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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/27/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to the amendment filed on April 27th, 2026. Claims 1, 11, 13, and 14 have been amended and applicant cancelled claims 10 and 12. The amended claims limitations have been fully considered but are not persuasive. Claims 1-9, 11, and 13-15 remain rejected in the application.
Response to Arguments
In response to applicant’s arguments regarding Roberts failing to disclose information is related to audience ratings. Arguments fully considered but is not persuasive. Roberts was never relied upon to disclose that limitation but Yagamishi discloses those limitations [Yamagishi: 0157 “distributed by the broadcast distribution via the ROUTE of the broadcast network or by”] (Yamagishi: Abstract “broadcast distribution, and a notification unit configured to notify, in a case where an ROI including one or more of the areas is set to the imaging range, the reception side of an ROI identifier for identifying the belonging ROI as attribute information related to the segment file”)(teaches broadcasting different information/files and choosing to broadcast the audience rating is a design choice). The remainder of the arguments are broadly claiming that references fail to teach the limitations without explaining exactly how they are different. Examiner encourages more clear arguments. Claims 1-9, 11, and 13-15 remain rejected in the application.
In response to applicant’s arguments regarding allowing the dependent claims, argument has been fully considered but is not persuasive. Due to the Examiner maintaining the rejection for the independent claims, rejections for the dependent claims are maintained. Claims 1-9, 11, and 13-15 remain rejected in the application.
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.
Claims 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamagishi et. al (EP 3 509 310 A1), in view of Sakakima (U.S. Patent No. 10,742,951).
Regarding claim 1, Yamagishi discloses an information processing apparatus comprising (interpreted as a device/computer) (Yamagishi: Col. 8, Lines 4-5 “Fig. 35 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a general-purpose computer.”): one or more memories storing instructions to: [Yamagishi: 0218 “the program can be installed in the ROM 1102 or the storage unit 1108 in advance”]; and was published, acquire publication information including a publication date on which the virtual viewpoint image was published (interpreted as get metadata that describes how/where it was published) [Yamagishi: 0154 “it is necessary to store the distribution mode information and the ROI identifier that cannot be specified for individual segments to somewhere other than the MPD and signal the distribution mode information and the ROI identifier to the reception side.”][Yamagishi: 0187 “generates an SLS file including the EFDT storing the distribution mode information and the ROI identifier, and distributes the generated SLS file and the transferred MPD by the broadcast distribution via the broadcast network”](teaches storing the content “distribution mode information” which corresponds to publication information of the content); and generate content associated with at least the virtual viewpoint image and the publication information (interpreted as create content that’s linked to both the video and the publication metadata)[Yamagishi: 0144 “On the distribution side, the DASH server generates the MPD in which the distribution mode information is described for each segment and the ROI identifier is appropriately stored, and transfers the MPD to the broadcast server.”] (clearly teaches generating content based on the distribution information which corresponds to generating content based on publication information), wherein the content is represented in a polyhedron (interpreted as the content is presented in a shape of polyhedron which is a design choice), the virtual viewpoint image is displayed on a first surface of the polyhedron, the publication information [Yamagishi: 0094 “contents is effective within the effective period”](content effective period is interpreted as publication information) is displayed on a second surface of the polyhedron, the second surface being adjacent to the first surface, and the content is established so that the virtual viewpoint image and the publication information are displayed together [Yamagishi: 0209 “set are displayed on a screen 600, display areas 602 of respective meta data (persons’ names and the like) are moved together with the persons 601 and displayed”](teaches displaying on another surface (polyhedron shape is a design choice) with meta data which corresponds to publication information), but fails to explicitly disclose and one or more processors executing the instructions to: acquire a published virtual viewpoint image which is a virtual viewpoint image that was generated based on a plurality of captured images obtained by image capturing performed by a plurality of image capturing apparatuses.
However, Sakakima discloses and one or more processors executing the instructions to: acquire a virtual viewpoint image that was generated based on a plurality of captured images obtained by image capturing performed by a plurality of image capturing apparatuses (interpreted as get a viewpoint video/photos made from many cameras) (Sakakima: Col. 1, Lines 7-10 “The present invention relates to a technique of generating a virtual viewpoint image by using images captured with a plurality of cameras.”).
Yamagishi and Sakakima are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of virtual viewpoint video systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yamagishi to incorporate Sakakima’s teachings of incorporating viewpoints from multiple cameras. The motivation for such a combination would provide the benefit of enabling end to end delivery of virtual viewpoint images with required publication information.
Regarding claim 6, Yamagishi in view of Sakakima disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content is a file of a still image or a moving image [Yamagishi: 0194 “The file of the distribution mode information and the ROI identifier of each segment is transferred in the EntityMode during the component file session”](teaches the content as segment files which corresponds to the still image), and wherein the publication information is included in a header of the file [Yamagishi: 0196 “Location element and a ROI-id element are provided in the entity header of the segment file”].
Regarding claim 7, Yamagishi discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the publication information includes at least one of a publication format used for publication of the virtual viewpoint image, a publication destination of the virtual viewpoint image, a publication source from which the virtual viewpoint image is published, and a publication date on which the virtual viewpoint image is published.
However, Sakakima discloses wherein the publication information further includes at least one of a publication format used for publication of the virtual viewpoint image, a publication destination of the virtual viewpoint image, and a publication source from which the virtual viewpoint image is published (interpreted as the publication information includes at least one of: format (e.g. protocol/compression), destination (e.g. device type), source (e.g. apparatus) or date of publication of the virtual viewpoint image)(Sakakima: Col. 5, Lines 10-26 “In addition, the image generation apparatus 122 can transmit a virtual viewpoint image to the end user terminal 126 by using a MPEG-DASH protocol after compressing and coding the virtual viewpoint image by standard technology typified by H.264 and HEVC. In addition, the image generation apparatus 122 can transmit an uncompressed virtual viewpoint image to the end user terminal 126. In particular, the former where compression and coding is performed is designed for a smartphone or a tablet as the end user terminal 126, and the latter is designed for a display capable of displaying an uncompressed image. That is, the image generation apparatus 122 can switch the image format in accordance with the type of the end user terminal 126. In addition, the transmission protocol of the image used by the image generation apparatus 122 is not limited to MPEG-DASH, but may be HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) or other transmission methods, for example.”)(Teaches publication information including publication format (e.g. MPEG-DASH with compression) used for publication of the virtual viewpoint image, publication destination (e.g. smartphone, tablet, display) and publication source (image generation apparatus 122)).
Yamagishi and Sakakima are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of virtual viewpoint video systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yamagishi to incorporate Sakakima’s teachings of incorporating public information to include the format, destination and source. The motivation for such a combination would provide the benefit of straight forward blockchain development helping authenticate NFT’s.
Regarding claim 8, Yamagishi in view of Sakakima disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the publication format represents at least one of broadcasting via broadcast radio waves, a social networking service, and public viewing [Yamagishi: 0069 “The broadcast reception unit 110 executes processing of receiving MPD, a segment file of a stream, an SLS file, and the like distributed from a broadcaster 10 (corresponding to the broadcast server in Fig. 6) via a broadcast network 11 such as terrestrial digital broadcast or satellite broadcast.”].
Regarding claim 9, Yamagishi in view of Sakakima discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the publication destination represents at least one of the whole world, a name of a country, a name of a region, and a range of users who are publishing targets (interpreted as the publication destination may represent one of the four categories. Yamagishi’s reference discloses region of interest)[Yamagishi: 0005 “Here, the video with a high possibility of being commonly viewed by many users is a video of the entire imaging range, a video or the like of an area (including one or a plurality of adjacent rectangular areas) of ROI (region of interest) designated by a broadcast station or the like.”](Teaches ROI which is region of interest and it’s obvious to have the publication destination represent a region of interest).
Claim 13 is a method claim corresponding to apparatus claim 1 above without any additional limitations. Thus, claim 13 is rejected for the same reason as claim 1.
Regarding claim 15, Yamagishi and Sakakima disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content includes the virtual viewpoint image and the publication information [Yamagishi: 0154 “it is necessary to store the distribution mode information and the ROI identifier that cannot be specified for individual segments to somewhere other than the MPD and signal the distribution mode information and the ROI identifier to the reception side.”][Yamagishi: 0187 “generates an SLS file including the EFDT storing the distribution mode information and the ROI identifier, and distributes the generated SLS file and the transferred MPD by the broadcast distribution via the broadcast network”](teaches storing the content “distribution mode information” which corresponds to publication information of the content).
Claims 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamagishi et. al (EP 3 509 310 A1), in view of Sakakima (U.S. Patent No. 10,742,951), in further view of Roberts et. al (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2022/0222364).
Regarding claim 2, Yamagishi in view of Sakakima disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, but fail to explicitly disclose wherein the content is digital content generated using an NFT (Non-Fungible Token).
However, Roberts discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content is digital content generated using an NFT (Non-Fungible Token) [Roberts: 0031 “At block 202 , process 200 can receive a digital item for minting a new NFT . The digital item can be any referenceable computerized object , such as an image , video , 3D model , file , social media post , audio , etc.”][Roberts: 0033 “At block 206 , process 200 can mint the NFT for the digital item received at block 202 , specifying fields for the NFT extras received at block 204. Once the link to the item and NFT extras are established , the minting of the NFT can include adding it to the blockchain”](Roberts: 402-404; Fig. 4 “receive at least one NFT for a hybrid content item” and “create hybrid NFT content item with tags for each NFT and / or each NFT role”) (teaches creating content using an NFT).
Yamagishi, Sakakima, and Roberts are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of digital content systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yamagishi and Sakakima to incorporate Robert’s teachings of incorporating NFT’s. The motivation for such a combination would provide the benefit of NFT minting thereby enabling authenticated, monetizable, published deliverable content.
Regarding claim 3, Yamagishi in view of Sakakima disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 2, but fail to explicitly disclose wherein the publication information is managed outside a blockchain, and wherein information about a location where the publication information is managed is included in an index on a blockchain.
However, Roberts discloses wherein the publication information is managed outside a blockchain [Roberts: 0020 “Examples of off - chain NFT extras can include : a link to a digital storefront of a the creator of the NFT”] (teaches off-chain which corresponds to outside the blockchain), and wherein information about a location where the publication information is managed is included in an index on a blockchain (interpreted as information about a location of publication in stored on the index of a blockchain) [Roberts: 0019 “An NFT control system can include a schema for NFT extras that can optionally be specified for each NFT . This schema can define NFT extra types and define whether each is stored on - chain ( e.g. , as part of the NFT ) or off - chain ( e.g. , as data linked to from the NFT ) . This schema can include , for each NFT extra , a name , a type , optionally a description , and data ( either as an on - chain data object or as a link to an off - chain data object ) .”](teaches a variety of information or data may be included and stored on or off the chain. The data can be interpreted as a location).
Yamagishi, Sakakima, and Roberts are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of digital content systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yamagishi and Sakakima to incorporate Robert’s teachings of incorporating information that can be stored off the chain. The motivation for such a combination would provide the benefit of cheaper and faster updates while still providing verifiable and discoverable on-chain publication information.
Regarding claim 4, Yamagishi in view of Sakakima disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 3, but fail to explicitly disclose wherein the virtual viewpoint image and the publication information are associated with each other by including information for accessing the virtual viewpoint image and the publication information in metadata.
However, Roberts discloses wherein the virtual viewpoint image and the publication information are associated with each other by including information for accessing the virtual viewpoint image and the publication information in metadata (interpreted as the virtual viewpoint image (like an NFT) and publication information are linked via access info in metadata) [Roberts: 0005 “Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a non - fungible token ( NFT ) control system that provides for discovery of NFT extras through linking and expanded NFT data structures . NFT extras can include a variety of information about the NFT such as a history of owners , identifying information for the creator of the NFT , a current offered sale price , past selling prices , contact information for a current owner , links to conversation threads about the NFT , use permissions for the NFT , where the NFT has been used / posted , etc. When a new NFT is created , the NFT control system can specify some NFT extras directly in the NFT ( stored on - chain ) while specifying other NFT extras as links in the NFT to a location where the extra information is stored ( stored off - chain ).”](Teaches associating NFT content with publication information by including links in the NFT structure. This teaches associating the image and information via access info in metadata).
Yamagishi, Sakakima, and Roberts are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of digital content systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yamagishi and Sakakima to incorporate Robert’s teachings of linking the virtual viewpoint image and publication information by including access information in metadata. The motivation for such a combination would provide the benefit of straightforward integration of on chain and off chain data, enabling efficient access to publication details.
Regarding claim 5, Yamagishi in view of Sakakima disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, but fail to explicitly disclose wherein the content is assigned a serial number indicating a quantity of the content for distribution.
However, Roberts discloses wherein the content is assigned a serial number indicating a quantity of the content for distribution [Roberts: 0031 “The digital item can be any referenceable computerized object , such as an image , video , 3D model , file , social media post , audio , etc. In some implementations , the item can be a reference to a real - world item , such as an address for property , a serial number , a vehicle identification number ( VIN ) , or another object ID .”](teaches the content can be assigned a serial number and it’s obvious to have that serial number indicate the quantity of the content).
Yamagishi, Sakakima, and Roberts are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of digital content systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yamagishi and Sakakima to incorporate Robert’s teachings of assigning serial numbers to the content. The motivation for such a combination would provide the benefit of enabling limited edition tracking, thereby enhancing content value.
Regarding claim 11, Yamagishi in view of Sakakima disclose a management apparatus (interpreted as device)[Yamagishi: 0011 “device”] comprising: one or more memories storing instructions [Yamagishi: 0213 “random access memory (RAM) 1103”]; and one or more processors executing the instructions [Yamagishi: 0213 “In a computer 1100, a central processing unit (CPU) 1101”] to: manage content associated with at least a virtual viewpoint image and publication information: manage the publication information including a publication date on which the virtual viewpoint image was published (interpreted as manage information indicating publication state associated with the image) [Roberts: 0178 “By the way, in a case of signaling the distribution mode information and ROI identifier of each segment using the USD as described above, when whether or not the segment is for the broadcast distribution simultaneous use is changed according to the segment granularity (in units of segments), the UDS needs to be updated at every change”](teaches as the segment (corresponds to image) changes, the distribution mode information (corresponds to publication information) changes according to the segment change); acquire specific information about the virtual viewpoint image after publication (interpreted as get metadata that describes how/where it was published) [Yamagishi: 0154 “it is necessary to store the distribution mode information and the ROI identifier that cannot be specified for individual segments to somewhere other than the MPD and signal the distribution mode information and the ROI identifier to the reception side.”][Yamagishi: 0187 “generates an SLS file including the EFDT storing the distribution mode information and the ROI identifier, and distributes the generated SLS file and the transferred MPD by the broadcast distribution via the broadcast network”](teaches storing the content “distribution mode information” which corresponds to publication information of the content); and update the publication information associated with the virtual viewpoint image, based on the acquired specific information [Yamagishi: 0178 “the UDS needs to be updated at every change”], wherein, the virtual viewpoint image is a virtual viewpoint image that was broadcast via broadcast radio waves or via cable broadcasting [Yamagishi: 0157 “distributed by the broadcast distribution via the ROUTE of the broadcast network or by”], and the specific information is information regarding an audience rating at the time the virtual viewpoint image was broadcast, and the published information includes the audience rating (Yamagishi: Abstract “broadcast distribution, and a notification unit configured to notify, in a case where an ROI including one or more of the areas is set to the imaging range, the reception side of an ROI identifier for identifying the belonging ROI as attribute information related to the segment file”)(teaches broadcasting a variety of different information/files and choosing to broadcast the audience rating is a design choice) but fail to explicitly disclose acquire specific information about the virtual viewpoint image after publication.
However, Roberts discloses acquire specific information about the virtual viewpoint image after publication [Roberts: 0035 “At block 208 , process 200 can obtain updated or additional NFT extras data.”] (teaches ‘obtain updated NFT data’, updated means after its publication).
Yamagishi, Sakakima, and Roberts are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of digital content systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yamagishi and Sakakima to incorporate Robert’s teachings of obtaining information about an NFT after it’s publication. The motivation for such a combination would provide the benefit of understanding how the content is performing after it’s published.
Claim 14 is a method claim corresponding to apparatus claim 11 above without any additional limitations. Thus, claim 14 is rejected for the same reason as claim 11.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED TAHA whose telephone number is (571)272-6805. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 am - 5 pm, Mon - Fri.
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/AHMED TAHA/Examiner, Art Unit 2613
/XIAO M WU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2613
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