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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a reply to the application filed on 11/29/2022, in which, claims 1-12 are pending. Claim 1 is independent.
When making claim amendments, the applicant is encouraged to consider the references in their entireties, including those portions that have not been cited by the examiner and their equivalents as they may most broadly and appropriately apply to any particular anticipated claim amendments.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 11/29/2022 are accepted
Specification
The disclosure filed on 11/29/2022 is accepted
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 1-4, 6-10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fischer et al. (US 20180332323 A1, referred to as Fischer), in view of Moskowitz et al. (US 20140241524 A1, referred to as Moskowitz) in further view of Bantz et al. (US 20030165240 A1, referred to as Bantz).
In reference to claim 1, introduce a data change to the source image based on the device information, so as to obtain a first modified image that corresponds to the image pixels (Fischer: [0051]-[0055] Provides for watermarks based on user/device identifiers into content.)
wherein, for each of the image pixels, a difference between the first modified image and the source image at the image pixel is smaller than a first threshold pixel value (Fischer: [0040]-[0043] Provides for selecting modification locations where changes have minimal impact on rendering.)
wherein, for a first portion of the image pixels, the difference between the first modified image and the source image at each of the image pixels in the first portion is greater than zero (Fischer: [0042]-[0043] and [0055] Provides for modifying certain locations (where bitmap = 1) while leaving others unchanged.)
Fischer does not explicitly teach wherein said image content server is configured to convert the first modified image into a second modified image based on an image modification rule, wherein, for a second portion of the image pixels, a difference between the second modified image and the first modified image at each of the image pixels in the second portion is greater than a second threshold pixel value that is greater than the first threshold pixel value, wherein said image content server is configured to transmit the second modified image to said display device through the data transceiving device, A copy-protected image display system adapted for use with a data transceiving device to present an image, comprising: an eyeglasses display device that is configured for image display, the eyeglasses display device being communicatively connected to the data transceiving device; and an image content server that stores a source image corresponding to a plurality of image pixels and device information of said eyeglasses display device, wherein said image content server is configured to be communicatively connected to the data transceiving device, Wherein the display device is an eyeglasses display device and, wherein said eyeglasses display device comprises a decoder circuit that is configured to convert the second modified image back to the first modified image, and is configured to display the first modified image. However, Moskowitz teaches:
wherein said image content server is configured to convert the first modified image into a second modified image based on an image modification rule (Moskowitz: [0009], [0022] and [0064] Provides for scrambling data objects using predetermined rules to achieve specific quality levels.)
wherein, for a second portion of the image pixels, a difference between the second modified image and the first modified image at each of the image pixels in the second portion is greater than a second threshold pixel value that is greater than the first threshold pixel value (Moskowitz: [0022] and [0065] Provides for graduated degradation levels with specific thresholds, teaching different threshold pixel values creating varying degrees of modification.)
wherein said image content server is configured to transmit the second modified image to said display device through the data transceiving device (Moskowitz: [0050] and [0058] Provides for transmission of degraded/modified content to receivers over networks.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Fischer, which provides a method for introducing subtle device-specific watermarks into images with minimal visual impact, with the teachings of Moskowitz, which introduces multi-level image modification with graduated degradation thresholds and transmission of modified content. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the ability to incorporate Moskowitz's additional modification layer into Fischer's watermarking system to create a two-stage protection mechanism. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make this modification in order to enhance copy protection by applying a secondary, more substantial modification that obscures the watermarked content during transmission while maintaining the underlying device-specific watermark. Fischer in view of Moskowitz does not explicitly teach a copy-protected image display system adapted for use with a data transceiving device to present an image, comprising: an eyeglasses display device that is configured for image display, the eyeglasses display device being communicatively connected to the data transceiving device; and an image content server that stores a source image corresponding to a plurality of image pixels and device information of said eyeglasses display device, wherein said image content server is configured to be communicatively connected to the data transceiving device, Wherein the display device is an eyeglasses display device and wherein said eyeglasses display device comprises a decoder circuit that is configured to convert the second modified image back to the first modified image, and is configured to display the first modified image. However, Bantz discloses:
A copy-protected image display system adapted for use with a data transceiving device to present an image (Bantz: [0005] and [0016] Provides for copy-protection/security system for image display.)
an eyeglasses display device that is configured for image display, the eyeglasses display device being communicatively connected to the data transceiving device (Bantz: [0031]-[0032] Provides for eyeglasses with display screens and electronic connectivity.)
an image content server that stores a source image corresponding to a plurality of image pixels and device information of said eyeglasses display device, wherein said image content server is configured to be communicatively connected to the data transceiving device (Bantz: [0017]-[0020] Provides for networked systems with encrypted content storage.)
Wherein the display device is an eyeglasses display device (Bantz: [0031] Provides for display device as eyeglasses.)
wherein said eyeglasses display device comprises a decoder circuit that is configured to convert the second modified image back to the first modified image, and is configured to display the first modified image (Bantz: [0032]-[0034] Provides for decryption electronics in the eyeglasses that convert encrypted content back to readable form.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Fischer in view of Moskowitz, which together provide a two-stage image modification system for copy protection with device-specific watermarking and graduated degradation, with the teachings of Bantz, which introduces eyeglasses display devices with integrated decoder circuits for converting encrypted/modified content back to viewable form. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the ability to incorporate Bantz's specialized display hardware into the combined copy protection system to enable secure content viewing through authorized devices. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make this modification in order to create a complete end-to-end copy protection system where content is watermarked, heavily modified for transmission, and then properly decoded only on authorized eyeglasses display devices.
In reference to claim 2, The copy-protected image display system of claim 1, wherein said image content server is capable of performing a plurality of predefined encoding operations, and to select and combine some of the predefined encoding operations to form the image modification rule (Moskowitz: [0010], [0036] and [0065] Provides for selecting and combining multiple scrambling techniques to create layered modifications.)
wherein said image content server is configured to transmit an image modification instruction to said eyeglasses display device through the data transceiving device, the image modification instruction comprising information related to the image modification rule (Moskowitz: [0010] and [0044]-[0045] Provides for transmitting keys and parameters that contain information about how the data was modified and how to reverse it.)
wherein said decoder circuit of said eyeglasses display device is capable of performing multiple decoding operations that respectively correspond to the predefined encoding operations, and is configured to, based on the information related to the image modification rule, perform some of the decoding operations that correspond to said some of the predefined encoding operations to convert the second modified image back to the first modified image (Moskowitz: [0009]-[0015] and [0066]-[0068] Provides for multiple descrambling/decoding operations that can be performed in sequence or selectively to restore different quality levels.)
In reference to claim 3, The copy-protected image display system of claim 2, wherein the first modified image has a plurality of pixel values that respectively correspond to the image pixels, and the predefined encoding operations include at least one of a first encoding operation, a second encoding operation, a third encoding operation, a fourth encoding operation or a fifth encoding operation wherein the first encoding operation is to perform a circular shift on some of the pixel values of the first modified image wherein the second encoding operation is to subtract a predetermined value that is greater than the second threshold pixel value from some of the pixel values of the first modified image; wherein the third encoding operation is to convert some of the pixel values of the first modified image into complement numbers of said some of the pixel values; wherein the fourth encoding operation is to, for some of the pixel values of the first modified image, map each of said some of the pixel values to another pixel value based on a predefined mapping relationship; and wherein the fifth encoding operation is to reverse an order of bits of some of the pixel values of the first modified image in binary (Moskowitz: [0036]-[0044] Provides for transfer functions that map input to output data based on predetermined relationships.)
In reference to claim 4, The copy-protected image display system of claim 1, wherein the first modified image has a plurality of pixel values that respectively correspond to the image pixels (Moskowitz: [0036]-[0043] Provides for manipulating data at granular levels corresponding to format characteristics.)
wherein said image content server stores a plurality of display-related random factors, and each of the image pixels corresponds to one of the display-related random factors (Moskowitz: [0040]-[0045] Provides for using pseudo-random keys and signal-specific parameters.)
wherein the image modification rule comprises, for each of the image pixels, a pixel modification rule that is used to change the corresponding one of the pixel values (Moskowitz: [0036]-[0043] Provides for rules (transfer functions) that manipulate data at granular levels with predetermined applications.)
wherein said image content server is configured to, for each of the image pixels, determine the pixel modification rule for the image pixel based on the corresponding one of the display-related random factors (Moskowitz: [0040]-[0045] Provides for determining modification approaches based on pseudo-random keys and signal-specific parameters.)
In reference to claim 6, The copy-protected image display system of claim 4, wherein said eyeglasses display device has a plurality of display pixels that correspond in position to the image pixels ( Bantz: [0031]-[0032] Provides for display screens that inherently have pixels corresponding to image data positions.)
wherein said eyeglasses display device comprises a random number generator that is configured to generate random numbers respectively for said display pixels, and said eyeglasses display device is configured to transmit the random numbers along with correspondences between the random numbers and said display pixels to said image content server through the data transceiving device (Moskowitz: [0040]-[0045] Provides for using pseudo-random keys and cryptographically-generated parameters,.)
wherein said image content server makes the random numbers serve as the display-related random factors, and is configured to, for each of the image pixels, determine the pixel modification rule for the image pixel based on one of the random numbers that corresponds to one of said display pixels which corresponds in position to the image pixel (Moskowitz: [0040]-[0045] Provides for using pseudo-random factors to determine signal-specific modifications, which teaches using random numbers to determine pixel-specific modification rules.)
In reference to claim 7, The copy-protected image display system of claim 4, wherein said image content server is capable of performing a plurality of predefined encoding operations, and is configured to, for each of the image pixels, select and combine some of the predefined encoding operations based on the corresponding one of the display-related random factors to form the pixel modification rule (Moskowitz: [0010] and [0040]-[0045] Provides for selecting and combining multiple scrambling techniques based on keys/parameters, and using pseudo-random factors to determine signal-specific modifications.)
wherein said image content server is configured to transmit an image modification instruction to said eyeglasses display device through the data transceiving device, the image modification instruction comprising information related to the pixel modification rules with respect to the image pixels (Moskowitz: [0010] and [0040]-[0045] Provides for transmitting keys that contain information about how data was modified and how to reverse those modifications.)
wherein said decoder circuit of said eyeglasses display device is capable of performing multiple decoding operations that respectively correspond to the predefined encoding operations, and is configured to, based on the information related to the pixel modification rules acquired from the image modification instruction, perform, on each of the image pixels, some of the decoding operations that correspond to said some of the predefined encoding operations of the corresponding one of the pixel modification rules, so as to convert the second modified image back to the first modified image (Moskowitz: [0009]-[0016] and [0068] Provides for descrambling/decoding operations that reverse the encoding operations in sequence.)
In reference to claim 8, The copy-protected image display system of claim 7, wherein the predefined encoding operations comprise at least one of a first encoding operation, a second encoding operation, a third encoding operation, a fourth encoding operation or a fifth encoding operation; wherein the first encoding operation is to perform a circular shift on the corresponding one of the pixel values of the first modified image; wherein the second encoding operation is to subtract a predetermined value that is greater than the second threshold pixel value from the corresponding one of the pixel values of the first modified image; wherein the third encoding operation is to convert the corresponding one of the pixel values of the first modified image into a complement number of the corresponding one of the pixel values; wherein the fourth encoding operation is to map the corresponding one of the pixel values to another pixel value based on a predefined mapping relationship; and wherein the fifth encoding operation is to reverse an order of bits of the corresponding one of the pixel values of the first modified image in binary (Moskowitz: [0036]-[0044] Provides for transfer functions that map input to output data based on predetermined relationships.)
In reference to claim 9, The copy-protected image display system of claim 1, wherein said eyeglasses display device comprises a physically unclonable function (PUF) circuit, and the device information of said eyeglasses display device relates to physical characteristics of the PUF circuit (Fischer: [0038]-[0039] Provides for device-specific unique identifiers.)
wherein said PUF circuit is configured to generate an identification data piece that relates to the physical characteristics of the PUF circuit, and said eyeglasses display device is configured to transmit the identification data piece to said image content server through the data transceiving device (Fischer: [0046] Provides for transmitting identification information to content servers.)
wherein said image content server is configured to, upon determining that the identification data piece matches the device information, determine the data change for said eyeglasses display device based on the device information (Fischer: [0046]-[0051] Provides for the content server matching received user/device identifiers with stored information and then determining specific content modifications (watermarks) based on that device information.)
In reference to claim 10, The copy-protected image display system of claim 1, wherein the device information relates to electric characteristics of said eyeglasses display device, and said eyeglasses display device is configured to generate an identification data piece that relates to the electric characteristics of said eyeglasses display device, and to transmit the identification data piece to said image content server through the data transceiving device (Fischer: [0038]-[0046] Provides for device-specific identification and transmission of identification data to content servers.)
wherein said image content server is configured to, upon determining that the identification data piece matches the device information, determine the data change for said eyeglasses display device based on the device information (Moskowitz: [0027] and [0040]-[0050] Provides for matching device/user credentials and using that information to determine signal-specific modifications.)
In reference to claim 12, The copy-protected image display system of claim 1, wherein said eyeglasses display device comprises a random number generator to generate a random number corresponding to said eyeglasses display device, and is configured to transmit the random number to said image content server through the data transceiving device (Moskowitz: [0040]-[0045] Provides for using pseudo-random keys and cryptographically-generated parameters for modifications.)
wherein the device information comprises the random number provided by said eyeglasses display device, and said image content server is configured to determine the data change for said eyeglasses display device based on the random number (Moskowitz: [0040]-[0045] Provides for using pseudo-random keys and parameters to determine signal-specific modifications.)
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 5 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fischer et al. (US 20180332323 A1, referred to as Fischer), in view of Moskowitz et al. (US 20140241524 A1, referred to as Moskowitz) in further view of Bantz et al. (US 20030165240 A1, referred to as Bantz) in further view of Levin et al. (US 20180286298 A1, referred to as Levin).
In reference to claim 5, The copy-protected image display system of claim 4, wherein said eyeglasses display device has a plurality of display pixels that correspond in position to the image pixels, and each of said display pixels has a native voltage-luminance relationship (Levin: [0002]-[0003] and [0027] Provides for display pixels have individual voltage-luminance characteristics that vary across the display.)
wherein each of the image pixels corresponds to the native voltage-luminance relationship of one of said display pixels that corresponds in position to the image pixel (Levin: [0027] and [0045] Provides for positional correspondence between image areas and their measured luminance characteristics.)
wherein the device information comprises the native voltage-luminance relationships of said display pixels, and the native voltage-luminance relationships of said display pixels serve as the display-related random factor (Levin: [0030]-[0040] Provides for device-specific voltage-luminance information in calibration data/LUTs. The manufacturing variations that create these unique characteristics are inherently random.)
wherein said image content server is configured to, for each of the image pixels, determine the pixel modification rule for the image pixel based on the native voltage-luminance relationship of said one of said display pixels (Levin: [0030]-[0040] and [0066] Provides for determining pixel-specific modification rules (calibration data/correction voltages) based on each pixel's unique voltage-luminance characteristics.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Fischer in view of Moskowitz and Bantz, which together provide a copy-protected eyeglasses display system with device-specific watermarking and decoder circuits, with the teachings of Levin, which introduces pixel-level voltage-luminance characterization and calibration to achieve uniform grayscale appearance across displays with manufacturing variations. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the ability to incorporate Levin's pixel-specific calibration data into the device information used by the combined copy protection system to enhance both display quality and watermark imperceptibility. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make this modification in order to improve watermark embedding by leveraging detailed knowledge of each pixel's native voltage-luminance characteristics.
In reference to claim 11, The copy-protected image display system of claim 1, wherein said eyeglasses display device has a plurality of display pixels each having a native voltage-luminance relationship, and the device information comprises the native voltage-luminance relationships of said display pixels (Levin: [0002]-[0003] and [0030]-[0040] Provides for each pixel/sub-pixel has unique voltage-luminance characteristics due to manufacturing variations, and that this device information is stored (in calibration LUTs).)
wherein said image content server is configured to introduce the data change to the source image to make each of said display pixels, which has the native voltage-luminance relationship, appear to have a predetermined grayscale-luminance relationship that is defined with respect to the source image (Levin: [0030]-[0040] and [0066] Provides for modifying the input to each pixel (via correction voltages/calibration data) so that pixels with different native voltage-luminance characteristics will all produce the desired predetermined luminance output.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Fischer in view of Moskowitz and Bantz, which together provide a copy-protected eyeglasses display system with device-specific watermarking and decoder circuits, with the teachings of Levin, which introduces pixel-level voltage-luminance characterization and calibration to achieve uniform grayscale appearance across displays with manufacturing variations. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the ability to incorporate Levin's pixel-specific calibration data into the device information used by the combined copy protection system to enhance both display quality and watermark imperceptibility. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to make this modification in order to improve watermark embedding by leveraging detailed knowledge of each pixel's native voltage-luminance characteristics.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AIDAN EDWARD SHAUGHNESSY whose telephone number is (703)756-1423. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7:30am to 5pm.
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/A.E.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2432
/Jeffrey Nickerson/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2432