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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/29/2025, 08/16/2024, 05/28/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 1-10, 13-15, 19-28 and 31-33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over THALLER et al. (US 2021/082183 A1) hereinafter referred to as Thaller, in view of HAUSWIESNER et al. (US 2022/189095 A1) hereinafter referred to as Hauswiesner.
Claim 1. Thaller discloses a computer-implemented method of constructing on a client computer system a computer-generated target three-dimensional model to be rendered within a virtual scene (Thaller [0002]), the method comprising:
storing, by a client computer system, a set of meshes and/or textures associated with one or more resizable portions of a target three-dimensional model (Thaller [0009],[0012] - [0013], [0050], [0100], [0102] - [0103], [0113]: material library 138 and script library 140, created by the server, are downloaded to client before simulation or game begins script files comprising geometric functions and texture grid configurations, when executed, producing 3D texture mesh for a particular building type);
receiving, by the client computer system from a game server, instructions to render the target three-dimensional model within a three-dimensional virtual scene, wherein the instructions include an indication of a size of the target three-dimensional model (Thaller [0012]: server sends metadata describing how to reconstruct buildings; [0050], [0065]: shape files database downloaded in real time as the simulation or game progresses in order to reconstruct and render specific objects);
resizing, by the client computer system during runtime, at least a first mesh associated with a first resizable portion of the target three-dimensional model along one or two dimensions based on the instructions received from the game server (Thaller [0012], [0065]-[0073], [0098], [0104]-[ 0105], [0113] : geometries generated by utilizing scripts on the client; execution of a script produces the three-dimensional texture mesh (or geometry data); classifier decides which scripts to use (scripts previously downloaded, stored in client), and applies attributes and building footprints indicated in the shape file (downloaded real time during runtime); attributes include size, height, etc.); and
rendering, by the client computer system, the target three-dimensional model based on the stored meshes and/or textures, wherein the target three-dimensional model includes at least the first resized mesh (Thaller [00114]).
Thaller does not disclose that the target three-dimensional model comprises one or more non-resizable portions.
Hauswiesner discloses a conceptual design comprising resizable and non-resizable portions in a three-dimensional model (Hauswiesner [0019]).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Thaller with the teachings of Hauswiesner since they are both analogous in rendering a three-dimensional environment related field.
One ordinary skilled in the art before the filing of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Thaller with the teachings of Hauswiesner in order to provide an improved modelling concept that allows the production of three-dimensional model data of variable size.Claim 19 discloses a system performing the method of claim 1. Claim 19 essentially recites the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, the rejection of claim 1 is applied to claim 19.
Claims 2 and 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the target three-dimensional model comprises a building (Thaller Abstract, Fig.6A and [0036]). Same rationale as claim 1
Claims 3 and 21. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the target three-dimensional model comprises a road (Thaller [0036]). Same rationale as claim 1
Claims 4 and 22. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more resizable portions comprise portions resizable in only one dimension and portions resizable in at least two dimensions (Hauswiesner [0002] [0013]). Same rationale as claim 1
Claims 5 and 23. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the size of the target three-dimensional model includes a length of a horizontal or vertical dimension of the target three-dimensional model (Hauswiesner [0002] [0013]). Same rationale as claim 1
Claims 6 and 24. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the instructions to render the target three-dimensional model include a description of the target three-dimensional model based on one or more features of the target three-dimensional model (Thaller [0007] [0045] [0058] roof type, building type). Same rationale as claim 1
Claims 7 and 25. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising resizing a first texture associated with the first mesh along one or two dimensions based on the instructions received from the game server (Thaller [0012], [0065]-[0073], [0098], [0104]-[ 0105], [0113] : geometries generated by utilizing scripts on the client; execution of a script produces the three-dimensional texture mesh (or geometry data); classifier decides which scripts to use (scripts previously downloaded, stored in client), and applies attributes and building footprints indicated in the shape file (downloaded real time during runtime); attributes include size, height, etc.). Same rationale as claim 1
Claims 8 and 26. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising tiling a first texture associated the first mesh based on the instructions received from the game server, wherein tiling the first texture comprises repeating the first texture along a horizontal or vertical length of the first mesh (Hauswiesner [0036] [0037]). Same rationale as claim 1
Claims 9 and 27. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising determining a number of non-resizable portions of the target three-dimensional model to include in the target three-dimensional model and rendering the target three-dimensional model with the size of non-resizable portions evenly distributed over the target three-dimensional model (Hauswiesner [0036] [0037]). Same rationale as claim 1
Claims 10 and 28. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising applying one or more transformations to the stored meshes to modify a shape of the target three-dimensional model (Hauswiesner [0036] [0037]). Same rationale as claim 1Claims 13 and 31. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising storing, by the client computer system, a plurality of sets of meshes and/or textures, where each of the sets corresponds to one or more three-dimensional models to be rendered within the three-dimensional virtual scene (Thaller [0009],[0012] - [0013], [0050], [0100], [0102] - [0103], [0113]: material library 138 and script library 140, created by the server, are downloaded to client before simulation or game begins script files comprising geometric functions and texture grid configurations, when executed, producing 3D texture mesh for a particular building type). Same rationale as claim 1.Claims 14 and 32. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, the method further comprising generating, by the client computer system, a random three-dimensional virtual scene comprising objects generated based on the stored plurality of sets of meshes and/or textures (Thaller [00114]). Same rationale as claim 1.
Claims 15 and 33. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein generating the random three-dimensional virtual scene comprises randomizing, for individual objects within the virtual scene, at least one of appearance, size, and position (Thaller, [0041]). Same rationale as claim 1.
Claim(s) 11, 12, 29 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner, in view of XIAO-JUAN LUO ET AL: "Moving curved mesh adaptation for higher-order finite element simulations”, ENGINEERING WITH COMPUTERS ; AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR SIMULATION-BASED ENGINEERING, SPRINGER-VERLAG, LO, vol. 27, no. 1, 27 February 2010 (2010-02-27), pages 41-50, XP019873923, ISSN: 1435-5663, cited in IDS filed on 08/16/2024.
Claims 11 and 29, the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner does not disclose the computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein applying the one or more transformations to the stored meshes for the object produces a curved object.
Xiao is seen employing Bézier polynomials to represent higher-order geometric shapes for curved mesh entities (Xiao, Abstract, pg. 42-44).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner with the teachings of Xiao since they are all analogous in rendering a three-dimensional environment related field.
One ordinary skilled in the art before the filing of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner with the teachings of Xiao in order to reduce execution time and memory usage without without loss in accuracy.
Claims 12 and 30, the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner does not disclose the computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the one or more transformations include applying a 2nd-degree polynomial of two-dimensional coordinates to one or more of the stored meshes.
Xiao is seen employing Bézier polynomials to represent higher-order geometric shapes for curved mesh entities (Xiao, Abstract, pg. 42-44).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner with the teachings of Xiao since they are all analogous in rendering a three-dimensional environment related field.
One ordinary skilled in the art before the filing of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner with the teachings of Xiao in order to reduce execution time and memory usage without without loss in accuracy.
Claim(s) 16-18 and 34-36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner, in view of Daniel et al. (US 2019/259194 A1) hereinafter referred to as Daniel.
Claims 16 and 34, the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner does not explicitly disclose the computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising applying a texture overlay at a randomized position on a stored texture, wherein the rendered object includes the texture overlay.
Daniel discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising applying a texture overlay at a randomized position on a stored texture, wherein the rendered object includes the texture overlay (Daniel [0093]-[0096]).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the filing of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner with the teachings of Daniel since they are all analogous in rendering a three-dimensional environment related field.
One ordinary skilled in the art before the filing of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine the teachings of the combination of Thaller and Hauswiesner with the teachings of Daniel in order to reduce execution time and memory usage without without loss in accuracy.
Claims 17 and 35. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the texture overlay is randomly resized before being applied to the stored texture (Daniel [0093]-[0096]). Same rationale as claim 16
Claims 18 and 36. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the texture overlay represents defects or blemishes on the object when rendered within a three-dimensional virtual scene (Daniel [0093]-[0096]). Same rationale as claim 16
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is as follows:US 20180144535 A1 The method involves determining a target resolution for first texture data associated with a first region of a 3D model comprising multiple regions respectively associated with texture data by a system (100) comprising a processor (102). The first texture data only at the target resolution in association with a texture atlas for the 3D model that associates the first texture data with the first region is stored by the system based on the determination. The texture atlas comprises the texture data for multiple regions having varying resolutions.US 10636209 B1 Two-dimensional aerial images and other geo-spatial information are processed to produce land classification data, vector data and attribute data for buildings found within the images. This data is stored upon a server computer within shape files, and also stored are source code scripts describing how to reconstruct a type of building along with compiled versions of the scripts. A software game or simulator executes upon a client computer in which an avatar moves within a landscape. A classifier classifies a type of building in the shape file to execute the appropriate script. Depending upon its location, a scene composer downloads a shape file and a compiled script is executed in order to reconstruct any number of buildings in the vicinity of the avatar. The script produces a three-dimensional texture mesh which is then rendered upon a screen of the client computer to display a two-dimensional representation of the building.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARTIN MUSHAMBO whose telephone number is (571)270-3390. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (8:00AM-5:00PM).
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/MARTIN MUSHAMBO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2615 01/10/2026