DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the amendment filed 05/08/2026. Claims 21-46 are acknowledged as pending with claims 21 and 31 being currently amended and claims 41-46 being new.
The rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 103 are withdrawn as having been overcome by the amendment. New rejections necessitated by the amendment are presented below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 103 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.
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) 21-23, 31-33, and 41-46 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Saito (2002/0016128).
Regarding claim 21, Saito teaches a method for operating an animal device (Abstract), comprising:
(a) receiving, by the animal device, one or more inputs from a user (para. 0013, “inputted stimulus”; paras. 0043-0049; Fig. 8);
(b) determining, by the animal device, a scene type based on the one or more inputs, wherein the animal device maps the one or more inputs to the scene type (para. 0050, wherein the reaction behavior data stage unit 12 contains the prepared reaction behavior pattern tables that correspond to dog type robot’s growth stage) based on properties of the one or more inputs (paras. 0010-0013, para. 0052, “The reaction behavior select unit 14 determines the reaction behavior pattern to the inputted stimulus by considering the character parameter XY stored in the character state storage unit 13. Concretely, with reference to the reaction behavior pattern tables for every growth stage shown”; paras. 0059-0061);
(c) accessing, by the animal device, a stored set of possible scenes in the determined scene type for the animal device to perform, wherein the stored set of possible scenes in the scene type comprises different scenes that the animal device is configured to perform in response to the one or more inputs (para. 0052, “with reference to the reaction behavior pattern tables for every growth stage shown in FIGS. 5 to 7”; Figs. 5-7 wherein reaction patterns tables map the “Input”, i.e., the stimulus to an “Output”; para. 0062; see Annotated Figure 5);
(d) selecting, by the animal device, a first scene from the stored set of possible scenes of the scene type (Figs. 5-7; para. 0061, “in the field "PROBABILITY", an appearance probability of the reaction behavior pattern to a certain stimulus is selection member”; para. 0062, “ After taking this appearance probability into consideration, supposing the reaction behavior pattern 31 is selected based on a random number”) wherein the first scene comprises instructions for operating a plurality of actuators to actuate at least two body parts of the animal device to perform physical output actions simultaneously or sequentially (Fig. 5, reaction behavior pattern 31; para. 0062, “the voice "vce(01)" and the action "act(01)" will be selected…the dog type robot 1 "draws back" yelping "yap!"; Figs. 1 and 9-10, wherein the actuators 3 direct the actions outputs shown in Fig. 10 and the speaker 4 directs the voice outputs shown in Fig. 9) wherein the at least two body parts comprise two or more of a mouth, eyebrows, ears, a head region, a tail region, or a body region (para. 0040);
(e) operating, by the animal device, the plurality of actuators according to the instructions to perform the physical output actions of the selected first scene (paras. 0040-0041, 0052, and 0078);
(f) receiving, by the animal device, one or more additional inputs from the user (para. 0061; Fig. 8 shows different stimuli recognized by the dog type robot 1; paras. 0061-0063 and 0070-0075); and
(g) repeating, by the animal device, (b)-(e) to perform the physical output actions of a second scene, thereby creating a sequence of at least two scenes comprising the first scene and the second scene (Abstract, paras. 0040-0041, wherein the dog type robot 1 is configured to be autonomous, meaning, the control unit 10 controls the actuators 3 to perform a reaction according to the reaction behavior pattern determined based on a stimulus signal for the stimulus sensors 5. Therefore, every time a stimulus is detected the process of determining the reaction behavior reaction pattern, i.e., the voice and action outputs, and operating the dog type robot 1 to perform the outputs repeats itself).
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Annotated Figure 5
Regarding claim 22, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above wherein the one or more inputs comprise sensor input data (paras. 0041 and 0043; Fig. 1, stimulus sensor 5), the sensor input data comprising at least one of: touch sensor data (para. 0040), audio sensor data, light sensor data, mechanical actuator sensor data, or biometric sensor data.
Regarding claim 23, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above wherein the one or more inputs comprise a petting input (para. 0075, “contact stimulus, such as stroking a head, nose, and back”), the method further comprising:
detecting, by a touch sensor of the animal device, a set of touch inputs received by the animal device over a time period (paras. 0040, 0043, and 0046; Fig. 2, stimulus recognition unit 11); and
selecting the one or more scenes based on the petting input (para. 0058, wherein the reaction behavior corresponds to the identified stimulus; para. 0078).
Regarding claim 31, Saito teaches a system (Fig. 1; Abstract; paras. 0040-0053) comprising:
a set of sensors for receiving inputs from a user (Abstract; para. 0040);
a plurality of mechanical actuators for causing an animal device to perform physical output actions (Abstract; Fig. 1, actuators 3; para. 0040; Fig. 10); and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions (Fig. 2, control unit 10; paras. 0041-0042) that, when executed cause a processor to:
(a) receive one or more inputs from the user via the set of sensors (para. 0013, “inputted stimulus”; paras. 0043-0049; Fig. 8);
(b) determine a scene type based on the one or more inputs, wherein the animal device maps the one or more inputs to the scene type based on properties of the one or more inputs (para. 0050, wherein the reaction behavior data stage unit 12 contains the prepared reaction behavior pattern tables that correspond to dog type robot’s growth stage; paras. 0010-0013, para. 0052, “The reaction behavior select unit 14 determines the reaction behavior pattern to the inputted stimulus by considering the character parameter XY stored in the character state storage unit 13. Concretely, with reference to the reaction behavior pattern tables for every growth stage shown”; paras. 0059-0061);
(c) access a stored set of possible scenes in the determined scene type for the animal device to perform, wherein the stored set of possible scenes in the scene type comprises different scenes that the animal device is configured to perform in response to the one or more inputs (para. 0052, “with reference to the reaction behavior pattern tables for every growth stage shown in FIGS. 5 to 7”; Figs. 5-7 wherein reaction patterns tables map the “Input”, i.e., the stimulus to an “Output”; para. 0062; see Annotated Figure 5);
(d) select a first scene from the stored set of possible scenes of the scene type (Figs. 5-7; para. 0061, “in the field "PROBABILITY", an appearance probability of the reaction behavior pattern to a certain stimulus is selection member”; para. 0062, “ After taking this appearance probability into consideration, supposing the reaction behavior pattern 31 is selected based on a random number”), wherein the first scene comprises instructions for operating a plurality of actuators to actuate at least two body parts of the animal device to perform physical output actions simultaneously or sequentially (Fig. 5, reaction behavior pattern 31; para. 0062, “the voice "vce(01)" and the action "act(01)" will be selected…the dog type robot 1 "draws back" yelping "yap!"; Figs. 1 and 9-10, wherein the actuators 3 direct the actions outputs shown in Fig. 10 and the speaker 4 directs the voice outputs shown in Fig. 9), wherein the at least two body parts comprise two or more of a mouth, eyebrows, ears, a head region, a tail region, or a body region (para. 0040);
(e) operate the plurality of actuators according to the instructions to perform the physical output actions of the selected first scene (paras. 0040-0041, 0052, and 0078);
(f) receive one or more additional inputs from the user (para. 0061; Fig. 8 shows different stimuli recognized by the dog type robot 1; paras. 0061-0063 and 0070-0075); and
(g) repeat (b)-(e) to perform the physical output actions of a second scene, thereby creating a sequence of at least two scenes comprising the first scene and the second scene (Abstract, paras. 0040-0041, wherein the dog type robot 1 is configured to be autonomous, meaning, the control unit 10 controls the actuators 3 to perform a reaction according to the reaction behavior pattern determined based on a stimulus signal for the stimulus sensors 5. Therefore, every time a stimulus is detected the process of determining the reaction behavior reaction pattern, i.e., the voice and action outputs, and operating the dog type robot 1 to perform the outputs repeats itself).
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Annotated Figure 5
Regarding claim 32, Saito teaches the system according to claim 31 as stated above wherein the one or more inputs comprise sensor input data (paras. 0041 and 0043; Fig. 1, stimulus sensor 5), the sensor input data comprising at least one of: touch sensor data (para. 0040), audio sensor data, light sensor data, mechanical actuator sensor data, or biometric sensor data.
Regarding claim 33, Saito teaches the system according to claim 31 as stated above wherein the one or more inputs comprise a petting input (para. 0075, “contact stimulus, such as stroking a head, nose, and back”), the instructions further causing the processor to:
detect, by a touch sensor of the animal device, a set of touch inputs received at the animal device over a time period (paras. 0040, 0043, and 0046; Fig. 2, stimulus recognition unit 11); and
select the one or more scenes based on the petting input (para. 0058, wherein the reaction behavior corresponds to the identified stimulus; para. 0078).
Regarding claim 41, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above wherein the scene type comprises one or more of: starting scene types, main awake scene types, waking up scene types, sleep scene types, touch scene types (see Annotated Figure 5), speed-dependent petting scene types, body position scene types, speak scene types, howl scene types, hush scene types, excited scene types, or movement scene types.
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Regarding claim 42, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above wherein the one or more additional inputs comprise an active user input (paras. 0044-0049; for example, in Fig. 8, “i-01” represents the user hitting the dog robot on the head).
Regarding claim 43, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above wherein one or more of the input or the one or more additional inputs comprise a lack of user input (Fig. 8, see “i-16”; para. 0077).
Regarding claim 44, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above wherein the second scene comprises a different scene type than the first scene (para. 0062; Fig. 5, reaction behavior patterns 31-33 have different voice (vce) and action (act) combinations.
Regarding claim 45, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above wherein the second scene comprises a same scene type than the first scene (para. 0062; see Fig. 5, wherein reaction behavior pattern 32 has a 50% probability of being randomly selected; therefore, it is highly likely that reaction behavior pattern 32 is designated sequentially).
Regarding claim 46, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above wherein the body region is configured to perform one or more of breathing, walking, or turning (Fig. 10, see “act
(09)”, “act (10)”, and “act (12)”).
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, 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.
Claim(s) 24 and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saito in view of Bucci et al. (US 2018/0311569).
Regarding claim 24, Saito teaches the method according to claim 23 as stated above. Saito further teaches wherein the scene type is based on the petting input (para. 0075); however, fails to specifically disclose the plurality of scenes of the scene type comprise a fast petting input and a slow petting input.
Bucci et al. taches an analogous robotic device and method wherein the plurality of scenes of the scene type comprises a fast petting input and a slow petting input (para. 0022; para. 0045, “direction of movement and the speed of movement could be derived”; para. 0052; Fig. 7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of Saito with the slow and fast petting inputs of Bucci et al. Doing so provides the robotic device with the ability to learn temporal patterns and therefore discriminate user inputs (Bucci et al., para. 0022).
Regarding claim 34, Saito teaches the system according to claim 33 as stated above wherein. Saito further teaches wherein the scene type is based on the petting input (para. 0075); however, fails to specifically disclose the plurality of scenes of the scene type comprise a fast petting input and a slow petting input.
Bucci et al. taches an analogous robotic device wherein the plurality of scenes of the scene type comprises a fast petting input and a slow petting input (para. 0022; para. 0045, “direction of movement and the speed of movement could be derived”; para. 0052; Fig. 7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the system of Saito with the slow and fast petting inputs of Bucci et al. Doing so provides the robotic device with the ability to learn temporal patterns and therefore discriminate user inputs (Bucci et al., para. 0022).
Claim(s) 25-26 and 35-36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saito in view of el Kalioby et al. (US 2018/0144649).
Regarding claim 25, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above. Saito fails to teach wherein the one or more inputs comprise a voice recognition event input, the method further comprising: detecting, by an audio sensor of the animal device, the voice recognition input based on audio input received at the audio sensor; and selecting the one or more scenes based on the voice recognition input.
el Kaliouby et al. teaches an analogous robotic pet-like device and method wherein the one or more inputs comprise a voice recognition event input (Fig. 1, voice recognition 150), the method further comprising:
detecting, by an audio sensor of the animal device, the voice recognition input based on audio input received at the audio sensor (para. 0046); and
selecting the one or more scenes based on the voice recognition input (Fig. 1, provide stimuli by toy 190; para. 0044).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of Saito with the voice recognition feature of el Kaliouby et al. The voice recognition input may provide context for the device, for instance, the voice data may be evaluated to determine the user’s cognitive state, emotional state, or mood based on the individual’s prosody, vocal register, pitch, speech rate, an/or loudness (el Kaliouby et al., para. 0046).
Regarding claim 26, Saito in view of el Kaliouby et al. teaches the method according to claim 25 as stated above wherein operating the plurality of actuators to perform output actions of the each of the selected scenes (Saito, Fig. 10; paras. 0041 and 0062-0064) comprises:
performing a mechanical output action (Saito, Fig. 5, “act(01)”; para. 0062) and an audio output (Saito, Fig. 5, “vce(01)”; para. 0062) action based on the one or more scenes (Saito, Fig. 5, wherein the scenes are associated with each OUTPUT No.).
Regarding claim 35, Saito teaches the system according to claim 31 as stated above. Saito fails to teach wherein the one or more inputs comprise a voice recognition input, the instructions further causing the processor to: detect, by an audio sensor of the animal device, the voice recognition input based on audio input received at the audio sensor; and select the one or more scenes based on the voice recognition input.
el Kaliouby et al. teaches an analogous robotic pet-like device wherein the one or more inputs comprise a voice recognition input (Fig. 1, voice recognition 150), the instructions further causing the processor to:
detect, by an audio sensor of the animal device, the voice recognition input based on audio input received at the audio sensor (para. 0046); and
select the one or more scenes based on the voice recognition input (Fig. 1, provide stimuli by toy 190; para. 0044).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the system of Saito with the voice recognition feature of el Kaliouby et al. The voice recognition input may provide context for the device, for instance, the voice data may be evaluated to determine the user’s cognitive state, emotional state, or mood based on the individual’s prosody, vocal register, pitch, speech rate, an/or loudness (el Kaliouby et al., para. 0046).
Regarding claim 36, Saito in view of el Kaliouby et al. teaches the system according to claim 35 as stated above wherein the instructions for operating the plurality of actuators (Saito, Fig. 10; paras. 0041 and 0062-0064) further cause the processor to:
perform a mechanical output action (Saito, Fig. 5, “act(01)”; para. 0062) and an audio output action (Saito, Fig. 5, “vce(01)”; para. 0062) based on the one or more scenes (Saito, Fig. 5, wherein the scenes are associated with each OUTPUT No.).
Claim(s) 27 and 37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saito in view of Fong et al. (US 2009/0055019).
Regarding claims 27, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above. Saito further teaches monitoring for an input at a set of sensors of the animal device (paras. 0043 and 0069-0075); determining a lack of an input after a predetermined time period threshold (para. 0077). However, Saito does not specifically teach determining a sleep scene based on the lack of input.
Fong et al. teaches an analogous animal-like device and method further comprising determining a sleep scene based on the lack of input (paragraphs 0075-0077; Fig. 10, sleep mode in step 302).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of Saito with
the sleep mode of Fong et al. This modification allows the animal device to enter into idle-like mode that is designed to await user input before initiating mechanical, vocal, or auditory responses (Fong et al., paragraphs 0075-0077).
Regarding claims 37, Saito teaches the system according to claim 31 as stated above. Saito further teaches instructions that cause the processor to (Fig. 1, control unit 10): monitor for an input at a set of sensors of the animal device (paras. 0043 and 0069-0075); determine a lack of an input after a predetermined time period threshold (para. 0077). Saito fails to teach instructions that cause the processor to: determine a sleep scene based on the lack of input.
Fong et al. teaches an analogous animal-like device further comprising instructions that cause the processor to: determine a sleep scene based on the lack of input based on the lack of input (paragraphs 0075-0077; Fig. 10, sleep mode in step 302).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the system of Saito with
the sleep setting of Fong et al. This modification allows the animal device to enter into idle-like mode that is designed to await user input before initiating mechanical, vocal, or auditory responses (Fong et al., paragraphs 0075-0077).
Claim(s) 28-30 and 38-40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saito in view of Hashiguchi et al. (US 2012/0048027).
Regarding claim 28, Saito teaches the method according to claim 21 as stated above. Saito further teaches operating the plurality of actuators (Abstract; Fig. 1, actuators 3; para. 0040; Fig. 10); however, Saito does not specifically teach receiving actuator sensor data during the performance of a first physical output action by the animal device during performance of a scene by the animal device; determining a status of the performance of the first physical output action based on mechanical and actuator sensor data; and operating the plurality of actuators to cause the animal device to perform a second physical output action based on the status of the performance of the first physical output action.
Hashiguchi et al. teaches an analogous robotic device and method further comprising:
receiving actuator sensor data during the performance of a first physical output action by the animal device during performance of a scene by the animal device (paras. 0138-0141; Fig. 9, step 1130);
determining a status of the performance of the first physical output action based on mechanical and actuator sensor data (paras. 0143-0144; Fig. 9, steps 1140 and 1150; paras. 0142 and 1048, “sensors 1122”); and
operating the plurality of actuators to cause the animal device to perform a second physical output action based on the status of the performance of the first physical output action (para. 0144; Fig. 9, step 1160, wherein the robot controller is configured terminate the arms’ (1103L and 1103R) operation if an abnormality is detected; paras. 0099-0102).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of Saito with
the operational step of receiving actuator sensor data, determining a status of the performance of the first physical output, and operating the plurality of actuators of Hashiguchi et al. This modification incorporates a predetermined operational flow that ensures the device operates in accordance with a specific set of instructions originating from the control system. Furthermore, per the sensors, mechanical data may be collected from the actuators in use (Hashiguchi et al., paragraphs 0128-0151).
Regarding claim 29, a modified Saito in view of Hashiguchi et al. teaches the method according to claim 28 as stated above wherein the second physical output action is a modified version of the first physical output action for completion of the scene (Hashiguchi et al., para. 0099-0102, when an abnormality of the actuators is detected, the grip torque compensating unit adds grip compensation torque to the arms 1103L and 1103R).
Regarding claim 30, a modified Saito in view of Hashiguchi et al. teaches the method according to claim 28 as stated above wherein determining the status of the comprises:
measuring strain and temperature associated with the mechanical and actuator sensors (Hashiguchi et al., paragraphs 0111 and 0115); and
determining the status of the performance of the first physical output action based on the strain and temperature measurements (Hashiguchi et al., paragraphs 0142-0144).
Regarding claim 38, Saito teaches the system according to claim 31 as stated above. Saito further teaches wherein the instructions for operating the plurality of actuators (Abstract; Fig. 1, actuators 3; para. 0040; Fig. 10); however, Saito does not specifically teach wherein the instructions for operating the plurality of actuators further cause the processor to: receive actuator sensor data during the performance of a first physical output action by the animal device during performance of a scene by the animal device; determine a status of the performance of the first physical output action based on mechanical and actuator sensor data; and operate the plurality of actuators to cause the animal device to perform a second physical output action based on the status of the performance of the first physical output action.
Hashiguchi et al. teaches an analogous robotic device wherein the instructions for operating the plurality of actuators further cause the processor to:
receive actuator sensor data during the performance of a first physical output action by the animal device during performance of a scene by the animal device (paras. 0138-0141; Fig. 9, step 1130);
determine a status of the performance of the first physical output action based on mechanical and actuator sensor data (paras. 0143-0144; Fig. 9, steps 1140 and 1150; paras. 0142 and 1048, “sensors 1122”); and
operate the plurality of actuators to cause the animal device to perform a second physical output action based on the status of the performance of the first physical output action (para. 0144; Fig. 9, step 1160, wherein the robot controller is configured terminate the arms’ (1103L and 1103R) operation if an abnormality is detected; paras. 0099-0102).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the system of Saito with
the instructions for the processor to receive actuator sensor data, determine a status of the performance of the first physical output, and operate the plurality of actuators of Hashiguchi et al. This modification incorporates a predetermined operational flow that ensures the device operates in accordance with a specific set of instructions originating from the control system. Furthermore, per the sensors, mechanical data may be collected from the actuators in use (Hashiguchi et al., paragraphs 0128-0151).
Regarding claim 39, a modified Saito in view of Hashiguchi et al. teaches the system according to claim 38 as stated above wherein the second physical output action is a modified version of the first physical output action for completion of the scene (Hashiguchi et al., para. 0099-0102, when an abnormality of the actuators is detected, the grip torque compensating unit adds grip compensation torque to the arms 1103L and 1103R).
Regarding claim 40, a modified Saito in view of Hashiguchi et al. teaches the system according to claim 38 as stated above wherein the instructions for determining the status of the performance of the first physical output action further cause the processor to:
measure strain and temperature associated with a set of mechanical and actuator sensors of the set of sensors (Hashiguchi et al., paragraphs 0111 and 0115); and
determine the status of the performance of the first physical output action based on the strain and temperature measurements (Hashiguchi et al., paragraphs 0142-0144).
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
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/B.R.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3791
/JENNIFER ROBERTSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3791
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