DETAILED ACTION
The following is a non-final, first office action in response to the application filed May 11, 2026. Claims 4-13 have been elected. Claims 14-18 have been withdrawn. Claims 4-13 are currently pending and have been examined.
Response to Arguments
Claims 14-18 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on May 11, 2026.
Applicant's election with traverse has been fully considered but is not persuasive. Claim 14 has separate utility such as accessing a database comprising design object metadata, goods metadata, service metadata, product metadata, and associated 3D CAD models; presenting selectable product metadata tags, including tag names and tag types based on product categories and/or features associated with the defined design object; retrieving at least one good and/or service based on user-selected product metadata tags and associated goods metadata and/or service metadata; dynamically modifying a 3D CAD model of the design object based on the retrieved good and/or service according to predefined parameters specified in the 3D model metadata system; and generating and presenting a 3D depiction of the customized design object reflecting the selected good and/or service. While claim 4 requires accessing a first database to retrieve a 3D CAD design object for the specified product type, the design object being capable of parametric modification and associated with a set of production constraints; receiving from the user at least one preference or contextual factor including sustainability and geographic availability; retrieving a list of goods and/or services relevant to the fabrication of the product instance, the list being filtered based on the received at least one user preferences or contextual factor; selecting one or more goods and/or services from the filtered list based on one or both of a user input or a predetermined system algorithm; dynamically generating a hidden instance of the CAD design object, comprising the selected goods and services mapped to inputs of the CAD design object; rendering a preview of the resulting customized product using texture maps associated with the selected goods; and presenting the customized product instance for further interaction or selection not required by claims 14. Independent claims 4 and 14 may overlap but require different searches, therefore the restriction is proper.
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 4-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bowen (US 2021/0026522 A1) in view of Toebben et al (US 2015/0213154 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Bowen discloses method for generating a dynamic, manufacture-ready customized product instance, the method comprising:
receiving input from a user specifying a desired product type of good and/or service to be customized; accessing a first database to retrieve a 3D CAD design object for the specified product type, the design object being capable of parametric modification and associated with a set of production constraints (Bowen: paragraph [0054] - Certain user interfaces will now be described with references to FIGS. 2A-4E. Inputs received from a user device may be received and stored by the CAD system 102 or other system (e.g., the inventory/ordering system 104), for example, in a database record associated with a user, user entity (e.g., an online shop), and/or a project (e.g., a collaborative item design).);
receiving from the user at least one preference or contextual factor including sustainability and geographic availability; (Bowen: Figure 2A, paragraph [0055] - Fields are provided via which a user, such as an item provider (e.g., a product seller, manufacturer, a branding entity (e.g., a celebrity or brand name licensor) can specify various item characteristics);
retrieving a list of goods and/or services relevant to the fabrication of the product instance, the list being filtered based on the received at least one user preferences or contextual factor; selecting one or more goods and/or services from the filtered list based on one or both of a user input or a predetermined system algorithm (Bowen: paragraph [0106] - A filter control may be provided to cause only templates meeting specified filter conditions to be presented. For example, a filter may be specified so that only templates that have a specified future unavailability date are to be displayed);
the selected goods and services mapped to inputs of the CAD design object (Bowen: paragraph [0212] - The item view selection or upload is received. At block 510, a color selection user interface is rendered, optionally in response to a user input.);
rendering a preview of the resulting customized product using texture maps associated with the selected goods; and presenting the customized product instance for further interaction or selection (Bowen: paragraph [0010] - n aspect of the disclosure relates to computer aided design (CAD) systems and methods that enable an item (e.g., a product) provider to submit (e.g., via an upload or by providing a link) one or more images of the item (e.g., a photograph or graphic image of the front, back, left side, right side, top view, bottom view, and/or interior view of the item) and/or portions of the item (e.g., left sleeve, right sleeve, shoe lace, strap, etc.) for posting to an online interactive catalog of one or more items).
Bowen does not expressly disclose dynamically generating a hidden instance of the CAD design object, comprising the selected goods and services. Toebben discloses dynamically generating a hidden instance of the CAD design object, comprising the selected goods and services (Toebben: paragraph [0063] - The matching instances or variants may be hidden in the product model of display 510 and shown in the product structure of display 520).
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 method and apparatus of Bowen to have included dynamically generating a hidden instance of the CAD design object, comprising the selected goods and services, as taught by Toebben because it provide for viewing a product with many variations separately (Toebben: paragraph [0001]).
Bowen and Toebben do not expressly disclose at least one preference or contextual factor including sustainability and geographic availability. However these differences are only found in the nonfunctional descriptive material and are not functionally involved in the steps recited. The steps would be performed the same regardless of the type of factor. This descriptive material will not distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art in terms of patentability, see In re Gulack, 70 F.2d 1381, 1385, 217 USPQ 401 (Fed. Cir. 1983); In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 32 USPQ2d 1031 (Fed. Cir. 1994).
Regarding claim 2, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 4 as noted above. Bowen further discloses receiving a finalization signal from the user selected from at least one of: ending the customization process (Bowen: Figure 3B-1 - add to cart).
Regarding claim 3, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 4 as noted above. Bowen further discloses wherein said set of product constraints includes at least one of: color, size, texture, fabric, sustainability, and geographic location (Bowen: paragraph [0061] - FIG. 2B illustrates a color specification user interface via which the user can add an image of the item for each selected color for corresponding item sides).
Regarding claim 5, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 4 as noted above. Bowen further discloses:
wherein: said finalization signal indicates an intent to produce, fabricate, or otherwise commit to the customized product instance; and (Bowen: Figure 3B-1 - add to cart);
further comprising the step of: storing said customized product instance along with associated metadata for manufacturing and e-commerce catalog purposes (Bowen: paragraph [0083] - FIG. 3A illustrates an example user interface that may be presented to an end-user that wants to customize an item offered by an item provider. The example user interface may display a catalog of items offered by a single item provider (e.g., selected by the user from a listing of item providers) or by multiple item providers. A given entry in the user interface may include a corresponding item image, a short description, an indication as to available colors, an indication as to available size, and/or an indication as to the location of one or more customizable design areas. The item images may have been previously uploaded or selected by the item provider and designated as default images).
Regarding claim 6, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 4 as noted above. Bowen further discloses wherein said contextual factors include at least one of: an attribute preference associated with the user or product design, availability of goods and services in a defined geographic radius, and user historical behavior or behavioral segmentation (Bowen: paragraph [0240] - If a suggestion control is selected, the process may select a second template based on a user's template purchase history, user preferences (e.g., the user may have indicated a preference for certain sports teams or players, performers, celebrities, politicians, cartoon characters), and/or template popularity).
Regarding claim 7, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 4 as noted above. Bowen further discloses wherein the 3D CAD design object file includes embedded logic configured to: enforce manufacturing constraints based on the goods and/or services selected by the user, and generate valid manufacturable geometries responsive to user or algorithmic input (Bowen: paragraph [0042] - The CAD system 102 may optionally generate directives in the form of manufacturing machine instructions for applying (e.g., printing or embroidering). For example, design files may be provided that include an image file (e.g., in raster graphics file format, such as a portable network graphics file) and screenshots of the user customized item. Optionally the image file may support RGB color spaces and/or non-RGB color spaces (e.g., CMYK color spaces). Optionally, the image file may be in SVG, PDF, GIF, Encapsulated PostScript, AutoCAD DFX, or ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR format. Optionally, one or more files may be compressed (e.g., losslessly compressed) and transmitted to the manufacturing system 106 in the form of a zip file, jar file or other file format. The manufacturing system 106 may then decompress the file using an appropriate decompression module).
Regarding claim 8, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 4 as noted above. Bowen further discloses wherein the preview is a 3D photorealistic preview (Bowen: paragraph [0074] - A preview control is provided which when activated, will cause the item to be realistically rendered with any customizations).
Regarding claim 9, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 8 as noted above. Bowen further discloses generating a set of 2D images derived from the rendered 3D preview from multiple angles, and storing the image set as visual assets (Bowen: paragraph [0096] - Optionally, the model may be provided using WebGL (Web Graphics Library) which utilizes a JavaScript API (which may be used with HTML5) to render an interactive 3D or 2D graphic).
Regarding claim 10, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 4 as noted above. Bowen further discloses generating product metadata associated with the customized product instance, the metadata including at least one of a product title, description, materials, manufacturing location, and SKU,wherein the metadata is formatted for use in an online catalog or e-commerce system (Bowen: paragraph [0083] - FIG. 3A illustrates an example user interface that may be presented to an end-user that wants to customize an item offered by an item provider. The example user interface may display a catalog of items offered by a single item provider (e.g., selected by the user from a listing of item providers) or by multiple item providers. A given entry in the user interface may include a corresponding item image, a short description, an indication as to available colors, an indication as to available size, and/or an indication as to the location of one or more customizable design areas. The item images may have been previously uploaded or selected by the item provider and designated as default images).
Regarding claim 11, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 10 as noted above. Bowen further discloses automatically generating a catalog product page using the metadata, including the rendered image, selectable variants, and purchasing interface (Bowen: paragraph [0083] - FIG. 3A illustrates an example user interface that may be presented to an end-user that wants to customize an item offered by an item provider. The example user interface may display a catalog of items offered by a single item provider (e.g., selected by the user from a listing of item providers) or by multiple item providers. A given entry in the user interface may include a corresponding item image, a short description, an indication as to available colors, an indication as to available size, and/or an indication as to the location of one or more customizable design areas. The item images may have been previously uploaded or selected by the item provider and designated as default images).
Regarding claim 12, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 10 as noted above. Bowen further discloses wherein the product description is generated by a text system using inputs from the selected design object, goods, and user profile (Bowen: paragraph [0055] - A description field is provided configured to receive free form text (e.g., tags corresponding to the item or a sequence of text describing the item).).
Regarding claim 13, Bowen and Toebben teach or suggest all the limitations of claim 10 as noted above. Bowen further discloses generating keyword tags and classification labels from metadata including attributes, location, category, and product function, wherein the tags are integrated into search and filter functions of a catalog system (Bowen: paragraph [0055] - A description field is provided configured to receive free form text (e.g., tags corresponding to the item or a sequence of text describing the item).).
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 CFR 1.136(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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATHLEEN G PALAVECINO whose telephone number is (571)270-1355. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-4.
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KATHLEEN GAGE PALAVECINO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3625
/KATHLEEN PALAVECINO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3688
Prosecution Insights