DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the filing of 2/17/24. Claims 1-11 are pending and have been considered below.
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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance. The prior art of record fails to disclose detecting person in a meeting based on the current position or acceleration of the moving object corresponding to that of the person, in combination with other limitations recited within the claimed context. The claims present a combination of limitations that differ from the cited art, and there is no reasonable combination of references that would teach it.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 9, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schubert (20230104622.)
Claim 1, 11: Schubert discloses a conference support system comprising:
a detection unit configured to detect that a plurality of occupants riding in a same moving object is participating in a same online conference (par. 17, recognize the faces 44 of the occupants 34 of the vehicle; FIGS. 1-4, the conference system 12 is configured to transmit the selected portion 32 of image data 16 received from imager 14, directed rearward within the cabin 18 of the vehicle 10, and in combination with audio data 53 to external conference server 60 so that one or more occupants 34 of the vehicle 10 can participate in a conference call, including using video; par. 22, display video from the conference server 60 on one or more display screens 32 within the vehicle cabin 18);
a generation unit configured to generate an interior image indicating that the plurality of occupants is present in a same interior space of the moving object (par. 16, a first imager 14a configured to capture a first image data 16a corresponding to a first interior field of view 17 of an occupant compartment 18 of the vehicle 10. Par. 26, the system 12 may crop a larger portion 32 of the image data 16 when one or more occupants 34 are determined to be speaking); and
a transmission unit configured to transmit (par. 16, A controller 40 (FIG. 5) receives the image data 16a and the audio data 53a for transmission to an external conference server 60) the interior image to a terminal device of a conference participant participating in the online conference (par. 16, The image data 16 and audio data 53 are then processed by a processor 62 associated with the server 60 for output to one or more third-party devices in various configurations, as determined by the processor 62; par. 22, display video from the conference server 60 on one or more display screens 32 within the vehicle cabin 18.)
Claim 9: Schubert discloses conference support system according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit detects the plurality of occupants who participates in the online conference from the moving object, based on an image from a camera which is loaded in the moving object and which photographs an interior of the moving object (par. 17, recognize the faces 44 of the occupants 34 of the vehicle 10 and to detect, for example within the facial recognition 44, various facial features 46 and to monitor them for a “display prompt” indicating, for example, that the occupant 34 is speaking; par. 22, one or more occupants 34 of the vehicle 10 can participate in a conference call, including using video; par. 22, display video from the conference server 60 on one or more display screens 32 within the vehicle cabin 18.)
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) 2-3, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schubert in view of Kawanabe (WO 2015/112881.)
Claim 2: Schubert discloses the conference support system according to claim 1. However, Schubert does not explicitly disclose wherein the generation unit generates the interior image by superimposing an occupant display indicating each of the plurality of occupants on an interior space image indicating the interior space of the moving object.
Kawanabe discloses a similar conference system, including: wherein the generation unit generates the interior image by superimposing an occupant display indicating each of the plurality of occupants on an interior space image indicating the interior space of the moving object (Fig. 7A showing images of attendees superimposed over the physical space; par. 73, FIGS. 7- A to 7-E, the display may also provide relative physical location information, such as the relative seating arrangements at a meeting in conference room. A variety of seating configurations (such as those illustrated in each of FIGS. 7- A to 7-E) may be provided.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Schubert with Kawanabe so as to display the interior space of the moving object as taught by Schubert by superimposing occupants over the physical space as taught by Kawanabe. One would have been motivated to combine the teachings so as to inform the conference attendees as to the identities and locations of other attendees in the physical space.
Claim 3: Schubert discloses conference support system according to claim 1. However, Schubert does not explicitly disclose wherein the detection unit specifies a position, in an interior of the moving object, of each of the plurality of occupants attending the online conference, and the generation unit generates the interior image by superimposing the occupant display indicating the occupant at the position corresponding to each of the plurality of occupants on the interior space image indicating the interior space of the moving object.
Kawanabe discloses a similar conference system, including: wherein the detection unit specifies a position, in an interior of the moving object, of each of the plurality of occupants attending the online conference, and the generation unit generates the interior image by superimposing the occupant display indicating the occupant at the position corresponding to each of the plurality of occupants on the interior space image indicating the interior space of the moving object (Fig. 7A showing images of attendees superimposed over the physical space; par. 73, FIGS. 7- A to 7-E, the display may also provide relative physical location information, such as the relative seating arrangements at a meeting in conference room. A variety of seating configurations (such as those illustrated in each of FIGS. 7- A to 7-E) may be provided.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Schubert with Kawanabe so as to display the interior space of the moving object as taught by Schubert by superimposing occupants over the physical space as taught by Kawanabe. One would have been motivated to combine the teachings so as to inform the conference attendees as to the identities and locations of other attendees in the physical space.
Claim 5: Schubert and Kawanabe disclose conference support system according to claim 2, wherein the occupant display superimposed on the interior image is an icon or an image indicating a corresponding occupant (Kawanabe, Fig. 7-A, shows an image of the occupant.)
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schubert in view of Kawanabe (WO 2015/112881) and in further view of Kitabayashi (20120314067.)
Claim 4: Schubert and Kawanabe disclose conference support system according to claim 2. However, the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the detection unit specifies an attribute of the moving object including a kind, a model, a seating capacity or a seat arrangement of the moving object, and the generation unit determines the interior space image to be used for the interior image based on the attribute of the moving object.
Kitabayashi discloses a similar conference system, including: wherein the detection unit specifies an attribute of the moving object including a kind, a model, a seating capacity or a seat arrangement of the moving object, and the generation unit determines the interior space image to be used for the interior image based on the attribute of the moving object (Fig. 9; par. 125-127, determining and specifying the seat arrangement and number.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Schubert and Kawanabe with Kitabayashi so as to display the interior space of the moving object as taught by Schubert by superimposing occupants over the physical space as taught by Kawanabe. One would have been motivated to combine the teachings so as to inform the conference attendees as to the identities and locations of other attendees in the physical space.
Claim(s) 6, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schubert in view of Kitabayashi (20120314067.)
Claim 6: Schubert discloses conference support system according to claim 1. However, Schubert does not explicitly disclose: wherein the detection unit determines a plurality of persons participating in the online conference from each of terminal devices loaded in the moving object as the plurality of occupants participating in the online conference from the moving object.
Kitabayashi discloses a similar conference system, including: wherein the detection unit determines a plurality of persons participating in the online conference from each of terminal devices loaded in the moving object as the plurality of occupants participating in the online conference from the moving object (par. 14, a detection device to detect the light-emitting section emitting light at the terminal device and which determines in which direction the light-emitting section is located with respect to the detection device; identifying information receiving means which receives via the communications connection from the terminal device user identifying information identifying a user who uses the terminal device.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Schubert with Kitabayashi so as to display the interior space of the moving object as taught by Schubert by detecting terminal devices in the physical space as taught by Kitabayashi. One would have been motivated to combine the teachings so as to inform the conference attendees as to the identities and locations of other attendees in the physical space.
Claim 10: Schubert discloses conference support system according to claim 1. However, Schubert does not explicitly disclose: wherein the detection unit acquires, from a terminal device of a person who participates in the online conference, information on the moving object that the person is riding when participating in the online conference.
Kitabayashi discloses a similar conference system, including: wherein the detection unit acquires, from a terminal device of a person who participates in the online conference, information on the moving object that the person is riding when participating in the online conference (i.e. information of where the user is in the physical room, is information about the physical room; par. 14-15.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Schubert with Kitabayashi so as to display the interior space of the moving object as taught by Schubert by detecting terminal devices in the physical space as taught by Kitabayashi. One would have been motivated to combine the teachings so as to inform the conference attendees as to the identities and locations of other attendees in the physical space.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Graziano 2019/0297126; Fig. 41 showing occupants and their images in a physical space.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREY BELOUSOV whose telephone number is (571) 270-1695 and Andrew.belousov@uspto.gov email. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Adam Queler, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-4140. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Andrey Belousov/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2172
9/1/2026
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