DETAILED ACTION
*Note in the following document:
1. Texts in italic bold format are limitations quoted either directly or conceptually from claims/descriptions disclosed in the instant application.
2. Texts in regular italic format are quoted directly from cited reference or Applicant’s arguments.
3. Texts with underlining are added by the Examiner for emphasis.
4. Texts with
5. Acronym “PHOSITA” stands for “Person Having Ordinary Skill In The Art”.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 27 April 2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
This is in response to applicant’s amendment/response file on 27 April 2026, which has been entered and made of record. Claims 1-2, 8-10, 16, 19 and 21 has/have been amended. Claims 3, 6-7, 11, 14-15, 17 and 20 has/have been cancelled. No Claim has been added. Claims 1-2, 4-5, 8-10, 12-13, 16, 18-19 and 21-22 are pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, with respect to 35 U.S.C. §112(b) rejection to Claim 15-20, see p.6, filed on 20 April 2026 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The previous 35 U.S.C. §112(b) rejection to Claim 15-20 is withdrawn after Claim 15, 17 and 20 and Claim 16, 18-19 being amended.
Applicant’s arguments, see p.6-11, filed on 20 April 2026, with respect to 35 U.S.C. §102/103 rejection to Claim 1/8/9 and their dependent claims have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The newly added limitation of said at least one selected action being an action that has been identified beforehand as a favorite action based on at least one of: a frequency of execution, by the user, of actions of the user avatar in the virtual environment, or a user preference stored in the control device (independent Claim 1/8/9) is taught or suggested by Kim (KR 20240016817 A) and Hwan et al. (KR 101239096 B1). See detailed rejection below.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 8-9 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 8/9 recite(s) in the absence of human intervention to animate the avatar via a control interface (Claim 8: lines 3-4 and Claim 9: lines 4-5). Suggest adding “user” in front of “avatar” to make it clear that the avatar is not any other avatar but the user avatar.
Claim(s) 1/8/9 further recite(s) at based on learning actions executed by at least the user of the user avatar in said real environment. Suggests replacing the user with “a user”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 of this title, 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.
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 1-2, 4-5, 8-10, 12-13, 16, 18-19 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chiharu et al. (WO 2020129753 A1) in view of Kim (KR 20240016817 A) and Hwan et al. (KR 101239096 B1).
Regarding Claim 1, Chiharu discloses a method for controlling a user avatar in a virtual environment corresponding to a real environment ([0015]: The present disclosure is a communication method and system in which a user interacts with other users using an avatar or gathers information through interactions with other users. Also see Fig.1A-C regarding relationship between an avatar in a virtual environment corresponding to a real environment), the method comprising, in a control device, in the absence of human intervention to animate the user avatar via a control interface, triggering at least one action of the user avatar in the virtual environment ([0019]: In this technical field, the present disclosure relates to a technology that allows a user to possess multiple avatars, each of which moves autonomously through a program or artificial intelligence that implements the avatar's behavioral rules, without necessarily relying on user operation, and allows the user to meet other avatars and communicate or exchange information, thereby enabling the user to efficiently send, collect, and interact with information), said at least one action being selected among a plurality of actions digitally modeled based on learning actions executed by at least the user of the user avatar in said real environment, and corresponding to the virtual environment ([0051]: the user may be given a personality test, and based on the results, the avatar may be assigned a personality similar to that of the user … It is also possible to use machine learning to learn how an avatar is used and to characterize the avatar to best suit the user. [0049]: The linking of the user information with the avatar may be performed by the user, or may be performed automatically by the first means in the first step based on some algorithm. Note [0035]: In the following explanation, "user information" refers to various knowledge such as the know-how, culture, and ways of thinking possessed by the user, matters of interest, hobbies and preferences, desires that can be resolved and goals that can be achieved through interactions with other users, the user's personality, the pseudo-personality that the user sets for their avatar, the user's real-world location that can be obtained by the information terminal's global positioning system, the user's behavioral history, information derived from the user's behavior, etc. Also see Fig.2 for the mapping of a plurality of actions between the real environment and the virtual environment and [0127]-[0129]).
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Chiharu fails to disclose said at least one selected action being an action that has been identified beforehand as a favorite action based on at least one of: a frequency of execution, by the user, of actions of the user avatar in the virtual environment, or a user preference stored in the control device.
However Kim, in the same field of endeavor, discloses growing an avatar in a metaverse based on a user's metaverse activity log, including data received while the user is active in the metaverse ([0001]). Kim discloses a virtual NPC avatar (201) is an empathetic avatar that acts in a manner that imitates a user, communicates more autonomously with users, and shares information about other users that are imitating ([0093]). Kim discloses including a behavior analysis module that calculates user behavior pattern data based on received activity data and operation data ([0070]) and the user's behavioral pattern data may include one or more of the following: movement path, movement location, movement frequency, location frequency, activity-related selected content, preparation time taken to decide on the activity, activity start time, activity frequency, activity review, activity content, and activity range of the user's avatar in the user's metaverse ([0247]). Kim further discloses the system for growing virtual NPC avatars in the metaverse described above can effectively communicate recommended content suitable for the user's preferences or other metaverse information through the customizedly grown virtual NPC avatars ([0075]).
Hwan, in the same field of endeavor, also discloses the selection action can be stored beforehand as a favorite action ([0030]-[0032]: selected answers can be recorded as preferred behavior patterns and unselected answers can be recorded as non-preferred behavior patterns, and preference/non-preference can be subdivided by numerically quantifying the range through the number of times, such as 324, or by giving priority to actions that occurred recently based on the present. … when the avatar automatically reacts to the external environment, the red color and blouse may become a predetermined behavioral pattern. In other words, behavioral patterns such as automatically selecting a blouse or choosing red-colored objects are possible. … In addition, all actions taken by the avatar while playing the game can be stored in action information, and preference information based on those actions can also be calculated and stored. Based on this, behavior patterns are generated, enabling the avatar to act or perform actions according to pre-set behavior patterns in response to changes in a specific external environment. Hwan teaches the preferred behavior patterns to be selected as auto response to external changes are recorded patterns. Also see p.3-5:
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).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a PHOSITA before the effective filing date to incorporate the teaching of Kim and Hwan into that of Chilaru and to include the limitation of said at least one selected action being an action that has been identified beforehand as a favorite action based on at least one of: a frequency of execution, by the user, of actions of the user avatar in the virtual environment, or a user preference stored in the control device for growing a virtual NPC avatar in the metaverse by reflecting the behavioral patterns, scope of activity, and interactions between the user and the metaverse, etc., of the user active in the metaverse into the personality of the virtual NPC avatar based on the user's metaverse activity log within the metaverse as suggested by Kim ([0009]) and for the avatar to automatically respond to changes in external situations or conditions without user control using the stored behavioral patterns as suggested by Hwan ([0001]).
Regarding Claim 2, Chiharu discloses said plurality of actions comprises actions taken during use, by the at least one user, of a data communication service ([0086]: By incorporating the first to fourth steps or means described above, the second embodiment enables a user to more easily operate multiple avatars as their own avatars and communicate through the avatars).
Regarding Claim 4, Chiharu discloses additionally comprising digitally recording accomplishment of said at least one triggered action of the avatar ([0145]: The first step is to record 751 the avatar manipulations by the user 21 in a database. The recorded user operations are referenced 752, and the repeated operations are learned, gradually making the avatar behave autonomously).
Regarding Claim 5, Chilharu discloses wherein, when said at least one action of the avatar is triggered in relation to an event that occurred in the virtual environment, said at least one action is selected: from a group of actions of the plurality of actions, the actions of said group resulting from digital modeling of actions executed in a real environment in relation to an event similar to the event that occurred in the virtual environment ([0164]: Upon receiving this input, in the first step (2), the user information is recorded and linked to the avatar 511, and this information is fed back to the algorithm or artificial intelligence that determines the avatar's behavior, so that the avatar's future response methods are learned. [0088]: A communication system according to a third embodiment is a system executed by one or more computers, in which a plurality of users each own a plurality of avatars in a virtual reality space or an augmented reality space, and in which each user can simultaneously use the plurality of avatars they own, and includes a first means (user information acquisition unit) for acquiring user information such as each user's knowledge, interests, hobbies, desires, goals, personality, location in real space, and behavior history, and linking all or part of the user information to the plurality of avatars owned by that user and recording the information; and a second means for changing the position of the avatar in the virtual reality space or the augmented reality space based on a user operation or the user information linked to the avatar. a second means (position change unit), a third means (determination unit) for determining whether information transmission or information exchange should be initiated between a plurality of avatars based on a user operation, user information linked to the avatars, or position information of the avatars; a fourth means (procedure generation unit) for generating a procedure for information transmission or information exchange between a plurality of avatars determined by the third means to be one in which information transmission or information exchange should be initiated based on a user operation or user information linked to the avatars; and a fifth means (information display unit) for displaying the status of information transmission or information exchange between a plurality of avatars based on the procedure for information transmission or information exchange generated by the fourth means. Also see [0049], [0035] and Fig.2).
Regarding Claims 8, 10 and 12-13, Claims 8, 10 and 12-13 are similar to Claims 1, 2 and 4-5 except in the format of device. Therefore the same reason(s) for rejection is/are applied to Claims 1, 2 and 4-5 is/are also applied to Claims 8, 10 and 12-13.
Regarding Claims 9, 16 and 18-19, Claims 9, 16 and 18-19 are similar to Claims 1, 2 and 4-5 except in the format of non-transitory computer-readable medium. Therefore the same reason(s) for rejection is/are applied to Claims 1, 2 and 4-5 is/are also applied to Claims 9, 16 and 18-19.
Regarding Claim 21-22, Chiharu modified by Kim and Hwan further teaches or suggests said at least one selected action being an action that has been identified beforehand as a favorite action based on a frequency of execution, by the user, of actions of the user avatar in the virtual environment and said at least one selected action being an action that has been identified beforehand as a favorite action based on a user preference stored in the control device (Kim [0001], [0093], [0070][0247], [0075] and Hwan [0030]-[9932], p.3-5). The same reason to combine as that of Claim 1 is applied.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YINGCHUN HE whose telephone number is (571)270-7218. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00 MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xiao M Wu can be reached at 571-272-7761. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YINGCHUN HE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2613
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