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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 12, and 20, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 12, and 20, recited at least in part “a second image representing other non-personal profile user-generated content”, the at least limitations were not mentioned and/or clearly described in the original specification on file. Therefore, the claimed limitation lacks written description support, and thus changed the scope of the invention. The Applicant’s specification e.g. “[0026] According to a particular aspect of the invention, the tool allows each of its user to generate user-generated content (“user content”) that includes, but is not limited to, a personal profile containing limited personal information about themselves”.
However, there was nothing mention in the original specification to describe and/or define what is encompassed by the at least claimed limitation “non-personal profile user-generated content”. The specification does not define and/or differentiate which images constitute personal profile or not personal profile for one of ordinary skill to readily understand the bounds of the Applicant’s invention. Therefore, the claimed limitation lacks written description support, and thus changed the scope of the invention.
In regards to dependent claims, the same and/or similar rejection is applied by virtue of dependency on the rejected independent claims.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1, 12, and 20 recites the limitation "the first image" in the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The claims used the word “image” throughout the claimed limitations, therefore, it’s unclear which one the Applicant is referring to as “the first image”.
In regards to dependent claims, the same and/or similar rejection is applied by virtue of dependency on the rejected independent claims.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowed when rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and/or (b) are overcome and over the prior art references.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art on record Crutchfield (US Publication No. 20160234643) discussed the concept in an augmented reality environment of visually finding and interacting with people in a social media platform, wherein the method comprising: detecting the current location of members of a group, which a user of the mobile device has created or is a member of, if the group members have similar mobile devices and if they have set to permit their visibility when the user or other group members wish to locate them by scanning their surroundings with the camera of their mobile device; and, for each group member detected while the user is scanning user's surroundings, and having a position falling in the direction the mobile device's camera points to at a particular moment, displaying on the mobile device's display a group member representation associated with the group member's position (see fig. 22-26). Those group users/members are preferably shown in scope mode using the augmented reality module (see for example FIG. 32).
Another closest prior art Skarulis (US Publication No. 20150178993) discussed the concept in an augmented reality platform wherein a user may view and select a medium to "hang," i.e., superimpose over a view of reality. The client perspective module may comprise a wizard which walks a user through the steps of "hanging" or "pinning" a medium to a view of reality and when the client device is within a range of an available medium, the client viewer module automatically opens an Augmented Reality viewer. The Augmented Reality viewer can be a map display or a view of reality, with indications of available media superimposed over the map display or view of reality. The indications may include, for example, icons, descriptions, low-resolution images or thumbnails of the media, or any other indication which conveys the availability of an augmented reality opportunity (see fig. 3, fig. 18, fig. 20, and fig. 21).
However, singly and/or in combination the prior art references does not teach the at least indicated portion of the claim of a method of interacting in a social media platform, the method comprising: receiving a user-generated label at a first geographic location from a first user of a social media platform, the user-generated label representing: a social gathering that is occurring at a location within a physical vicinity or area near the first geographic location at the current time of said receiving a user-generated label; and a list of participants attending the social gathering; receiving from the first user via a first augmented reality user interface a pinning of a second image representing other non-personal profile user-generated content of the first user to the physical vicinity or area near the first geographic location; providing a second user interface to a second user of the social media platform when the second user is physically located within the physical vicinity or area near the first geographic location, the second user interface including an augmented reality display of the user-generated label and the second image each superimposed over an image of a real-world environment of the first geographic location, the image of the real-world environment obtained via a camera of a second mobile device of the second user, the first image and the second image being accessible by the second user only when the second user is within the physical vicinity or area near the first geographic location; and providing access to the second user to the list of participants attending the social gathering via the second user interface.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMONIYI OBAYANJU whose telephone number is (571)270-5885. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thur 10:30-7pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ANTHONY S ADDY can be reached at (571) 272-7795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/OMONIYI OBAYANJU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
Prosecution Insights