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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 10, and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities: the limitation “a predetermined housing” should be merely “a housing” since subsequent recitations of this limitation do not include the word “predetermined.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Konagai et al. (JP 2020-183921 – listed on Applicant’s IDS, translation provided by Applicant).
Regarding claims 1, 10, and 11, Konagai discloses (Figs. 1-4) an information processing device 90 (see par. [0031] – re. claim 11: including a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions: see pars. [0043]-[0045] and [0051]) comprising:
a first obtainer 32 [0060] configured to obtain first information relating to an absolute position (reference position: [0061]) and posture (see pars. [0057] and [0062]) in a real space [0060]-[0062] of a predetermined housing 10 (i.e. mobile terminal: [0050]);
a second obtainer 32 [0060] configured to sequentially obtain second information (current position: [0060]) corresponding to a change in relative position of the housing in chronological order [0060]-[0061]; and
an estimator 32 [0060] configured to estimate the absolute position in the real space of the housing 10 [0060]-[0061] at a time point at which the change in relative position of the housing 10 indicated by the second information has been detected [0061] with the absolute position and posture of the housing corresponding to the first information as a reference [0061].
The apparatus of Konagai, as applied above in the rejection of claim 1, would perform the method and meet the limitations of claims 10 and 11.
Regarding claim 2, Konagai discloses (Figs. 1-4) the first information is calculated based on information relating to an absolute position and posture in a real space of a reference point [0061], the information being obtained from the reference point as a result of the housing 10 approaching the reference point disposed in the real space [0061].
Regarding claim 3, Konagai discloses (Figs. 1-4) the information relating to the absolute position and posture in the real space of the reference point [0061] is obtained from the reference point based on contactless communication between the housing 10 and the reference point (i.e. based on communication with the NFC unit 22: [0061]).
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.
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Konagai et al. (JP 2020-183921) in view of Hashimoto et al. (WO 2019/234936 – listed on Applicant’s IDS, full translation attached).
Regarding claim 4, Konagai is applied as above, and discloses the first information is obtained with a relative posture of the housing 10 (see pars. [0057] and [0062]) with respect to the reference point satisfying a predetermined condition (horizontal: [0062]).
Konagai does not disclose the reference point is disposed such that a surface configured to detect the approach of the housing extends along a vertical direction.
Hashimoto discloses (Figs. 21 and 29) the reference point 241 (middle p. 24) is disposed such that a surface configured to detect the approach of the housing (middle p. 24) extends along a vertical direction (as shown in Fig. 29).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Konagai’s device so that the reference point is disposed such that a surface configured to detect the approach of the housing extends along a vertical direction, as taught by Hashimoto.
Such a modification would be a combination of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results – see MPEP 2143(I)(A).
Claims 5-6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Konagai et al. (JP 2020-183921) in view of Hashimoto et al. (WO 2019/234936), and further in view of Lee et al. (U.S. Pub. 2010/0161224).
Regarding claims 5-6 and 8, Konagai is applied as above, but does not disclose the first obtainer is configured to evaluate whether a posture of the housing approaching the reference point satisfies the predetermined condition or not, and obtain the first information according to the evaluation result; and the first obtainer is configured to evaluate whether the posture of the housing approaching the reference point satisfies the predetermined condition or not, based on a detection result by a detector configured to detect the approach of the housing with respect to the surface; and the first obtainer is configured to obtain the first information when a variation of the changes in relative posture of the housing approaching the reference point detected by a predetermined detector falls within a predetermined range.
Lee discloses (Figs. 1 and 2) the first obtainer is configured to evaluate whether a posture (orientation: [0025]) of the housing approaching the reference point satisfies the predetermined condition or not (distance to the point: [0026]), and obtain the first information according to the evaluation result (corrects absolute position/orientation: [0027]); and the first obtainer is configured to evaluate whether the posture (orientation: [0025]) of the housing approaching the reference point satisfies the predetermined condition or not (distance to the point: [0026]), based on a detection result by a detector 100 [0026] configured to detect the approach of the housing with respect to the surface [0026]; and the first obtainer is configured to obtain the first information [0026]-[0027] when a variation of the changes in relative posture of the housing approaching the reference point detected by a predetermined detector 100 falls within a predetermined range (in a specific distance: [0026]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Konagai’s device so that the first obtainer is configured to evaluate whether a posture of the housing approaching the reference point satisfies the predetermined condition or not, and obtain the first information according to the evaluation result; and the first obtainer is configured to evaluate whether the posture of the housing approaching the reference point satisfies the predetermined condition or not, based on a detection result by a detector configured to detect the approach of the housing with respect to the surface; and the first obtainer is configured to obtain the first information when a variation of the changes in relative posture of the housing approaching the reference point detected by a predetermined detector falls within a predetermined range, as taught by Lee.
Such a modification would be the application of a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results – see MPEP 2143(I)(D).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Konagai et al. (JP 2020-183921) in view of Hori et al. (JP H11-230772 – full translation attached).
Regarding claim 9, Konagai is applied as above, but does not disclose the estimator is configured to estimate an absolute position in the real space of the housing at a time point at which the change in relative position of the housing indicated by the second information has been detected based on the second information and the first information obtained at a time point closer to the time point.
Hori discloses (Figs. 2 and 3) the estimator is configured to estimate an absolute position in the real space of the housing at a time point (middle-bottom p. 4) at which the change in relative position of the housing indicated by the second information has been detected (middle-bottom p. 4) based on the second information and the first information obtained at a time point closer to the time point (i.e. at the most recent time that the absolute position A is updated: see bottom p. 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Konagai’s device so that the estimator is configured to estimate an absolute position in the real space of the housing at a time point at which the change in relative position of the housing indicated by the second information has been detected based on the second information and the first information obtained at a time point closer to the time point, as taught by Hori.
Such a modification would be the application of a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results – see MPEP 2143(I)(D).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is 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.
Conclusion
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/BENJAMIN R SCHMITT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852