DETAILED ACTION
Claim 9 objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 9, line 12’s “comprises” is a sentence fragment. “comprises” is interpreted as “comprising” (a participle giving order to the claimed sequential elements of claim 9), like claim 1.
Thus claims 11,12,13,14,15,16 objected for depending on claim 9.
Claims 1,3,4,5,7,8, and 9,11,12,13,15,16 and 17,19,20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.:
Claim(s) 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1):
Claim(s) 3,5,6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of MATSUMOTO WO 2022/230221 A1) with SEACH machine translation :
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of MATSUMOTO WO 2022/230221 A1) with SEACH machine translation as applied in claims 3,5,6 further in view of Sullivan et al. (US 2010/0164862 A1):
Claim(s) 8 and 16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of NAM et al. (KR 10-2004-0042002 A) with SEARCH machine translation:
Claim(s) 11 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of LIN et al. (WO 2023/025181 A1) with SEARCH machine translation:
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of LIN et al. (WO 2023/025181 A1) with SEARCH machine translation as applied in claimed 11 and 19 further in view of Sullivan et al. (US 2010/0164862 A1) as applied in claim 4:
Claim(s) 13,14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of LIN et al. (WO 2023/025181 A1) with SEARCH machine translation as applied in claimed 11 and 19 further in view of Kaczor (US 2020/0082564 A1).
Response to Amendment
The amendment was received 1/27/2026. Claim 2,10,18 cancel Claims 1,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9,11,12,13,14,15,16 and 17,19,20 pending:
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Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Applicant has not complied with one or more conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) as follows:
The later-filed application must be an application for a patent for an invention which is also disclosed in the prior application (the parent or original nonprovisional application or provisional application). The disclosure of the invention in the parent application and in the later-filed application must be sufficient to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, except for the best mode requirement. See Transco Products, Inc. v. Performance Contracting, Inc., 38 F.3d 551, 32 USPQ2d 1077 (Fed. Cir. 1994).
The disclosure of the prior-filed application, Application No. 63/386,490, fails to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application.
The claimed “invisible feature point” of claim 1 is not in Application No. 63/386,490.
Accordingly, claims 1,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9,11,12,13,14,15,16 and 17,19,20 are not entitled to the benefit of the prior application.”
Claim Objections
Claim 9 objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 9, line 12’s “comprises” is a sentence fragment. “comprises” is interpreted as “comprising” (a participle (i.e. adjective) giving past-tense order (“estimated”) to the sequential elements (i.e., nouns) of claim 9 and participating in the action of “construct[[ing]]”), like claims 1,17.
Thus claims 11,12,13,14,15,16 objected for depending on claim 9.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1,3,4,5,7,8, and 9,11,12,13,15,16 and 17,19,20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.:
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Step 0: broadest reasonable interpretation as shown throughout;
Step 1: claim 1 a method; claim 9 a machine; claim 17 a manufacture;
Step 2A, prong 1:
The claim(s) recite(s) a mental process and math: “obtaining a wrist position and a wrist direction…obtaining a plurality of visible feature points…a hand pose model”:
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Step 2A, prong 2:
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional elements (not boxed-in in claim 1 above) do not improve the computer itself1 as disclosed by applicants [00100]:
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Step 2B:
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because each additional element, such as the non-boxed-in text in claim 1 above, considered individually or with the mental process & math adheres to conventional practices as indicated in applicant’s specification’s background2:
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Claims 6,14 is not rejected under 35 USC 101 since claim 14 is improving the electrical engineering field by stabilizing the swayable influencing during tracking due to occlusion in view of applicant’s diclosure, [0003], reproduced above:
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Response to Arguments
Regarding rejection for Claims 1, 3-9, 11-13, 15-17 and 19-20 under 35 U.S.C 101
Applicant's arguments filed 1/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive:
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies
(i.e., page 15: “is utilizes”:
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)
are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
.
Applicants state in page 15:
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The examiner respectfully disagrees since “model”3 is math (function) or an abstract idea or claim 1’s “model” recites4 math (function) in claim 1.
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies
(i.e., pages 15,16: “stable” “geometric relationship”:
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) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies
(i.e., page 16: claim 1 does not reflect the disclosure’s “stable”; thus, limitations from applicant’s disclosure are not read into claim 1:
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) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Claim Rejections under 35 USC 102 and 35 USC 103
Applicant's arguments filed 1/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive:
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies
(i.e., page 18: “by…the geometric relations”:
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) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., page 18,19: “the geometric relations”:
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) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, page 19:
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, filed 1/27/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered5 and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of 35 USC 103:
Claim(s) 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1), wherein Woo teaches estimating a position S120 with missing points due to Motion blur:
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Applicants state in page 19:
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Kaczor is no longer applied in the rejection of claim 1 since Kaczor does not teach the new, narrow subset of the claimed “constructing…comprising: estimating an estimated position” of claim 1. However, Kaczor is applied in claims 13,14.
Applicant's arguments filed 1/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive:.
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e.,
page 19:
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) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, page 19:
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, filed 1/27/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1,9,17 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered6 and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of said:
Claim(s) 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1), wherein Woo teaches estimating a position S120 with missing points due to Motion blur:
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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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1):
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Re 1. (Currently Amended), Zhang teaches A hand pose construction method7, comprising8:
capturing an image of a hand of a user from a viewing angle of a camera (“to capture the hand pose” [0033] penult S), wherein a hand image of the hand of the user is occluded within the image (“based on occluded imaging data” [0068] 2nd S);
obtaining a wrist position (via “a wrist-mounted system” [0081] 3rd S) and a wrist direction (via “wrist orientation9 detection” [0156]) of a wrist of the user according to a movement data of a tracking (“wristband” [0051]) device wear on the wrist of the user;
obtaining a plurality of visible (“discrete”10 [0095]) feature points (fig. 7B) of the hand of the user from the (sample) image; and
constructing1112 a hand pose (fig. 1:312: “Hand pose”) of the hand (“by predicting positions of at least a portion of the hand joints” [0080] 4th S) of the user according to (via “the kinematic model” [0087] 1st S: fig. 5: reproduced below) the plurality of visible (discrete) feature points, the wrist (mounted) position, the (specific) wrist direction, and a hand pose model (“that infers the pose of the hand” [0048] last S),13 comprising14:
estimating15 an estimated position (via “an estimation of a pose of the hand of the user.” [0043] last S) of an invisible feature point (or “discrete data points” [0095]: fig. 7B) of the hand according16 to17 (via said “the kinematic model” [0087]: fig. 5) a distance (“between the skin of a user and the optical axis of the camera.” [0096]:finger lengths) and a relative angle (“to18 fingertip positions” [0077]) between the invisible feature point and a first visible feature point of the plurality of visible feature points of the hand pose model.
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Zhang does not teach the difference19 of claim 1 of:
a) estimated position constructing2021 (a hand pose)22…23
b) invisible (feature point)…
c) invisible (feature point).
Woo teaches the difference of claim 1:
a) estimated24 position25 constructing262728 (ultimately expressed as:
“Here, the two hand pose estimators include a depth hand pose estimator and an IR hand pose estimator. Operation S120 may infer the skeletal position of the hand joint from the depth map using the depth hand pose estimator (HPE f.sup.E1) and may estimate the skeletal position of the hand joint from the IR map using the IR hand pose estimator (HPE f.sup.E2).” via [0033][0034]) (a hand pose)29…30
b) invisible (“points due to motion blur” [0041] 5th S) (feature point)…
c) invisible (“depth image”-“points due to motion blur” [0041] 5th S: fig. 2: “Motion blur”) (feature point).
Since Zhang teaches a hand pose, one of skill in the art of hand poses can make Zhang’s be as Woo’s seeing in the change “a hand pose estimation system according to an example embodiment of the present invention may more accurately estimate a 3D hand pose through hand skeleton extraction using the depth images and the IR images.”, Woo [0044].
Re 7. (Currently Amended), Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo, teaches The hand pose construction (“by predicting positions of at least a portion of the hand joints” [0080] 4th S) method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining 31 to reconstruct the hand pose (“by deep learning the outline shape of the hand” [0096] 1st S) of the hand of the user according32 to
(B) a number (“within the range of from 2 mm to about 10 mm” [0096] last S) of the plurality of visible feature points,
(C) an occlusion percentage of the hand, or
(D) a significance of a plurality of invisible feature points.
Claim 9 rejected like claim 1:
Re 9. (Currently Amended), Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo teaches An electronic device, comprising:
a camera (figs. 8,9:102), configured to capture an image of a hand of a user from a viewing angle of the camera, wherein a hand image of the hand of the user is occluded within the image; and
a processor (fig. 15: 1520: PROCESSOR), coupled to the camera, wherein the processor is configured to:
obtain a wrist position and a wrist direction of a wrist of the user according to a movement data of a tracking device wear on the wrist of the user;
obtain a plurality of visible feature points of the hand of the user from the image; and
construct[[ing]] (or “predict” [0080] 4th S: fig. 6: “Prediction” as “determined”-as estimated-[0090] 3rd S) a hand pose (“(e.g., 20 finger joint positions) by deep learning the outline shape of the hand by one or more cameras located close to the wrist” [0096] as estimated) of the hand of the user according to the plurality of visible feature points, the wrist position, the wrist direction, and a hand pose model, comprises33:34
estimate an estimated position of an invisible feature point of the hand according to a distance and a relative angle between the invisible feature point and a first visible feature point of the plurality of visible feature points of the hand pose model.
Claim 15 is rejected like claim 7:
Re 15. (Currently Amended), Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo teaches The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine
(B) a number of the plurality of visible feature points,
© an occlusion percentage of the hand, or
(D) a significance of a plurality of invisible feature points.
Claim 17 is rejected like claims 1 and 9:
Re 17. (Currently Amended), Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo teaches A non-transitory computer readable storage medium (fig. 15:1522: “MEMORY”), wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium (fig. 15:1522: “MEMORY”) comprises one or more computer programs stored therein, and the one or more computer programs can be executed by one or more processors so as to be configured to operate a hand pose construction method, wherein the hand pose construction method comprises:
capturing an image of a hand of a user from a viewing angle of a camera, wherein a hand image of the hand of the user is occluded within the image;
obtaining a wrist position and a wrist direction of a wrist of the user according to a movement data of a tracking device wear on the wrist of the user;
obtaining a plurality of visible feature points of the hand of the user from the image; and
constructing a hand pose of the hand of the user according to the plurality of visible feature points, the wrist position, the wrist direction, and a hand pose model, comprising:
estimating an estimated position of an invisible feature point of the hand according to a distance and a relative angle between the invisible feature point and a first visible feature point of the plurality of visible feature points of the hand pose model.
Claim(s) 3,5,6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of MATSUMOTO WO 2022/230221 A1) with SEACH machine translation :
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Re 3. (Currently Amended) , Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo teaches The hand pose construction method of claim 1, further comprising:
predicting (i.e., estimating35) that (“a pose of” [0043] last S) the hand of the user is about to be occluded;
storing (via a “wrist orientation” “dictionary” [0177] 1st S) a previous hand pose of the hand of the user 36in response to the hand of the user being [[is]] about to be occluded; and
constructing (i.e., predicting) the hand pose of the hand of the user with the previous hand pose.
Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo does not teach the difference of claim 3 of:
a) (user) is about to be occluded…
b) previous (hand pose)…
c) (user) being [[is]] about to be occluded…
d) previous (hand pose).
MATSUMOTO teaches the difference of claim 3:
a) (user) (left-hand: fig. 3B: “(the part in the occlusion state)”) is about to be occluded…
b) previous (“time step (time step t-1)”, pg. 8, last txt blk: fig. 3B: “t1”) (hand pose)…
c) (user) being [[is]] about (via fig. 3B:”t2”) to be occluded (“specified by the precise prediction processing data D2_kp_H”, pg. 27, last txt blk: fig.14: “R3”: left-hand occluded) …
d) previous (“the current time and stored in the first memory M1, as data D1_kp_L_past from the first memory M1”, pg . 8, 5th txt blk: fig. 3B: “t2” relative to “t3”) (hand pose).
Since Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo teaches occlusion, one of skill in the art of occlusion can make Zhang’s of the combination of Zhang,Woo be as MATSUMOTO’s seeing in the change “highly accurate prediction processing (estimation processing) even when the state space model uses nonlinear functions f and H. In other words, the extended Kalman filter increases the amount of calculation compared to the Kalman filter whose state space model must use linear functions f and H(linear operators f and H), but can handle nonlinear system models. , highly accurate prediction processing (estimation processing) can be performed.”, MATSUMOTO, pg. 12, 1st txt blk.
Re 5. (Currently Amended) , Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo, MATSUMOTO teaches The hand pose construction (“by predicting positions of at least a portion of the hand joints” [0080] 4th S) method of claim 3, wherein a finger of the hand comprises a plurality of (“discrete” [0095]) finger feature points (fig. 7B), wherein a first (discrete) finger feature point of the plurality of finger feature points (fig. 7B) is located at a fingertip (“of the five fingertips” [0095]) of the finger, wherein the hand pose construction (“by predicting positions of at least a portion of the hand joints” [0080] 4th S) method further comprises:
constructing the hand pose (“by predicting positions of at least a portion of the hand joints” [0080] 4th S) of the finger of the user with the previous hand pose37
(A) [[when38]] in response to the plurality of finger feature points [[are]] being a plurality of invisible feature points (via Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo, MATSUMOTO) or39
(B) [[when40]] in response to the first finger feature point [[is]] being one of the plurality of invisible feature points (via Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo, MATSUMOTO).
Re 6. (Currently Amended) , Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo, MATSUMOTO teaches The hand pose construction method of claim 5, further comprising:
obtaining a relationship (via any of the equations of Zhang) between41 the plurality of finger feature points and the wrist position of the previous hand pose (via making Zhang’s be as SANKARASUBRAMANIAM’s); and
maintaining the relationship between the plurality of finger feature points and the wrist position [[when42]] during an operation of reconstructing the hand pose (however Zhang teaches this contingent limitation in the rejection of claim 14 in the context of mathematical constraints and figure 5B; thus argument presented in claim 14 is applicable to claim 6).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of MATSUMOTO WO 2022/230221 A1) with SEACH machine translation as applied in claims 3,5,6 further in view of Sullivan et al. (US 2010/0164862 A1):
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Re 4. (Original), Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo, MATSUMOTO teaches The hand pose construction method of claim 3, further comprising:
constructing an arm43 skeleton (via a “skeletal…model” [0044] last S) of two arms (“to simplify data processing” [0168]) of the user according to another (i.e., “second” [0101] 3rd S) wrist (“origin” [0081] 3rd S) position (“on the left hand or the right hand” [0109] 4th S) of another (left/right) hand of the user, the wrist (origin) position of the (left/right) hand of the user, and a head position of the user;
obtaining a plurality of arm positions (“using one or more IMUs from the one or more wearable devices (e.g., smartwatch)” [0148] 2nd S) of a plurality of arm feature points (or “arm” “weight”44 “points” [0159] 3rd S) of the user of a plurality of (“real-” [0235] 7th S) time points according to the arm skeleton (via a “skeletal…model” [0044] last S); and
predicting (via “image” “prediction” [0022]: fig. 7A) the hand image (“based on occluded imaging data” [0068] 2nd S) is45 about46 to47 be occluded according to the plurality of arm positions (“using one or more IMUs from the one or more wearable devices (e.g., smartwatch)” [0148] 2nd S) of the plurality of arm feature points (or “arm” “weight”48 “points” [0159] 3rd S) and the arm skeleton (via a “skeletal…model” [0044] last S).
Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo, MATSUMOTO does not teach the difference of claim 4:
arm (skeleton)…
head position…
arm (skeleton)…
is49 about50 to51 be occluded …
arm (skeleton).
Sullivan teaches:
arm (skeleton) (via “actor’s left or right upper arm” “skeleton parameters” [0033] last S)…
head (“band” [0023] penult S) position (fig. 1:100: headband)…
arm (skeleton)…
(“which of the markers”) is52 about53 to54 be occluded (“due to occlusion” [0045] last S) …
arm (skeleton).
Since Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo, MATSUMOTO teaches a skeletal model, one of skill in the art of skeletons can make Zhang’s of the combination of Zhang,Woo, MATSUMOTO be as Sullivan’s predictably recognizing the change “to increase accuracy for determining poses (e.g., position, orientation) of an object (e.g., the actor) Additionally, other applications such as tracking and marker (or feature) identification may be improved.” (Sullivan [0020] last S.
Claim(s) 8 and 16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of NAM et al. (KR 10-2004-0042002 A) with SEARCH machine translation:
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Re 8. (Originla), Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo, teaches The hand pose construction method of claim 1, further comprising:
reconstructing (via said outline shape at 2 to 10 mm) the hand pose according to a hand pose55 database (“of professional athletes' joint limits” [0176] last S), wherein the (athletes’) hand pose56 database comprises a plurality of normal57 hand poses.
Zhang of the combination of Zhang, SANKARASUBRAMANIAM does not teach:
hand pose …
hand pose ...
normal.
NAM teaches
hand pose (or “hand pose image databases 131b”, pg. 5, 2nd txt blk)…
hand pose ...
normal (or “normalized” “hand posture”, pg. 5, 6th txt blk).
Since Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo, teaches hand pose, one of skill in the art of hand postures can make Zhang’s of the combination of Zhang,Woo be as Nam’s predictably recognizing the change “as a human-friendly human-machine interface”, NAM, pg. 7, 3rd txt blk.
Claim 16 is rejected like claim 8:
16. (Original) The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:
reconstruct the hand pose according to a hand pose database, wherein the hand pose database comprises a plurality of normal hand poses.
Claim 20 is rejected like claims 8 and 16:
20. (Original) The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the hand pose construction method further comprises:
reconstructing the hand pose according to a hand pose database, wherein the hand pose database comprises a plurality of normal hand poses.
Claim(s) 11 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of LIN et al. (WO 2023/025181 A1) with SEARCH machine translation:
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Re 11. (Currently Amended), Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo teaches The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the processor (fig. 15: 1520: PROCESSOR) is further configured to:
predict that the hand of the user is about to be occluded;
store (via “a known dictionary58 310” [0075]) a previous hand pose (as “indexed”, [0172] last S, in an auxiliary storage medium file) of the hand of the user in response59 (via equations x,y,z in [0083] as a function of pose-joint-angle being equal to x,y,z) to6061 nd S) of the user being [[is]] about to be (“self-” [0067])occluded; and
construct the hand pose (“to record and reconstruct hand poses” [0066] 2nd S) of the hand of the user with the previous hand pose.
Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo does not teach the difference of claim 11 of:
is about to
previous (hand pose)…
(user) being [[is]] about to (be occluded)…
previous (hand pose).
LIN teaches:
is about to
previous (“hand pose information”, pg. 15, 5th txt blk) (hand pose)…
(user) being [[is]] about62 (via fig. 7A) to (or “may be mutually”, pg. 4, 12th txt blk) (be occluded) (fig. 7B: hands occluded)…
previous (hand pose).
Since Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo teaches occlusion, one of skill in the art of occlusion can make Zhang’s of the combination of Zhang,Woo be as LIN’s predictably recognizing the change “to improve the accuracy of the determined hand posture information in an image scene with mutually occluded hands” LIN, pg. 5, 3rd txt blk.
Claim 19 is rejected like claim 11:
Re 19., Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo,LIN The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the hand pose construction method further comprises:
predicting the hand of the user is about to be occluded;
storing a previous hand pose of the hand of the user [[when]] in response to being about to be occluded; and
constructing the hand pose of the hand of the user with the previous hand pose.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of LIN et al. (WO 2023/025181 A1) with SEARCH machine translation as applied in claimed 11 and 19 further in view of Sullivan et al. (US 2010/0164862 A1) as applied in claim 4:
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Claim 12 is rejected like claim 4:
Re 12. (Original), Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo,LIN,Sullivan teaches The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:
construct an arm skeleton of two arms of the user according to another wrist position of another hand of the user, the wrist position of the hand of the user, and a head position of the user;
obtain a plurality of arm positions of a plurality of arm feature points of the user of a plurality of time points according to the arm skeleton; and
predict the hand image is about to be occluded according to the plurality of arm positions of the plurality of arm feature points and the arm skeleton.
Claim(s) 13,14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 2022/0051145 A1) in view of Woo et al. (US 2024/0153133 A1) as applied in claims 1,7 and 9,15 and 17 above further in view of LIN et al. (WO 2023/025181 A1) with SEARCH machine translation as applied in claimed 11 and 19 further in view of Kaczor (US 2020/0082564 A1).
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Re 13. (Currently Amended), Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo,LIN teaches The electronic device of claim 11, wherein a finger of the hand comprises a plurality of finger feature points, wherein a first finger feature point of the plurality of finger feature points is located at a fingertip of the finger, wherein the processor (fig. 15: 1520: PROCESSOR: “ a computer or smartphone” [0268] 3rd S) is further configured to:
construct the hand pose of the finger (“by predicting positions of at least a portion of the hand joints or at least a portion of the positions of finger tips including the hand joints and/or finger tips not captured by the images from the imaging sensor(s).” [0080 4th S) of the user with the previous (via said making Zhang’s be as LIN’s) hand pose63
(A) [[when]] in response (via said x,y,z joint-angle coordinate equations) to64 the plurality of (discrete) finger feature points (“an output of a machine learning system”, Zhang [0268] 3rd S: fig. 3:312: “Hand Pose”) [[are]] being a plurality of invisible feature points or
(B) [[when]] in response to the first finger feature point [[is]] being one of the plurality of invisible feature points.
Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo,LIN does not teach the difference of claim 13 of:
invisible (feature points)…
invisible (feature points).
Kaczor teaches the difference of claim 13:
invisible (“feature point”: [0021][0028][0030]) (feature points)…
invisible (“feature point”: [0022][0028[0030]) (feature points).
Since Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo,LIN teaches a feature point in fig. 7B and teaches the problem of “if a hand moves outside the field of view of the camera” [0033] last S and Kaczor teaches the same problem of “the feature point can be outside the FOV of the camera” [0017] , one of skill in feature points and Field Of Views (FOVs) can make Zhang’s of the combination of Zhang,Woo,LIN be as Kaczor’s predictably recognizing the change resulting in an “improved precision” “feature point”, Kaczor [0109].
Claim 14 is rejected like claim 6 with the difference being the “maintain” limitation:
Re 14.(Currently Amended) , Zhang of the combination of Zhang,Woo,LIN, Kaczor teaches The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the processor (fig. 15: 1520: PROCESSOR) is further configured to:
obtain a relationship (as “given” [0083] last S in the context of figures 5A,5B) between the plurality of finger feature points and the wrist position of the previous hand pose; and
maintain (via “constraints” [0085] 2nd S) the (given) relationship (as “given” [0083] last S in the context of figures 5A,5B) between the plurality of finger feature points and the wrist position [[when]] during an operation of reconstructing the hand pose.
Conclusion
The prior art “nearest to the subject matter defined in the claims” (MPEP 707.05) made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The following table lists several references that are relevant to the subject matter claimed and disclosed in this Application. The references are not relied on by the Examiner, but are provided to assist the Applicant in responding to this Office action.
Citation
Relevance
Dariush et al. (US 2010/0215257 A1)
Dariush teaches constructing an estimated pose using a feature point 224:
[0031] The pose reconstruction module 208 is configured to generate estimated poses q 230 and predicted features p 228 based on p.sub.d 224, the accurate human model, and its constraints.”
as the closest to the claimed “constructing a hand pose … comprising: estimating” of claim 1.
Yang et al. (US 2018/0293738 A1)
Yang teaches producing an estimated pose, [0076]:
Based on the estimated location of each keypoint, the identified type of each keypoint, and information indicating which types of keypoints are connected (e.g., right elbow is connected to right hand and right shoulder), an estimated pose is produced, such as pose 530.
as the closest to the claimed “constructing a hand pose … comprising: estimating” of claim 1.
Iqbal et al. (US 2019/0278983 A1)
Iqbal teaches estimation produces pose, [0062]:
During training, each input image is processed by the 2.5D keypoint estimation system 200 or 250 to produce the 2.5D pose represented by the 2D pose p and the root-relative depth {circumflex over (Z)}.sup.r.
as the closest to the claimed “constructing a hand pose … comprising: estimating” of claim 1.
GONZALEZ (WO 2023/281299 A1)
Gonzalez teaches an invisible keypoint (fig. 6:70a: “Keypoint Analysis Engine”) with pose:
Fig. 6:75a: “Pose Estimation Engine” & 77a: “Pose Generator”
as the closest to the claimed “constructing a hand pose … comprising: estimating…an invisible feature point” of claim 1.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 DENNIS ROSARIO whose telephone number is (571)272-7397. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM EST.
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, Henok Shiferaw can be reached at 571-272-4637. 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.
/DENNIS ROSARIO/Examiner, Art Unit 2676
/Henok Shiferaw/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2676
1 pose: the act or period of posing, as for a picture., wherein picture is defined: the image on a computer monitor, the viewing screen of a television set, or a motion-picture screen.
2 background: one's origin, education, experience, etc., in relation to one's present character, status, etc., wherein experience is defined: knowledge or practical wisdom gained from what one has observed, encountered, or undergone, wherein practical is defined: of or relating to practice or action, wherein practice is defined: custom, wherein custom is defined: convention, wherein convention is defined: conventionalism, wherein conventionalism is defined: adherence to or advocacy of conventional attitudes or practices (Dictionary.com)
3 model: a representation, generally in miniature, to show the construction or appearance of something, wherein representation is defined: the expression or designation by some term, character, symbol, or the like, wherein expression is defined: Mathematics. a symbol or a combination of symbols representing a value, relation, or the like, wherein representing is defined: to be the equivalent of; correspond to, wherein relation is defined: Mathematics. 1 a property that associates two quantities in a definite order, as equality or inequality. 2 a single- or multiple-valued function. (Dictionary.com)
4 recite: to give an account of, wherein give is defined: to set forth (via MPEP: 2106.04 Eligibility Step 2A: Whether a Claim is Directed to a Judicial Exception [R-07.2022]: II. ELIGIBILITY STEP 2A: WHETHER A CLAIM IS DIRECTED TO A JUDICIAL EXCEPTION: A. Step 2A Is a Two-Prong Inquiry: 1. Prong One, 2nd S: “the terms ‘set forth’ and ‘described’ are thus both equated with ‘recite’“) or show; present; offer, wherein forth is defined: out, as from concealment or inaction; into view or consideration, wherein view is defined: a general account or description of a subject., wherein description is defined: the act or method of describing, wherein describe is defined: to indicate; be a sign of; denote, wherein denote is defined: to be a name or designation for; mean., where mean is defined: to have as its sense or signification; signify, wherein sense is defined: the meaning of a word or phrase in a specific context, especially as isolated in a dictionary or glossary; the semantic element in a word or group of words. (Dictionary.com)
5 The claimed “constructing” has changed scope due to amendment; hence, Woo is applied to address this new narrow scope under the broadest reasonable interpretation.
6 The claimed “constructing” in claim 1, line 8 has changed scope due to the amendment in claim 1.
7 subject
8 verb
9 orientation: position or positioning with relation to the points of the compass or other specific directions (Dictionary.com)
10 discrete: consisting of or characterized by distinct or individual parts, wherein characterize is defined: to mark or distinguish as a characteristic; be a characteristic of, wherein characteristic is defined: a distinguishing feature or quality (Dictionary.com)
11 gerund (object of verb: preamble’s “comprising”)
12 “constructing” is further “limited to a narrow subset” (MPEP2143.03 All Claim Limitations Must Be Considered [R-01.2024]) of the broadest reasonable interpretation of constructing: “estimated position”-“constructing”:
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13 comma: the sign (,), a mark of punctuation used for indicating a division in a sentence, as in setting off a word, phrase, or clause, especially when such a division is accompanied by a slight pause or is to be noted in order to give (past-tense) order (“estimated”) to the sequential elements of the sentence (claim 1). It is also used to separate items in a list, to mark off thousands in numerals, to separate types or levels of information in bibliographic and other data, and, in many European countries, as a decimal point. (Dictionary.com)
14 participle
15 participle
16 participle
17 according to: in proportion to, wherein proportion is defined:
18 to: (used for expressing a relative position). (Dictionary.com)
19 THE CLAIMED INVENTION AS A WHOLE regarding “estimated position”:
The problem in applicant’s disclosure is:
[0003]With the evolution of computerized environments, the use of human-machine interfaces (HMI) has dramatically increased. A growing need is identified for more natural human-machine user interface methods such as, for example, hand poses (or hand gestures) interaction to replace and/or complement traditional HMIs such as, for example, keyboards, pointing devices and/or touch interfaces, and the hand poses interaction may be applied to the VR/AR application. Several solutions for identifying and/or recognizing hand(s) poses may exist. Most of the commonly used hand poses detection and hand poses control now are realized with image detection and image analysis by computer vision. However, in computer vision, it’s hard to predict hand poses when the hand in occluded by other objects. When two hands are interacting with each other or when the user is moving in a VR scene, due to different body orientations during the activity or obstruction between the lens and hands, it is inevitable for the camera to face difficulty when capturing the user's current movements, and the accuracy and stability for hand tracking would be influenced.
The solution is:
[0099]Through the operations of various embodiments described above, a hand pose construction method, an electronic device, and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium are implemented. For the hand image that is occluded, the hand pose can be predicted and constructed with the position of the tracking device and the visible feature points of the hands. Moreover, the movement of the arms of the user can be predicted by detecting the position of the head and the wrist of the user, and the hand self-occlusion status can be predicted in advance so as to store the image of the hand pose before the hand image is occluded. For applications such as dance or sign language, there are many self-occlusion case, the embodiments of the present disclosure can help to predict more stable hand pose by predicting the movement of the arms. Furthermore, in applications such as dance or sign language, there are known data sets are database for classifying and recognizing the normal hand poses or movements, the embodiments of the present disclosure can predict the occluded hand poses more correctly according to the database. The movement of the arms are calculated according to the positions of the wrists and the position of the head of the user, and other time consuming algorithm(for example, object detection model for detecting the arms) are not needed, which reduce the amount of calculation of the processor.
Indicating obviousness: I don’t see in claim 1 this disclosed storage and “estimated position” does not appear in [0099].
20 gerund (object of verb: preamble’s “comprising”)
21 “constructing” is further “limited to a narrow subset” (MPEP2143.03 All Claim Limitations Must Be Considered [R-01.2024]) of the broadest reasonable interpretation of constructing: “estimated position”-“constructing”:
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22 (italics) represent claim limitations already taught
23 ellipses (…) represent claim limitations already taught
24 cumulative adjective
25 adjective
26 gerund (object of verb: preamble’s “comprising”)
27 BROAD CLAIM LANGUAGE: -ing (of “constructing”): a suffix of nouns formed from verbs, expressing (into words/paragraphs etc.) the action of the verb (construct) or its result, product, material, etc. (the art of building; a new building; cotton wadding ). (Dictionary.com)
28 “constructing” is further “limited to a narrow subset” (MPEP2143.03 All Claim Limitations Must Be Considered [R-01.2024]) of the broadest reasonable interpretation of constructing: “estimated position”-“constructing”:
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29 (italics) represent claim limitations already taught
30 ellipses (…) represent claim limitations already taught
31
32 Second Markush element in claim 7 follows: B,C or D
33 “comprises” (a verb) is interpreted as “comprising” (a participle)
34 colon: the sign (:) used to mark a major division in a sentence, to indicate that what follows is an elaboration, summation, implication, etc., of what precedes; or to separate groups of numbers referring to different things, as hours from minutes in 5:30; or the members of a ratio or proportion, as in 1 : 2 = 3 : 6. (Dictionary.com)
35 estimate: to form an opinion of; judge, wherein opinion is defined: a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
36 “when” indicates an unsatisfied contingent limitation in method claim 3
37 Markush element of alternatives follows: [(A) or (B)]
38 “when” is a contingent limitation that is not satisfied in method claim 5 and thus showing evidence of this contingency is not necessary under the broadest reasonable interpretation of method claim 5
39 “or” is a Markush element of alternatives A or B
40 “when” is a contingent limitation that is not satisfied in method claim 5
41 between: among (Dictionary.com)
42 “when” is a contingent limitation that is not satisfied in method claims 5,6
43 “arm” further limiting “skeleton”
44 weight: Statistics., a measure of the relative importance of an item in a statistical population, wherein importance is defined: the quality or state of being important, wherein quality is defined: an essential or distinctive characteristic, property, or attribute, wherein characteristic is defined: a distinguishing feature or quality. (Dictionary.com)
45 “is” further limits “the hand image”: “about to be occluded” “hand image”
46 “about” 35 USC 112(b) check
47 about: on the verge or point of (usually followed by an infinitive). about to leave. (Dictionary.com)
48 weight: Statistics., a measure of the relative importance of an item in a statistical population, wherein importance is defined: the quality or state of being important, wherein quality is defined: an essential or distinctive characteristic, property, or attribute, wherein characteristic is defined: a distinguishing feature or quality. (Dictionary.com)
49 “is” further limits “the hand image”: “about to be occluded” “hand image”
50 “about” 35 USC 112(b) check? This “about” is not in the range-sense of “near” or “close”
51 about: on the verge or point of (usually followed by an infinitive). about to leave. (Dictionary.com)
52 “is” further limits “the hand image”: “about to be occluded” “hand image”
53 “about” 35 USC 112(b) check? This “about” is not in the range-sense of “near” or “close”
54 about: on the verge or point of (usually followed by an infinitive). about to leave. (Dictionary.com)
55 “hand pose” as a modifier of database
56 “hand pose” as a modifier of database
57 “normal” as a modifier of hand poses
58 dictionary: Computers. a list of codes, terms, keys, etc., and their meanings, used by a computer program or system, wherein list is defined: Computers., a series of records in a file, wherein file is defined: Computers., a collection of related data or program records stored on some input/output or auxiliary storage medium. (Dictionary.com)
59 BROAD CLAIM LANGUAGE: response: an answer or reply, as in words or in some action, wherein answer is defined:
3 an equivalent or approximation,
4 an action serving as a reply or response.,
5 a solution to a problem, especially in mathematics.
wherein equivalent is defined: something that is equivalent, wherein equivalent is defined:
1 equal in value, measure, force, effect, significance, etc..
2 corresponding in position, function, etc.
3 Mathematics, Physics. a result that is not necessarily exact, but is within the limits of accuracy required for a given purpose.
wherein approximation is defined: 1 a guess or estimate. (Dictionary.com)
60CLAIM SCOPE: regarding “to” via applicant’s disclosure:
[00104]Although the present disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein., wherein scope is defined: Linguistics, Logic. the range of words or elements of an expression (claim 11) over which a modifier (e.g., a patent examiner) or operator (e.g., me) has control. (Dictionary.com)
61 to (a prepositional modifier): accompanied by (Dictionary.com)
62 about: on the verge or point of (usually followed by an infinitive). about to leave, wherein verge is defined: the limit or point beyond which something begins or occurs; brink. (Dictionary.com).
63 Markush element follows: A or B
64 see claim 11’s footnote regrading “in response to”