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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/16/25 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This is in response to the amendments filed on 11/19/25. Claims 1, 4 – 7, 10, 17, and 18 have been amended and claim 3 has been cancelled. Claims 1, 2, 4 – 19, and 21 are now pending in the current application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1 – 7, 9 – 19 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Step 1:
I. The claims are drawn to apparatus, process and CRM categories.
II. Thus, initially, under Step 1 of the analysis, it is noted that the claims are directed towards eligible categories of subject matter.
Step 2a:
III. Prong 1: Does the claim recite an abstract idea, law of nature, or natural phenomenon?
Representative claim 1 is analyzed below, with italicized limitations indicating recitations of an abstract idea.
An operation control method, comprising: obtaining a face image of a target user; detecting position information of a target part in the face image; based on the detected position information, displaying a target virtual prop, in an initial display form, at a relative position corresponding to the detected position information on the face image; and adjusting a display form of the target virtual prop based on detected state information of the target part.
The underlined limitations fall within at least three of the groupings of abstract ideas enumerated in the 2019 PEG:
Managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people
The claims are directed towards managing personal behavior or relationships between people, which are all considered to be abstract ideas according to the 2019 guidelines.
Prong 2: Does the Claim recite additional elements that integrate the exception in to a practical application of the exception?
iii. The claim limitations do not integrate the exception into a practical application of the exception. For example, the claims require additional limitations such as a processor, interface, memory, and capture components.
iv. These claim limitations do not represent an improvement to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technical field, (MPEP 2106.05(a)). Nor do they apply the exception using a particular machine, (MPEP 2106.05(b)). Furthermore, they do not effect a transformation. (MPEP 2106.05(c)). Rather, these additional limitations amount to an instruction to “apply” the judicial exception using a computer as a tool to perform the abstract idea.
Step 2b:
Under Step 2B, the claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because they amount to conventional and routine computer implementation and mere instructions for implementing the abstract idea on generic computing devices.
For example, the claim language does not recite any additional elements and viewed as a whole, said claim language is indistinguishable from conventional computing elements known in the art. Therefore, the additional elements fail to supply additional elements that yield significantly more than the underlying abstract idea. Viewing the limitations as an ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually. There is no indication that the combination of elements improves the functioning of a computer or improves any other technology.
For these reasons, it appears that the claims are not patent-eligible under 35 USC §101.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 – 19 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as being anticipated by Harris (U.S. 2009/0310187).
Regarding claims 1, 18, and 19, Harris discloses an operation control method, (“The interactive system can be a personal computer running a program that interacts with the internet, or can be a dedicated video gaming console”, par. 0009), obtaining a face image of a target user, (“the computer system obtains a picture of the person”, par. 0017), detecting position information of a target part in the face image, (part 110 of fig. 1), based on the detected position, displaying a target virtual prop, in an initial display form, at a relative position corresponding to the detected position information on the face image, (“The editing which is allowed to be carried out at 208, for example, may include makeup, hair, spot removal or other type imperfection removal on the face, getting or covering tattoos”, par. 0030), adjusting a display form of the target virtual prop based on detected state information of the target part, (“It can include the distance between the eyes and mouth; the size, shape and orientation of the nose, neck location; chin size and chin location; hair color; hair line. In general, all of the sizes and shapes of the features of the face are obtained: including skin type, color and tone”, par. 0024), wherein the adjusting a display form of the target virtual prop based on detected state information of the target prop comprises: adjusting the display form of the target virtual prop in a case that is detected that a state attribute of the target part meets a preset attribute condition, (“A user can set their preferred settings for colors, hair, etc and save those settings as "presets"”, par. 0031) and it is detected that a sound attribute meets a preset sound attribute condition, (“A voice is recorded, and a voice model of that recorded voice is obtained. The voice model is used with the face and body whenever the user speaks within the application. By using a person's real voice associated with the body and/or face, the speaking will appear to be more natural for the body”, par. 0035).
Regarding claim 2, Harris discloses wherein the display form comprises a display shape and/or a display size, (“It can include the distance between the eyes and mouth; the size, shape and orientation of the nose, neck location; chin size and chin location; hair color; hair line. In general, all of the sizes and shapes of the features of the face are obtained: including skin type, color and tone”, par. 0024).
Regarding claim 3, Harris discloses wherein the adjusting a display form of the target virtual prop based on detected state information of the target part comprises: adjusting the display form of the target virtual prop in a case that it is detected that a state attribute of the target part meets a preset state attribute condition and it is detected that a sound attribute meets a preset sound attribute condition, (“A voice is recorded, and a voice model of that recorded voice is obtained. The voice model is used with the face and body whenever the user speaks within the application”, par. 0035).
Regarding claim 4, Harris discloses wherein the adjusting the display form of the target virtual prop in a case that it is detected that a state attribute of the target part meets a preset state attribute condition and it is detected that a sound attribute meets a preset sound attribute condition comprises: in the case that the state attribute of the target part meets the preset state attribute condition and the sound attribute meets the preset sound attribute condition, determining a display form adjustment range of the target virtual prop in a time period based on detected face shape change information of the target user; and adjusting the display form of the target virtual prop based on the determined display form adjustment range, (“A voice is recorded, and a voice model of that recorded voice is obtained. The voice model is used with the face and body whenever the user speaks within the application”, par. 0035 and fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, Harris discloses wherein the adjusting a display form of the target virtual prop based on detected state information of the target part comprises: in a case that a state attribute of the target part meets a preset state attribute condition, determining a display form adjustment range of the target virtual prop in a time period based on detected face shape change information of the target user; and adjusting the display form of the target virtual prop based on the determined display form adjustment range, (fig. 3).
Regarding claim 7, Harris discloses wherein that the sound attribute meets the preset sound attribute condition comprises that it is detected that a sound volume is greater than a preset threshold and/or it is detected that a sound type is a preset sound type, (“A voice is recorded, and a voice model of that recorded voice is obtained. The voice model is used with the face and body whenever the user speaks within the application”, par. 0035).
Regarding claims 10 and 11, Harris discloses wherein the after adjusting the display form of the target virtual prop to meet a preset condition, displaying a target animation effect corresponding to the target virtual prop comprises: based on prop attribute information of the target virtual prop, displaying a target animation effect matching the prop attribute information, (fig. 3).
Regarding claims 12 - 17, Harris discloses obtaining a personalized to-be-added object; and generating the target virtual prop based on the obtained personalized to-be-added object and a preset virtual prop model, (“The editing which is allowed to be carried out at 208, for example, may include makeup, hair, spot removal or other type imperfection removal on the face, getting or covering tattoos”, par. 0030).
Regarding claims 20 and 21, Harris discloses a processors; a memory; and a bus; wherein the memory stores machine-readable instructions executable for the processor, the processor communicates with the memory via the bus when the computer device operates, and the machine-readable instructions, (“The interactive system can be a personal computer running a program that interacts with the internet, or can be a dedicated video gaming console such as a Sony Playstation or Xbox, or any other type device that allows interaction via a user interface and display”, par. 0009).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/19/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding the 101 rejection of claims 1 – 7, 9 – 19 and 21, Applicants argue the amended claims “amounts to more than conventional and routine computer implementation and mere instructions for implementing the alleged abstract idea on generic computing devices”. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The amendments disclose limitations with respect to adjusting the display form of the target virtual prop including preset conditions, but the claims still remain silent of any additional elements such as a processor, interface, memory, and capture components. Therefore, the Examiner maintains that the current claims are not patent eligible.
Applicants further argue, with respect to the 102 rejection, that at least “claim 1 is allowable over the cited reference”. More specifically, it is argued that while “Harris does mention sound and facial imagery, they serve entirely separate ends”, “thus Harris keeps sound and expression in siloed ancillary roles, whereas claim 1 fuses them into a unified control condition”. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Harris teaches that “By using a person's real voice associated with the body and/or face, the speaking will appear to be more natural for the body. The inventor recognizes that a voice sounds more natural coming from a person who it looks like”, (par. 0035), wherein this is viewed by the Examiner as being equivalent fusing sound and facial imagery together into a unified condition. Therefore, the Examiner maintains that Harris anticipates the present invention as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC M THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-1699. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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/E.M.T/Examiner, Art Unit 3715 /DAVID L LEWIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3715