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 Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “acquisition unit”, “comment generation unit”, “extraction unit”, “animation generation unit”, and “editing/rendering unit” in claims 1-18.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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)1, 2, 5-10, 12, 14, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baldwin et al., US PGPUB No. 20120321271 A1, hereinafter Baldwin, and further in view of Nakagawa et al., US PGPUB No. 2019009178 A1, hereinafter Nakagawa.
Regarding claim 1, Baldwin discloses an information processing device (Baldwin; information processing device [¶ 0017-0018], as illustrated within Fig. 2; moreover, computer system/device [¶ 0050], as illustrated within Fig. 5) including:
an acquisition unit that acquires information regarding a relationship between a contributor of a content and a viewer of the content (Baldwin; an acquisition unit (i.e. server and/or computer device) [¶ 0017-0018 and ¶ 0024-0026] that acquires information regarding a (social) relationship between a contributor of a content and a viewer of the content [¶ 0027-0028 and ¶ 0036]; moreover, viewers are able to see reactions and comments of friends [¶ 0013]); and
a comment generation unit that generates a comment to be uttered by a virtual commentator based on the information regarding the relationship (Baldwin; a comment generation unit (i.e. computer device) [¶ 0017-0018] that generates a comment to be uttered (i.e. video and/or audio) by an implicit virtual commentator (given the commentary display window) based on the information regarding the relationship [¶ 0014-0015 and ¶ 0035-0037]; moreover, identifying relevant commentary data [¶ 0038]; wherein, identity of the video content item for use by a content provider [¶ 0033-0034]).
Baldwin fails to explicitly disclose a virtual commentator.
However, Nakagawa teaches a virtual commentator (Nakagawa; a virtual commentator [¶ 0055-0058]; additionally, a commentator screen [¶ 0033, ¶ 0035, and ¶ 0037]).
Baldwin and Nakagawa are considered to be analogous art because both pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visualization effect (associated with mixed/overlapping media).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin, to incorporate a virtual commentator (as taught by Nakagawa), in order to provide an enhanced user experience within virtualized environments (Nakagawa; [¶ 0004-0006]).
Regarding claim 2, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the information regarding the relationship includes at least one of a degree of intimacy between the contributor and the viewer, a relationship between the contributor and the viewer in the content, or history information of the viewer for the content contributed by the contributor in past (Baldwin; the information regarding the relationship includes at least one of a degree of intimacy between the contributor and the viewer, a relationship between the contributor and the viewer in the content, or history information of the viewer for the content contributed by the contributor in past [¶ 0029-0031 and ¶ 0036]).
Regarding claim 5, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit sets a target of the comment to be uttered by the virtual commentator (Baldwin; the acquisition unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] sets a target (i.e. specified user) of the comment to be uttered by the virtual commentator [¶ 0036, and ¶ 0038]; wherein, a user elects to share commentary [¶ 0012-0014 and ¶ 0044-0045]; additionally, a viewer may elect to consume commentary [¶ 0030-0031]), and the comment generation unit generates the comment according to the target of the comment (Baldwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] generates the comment according to the target (i.e. specified user) of the comment [¶ 0036 and ¶ 0038]).
Regarding claim 6, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the comment generation unit generates the comment according to a genre to which the content belongs (Baldwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] generates the comment according to a genre/relevance to which the content belongs [¶ 0036-0038]; moreover, genre corresponding to a shared game/content [¶ 0014-0015]).
Nakagawa further teaches generating the comment according to a genre to which the content belongs (Nakagawa; generating the comment according to a genre (i.e. state info and recon of content) to which the content belongs [¶ 0047, ¶ 0053-0054, and ¶ 0056]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate generating the comment according to a genre to which the content belongs (as taught by Nakagawa), in order to provide an enhanced user experience within virtualized environments (Nakagawa; [¶ 0004-0006]).
Regarding claim 7, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the comment generation unit corrects the generated comment based on the information regarding the relationship (Baldwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] corrects the generated comment based on the information regarding the relationship [¶ 0036-0038]; moreover, approved social network member commentators [¶ 0030]).
Regarding claim 8, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, further including an extraction unit that extracts an event of the content (Baldwin; an extraction unit [¶ 0017 and ¶ 0025-0026] that extracts an event of the content [¶ 0021-0023]), wherein the comment generation unit generates the comment for the event (Baldwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] generates the comment for the event [ 0036-0038]).
Nakagawa further teaches extracts an event of the content and generates the comment for the event (Nakagawa; extracts an event of the content and generates the comment for the event [¶ 0053-0054 and ¶ 0056]; moreover, content influenced comment(s) [¶ 0063-0064 and ¶ 0067-0068]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate extracts an event of the content and generates the comment for the event (as taught by Nakagawa), in order to provide an enhanced user experience within virtualized environments (Nakagawa; [¶ 0004-0006]).
Regarding claim 9, Bladwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 8, wherein in a case where a time difference from a time at which a preceding event occurs to a time at which a next event occurs in the content is less than a predetermined time, the comment generation unit skips generation of a comment for the next event (Bladwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] skips generation of a comment for the next event in a case where a time difference from a time at which a preceding event occurs to a time at which a next event occurs in the content is less than a predetermined time (given time-stamping) [¶ 0021-0022, ¶ 0030-0032, and ¶ 0036]; wherein, comments are controlled based on synchronization with content [i.d.], and may be recorded according to the content [¶ 0014-0015 and ¶ 0018]; such that, comments are generated or skipped according to events within a playback timeline associated with the content).
Regarding claim 10, Bladwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the comment generation unit generates a comment to be uttered by each of two or more virtual commentators (Bladwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] generates a comment to be uttered [¶ 0030-0031, ¶ 0036, and ¶ 0038] by two or more virtual commentators [¶ 0014-0015 and ¶ 0017-0018]; moreover, a user may be alerted, upon selection of a video content item, to the existence of commentary provided by previously-approved commentators, such as social network members [¶ 0029-0030]).
Nakagawa further teaches a comment by each of two or more virtual commentators (Nakagawa; a comment to be provided by each of two or more virtual commentators [¶ 00047, ¶ 0063-0064, and ¶ 0067-0068], as illustrated within Figs. 5 and 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate a comment by each of two or more virtual commentators (as taught by Nakagawa), in order to provide an enhanced user experience within virtualized environments (Nakagawa; [¶ 0004-0006]).
Regarding claim 12, Bladwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 10, wherein the comment generation unit generates the comment to be uttered by one of the two or more virtual commentators (Bladwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] generates the comment to be uttered by one of the two or more virtual commentators [¶ 0036-0038] and implicitly to other virtual commentators [¶ 0018]).
Nakagawa further teaches generating the comment by one of the two or more virtual commentators to the other one of the two or more virtual commentators (Nakagawa; generating the comment by one of the two or more virtual commentators to the other one of the two or more virtual commentators [¶ 00047, ¶ 0063-0064, and ¶ 0067-0068], as illustrated within Figs. 5 and 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate generating the comment by one of the two or more virtual commentators to the other one of the two or more virtual commentators (as taught by Nakagawa), in order to provide an enhanced user experience within virtualized environments (Nakagawa; [¶ 0004-0006]).
Regarding claim 14, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the comment generation unit acquires a feedback from the viewer and generates the comment according to the feedback (Baldwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] acquires a feedback/metadata (corresponding to viewer’s interest and/or attention) from the viewer [¶ 0041-0043] and generates the comment according to the feedback/metadata [¶ 0036-0038]; moreover, relevant commentary [i.d.]; additionally, emotion response metadata corresponding to interesting commentary [¶ 0020-0022]).
Nakagawa further teaches generates the comment according to the feedback (Nakagawa; generates the comment according to the feedback (i.e. recognition results) [¶ 0033-0037], as illustrated within Fig. 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate generates the comment according to the feedback (as taught by Nakagawa), in order to provide an enhanced user experience within virtualized environments (Nakagawa; [¶ 0004-0006]).
Regarding claim 19, the rejection of claim 19 is addressed within the rejection of claim 1, due to the similarities claim 19 and claim 1 share, therefore refer to the rejection of claim 1 regarding the rejection of claim 19. Although, claim 19 and claim 1 may not be identical, it is reasonable to reject claim 19 based on the prior art teachings and rational within the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 20, the rejection of claim 20 is addressed within the rejection of claim 1, due to the similarities claim 20 and claim 1 share, therefore refer to the rejection of claim 1 regarding the rejection of claim 20; however, the subject matter/limitations not addressed by claim 1 is/are addressed below.
Bladwin discloses an information processing system in which a first user terminal, an information processing device, and a second user terminal are connected via a predetermined network, the information processing device (Bladwin; an information processing system in which a first user terminal, an information processing device, and a second user terminal are connected via a predetermined network, the information processing device [¶ 0014-0015 and ¶ 0017-0018], as illustrated within Figs. 1 and 2; moreover, device/system [¶ 0049-0050]).
(further refer to the rejection of claim 1)
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bladwin in view of Nakagawa as applied to claim(s) 2 above, and further in view of Grossman et al., US Patent No. 10057731 B2, hereinafter Grossman.
Regarding claim 3, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the comment generation unit generates the comment based on a playback in which candidates of the comment to be uttered by the virtual commentator for each event (Baldwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] generates the comment based on a playback in which candidates of the comment to be uttered by the virtual commentator for each comment event [¶ 0014-0015, ¶ 0021, and ¶ 0023]).
Baldwin in view of Nakagawa fails to disclose a position comment list in which candidates of the comment to be uttered by the virtual commentator for each position are listed.
However, Grossman further discloses generates the comment based on a position comment list in which candidates of the comment to be uttered by the virtual commentator for each position are listed (Grossman; generates the comment based on a position comment list/stream in which candidates of the comment to be uttered by the virtual commentator for each position are listed [Col. 6, line 61 to Col. 7, line 9 and Col. 8, lines 9-31]; moreover, textual responses are locked in the message stream [Col. 7, line 59 to Col. 8, lines 8]).
Baldwin in view of Nakagawa and Grossman are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visual effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate generates the comment based on a position comment list in which candidates of the comment to be uttered by the virtual commentator for each position are listed (as taught by Grossman), in order to provide improved communications between multiple users within an interactive environment (Grossman; [Abstract]).
Claim(s) 4, 17, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bladwin in view of Nakagawa as applied to claim(s) 1 above, and further in view of Schultz et al., US PGBUB No. 20160050391 A1, hereinafter Schultz.
Regarding claim 4, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit sets a position of the virtual commentator (Baldwin; the acquisition unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] sets an implicit position (given being rendered in a viewable area) of the virtual commentator [¶ 0014-0015 and ¶ 0043]), and the comment generation unit generates the comment according to the position (Baldwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] generates the comment according to the implicit position [¶ 0014-0015 and ¶ 0043]).
Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa fails to explicitly disclose a position of the commentator
However, Schultz teaches a position of the commentator (Schultz; a position of the commentator [¶ 0071-0072]); and
generating the comment according to the position (Schultz; generating the comment according to the position [¶ 0071-0072]).
Baldwin in view of Nakagawa and Schultz are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visual effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate a position of the commentator; and generating the comment according to the position (as taught by Schultz), in order to provide enhanced user experience within a shared video session (Schultz; [¶ 0001-0002 and ¶ 0011-0012]).
Regarding claim 17, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires line-of-sight information of the contributor or the viewer (Baldwin; the acquisition unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] acquires line-of-sight (i.e. attention) information of the contributor or the viewer [¶ 0014 and ¶ 0043]), and the comment generation unit generates the comment based on the input information (Baldwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] implicitly generates the comment (given determining a viewer’s attention) based on the input information [¶ 0014-0015, ¶ 0035-0037, and ¶ 0043]).
Baldwin fails to disclose generates an item based on the light-of-sight information.
However, Schultz teaches generates an item based on the light-of-sight information (Schultz; generates an item (at a position) based on the light-of-sight information [¶ 0071-0072]).
Baldwin in view of Nakagawa and Schultz are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visual effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate generates an item based on the light-of-sight information (as taught by Schultz), in order to provide enhanced user experience within a shared video session (Schultz; [¶ 0001-0002 and ¶ 0011-0012]).
Regarding claim 18, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 17, wherein the comment generation unit presents the comment in the content, and the line-of-sight information (Baldwin; the comment generation unit [as address within the parent claim(s)] presents the comment in the content [as addressed within the parent claim(s)], and the line-of-sight (i.e. attention) information [¶ 0014 and ¶ 0043]).
Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa fails to disclose adjusting a display position of an item in the content based on the line-of-sight information.
However, Schultz teaches adjusting a display position of an item in the content based on the line-of-sight information (Schultz adjusting a display position of an item/panel in the content based on the line-of-sight information [¶ 0071-0072]).
Baldwin in view of Nakagawa and Schultz are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visual effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate adjusting a display position of an item in the content based on the line-of-sight information (as taught by Schultz), in order to provide enhanced user experience within a shared video session (Schultz; [¶ 0001-0002 and ¶ 0011-0012]).
Claim(s) 11, 15, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bladwin in view of Nakagawa as applied to claim(s) 1 and 10 above, and further in view of Liu et al., US Patent No. 10171522 B1, hereinafter Liu.
Regarding claim 11, Bladwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 10, wherein the comment generation unit generates the comment in such a way that a virtual commentator of the two or more virtual commentators makes utterance according to a content timeline (Bladwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] generates the comment in such a way that a virtual commentator of the two or more virtual commentators makes utterance according to a content timeline [¶ 0014-0015, ¶ 0034, ¶ 0040, and ¶ 0045]; additionally, shared experiences at different times [i.d.]; wherein, comments are able to be recorded [¶ 0014-0015 and ¶ 0018], and associated within a content timeline [¶ 0021 and ¶ 0023]).
Bladwin as modified by Nakagawa fails to disclose a second virtual commentator of the two or more virtual commentators makes comments after comments of a first virtual commentator of the two or more virtual commentators is completed.
However, Liu teaches generating the comment in such a way that a second virtual commentator of the two or more virtual commentators makes utterance after utterance of a first virtual commentator of the two or more virtual commentators is completed (Liu; generating the comment in such a way that a 2nd virtual commentator of the two or more virtual commentators makes utterance after utterance of a 1st virtual commentator of the two or more virtual commentators is completed [Col. 13, lines 28-39]; moreover, a video chat of comments in relation to time [Col. 8, line 50 to Col. 9, line 3]).
Baldwin in view of Nakagawa and Liu are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visualization effect (associated with mixed/overlapping media or information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate generating the comment in such a way that a second virtual commentator of the two or more virtual commentators makes utterance after utterance of a first virtual commentator of the two or more virtual commentators is completed (as taught by Liu), in order to provide increased user interaction and/or attention with long-format viewable content using a social environment (Liu; [Col. 1, lines 10-64]).
Regarding claim 15, Bladwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, further including:
an animation generation unit that generates an animation of the virtual commentator (Bladwin; an animation generation unit (i.e. computer device and media handling) [¶ 0017-0018, ¶ 0021, and ¶ 0023] that generates an animation/video of the implicit virtual commentator [¶ 0037-0038]; moreover, generating a A/V comment of the commentator [¶ 0014-0015 and ¶ 0036-0037], based on data inputs [¶ 0033-0035]); and
an editing/rendering unit that incorporates at least one of text data or sound data corresponding to the comment into the content and superimposes the animation of the virtual commentator on the content (Bladwin; an editing/rendering unit (i.e. computer device and user interface) [¶ 0017-0019 and ¶ 0021] that incorporates at least one of (text data or) sound data corresponding to the comment into the content and superimposes the animation/video of the implicit virtual commentator on the content [¶ 0014-0015 and ¶ 0036-0038]; wherein, inputs involve text, audio, and/or imaging [¶ 0033, ¶ 0035, ¶ 0039, and ¶ 0045]).
Nakagawa further teaches generating an animation of the virtual commentator (Nakagawa; generating an animation (i.e. active avatar) of the virtual commentator [¶ 0033, ¶ 0035, ¶ 0037, and ¶ 0102]; wherein, displaying a state of a commentator [¶ 0047-0049 and ¶ 0096-0098]); and
superimposes the animation of the virtual commentator on the content (Nakagawa; superimposes the animation (i.e. active avatar) of the virtual commentator on the content [¶ 0047, ¶ 0056, and ¶ 0090]).
incorporating at least one of text data or sound data corresponding to the comment and superimposing text data or sound data on the content.
However, Liu teaches incorporating at least one of text data or sound data corresponding to the comment into the content and superimposes the animation of the virtual commentator on the content (Liu; incorporating at least one of text data (or sound data) corresponding to the comment into the content [Col. 10, liens 1-57], as illustrated within Fig. 3, and superimposes the animation/video of the implicit virtual commentator (given video media content) on the content [Col. 10, line 58 to Col. 11, line 15]; additionally, displaying based on a selection to view comments [Col. 11, lines 16-24 and lines 39-65]).
Baldwin in view of Nakagawa and Liu are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visualization effect (associated with mixed/overlapping media or information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate incorporating at least one of text data or sound data corresponding to the comment into the content and superimposes the animation of the virtual commentator on the content (as taught by Liu), in order to provide increased user interaction and/or attention with long-format viewable content using a social environment (Liu; [Col. 1, lines 10-64]).
Regarding claim 16, Bladwin in view of Nakagawa and Liu further discloses the information processing device according to claim 15, wherein the editing/rendering unit adjusts the animation in the content according to the virtual commentator (Bladwin; the editing/rendering unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] adjusts the animation/video in the content according to the implicit virtual commentator [¶ 0014-0015], as illustrated within Fig. 1; additionally, motion sensors [¶ 0033]).
Nakagawa further discloses adjusting a position of the animation in the content according to a position of the virtual commentator (Nakagawa; adjusting an implicit position (given rendering according to motion) of the animation (i.e. active avatar) in the content according to an implicit position (given motion rendering and motion tracking) of the virtual commentator [¶ 0033 and ¶ 0102-0103]; moreover, commentator screen generation unit recognizes expressions, motions, or the like of the commentator displayed in a video supplied from the imaging unit, and performs image processing of generating an avatar by computer graphics on the basis of the recognition result [¶ 0047]).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bladwin in view of Nakagawa as applied to claim(s) 1 above, and further in view of Khan et al., US PGBUB No. 20190099675 A1, hereinafter Khan.
Regarding claim 13, Baldwin in view of Nakagawa further discloses the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the number of viewers who are currently viewing the content (Baldwin; the acquisition unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] implicitly acquires the number (i.e. sessions 1 to n) of viewers (given viewing sessions) who are currently viewing the content [¶ 0017-0018 and ¶ 0029-0032], as illustrated within Fig. 2), and the comment generation unit generates the comment to be uttered by each of the virtual commentators whose number corresponds to the number of viewers (Baldwin; the comment generation unit [as addressed within the parent claim(s)] generates the comment to be uttered by each of the virtual commentators whose number (i.e. session) corresponds to the number of viewers [¶ 0017-0018 and ¶ 0029-0032]), and increases or decreases the number of virtual commentators according to an increase or decrease in number of viewers (Baldwin; sessions implicitly increases or decreases the number of virtual commentators according to an increase or decrease in number of viewers (given ) [¶ 0017-0018]).
Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa fails to explicitly disclose acquiring the number of viewers who are currently viewing the content, and increases or decreases the number of virtual spectators according to an increase or decrease in number of viewers.
However, Khan teaches acquiring the number of viewers who are currently viewing the content (Khan; acquiring (using insertion logic) the number of viewers who are currently viewing the content [¶ 0029-0030 and ¶ 0062-0063]; moreover, avatar friends [¶ 0051 and ¶ 0054-0056] insertion [¶ 0070-0071]), and increases or decreases the number of virtual spectators according to an increase or decrease in number of viewers (Khan; increases or decreases the number of virtual spectators according to an increase or decrease in number of viewers [¶ 0047-0048 and ¶ 0062-0063], given server operations [¶ 0024, ¶ 0026, and ¶ 0053] and communication protocols [¶ 0061]).
Baldwin in view of Nakagawa and Khan are considered to be analogous art because they pertain to generating and/or managing data in relation with providing media data to a user, wherein one or more computerized units are utilized in order to produce a visual effect (associated with mixed/overlapping media or information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention was made to modify Baldwin as modified by Nakagawa, to incorporate acquiring the number of viewers who are currently viewing the content, and increases or decreases the number of virtual spectators according to an increase or decrease in number of viewers (as taught by Khan), in order to provide enhanced user experience within a shared video session (Khan; [¶ 0025-0027]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to PTO-892, Notice of Reference Cited for a listing of analogous art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Charles Lloyd Beard whose telephone number is (571)272-5735. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5: 00 PM, alternate Fridays EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tammy Goddard can be reached at (571) 272-7773. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CHARLES LLOYD. BEARD
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2611
/CHARLES L BEARD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2611