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 .
Response to Arguments
Claims 1 and 5-18 are pending; claims 1, 5-16 and 18 are allowed.
The examiner has removed the objection to the title of the invention.
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.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 17 is directed to an information processing method with the steps of controlling, determining, setting and switching, which amounts to software instructions, software instructions are non-statutory under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 5-16 and 18 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art doesn’t teach:
determine, based on the viewpoint information of the user and the position information of the virtual object, that the virtual object is a target of a switching operation of a display format in the virtual space;
determine, based on the position information of the virtual object, that the virtual object exists in the first region;
set, based on the determination that the virtual object exists in the first region, the virtual object as the target of the switching operation of the display format in the virtual space;
Regarding claim 18, the prior art doesn’t teach:
determining, based on the viewpoint information of the user and the position information of the virtual object, that the virtual object is a target of a switching operation of a display format in the virtual space;
determining, based on the position information of the virtual object, that the virtual object exists in the first region;
setting, based on the determination that the virtual object exists in the first region, the virtual object as the target of the switching operation of the display format in the virtual space;
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
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 MAURICE L MCDOWELL, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-3707. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 2pm-10pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Said A. Broome can be reached at 571-272-2931. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MAURICE L. MCDOWELL, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612