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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/09/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huston et al., U.S. Patent Publication Number 2017/0365102 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Huston discloses a method for generating Augmented Reality (AR) content by a server, comprising: receiving, from an AR device, a plurality of image frames of at least one scene captured by the AR device in an AR environment (paragraph 0008, image processing server is connected to the network for receiving the images and metadata; paragraph 0040, images and metadata are uploaded as they are acquired to a communication network connected to an image processing server); storing the plurality of image frames and corresponding metadata in a database (paragraph 0013, a plurality of images and associated metadata are captured; images and metadata are processed to build a 3d virtual model; storing the images and 3d virtual model); receiving an AR content generation request to generate a third person AR content view of a user in the AR environment, the AR content generation request comprising identification information of the user and information of at least one target scene (paragraph 0013, experience platform is accessed using the network to access the 3d virtual model and images; a user selects a location and orientation in the 3d virtual model and views the point of interest from the selected location and orientation; paragraph 0191, Betty can also choose to have her projected presence augmented with virtual goods (such as jewelry and fashion accessories) and effects (such as a tan, appearance of weight loss and teeth whitening)); retrieving a set of image frames from a plurality of stored image frames in the database based on the identification information of the user, the information of the at least one target scene, and the metadata, wherein each image frame in the set of image frames includes an image corresponding to the user in a target scene (paragraph 0115, the data acquired from user at locations A-E using e.g. devices 10, 12 or 220 are collected by the image processing server; using a feature recognition algorithm, a target is identified and location determined; determine more precise location of targets from multiple random images; FIG. 14 and FIG. 15; paragraph 0125, images 402, 404, 406 correspond to images taken from locations A, B and D respectively; paragraph 0129, scans are taken at a large number of location within the chapel; acquired scans are processed, i.e. by the processing server and stored in a database for later access by the experience platform); and generating the third person AR content view of the user by combining the set of image frames retrieved from the database based on the metadata of the set of image frames and performing 3D reconstruction using the set of image frames and camera pose of the each image frame, wherein the metadata corresponding to an image frame comprises at least one of camera pose information related to the image frame, or location information of the user in the AR environment (paragraph 0008, determine the location of various targets in the images and to build a 3d virtual model of the region; a plurality of users connect to the experience platform to view the point of intertest from a user selection location and orientation; paragraph 0012, creating an environment for use with a location based experience includes a plurality of mobile devices accompanying a number of random contributors, each having a camera to capture random images and associated metadata near a point of interest, wherein the metadata for each image includes location of the mobile device and the orientation of the camera; paragraph 0195, the aggregation can be a series of photos that can be viewable from a particular location or even a user’s chosen location (e.g., Jane’s perspective) or preferably a 3D panorama from the user selected location).
Regarding claim 2, Huston discloses wherein the information of a scene comprises at least one of a scene identifier (ID), a scene tag, a scene description, a time stamp associated with the scene, and location information of the scene (paragraph 0045, image is associated with metadata, such as EXIF, time, location, tilt angle, and orientation of the imaging device (e.g., camera) at the time of image capture).
Regarding claim 5, Huston discloses wherein the retrieving, the set of image frames from the plurality of stored image frames in the database comprises: detecting the identification information of the user, the information of the at least one target scene, and the metadata of the plurality of image frames captured by the AR device; determining a correlation between the information of the at least one target scene and the metadata of the plurality of image frames based on the identification information of the user; and retrieving the set of image frames from the database based on the identification information of the user and the correlation between the information of the at least one target scene and the metadata of the plurality of image frames (paragraph 0193, server aggregates & combines all the images/video and audio captured that evening by all the linked image and audio sources; each of the girls smart phone or googles cameras along with images provided by The X Bar’s real time image feed; paragraph 0194, each of these crowd-sourced images has detailed metadata (time, GPS location, camera angle, lens, pixel, etc.) that is used by the application to stitch together a 4D gestalt of the party experience).
Regarding claim 19, Huston discloses wherein the AR device capture the plurality of image frames, and wherein the metadata further includes synchronization data for correlating the plurality of image frames that were captured across a plurality of AR devices (paragraph 0072, allows mobile device to synchronize with a host device; paragraph 0193, server aggregates & combines all the images/video and audio captured that evening by all the linked image and audio sources; each of the girls smart phone or googles cameras along with images provided by The X Bar’s real time image feed).
Regarding claim 20, Huston discloses wherein a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) engine is used to generate the third person AR content view of the user (paragraph 0049, AR use a feature point matching method; a method for extracting a plane using Simultaneous Localization and Map-building (SLAM); for tracking three-dimensional positional information of a camera and three-dimensional information of feature points in real time and providing AR using the plane; paragraph 0232, mapping an area and navigation solution, e.g. using SLAM).
Regarding claims 7, 8 and 11, they are rejected based upon similar rational as above claims 1, 2 and 5 respectively. Huston further discloses a server for generating AR content (211, image processing server).
Regarding claims 13, 14 and 17, they are rejected based upon similar rational as above claims 1, 2 and 5 respectively. Huston further discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium for storing computer readable program code or instructions (paragraph 0079).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 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.
Claim(s) 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huston as applied to claims 1, 7 and 13 above, and further in view of Chazalet et al., U.S. Patent Number 9,866,533 B2.
Regarding claim 3, Huston discloses paragraph 0013, a plurality of images and associated metadata are captured; and further discloses paragraph 0009, a first group of one or more virtual attendees are gathered in a physical room remote from the venue location, each wearing a head mounted device (“HMD”); paragraph 0104, mobile devices smart phone, tablet, glasses, and experience content platform communicate with each other and other components of the communication network; protocol includes a set of rules defining how the network nodes within the communication network interact with each other based on information sent over the communication links.
However it is noted that Huston fails to disclose wherein the metadata further comprises at least one of device identifier (ID) of the AR device, device IDs of a plurality of other AR devices identified in the plurality of image frames, location information and geo- location information associated with the AR device, and privacy keys of the plurality of other AR devices.
Chazalet discloses at least one of device identifier (ID) of the AR device, device IDs of a plurality of other AR devices identified in the plurality of image frames, location information and geo- location information associated with the AR device, and privacy keys of the plurality of other AR devices (col. 4, lines 13-15, data or content is stored within a cloud, i.e. stored within one or more servers, for example database servers or secured servers; col.4 , lines 18-22, when a content is stored by one electronic device; the electronic device first encrypts the data using its private key and then uploads said encrypted data to the server; col. 8, lines 13-21, all data stored area associated to a user account, different users share the cloud data storage; each content or re-encryption key other any other data to be stored is associated with a device, said device being specifically identified).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the sharing of an augmented reality event from a server database of a plurality of user as disclosed by Huston, using private keys as disclosed by Chazalet, to identify the devices to provide security for data privacy of sharing and uploading content data.
Regarding claim 4, Chazalet discloses wherein the privacy keys of the plurality of other AR devices are used to authenticate the user for uploading content to the database or accessing content from the database (col. 8, lines 56-58, electronic device B, logged in to the cloud service, request the cloud service to be associated with the content of electronic device A; col. 9, lines 28-30, electronic device B receives the content and is able to decrypt it using the private key).
Regarding claim 6, Huston discloses wherein the generating, the third person AR content view of the user comprises: received AR content generation request (paragraph 0192, log into the Watch ME application); based on the received AR content generation request, collecting the set of image frames from the database (paragraph 0193, server aggregates & combines all the images/video and audio captured that evening by all the linked image and audio sources; each of the girls smart phone or googles cameras along with images provided by The X Bar’s real time image feed); and combining the set of image frames based on the metadata of the set of image frames to generate the third person AR content view of the user (paragraph 0194, each of these crowd-sourced images has detailed metadata (time, GPS location, camera angle, lens, pixel, etc.) that is used by the application to stitch together a 4D gestalt of the party experience; paragraph 0195, the aggregation can be a series of photos that can be viewable from a particular location or even a user’s chosen location (e.g., Jane’s perspective) or preferably a 3D panorama from the user selected location).
However, it is noted that although Huston discloses a log into an application, Huston fails to specifically disclose the log in as an authentication.
Chazalet discloses col. 6, lines 65 – col. 7, line 3, user has a subscription to a cloud data storage service; accessible through user credentials or authentication data; such as a pair of login/password, or any other authentication methods known.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the log into information as an authentication request, in that login is a well-known authentication method.
Regarding claims 9, 10 and 12, they are rejected based upon similar rational as above claims 3, 4 and 6 respectively.
Regarding claims 13, 14 and 17, they are rejected based upon similar rational as above claims 3, 4 and 6 respectively.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jayaram et al., U.S. Patent Number 11,527,047 B2
Jayaram discloses receiving, from an AR device, a plurality of image frames of at least one scene captured by the AR device in an AR environment (col. 5, lines 22-23, register a user’s mobile device and provide AR content to the user’s mobile device; col. 6, lines 31-35, receives input from a number of data sources; input for registration processing includes survey images of multiple views from different positions from one or more survey image sources; ); storing the plurality of image frames and corresponding metadata in a database (col. 7, lines 30-31, images and their metadata are gathered, they are stored on a computer (e.g., registration processing, registrations server or another computing device)); receiving an AR content generation request to generate a third person AR content view of a user in the AR environment, the AR content generation request comprising identification information of the user and information of at least one target scene (col. 9, lines 33-35, communicating with the registration server for the registration process and with the content server to request and receive graphics and other content).
Abhishek et al., U.S. Patent Publication Number 2023/0128826 A1
Abhishek discloses receiving, from an AR device, a plurality of image frames of at least one scene captured by the AR device in an AR environment (paragraph 0038, one or more images of a same scene may be received from one or more imaging devices; one or more images of a scene may be received by the server).
Upendran et al., U.S. Patent Number 11,380,078 B2
Upendran discloses receiving, from an AR device, a plurality of image frames of at least one scene captured by the AR device in an AR environment (col. 3, lines 41-42, receive AR camera data for each image of the plurality of images); storing the plurality of image frames and corresponding metadata in a database (col. 12, lines 33-40, database that stores image data (e.g. image files captured by the image capturing devices); receiving an AR content generation request to generate a third person AR content view of a user in the AR environment (col. 5, lines 29-30, receiving a user input selecting a perspective for displaying the 3-D representation); retrieving a set of image frames from a plurality of stored image frames (col. 8, line 9, obtains the image-related data); (col. 8, line 11, generates a 3-D representation).
Daniels et al., U.S. Patent Publication Number 2017/0243403 A1
Daniels discloses (paragraph 0060, central server is responsive for storing and transferring the information for creating the augmented reality); (paragraph 0065, mobile digital device executes an AR application that links to a larger AR ecosystem, allowing the user to experience shared AR events with any other user connected to the ecosystem).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Motilewa Good-Johnson whose telephone number is (571)272-7658. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 6am-2:30pm.
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MOTILEWA . GOOD JOHNSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2616
/MOTILEWA GOOD-JOHNSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2619
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