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 .
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.
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) 1-7, 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TANAKA (US Pat. Pub. No. 20230351643 “Tanaka”) in view of Kaytaz et al. (US Patent No. 9402057 “Kaytaz”).
Regarding claim 10 Tanaka teaches A communication node(Fig. 5 and Fig. 11 element 300a), comprising: a transceiver (Fig. 5 element 410); and one or more processors (“[0086] The processing unit 310 is provided in the server 300 and can control individual blocks of the server 300. The processing unit 310 is implemented by hardware such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM, for example”) configured to:
receive, via the transceiver, a data packet from a first wireless communication device, the data packet including an identifier corresponding to a user of the first wireless communication device (“[0061]….. Specifically, the user terminal 100 and the server 300 are connected to the communication network 500 via a base station or the like (for example, a base station of a mobile phone, an access point of a wireless local area network (LAN), and the like) which is not illustrated.
[0164] Next, the user (seller) 800 captures an own face image using the user terminal 100a (step S201). At this time, although not illustrated in FIG. 14, the user 800 inputs information such as their age as a parameter using the user terminal 100a, or the user terminal 100a acquires biometric information (heart rate, body temperature, etc.) of the user 800 as a parameter. The user terminal 100a then transmits information such as the face image, the parameter, and the personal ID of the user 800 to the server 300a”);
generate an avatar for the user according to the identifier (“[0165] Next, the server 300a acquires feature amounts from the face image and performs category classifications (including sex, hairstyle, hair color, contour of a face, skin color, shape of an eyebrow, shapes of eyes, color of eyes, shape of nose, shape of mouth, position of moles, shapes of ears, for example) (step S202). Subsequently, the server 300a generates the avatar 900 corresponding to the user 800 based on the face image, the feature amounts, and the category (step S203)”);
Even though Tanaka teaches receive time/place code from the first wireless communication device; configure the avatar for the user according to the time/place code (“[0205] In the present exemplary embodiment, the avatar 900 may have a change in design in accordance with the time/place/possessed icon 910. For example, the time information may be acquired from the user terminal 100a, and the expression or pose of the avatar 900 may be changed according to the acquired time information (for example, morning, daytime, and night). Furthermore, for example, the position information may be acquired from the user terminal 100a, and the expression or pose of the avatar 900 may be changed according to the acquired position information”) but doesn’t do so using expression code;
Kaytaz teaches receive an expression code from first wireless communication device; configure avatar for user according to the expression code (Col 2 lines 20-34 “In one embodiment, a computer-based method is implemented at a server facilitating communication between a first and second IP client, said method comprises: said server receiving a first pre-assigned key at said server from said first IP client, said first IP client communicating with said second IP client, said server storing a plurality of avatars and a plurality of emotions, at least one avatar among said stored plurality of avatars in said server associated with said first IP client and each emotion associated with a pre-assigned key; said server identifying a first emotion corresponding to said received first pre-assigned key; said server retrieving data corresponding to said first emotion and modifying avatar associated with said first IP client to show said first emotion based on said retrieved data corresponding to said first emotion”);
Tanaka and Kaytaz are analogous art as both of them are related avatar generation and processing.
Therefore it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled person in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to have modified Tanaka by receiving an expression code from first wireless communication device; configure avatar for user according to the expression code as taught by Kaytaz.
The motivation for the above is to have a dynamic avatar with controllable emotions.
Tanaka modified by Kaytaz teaches transmit video data corresponding to the avatar to an address of a second wireless communication device (Kaytaz Col 2 lines 34-35 “said server rendering said modified avatar associated with said first IP client showing said first emotion at said second IP client.
Col 5 lines 17-21 “ Avatar Call Control is a key component which inserts required avatars and files (videos, emotions, etc.) into required protocol streams. Avatar Call-Control 125 sends each IP client's avatars to both IP client's communication device over link 202.2/201.2 using a communication protocol such as RTP”).
Claim 1 is directed to a method claim and its steps are similar in scope and functions performed by The device claim 10 and therefore claim 1 is also rejected with the same rationale as specified in the rejection of claim 10.
Regarding claims 2 and 11 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz teaches receiving, by the communication node, a universal prior model for avatars, wherein the wireless communication node generates the avatar for the user using the universal prior model (Kayraz Col 4 lines 44 -55 “ Avatar Editor Server 155.3 is where facial features of 3D head model can be further edited. For example, user 103 can view his/her 3D head-model through Web Server 155.1's interface and request to enlarge lips. As a response to this request Avatar Web Server 155.1 request Avatar Editor Server 155.3 to perform requested editing. By extracting the 3D head-model from Avatar Repository 105, and performing morphing operations, Avatar Editor Server 155.3 alters 3D head-model and stores back into Avatar Repository 105 using link 203. Avatar Editor Server 155.3 can perform race, age, hair and/or eye color changing, hair styling and other cosmetic alterations of the head depending on service provider's set of offerings”).
Regarding claims 3 and 12 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz teaches wherein the identifier comprises an identity code corresponding to the user of the first wireless communication device, the communication node applying the identity code to the universal prior model to generate the avatar for the user (Kayraz Col 4 lines 44 -55 “ Avatar Editor Server 155.3 is where facial features of 3D head model can be further edited. For example, user 103 can view his/her 3D head-model through Web Server 155.1's interface and request to enlarge lips. As a response to this request Avatar Web Server 155.1 request Avatar Editor Server 155.3 to perform requested editing. By extracting the 3D head-model from Avatar Repository 105, and performing morphing operations, Avatar Editor Server 155.3 alters 3D head-model and stores back into Avatar Repository 105 using link 203. Avatar Editor Server 155.3 can perform race, age, hair and/or eye color changing, hair styling and other cosmetic alterations of the head depending on service provider's set of offerings”).
Regarding claims 4 and 13 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz teaches wherein the data packet further comprises configuration information for augmenting the avatar, the configuration information including at least one of a background, attire, or one or more avatar features. (Tanaka “[0165] Next, the server 300a acquires feature amounts from the face image and performs category classifications (including sex, hairstyle, hair color, contour of a face, skin color, shape of an eyebrow, shapes of eyes, color of eyes, shape of nose, shape of mouth, position of moles, shapes of ears, for example) (step S202)”).
Regarding claims 5 and 14 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz teaches rendering, by the communication node, the avatar as three-dimensional video data. Kaytaz Col 4 lines 44 -55 “ Avatar Editor Server 155.3 is where facial features of 3D head model can be further edited. For example, user 103 can view his/her 3D head-model through Web Server 155.1's interface and request to enlarge lips.
Col 5 lines 17-21 “ Avatar Call Control is a key component which inserts required avatars and files (videos, emotions, etc.) into required protocol streams. Avatar Call-Control 125 sends each IP client's avatars to both IP client's communication device over link 202.2/201.2 using a communication protocol such as RTP”).
Regarding claim 6 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz teaches wherein the communication node and the first wireless communication device share a common network (Tanaka “[0061] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the information processing system 10 according to the present embodiment includes a user terminal 100 and a server 300, which are communicably connected to each other via a communication network 500. Specifically, the user terminal 100 and the server 300 are connected to the communication network 500 via a base station or the like (for example, a base station of a mobile phone, an access point of a wireless local area network (LAN), and the like) which is not illustrated”).
Regarding claim 7 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz teaches wherein the communication node comprises a node of an application server (Tanaka “[0061] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the information processing system 10 according to the present embodiment includes a user terminal 100 and a server 300, which are communicably connected to each other via a communication network 500. Specifically, the user terminal 100 and the server 300 are connected to the communication network 500 via a base station or the like (for example, a base station of a mobile phone, an access point of a wireless local area network (LAN), and the like) which is not illustrated”).
Claim(s) 8 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka modified by Kaytaz as applied to claims 1 and 10 above, and further in view of He et al. (US Pat. Pub. No. 20240098130 “He”).
Regarding claims 8 and 15 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz is silent about wherein receiving the expression code comprises receiving, by the communication node, the expression code via a real-time transport protocol (RTP) message, the RTP message including a timestamp, the timestamp used for synchronizing the video data with corresponding audio data generated by the first wireless communication device for rendering at the second wireless communication device.
He teaches receiving expression code comprises receiving, by communication node, the expression code via a real-time transport protocol (RTP) message, the RTP message including a timestamp, the timestamp used for synchronizing video data with corresponding audio data generated by the first wireless communication device for rendering (“[0165] UE 300 may determine a media type for each of the user interactions (512). For example, media types may include animations associated with virtual objects being moved, audio data collected from the user, user pose, viewport, gesture, body action, facial expression, or the like. UE 300 may construct a packet including respective sets of data for each of the user interactions (514). Likewise, UE 300 may add header data to the packet indicating media types and attributes for the user interactions (516), e.g., as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 12-23. UE 300 may then send the packet to UE/server 290 (518), which represents another device involved in the XR multimedia communication session. [0167]…… The method of any of clauses 1-10, wherein the packet comprises a first packet, the media data conforms to a first type of media data, and the header data indicates a timestamp for the media data and that the first type of media data is to be synchronized with a second type of media data. [0172] Clause 5: The method of any of clauses 1-4, wherein the header data comprises an extension to a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) header, the RTP header comprising a payload type value indicating whether the media data represents a pose, a gesture, or a viewport. [0173] Clause 6: The method of any of clauses 1-5, wherein the one or more media types comprises two or more media types, the two or more media types being one of audio data, video data, augmented reality (AR) data, extended reality (XR) data, mixed reality (MR) data, or virtual reality (VR) data”);
He and Tanaka modified by Kaytaz are analogous art as both of them are related data generation and processing.
Therefore it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled person in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to have modified by Tanaka modified by Kaytaz by receiving the expression code comprises receiving, by the communication node, the expression code via a real-time transport protocol (RTP) message, the RTP message including a timestamp, the timestamp used for synchronizing the video data with corresponding audio data generated by the first wireless communication device for rendering at the second wireless communication device similar to receiving expression code comprises receiving, by communication node, the expression code via a real-time transport protocol (RTP) message, the RTP message including a timestamp, the timestamp used for synchronizing video data with corresponding audio data generated by the first wireless communication device for rendering as taught by He.
The motivation for the above is to follow a standard media transfer protocol (He [0005]).
Claim(s) 9 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka modified by Kaytaz as applied to claims 1 and 10 above, and further in view of Daggubati (US Patent No. 11765319 “Daggubati”).
Regarding claims 9 and 16 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz is silent about receiving, by the communication node, session information from the first wireless communication device, the session information including the address of the second wireless communication device.
Duggubati teaches receiving, by communication node, session information from first wireless communication device, the session information including address of second wireless communication device (Col 5 49-51 “At step 510, the server 114 may receive the unique virtual address from the second user 108 to access the virtual lounge 712 of the virtual room 600 of the first user 104”);
Duggubati and Tanaka modified by Kaytaz are analogous art as both of them are related data generation and processing.
Therefore it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled person in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to have modified by Tanaka modified by Kaytaz by receiving, by communication node, session information from first wireless communication device, the session information including address of second wireless communication device as taught by Duggubati.
The motivation for the above is that server can send modified media to a requested device.
Claim(s) 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka in view of Kaytaz and Westlake (US Patent No. 9609129 “Westlake”).
Regarding claim 17 Tanaka teaches A method, comprising:
transmitting, by a first wireless communication device, a data packet to a communication node, the data packet including an identifier corresponding to a user of the first wireless communication device (“[0061]….. Specifically, the user terminal 100 and the server 300 are connected to the communication network 500 via a base station or the like (for example, a base station of a mobile phone, an access point of a wireless local area network (LAN), and the like) which is not illustrated.
[0164] Next, the user (seller) 800 captures an own face image using the user terminal 100a (step S201). At this time, although not illustrated in FIG. 14, the user 800 inputs information such as their age as a parameter using the user terminal 100a, or the user terminal 100a acquires biometric information (heart rate, body temperature, etc.) of the user 800 as a parameter. The user terminal 100a then transmits information such as the face image, the parameter, and the personal ID of the user 800 to the server 300a”);
the communication node generating an avatar for the user according to the identifier (“[0165] Next, the server 300a acquires feature amounts from the face image and performs category classifications (including sex, hairstyle, hair color, contour of a face, skin color, shape of an eyebrow, shapes of eyes, color of eyes, shape of nose, shape of mouth, position of moles, shapes of ears, for example) (step S202). Subsequently, the server 300a generates the avatar 900 corresponding to the user 800 based on the face image, the feature amounts, and the category (step S203)”);
Even though Tanaka teaches transmitting, by the first wireless communication device time/place code; (“[0205] In the present exemplary embodiment, the avatar 900 may have a change in design in accordance with the time/place/possessed icon 910. For example, the time information may be acquired from the user terminal 100a, and the expression or pose of the avatar 900 may be changed according to the acquired time information (for example, morning, daytime, and night). Furthermore, for example, the position information may be acquired from the user terminal 100a, and the expression or pose of the avatar 900 may be changed according to the acquired position information”) but silent about and transmitting, by the first wireless communication device, an expression code to the communication node, and audio data to a second wireless communication device,
Kaytaz teaches transmitting, by first wireless communication device, an expression code to communication node (Col 2 lines 20-34 “In one embodiment, a computer-based method is implemented at a server facilitating communication between a first and second IP client, said method comprises: said server receiving a first pre-assigned key at said server from said first IP client, said first IP client communicating with said second IP client, said server storing a plurality of avatars and a plurality of emotions, at least one avatar among said stored plurality of avatars in said server associated with said first IP client and each emotion associated with a pre-assigned key; said server identifying a first emotion corresponding to said received first pre-assigned key; said server retrieving data corresponding to said first emotion and modifying avatar associated with said first IP client to show said first emotion based on said retrieved data corresponding to said first emotion”) and
Westlake teaches transmitting, by first wireless communication device, audio data to a second wireless communication device (Col 7 lines 5-7 “The first control device 303 transmits the voice data directly to the second control device 304, for example using the Real-time Transmission Protocol (RTP), using the first communication channel 306”);
Westlake, Tanaka and Kaytaz are analogous art as both of them are related data generation and processing.
Therefore it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled person in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to have modified Tanaka by transmitting, by first wireless communication device, an expression code to communication node as taught by Kaytaz and transmitting, by first wireless communication device, audio data to a second wireless communication device as taught by Westlake.
The motivation for the above is to have a dynamic avatar with controllable emotions and to provide the control to second device to render avatar action matching with audio data.
Tanaka modified by Kaytaz and Westlake teaches the communication node transmitting video data corresponding to the avatar based at least on the expression code to the second wireless communication device, for rendering with the audio data (Kaytaz transmits video from server to second device, Col 2 lines 34-35 “said server rendering said modified avatar associated with said first IP client showing said first emotion at said second IP client.
Col 5 lines 17-21 “ Avatar Call Control is a key component which inserts required avatars and files (videos, emotions, etc.) into required protocol streams. Avatar Call-Control 125 sends each IP client's avatars to both IP client's communication device over link 202.2/201.2 using a communication protocol such as RTP”.
Westlake sends audio from first device to second device. Westlake sends signal data to server. Server modifies signal data and send the modified data to 2nd device for rendering.
Kayatz sends video data to the second communication device and the second communication device already received audio data from the first device based on Westlake. The second communication device will render the received video data according to received audio data.
Therefore it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled person in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to have further modified Tanaka modified by Kaytaz and Westlake by transmitting video data corresponding to the avatar based at least on the expression code to the second wireless communication device, for rendering with the audio data based on the teaching of Kaytaz and Westlake.
The motivation for the above is to synchronize avatar behavior with audio.
Regarding claim 18 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz and Westlake teaches wherein the data packet further comprises configuration information for augmenting the avatar, the configuration information including at least one of a background, attire, or one or more avatar features (Tanaka “[0165] Next, the server 300a acquires feature amounts from the face image and performs category classifications (including sex, hairstyle, hair color, contour of a face, skin color, shape of an eyebrow, shapes of eyes, color of eyes, shape of nose, shape of mouth, position of moles, shapes of ears, for example) (step S202)”).
Claim(s) 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka modified by Kaytaz and Westlake as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of He.
Regarding claim 19 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz and Westlake teaches transmitting, by the first wireless communication device, the audio data via a second RTP message to the second wireless communication device. (Westlake Col 7 lines 5-7 “The first control device 303 transmits the voice data directly to the second control device 304, for example using the Real-time Transmission Protocol (RTP), using the first communication channel 306”) but is silent about : transmitting, by the first wireless communication device, the expression code via a first real-time transport protocol (RTP) message to the communication node;
He teaches transmitting, by the first wireless communication device, the expression code via a first real-time transport protocol (RTP) message to the communication node (“[0165] UE 300 may determine a media type for each of the user interactions (512). For example, media types may include animations associated with virtual objects being moved, audio data collected from the user, user pose, viewport, gesture, body action, facial expression, or the like. UE 300 may construct a packet including respective sets of data for each of the user interactions (514). Likewise, UE 300 may add header data to the packet indicating media types and attributes for the user interactions (516), e.g., as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 12-23. UE 300 may then send the packet to UE/server 290 (518), which represents another device involved in the XR multimedia communication session. [0167]…… The method of any of clauses 1-10, wherein the packet comprises a first packet, the media data conforms to a first type of media data, and the header data indicates a timestamp for the media data and that the first type of media data is to be synchronized with a second type of media data. [0172] Clause 5: The method of any of clauses 1-4, wherein the header data comprises an extension to a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) header, the RTP header comprising a payload type value indicating whether the media data represents a pose, a gesture, or a viewport. [0173] Clause 6: The method of any of clauses 1-5, wherein the one or more media types comprises two or more media types, the two or more media types being one of audio data, video data, augmented reality (AR) data, extended reality (XR) data, mixed reality (MR) data, or virtual reality (VR) data”);
He and Tanaka modified by Kaytaz and Westlake are analogous art as both of them are related data generation and processing.
Therefore it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled person in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to have modified by Tanaka modified by Kaytaz and Westlake by transmitting, by the first wireless communication device, the expression code via a first real-time transport protocol (RTP) message to the communication node as taught by He.
The motivation for the above is to follow a standard media transfer protocol between client-server (He [0005]).
Regarding claim 20 Tanaka modified by Kaytaz and Westlake and He teaches wherein the first RTP message and the second RTP message include timestamps used for synchronizing rendering of the video data with the audio data(He “[0165] UE 300 may determine a media type for each of the user interactions (512). For example, media types may include animations associated with virtual objects being moved, audio data collected from the user, user pose, viewport, gesture, body action, facial expression, or the like. UE 300 may construct a packet including respective sets of data for each of the user interactions (514). Likewise, UE 300 may add header data to the packet indicating media types and attributes for the user interactions (516), e.g., as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 12-23. UE 300 may then send the packet to UE/server 290 (518), which represents another device involved in the XR multimedia communication session. [0167]…… The method of any of clauses 1-10, wherein the packet comprises a first packet, the media data conforms to a first type of media data, and the header data indicates a timestamp for the media data and that the first type of media data is to be synchronized with a second type of media data. [0172] Clause 5: The method of any of clauses 1-4, wherein the header data comprises an extension to a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) header, the RTP header comprising a payload type value indicating whether the media data represents a pose, a gesture, or a viewport. [0173] Clause 6: The method of any of clauses 1-5, wherein the one or more media types comprises two or more media types, the two or more media types being one of audio data, video data, augmented reality (AR) data, extended reality (XR) data, mixed reality (MR) data, or virtual reality (VR) data”).
Conclusion
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/SAPTARSHI MAZUMDER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612