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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-12, 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tham et al. (US Patent No.11,275,453; hereinafter Tham) in view of Mallinson (US Patent Publication No. 2018/0095542).
With reference to claims 1, 8, and 15, Tham discloses a computer-based method of AI-based direction awareness during content engagement (see column 4, lines 55-57; column 5, lines 32-48: Figs. 1-4, 8), a computer system and computer program product comprising: one or more processors, one or more computer-readable tangible storage media, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more computer-readable tangible storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more computer-readable memories (see column 20, line 39-column 21, line 21), wherein the computer system is capable of performing a the method comprising:
receiving a query from a user on a primary device (100) and data relating to an orientation of the primary device (100) (see column 11, lines 8-45; column 18, lines 31-65; Fig. 4, 8);
presenting display content (650) to the user on the primary device (100) based on the query and the orientation (see column 16, line 45-column 17, line 6);
determining whether directional input (610) is received from the user based on one or more actions of the user (see column 16, lines 29-34; Fig. 8);
in response to determining the directional input is received from the user, identifying a relative distance and direction of one or more wearable devices (500) to the primary device (100) (see column 14, lines 30-40; Fig. 4);
determining a reference object (700) based on the relative distance and direction (see column 16, lines 29-62; Fig. 8);
identifying a scaled distance of the one or more wearable devices to the reference object based on a scale of the display content (in teaching correlation between path (655) and course (610); see column 16, lines 29-62; Fig. 8); and
adjusting the presented display content to include the reference object in a center of a screen of the primary device based on the scaled distance (see column 16, line 63-column 17, line 6; column 17, lines 16-38; Fig. 8).
While disclosing determining a reference object as explained, Tham fails to disclose the reference object is in a real-world environment as recited.
Mallinson discloses a system and method for interacting with a virtual space using a head mounted display (104) (see abstract; paragraphs 36-37, Fig. 2C), wherein the system and method determines a reference object (221’) in a real-world surrounding environment (100) of the user (102) based on the relative distance and direction (see paragraphs 67-68, 70,78-79, Figs. 2, 4-5); identifying a scaled distance of the one or more wearable devices (104) to the reference object in the real-world surrounding environment based on a scale of the display content (see paragraphs 62-63; Figs. 4-5); and adjusting the presented display content to include the reference object of a screen of the primary device based on the scaled distance (see paragraphs 70-72; Figs. 4A-E), wherein the presented display content is adjusted by shifting displayed images by an amount equivalent to the scaled distance in a direction of the reference object (see paragraphs 60-61, 64-67; Figs. 2).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to allow determining a real-world object for interaction similar to that which is taught by Mallinson to be carried out in a system similar to that which is taught by Tham to thereby allow rendering images of objects for user interaction based on their location with the user in a real-world space (see Mallinson; paragraph 85).
With reference to claims 2, 9, and 16, Tham and Mallinson disclose the computer-based method of claim 1, 8, or 15, wherein Tham further discloses constructing a complete query including the query, the directional input (610, 665), and the reference object (700), wherein the presented display content is adjusted based on the complete query (see column 4, lines 55-57; column 5, lines 32-48: Figs. 1-4, 8).
With reference to claims 3, 10, and 17, Tham and Mallinson disclose the computer-based method of claim 2, 9 or 16, wherein Tham further discloses, wherein the adjusted display content is presented to the user with an identical scale to the scale of the display content (in teaching correlation between path (655) and course (610); see column 16, lines 29-62; Fig. 8)
With reference to claims 4, 11, and 18, Tham and Mallinson disclose the computer-based method of claim 1, 8, or 15, wherein Tham further discloses wherein the one or more actions of the user include a hand gesture, an eye gesture, and a voice command of the user (see column 11, lines 46-60; column 16, lines 3-16; column 18, lines 31-65; Fig. 4, 8-9).
With reference to claims 5, 12, and 19, Tham and Mallinson disclose the computer-based method of claim 4, 11, or 18, wherein Tham further discloses wherein a change in the eye gesture of the user results in the detection of a different reference object (in teaching eye tracking see column 11, lines 46-60; column 16, lines 3-16; Fig. 8).
With reference to claims 7 and 14, Tham and Mallinson disclose the computer-based method of claim 1 or 8, wherein Tham further discloses wherein the wearable device is selected from a group consisting of a smartwatch and a smart ring (500) (see column 8, lines 39-47; Figs. 8-9).
Claims 6, 13, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tham in view of Mallinson as applied to claim 1, 8, or 15 above, and further in view of Tsubotani et al. (US Patent Publication 2015/0207833)
With reference to claim 6, 13, and 20, Tham and Mallinson disclose discloses the computer-based method of claim 1, 8, or 15, and while disclosing the usage of voice commands from the user, there fails to be specific disclosure of relocating as recited.
Tsubotani discloses wherein adjusting the presented display content further comprises: relocating at least one object (41) that is blocking a view of the reference object (2-4) on the primary device in response to a command from the user to relocate the at least one object (see paragraphs 85-89; Figs. 10-14).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to allow relocation of an object similar to that which is taught by Tsubotani to be carried out in a system similar to that which is taught by Tham and Mallinson disclose to thereby insure that overlap between objects is solved (see Tsubotani; paragraph 85).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/12/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant argues that Tham in view of Mallinson fails to suggest currently recited language, “wherein the presented display content is adjusted by shifting displayed images by an amount equivalent to the scaled distance in a direction of the reference object” as recited in claims 1, 8, and 15. The applicant finds that Tham’s disclosure of the course (610) and the path (665) as described fails to teach the subject matter, and Mallinson’s disclosure of the objects being in and out of focus based on the direction in which the user is facing fail to teach the recited subject matter. The examiner disagrees and finds that Mallinson discloses wherein the presented display content (100) is adjusted by shifting displayed images by an amount equivalent to the scaled distance in a direction of the reference object in teaching that objects are provided as an overlay in the VR space (100), wherein the field of view may be dynamically updated based on the direction of the user in the real-world environment (see paragraphs 60-61, 64-66; Figs. 2). Therefore, the examiner finds that the combination of references disclose the limitations as recited. Therefore claims 1-20 are rejected. Additionally, the examiner finds that the applicant may not be claiming the invention as intended. Features as described, with reference to Figure 3, are not presented in a manner to define the invention as the applicant intends based on the description provided by the specification. Specifically, the data relating to the “data relating to an orientation of the primary device” pertains to the orientation in which the user is holding the primary device (i.e. landscape or portrait); the specification describes a user navigating through a city, wherein the user has the ability to request information of regions of interest in the surroundings of the user; and the reference object being a region of interest within an area of the city. These and other features described with reference to Fig. 3 have not been defined in the claim limitations to define the invention as described in the specification. The applicant is encourage to contact to the examiner for an interview for suggestions on how to overcome the previous rejection.
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
LIN et al. (USPub2016/0286350) discloses a positioning system comprising a handheld electronic device and a wearable device paired thereto to perform wireless transmission to obtain absolute location (see paragraphs 45-54; Figs. 1-4).
ARGO (USPub2024/0027228) discloses a system and method for publishing AI map data to an end user at a specified location, wherein a computing device displays a map portion of an area on a digital display, and the computing device receives at least one selection by the user for a portion of the area presented by the map (see abstract, paragraphs 18-52; Figs. 1-6).
SONG et al. (USPub 2025/0118070) discloses providing customized tour guide content that can provide tour content to a user comprising a camera capturing a real-time video which will be displayed and analyzed for a plurality of objects, and one of the current location and direction sensed by user input are used to generate a plurality of objects, and an selected object is included in the real-time video and displays information relating to object (see abstract; paragraphs 149- 200; Figs. 1-12).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALECIA DIANE ENGLISH whose telephone number is (571)270-1595. The examiner can normally be reached M0n.-Fri. 7:00am-3:00am.
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/ADE/Examiner, Art Unit 2625
/WILLIAM BODDIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2625
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