accepts the user's operation
`
`to display the pop-up menu via the touch panel (Fig. 5; [0008]; [0043]— accepting a
`
`user’s operation via a touch screen to display a pop-up menu), displays the pop-up
`
`menu or display the user interface on the monitor ([0008]— displaying the pop-up menu
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 13/383,905
`
`Page 5
`
`Art Unit: 2484
`
`or the user interface menu depending on which button on which menu screen is
`
`operated as shown in Fig. 5).
`
`However, Jung does not disclose upon determining that the pop-up menu is
`
`displayable, and displays the user interface on the monitor upon determining that the
`
`pop-up menu cannot be displayed.
`
`Uchimura discloses displaying a pop-up menu on a monitor upon determining
`
`that a pop-up menu is displayble, and displays the user interface on the monitor upon
`
`determining that the pop-up menu cannot be displayed. ([0228]—[0229]— displaying an
`
`appropriate menu depending on a flag “user_interface_model" - when
`
`“user_interface_model” = 1, the pop-up menu can be displayed, when the
`
`“user_interface_model" = 0, the pop-up menu cannot be displayed).
`
`One of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have
`
`been motivated to incorporate the teachings of Uchimura into the disc reproduction
`
`apparatus taught by Jung to display the pop up menu as intended by the disc's author.
`
`Claim 5 is are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over
`
`Jung and Uchimura as applied to claims 1, 3-4, and 13 above, and further in view
`
`of Okamura (US 2006/0123357 A1 — hereinafter Okamura).
`
`Regarding claim 5, see the teachings of Jung and Uchimura as discussed in
`
`claim 4 above. However, Jung and Uchimura do not disclose when there is not a button
`
`for accepting the user's operation at a position on the touch panel where the user has
`
`touched, the signal processing section determines that the touch is a user's operation to
`
`display the pop-up menu.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 13/383,905
`
`Page 6
`
`Art Unit: 2484
`
`Okamura discloses when there is not a button for accepting a user's operation at
`
`a position on a touch panel where the user has touched, the signal processing section
`
`determines that the touch is a user's operation to display a pop-up menu ([0080]; [0097]
`
`— touching a touch panel where there is no button for accepting the user’s operation, it
`
`is determined that a pop-up menu is to be displayed at the touched position).
`
`One of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have
`
`been motivated to incorporate the teachings of Okamura into the apparatus taught by
`
`Jung and Uchimura to enhance the user interface of the apparatus by implementing
`
`default touching at a desired position to display a pop-up menu.
`
`Conclusion
`
`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
`
`CFR1.136(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
`
`extension fee 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 date of this final action.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 13/383,905
`
`Page 7
`
`Art Unit: 2484
`
`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
`
`examiner should be directed to HUNG DANG whose telephone number is (571)270-
`
`1116. The examiner can normally be reached on IFT.
`
`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s
`
`supervisor, THAI Q. TRAN can be reached on 571-272—7382. 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.
`
`/Hung Q Dang/
`Examiner, Art Unit 2484
`
`

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