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 .
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on January, 30th 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
This is in response to applicant’s amendment/response filed on December 10th 2025 which have been entered and made of record.
Applicant’s arguments regarding claim objections have been fully considered and are persuasive. Claim objections regarding claim 4 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 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.
Regarding the remaining arguments applicant argues with respect to the amended claim language, which is fully addressed in the prior art rejections set forth below.
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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Narayanan et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 20090158170 A1 (hereinafter Narayanan) in view of Bove et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 20240290041 A1 (hereinafter Bove) and in further view of Nicol et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 20090267938 A1(hereinafter Nicol) in further view of Shuster et al. US. Patent Application Publication 20190168116 A1 (hereinafter Shuster) in further view of NPL “Make-A-Character: High Quality Text-to-3D Character Generation within Minutes” by Jianqiang Ren, Chao He, Lin Liu, Jiahao Chen, Yutong Wang, Yafei Song, Jianfang Li, Tangli Xue, Siqi Hu, Tao Chen, Kunkun Zheng, Jianjing Xiang, and Liefeng Bo (hereinafter Ren).
Regarding claim 1, Narayanan teaches a computer-implemented method (Para. 0026), comprising:
classifying, by the processor set (Processor 310, Para. 0041), characteristics of an avatar associated with each user of the cluster of users in the first virtual environment; (Para. 0008) Each user in a virtual environment has an avatar connected to them with various characteristics, Para. 0024. Different avatars have specific attributes depending on the virtual environment, Para. 0025.
Storing (Storing Descriptions/attributes/characteristics of Avatars, Para. 0023), by the processor set (Processor 310, Para. 0041), the classified characteristics as metadata labels describing the first virtual environment; (Avatar Descriptions/attributes/characteristics, Para. 0023-0025 and 0034)
generating, by the processor set (Processor 310, Para. 0041), a guest profile (Default Profile 113, Para. 0025) and a guest avatar (Temporary Avatar, Para. 0020) in the second virtual environment for each user of the cluster of users, wherein the guest avatar (Temporary Avatar) is based on the avatar associated with each user of the cluster of users in the first virtual environment; (Para. 0025) An avatar associated with a user in the first environment can be brought to a second environment, which can be modified. Often in technology there are cases where a user can load into an environment before their information (Avatar/Profile) can be retrieved. A common solution to this problem is to provide the user with a default/temporary placeholder (Avatar/Profile) so as to avoid the user having to wait for their information to be retrieved/loaded.
adapting, by the processor set (Processor 310, Para. 0041), the guest avatar (Temporary Avatar, Para. 0020) for each user of the cluster of users based on a theme of the second virtual environment (Para. 0010, Any avatar/profile associated with the user can have its characteristics modified by the virtual environment.) by
and generating, by the processor set (Processor 310, Para. 0041), a new profile (Modified Default Profile or Modified Profile from First Environment, Para. 0025) prefilled with data collected from previous virtual environments that contain a subset of profile data required for the second virtual environment. (Para. 0010) A default profile or a previous profile can be used in the second virtual environment. The default profile can contain data required for the second virtual environment and can be modified to have the previous profile information. As well as the previous profile can be modified to include data required for the second virtual environment.
However, Narayanan fails to teach:
identifying, by a processor set, a cluster of users by learning from their interactions in a first virtual environment;
generating, by the processor set, a secure portal visible only to users of the cluster of users to teleport to a second virtual environment;
reconstructing the guest avatar using the stored metadata labels as visual prompts on a generative artificial intelligence model;
Narayanan and Bove are analogous to the claimed invention because both of them are in the same field of avatars interacting with a virtual environment.
Bove teaches:
identifying, by a processor set (Para. 0070), a cluster of users by learning from their interactions (Viewing Events, Objects of Interest, Being on a Friends list, etc.…) in a first virtual environment; (Para. 0032 and 0033)
classifying, by the processor set (Para. 0070), characteristics (Group Affiliation) of an avatar associated with each user of the cluster of users in the first virtual environment; (Para. 0032-0033) The avatars in each cluster are tracked and various information associated with the avatars (Avatar Position, Blocked Avatar, Preferred Avatar, etc.…) are known to the cluster algorithm.
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 Narayanan’s Avatar/Profile that can be modified to incorporate Bove’s Cluster Algorithm that groups Avatars in Virtual Environments. Since doing so would provide the benefit of helping a user interact with a virtual environment by easily notifying the user of groups they can join in the virtual environment. (Bove, Para. 0004)
However, Narayanan and Bove fail to teach:
generating, by the processor set, a secure portal visible only to users of the cluster of users to teleport to a second virtual environment;
reconstructing the guest avatar using the stored metadata labels as visual prompts on a generative artificial intelligence model;
Narayanan, Bove, and Nicol are analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field of users interacting with virtual environments.
Nicol teaches:
generating, by the processor set (Para. 0019), a secure portal (Password Protected Wormhole) (Para. 0023)
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 Narayanan’s Avatar/Profiles grouped by Bove’s Clustering Algorithm to incorporate Nicol’s Portal Navigation. Since doing so would provide the benefit of allowing users in a virtual environment navigate between virtual environments. Utilizing portals to navigate in virtual environments is a common navigation method.
However, Nicol fails to explicitly teach:
a secure portal visible only to users of the cluster of users to teleport to a second virtual environment.
reconstructing the guest avatar using the stored metadata labels as visual prompts on a generative artificial intelligence model;
Narayanan, Bove, Nicol, and Shuster are analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field of users interacting with virtual environments.
Shuster teaches a secure portal (Password Portal to access Personal spaces) visible only to users of the cluster of users to teleport to a second virtual environment (Para. 0012) Users who do not have access to the space the portal leads to will not see the portal and will see common virtual elements where the portal is located. 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 Narayanan’s Virtual Environment Avatars/Profiles grouped by Bove’s Clustering Algorithm that utilizes Nicol’s Portal Navigation to incorporate Portals that can be Hidden. Since doing so would provide the benefit of hiding portals a user cannot interact with to declutter the virtual environment and enhance privacy.
Narayanan, Bove, Nicol, and Shuster, and Ren are analogous to the claimed invention because all of them are in the same field of utilizing virtual avatars for virtual spaces.
Ren teaches reconstructing the guest avatar using the stored metadata labels (Character Attributes) as visual prompts(Section: 2.1. LLM-Powered Visual Prompt Generation, Page 2) on a generative artificial intelligence model (LLM, Section: Method, Page 1-2); (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2) 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 Narayanan’s Virtual Environment Avatars/Profiles grouped by Bove’s Clustering Algorithm that utilizes Nicol’s Portal Navigation and Shuster’s Hidden Portals to incorporate Ren’s Artificial Intelligence Model to generate Avatars. Since doing so would provide the benefit of creating avatars based off attributes using machine learning which increases flexibility and efficiency. (Ren et al. Section:1. Introduction, Page 1).
Regarding claim 2, Narayanan teaches the computer-implemented (Para. 0026) method of claim 1, further comprising replacing, by the processor set (Processor 310, Para. 0041), the guest profile (Default Profile 133, Para. 0025) with the generated new profile. (Modified Default Profile or Modified Profile from First Environment)
Regarding claim 3, Narayanan fails to teach the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identifying further comprises:
logging, by the processor set, interactions between users of the cluster of users in the first virtual environment;
and identifying, by the processor set, user groups using machine learning clustering.
However, Bove teaches:
logging, by the processor set (Para. 0070), interactions (Viewing Events, Objects of Interest, Being on a Friends list, etc.…) between users of the cluster of users in the first virtual environment; (Para. 00032-0033 and 0067) There are various clusters of avatars in the virtual environment and avatars not in clusters. The interactions of all avatars in the environment are tracked as, any avatar can leave or join clusters at any time, Para. 0027.
and identifying, by the processor set (Para. 0070), user groups using machine learning clustering. (Para. 0030)
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 Narayanan’s Avatar/Profile that can be modified to incorporate Bove’s Cluster Algorithm that groups Avatars in Virtual Environments. Since doing so would provide the benefit of helping a user interact with a virtual environment by easily notifying the user of groups they can join in the virtual environment. (Bove, Para. 0004)
Regarding claim 4, Narayanan teaches the computer-implemented (Para. 0026) method of claim 1, wherein the classifying further comprises:
receiving, by the processor set, (Processor 310, Para. 0041) from a first user of the (Para. 0008-0009 and 00020) Avatars can be modified at any time based on profile information or the virtual environment.
and generating, by the processor set (Processor 310, Para. 0041), at least one label (Avatar Description, Para. 0034) describing the updated characteristics of the avatar associated with the first user. (Para. 0009 and 0034) The avatars description can be modified to interact with a particular virtual environment or be generic across virtual environments.
However, Narayanan fails to explicitly teach:
The updated characteristics of the avatar associated with the first user are from a cluster of users.
Bove teaches:
receiving, by the processor set (Para. 0070) from a first user of the cluster of users (Para. 00032-0033 and 0067), updated characteristics (Avatar Position, Blocked Avatar, Preferred Avatar, etc.…, Para. 0027 and 0032) of the avatar associated with the first user; Any avatar can leave and join clusters. Various information about the avatars in the clusters are updated, so users know where individuals are at. Such as a user seeking to join a group a friend is in.
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 Narayanan’s Avatar/Profile that can be modified to incorporate Bove’s Cluster Algorithm that groups Avatars in Virtual Environments. Since doing so would provide the benefit of helping a user interact with a virtual environment by easily notifying the user of groups they can join in the virtual environment. (Bove, Para. 0004)
Regarding claim 5, Narayanan fails to teach the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the generating a secure portal further comprises:
maintaining, by the processor set, a temporary session-based record for each user of the cluster of users, wherein the temporary session-based record comprises pointers to a current profile associated with each user of the cluster of users;
and creating, by the processor set, a new session in the second virtual environment.
However, Bove teaches:
maintaining, by the processor set (Para. 0070), a temporary session-based record (Record of Cluster Information) for each user of the cluster of users (Para. 00032-0033 and 0067), wherein the (Para. 0030) to a current profile associated with each user of the cluster of users; Each cluster identifies various information including the users and avatars in said cluster and on whether the cluster moved, Para. 0027 and 0033. Clusters are dynamic and change overtime. One of ordinary skill in the art can consider the clusters to be temporary as if all users left a cluster it would disappear.
and creating, by the processor set, a new session (New Record of Cluster Information) in the second virtual environment. (Para. 0023, Bove’s invention can apply to any virtual environment) New clusters can be formed and added to the map, Para. 0027. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize a new session being created to be obvious as the users can be in an entirely new environment for different purposes.
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 Narayanan’s Avatar/Profile that can be modified to incorporate Bove’s Cluster Algorithm that groups Avatars in a dynamic environment. Since doing so would keep users updated with information on who is in groups. As virtual environments are dynamic and users can leave and join various virtual environments at any time.
However, Narayanan and Bove fail to teach the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the generating a secure portal further comprises:
A temporary session-based record.
Nicol teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the generating a secure portal (Password Protected Wormhole, Para. 0023) further comprises:
A temporary session-based record. (Information Regarding Users Based on Current users, Para. 0025) The server 101 hosts the 3D virtual world, hence the server would have user information pertaining to those present in the 3D virtual world. When teleporting users from one virtual environment to another as a group, keeping track of the users involved would be obvious.
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 Narayanan’s Avatar/Profiles grouped by Bove’s Clustering Algorithm to incorporate Nicol’s Portal Navigation that utilizes Recording user information before transferring users. Since doing so would provide the benefit of keeping a record of all individuals that are being moved and if they were successfully transferred.
Regarding claim 6, Narayanan and Bove fail to teach the computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising generating, by the processor set, an invitation to join a new session in the second virtual environment using the secure portal.
However, Nicol teaches the computer-implemented (Para. 0016) method of claim 1, further comprising generating, by the processor set (Para. 0019), an invitation (Advertisement Inviting Users to Join a Wormhole, Para. 0024) to join a new session in the second virtual environment using the secure portal (Password Protected or Specified Criteria Wormhole, Para. 0023 and 0030). 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 Narayanan’s Avatar/Profiles grouped by Bove’s Clustering Algorithm to incorporate Nicol’s Portal Navigation that can Invite Individuals. Since doing so would provide the benefit of allowing users to invite other individuals to join them in the new virtual environment, which enhances collaboration and communication between virtual environments.
Regarding claim 7, Narayanan teaches the computer-implemented (Para. 0026) method of claim 1, wherein the adapting further comprises generating, by the processor set (Processor 310, Para. 0041), a representation of the avatar associated with each (Para. 0020 and 0025) Avatars can be transferred from different virtual environments.
However, Narayanan fails to teach the user is of a cluster of users.
Bove teaches user is of a cluster of users. (Para. 00032-0033 and 0067)
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 Narayanan’s Avatar/Profile that can be modified to incorporate Bove’s Cluster Algorithm that groups Avatars in Virtual Environments. Since doing so would provide the benefit of helping a user interact with a virtual environment by easily notifying the user of groups they can join in the virtual environment. (Bove, Para. 0004) As well as creating the ability to move groups of users to different virtual environments.
Regarding claim 8, Narayanan teaches a computer program product (Para. 0042) comprising one or more computer readable storage media (Para. 0044) having program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions execute the method of claim 1, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 1.
Regarding claim 9, has similar limitations as of claim 2, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 2.
Regarding claims 10 and 16, has similar limitations as of claim 3, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 3.
Regarding claims 11 and 17, has similar limitations as of claim 4, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 4.
Regarding claims 12 and 18, has similar limitations as of claim 5, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 5.
Regarding claims 13 and 19, has similar limitations as of claim 6, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 6.
Regarding claims 14 and 29, has similar limitations as of claim 7, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claim 7.
Regarding system claim 15, has similar limitations as of claims 1 and 8 and is directed to the system of the method of claim 1 and the computer program product of claim 8, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as claims 1 and 8.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIANNA R COCHRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4671. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 7:30am - 5:00pm.
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/BRIANNA RENAE COCHRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2615
/ALICIA M HARRINGTON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2615
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