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 Amendment
The amendment filed on April 17, 2026 has been entered.
In view of the amendment to the claims, the amendment of claims 1 and 10 have been acknowledged.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7 and 8 of Remarks, filed April 17, 2026 have been fully considered. But they are not persuasive.
Regarding to the §101 rejection of claims 19 and 21, Applicants state in page 7 of Remarks that “Applicant respectfully traverses the §101 rejection of claims 19 and 21. Applicant disagrees that the claim seeks to protect an abstract idea. In fact, the claim seeks to protect a specific, tangible data structure that provides a concrete technical improvement in the field of augmented reality (AR) systems. The claims are directed to solving the technical problem of how to define dynamic, interactive AR behaviors in a portable, application-independent manner. This problem is solved by providing a standardized framework-directly within the scene description itself-for defining event-driven interactions for individual objects through the use of anchors comprising triggers and actions. That is not an abstract idea. Moreover, assuming only for the sake of argument that it was an abstract idea, the claims recite additional elements that amount to significantly more than an abstract idea.
Claim 19, recites a specific combination of technical elements that are not abstract. The "trigger" is activated when a condition is "detected in the real environment," which requires the use of physical sensors such as cameras or microphones. The "action" is performed by a specialized "augmented reality engine," not a generic computer. The entire claim describes a tangible data structure that directly controls the operation of a specific technological system to solve a technical problem. This ordered combination of a specific data structure, real-world sensor input, and a specialized processing engine provides a concrete and practical application that is not abstract. Claim 21 adds the further limitations that the trigger "relies on a detection of an object in the real environment" and is associated with "a model of the object or with a semantic description." This describes a highly complex and technical computer-vision process. Object recognition based on a model or semantic description is a specific, non-abstract computational process that further grounds the claim in a concrete technological application. Claims 19 and 21 are directed to patent- eligible subject matter, and Applicant respectfully requests the withdrawal of the rejection”.
Examiner replies:
The examiner disagrees with Applicant’s premises and conclusion. The claim 19 recites the limitations to describe a structure “a scene graph” of a scene and relationships between “a scene graph”, “anchors” and “nodes”. More specifically, the claim recites “a trigger, wherein the trigger is a description of at least one condition”; “an action, wherein the action comprises a description of a process to be performed by an augmented reality engine”. Thus, “trigger” and “action” are descriptions associated with each anchor.
In additional, the claim recites “wherein the at least one condition is a detection of a visual or audio or environment-based marker or property, and wherein the trigger is activated when a condition of the at least one condition is detected in a real environment”. However, those features just provide the additional description on when “the condition” of the trigger satisfies the condition.
Furthermore, the claim recites “an action, wherein the action comprises a description of a process to be performed by an augmented reality engine”. The claim just simple recite “an augmented reality engine” for performing “a description of a process”. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, “an augmented reality engine” can be interpreted as a generic computer component to perform “a description of a process”.
Overall, the claim recites the limitations to define a structure “a scene graph” of a scene; describe mathematical relationships/formulas between “a scene graph”, “anchors” and “nodes” and provide “descriptions or definitions for each anchor”.
Dependent claim 21 depends upon independent claim 19 and recites the limitations of wherein the trigger relies on a detection of an object in the real environment and wherein the trigger is associated with a model of the object or with a semantic description of the object” for providing more detail description of “the trigger”. Those features describe “a detection” of an object and the relationship between “the trigger”, “a model of the object” or “a semantic description”.
Therefore, the limitations recites a concept in claims 19 and 21 that falls into the “mathematical concept” group of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the examiner will maintain the 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejections.
Regarding to the §103 rejection, Applicants state in pages 7-8 that “Applicant respectfully traverses the §103 rejection of claims 19 and 21, and respectfully submits that the §103 rejection of claims 1, 2, 6-8, 10-11, and 15-17 is technically moot by virtue of amendment to independent claims 1 and 10. The following arguments apply to all three independent claims. Applicant's claims afford node-specific interactivity. The claims recite an "anchor" that is associated with "one or more nodes of the scene graph" and comprises "a trigger" and "an action." Bouazizi fails to disclose, teach, or suggest this claimed structure.
First, the claimed "anchor" is fundamentally different from Bouazizi's "scene anchor." The claimed anchor is a local construct, associated with specific nodes to provide object-level interactivity. Bouazizi's anchor is a global construct used for the initial placement of the entire scene - see id. para. [0134], its purpose is to "describe the anchoring of the scene to a real-world XR space."
Second, the claimed "trigger" is an event-detection mechanism activated when a "condition... is detected in the real environment." Emphasis added. The Office action fails to properly demonstrate this feature with the "data" in Bouazizi para. [0157]. The "data" in Bouazizi is merely a static configuration parameter (xrReferencespaceType) that defines how the entire scene should be placed (e.g., relative to the stage or view). It is not a dynamic condition detected during runtime to trigger an event.
Third, the claimed "action" is a "process to be performed by an augmented reality engine" on a specific node. The Office action fails to properly demonstrate this feature with user "actions" in Bouazizi para. [0157], which are physical user movements (inputs). The claimed "action" is a system process (an output) performed in response to a trigger. Bouazizi does not disclose, teach, or suggest this limitation.
In summary, because Bouazizi is focused on a totally different technical problem (global scene placement) and uses fundamentally different mechanisms, no prima facie evidence of obviousness was established for all limitations of the claims.
”.
Examiner replies:
The examiner disagrees with Applicant’s premises and conclusion. The claims can be interpreted several the broadest reasonable interpretation during the examination according to MPEP 2111. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the examiner respectfully maintains that the prior art rejections in this case are proper for the following reasons. For example, the claim 1 recites “a scene graph; and one or more anchors, wherein each anchor of the one or more anchors is associated with one or more nodes of the scene graph” and just simply describe “anchors is associated with one or more nodes of the scene graph”. The prior art reference Bouazizi describes techniques for anchoring a scene description to a user environment (augmented reality environment) and the client device receives a scene description; the scene description includes a scene graph (Paragraphs [0092]-[0094] and [0156]) and anchor point data representing a correspondence between a virtual scene represented by the media data and a real-world presentation environment (Paragraph [0068]). Thus, Bouazizi discloses “obtaining a description of the augmented reality scene, the description comprising: a scene graph; and one or more anchors, wherein each anchor of the one or more anchors is associated with one or more nodes of the scene graph” recited in claim 1.
In additional, the claim 1 recites “a trigger, wherein the trigger is a description of at least one condition; wherein the at least one condition is a detection of a visual or audio or environment-based marker or property, and wherein the trigger is activated when a condition of the at least one condition is detected in the real environment”. Thus, the claim describes “a trigger is a description of at least one condition”. Bouazizi discloses the scene description may include data for an anchor point and the data includes whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space (Paragraph [0157]). Thus, the reference space type is a condition for different environment (a view, local, stage, or application) and the data of an anchor is a description of at least one condition. Therefore, under broadest reasonable interpretation, “the data” described by Bouazizi can be considered equivalent to “a trigger”. Thus, Bouazizi discloses “a trigger, wherein the trigger is a description of at least one condition; wherein the at least one condition is a detection of a visual or audio or environment-based marker or property, and wherein the trigger is activated when a condition of the at least one condition is detected in the real environment”. Thus, the claim describes “a trigger is a description of at least one condition” recited in claim 1.
Further, the claim 1 recites “action, wherein the action comprises a description of a process to be performed by an augmented reality engine”. The claim just simple recite “the action comprises a description of a process” and “”“an augmented reality engine” for performing “a description of a process”. Bouazizi discloses the anchor point includes various actions that a user may perform, such as movements received via a controller or real-world repositioning of a device worn by the user (Paragraph [0157]). Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, “an augmented reality engine” can be interpreted as a generic computer component to perform “a description of a process”. Thus, Bouazizi discloses “action, wherein the action comprises a description of a process to be performed by an augmented reality engine” recited in claim 1.
Furthermore, Bouazizi discloses the presentation unit of client device determines an anchor point from the scene description based on the user movement received via real-world repositioning of a device worn by the user and determines the reference space is “stage” (Paragraph [0157]); an then the presentation unit anchors the virtual scene to the real-world presentation environment at the determined real-world anchor point (Paragraphs [0133] and [0159]). Thus, Bouazizi discloses “on condition that the trigger of one of the one anchor or more anchors is activated, applying the action of the one anchor of the one or more anchors to the one or more nodes associated with the one anchor of the one or more anchors” recited in claim 1.
Therefore, Bouazizi discloses the above arguments and the limitations recited in claim 1 (claims 10 and 19 have the same reasons).
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.
Claims 19 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claim 19 is directed to a non-transitory computer-readable medium, which is one of the statutory categories of invention. The claim recites “a description of the augmented reality scene, the description comprising: a scene graph; and one or more anchors, wherein each anchor of the one or more anchors is associated with one or more nodes of the scene graph”. The limitations describe a structure of a scene and merely employ mathematical relationships/formulas between “a scene graph”, “anchors” and “nodes” (MPEP 2106.04 (a)(2). Another example is Digitech Image Techs., LLC v. Electronics for Imaging, Inc., 758 F.3d 1344, 111 USPQ2d 1717 (Fed. Cir. 2014). The patentee in Digitech claimed methods of generating first and second data by taking existing information, manipulating the data using mathematical formulas, and organizing this information into a new form. The court explained that such claims were directed to an abstract idea because they described a process of organizing information through mathematical correlations, like Flook's method of calculating using a mathematical formula. 758 F.3d at 1350, 111 USPQ2d at 1721). The grouping of “mathematical concepts” in the 2019 PEG is not limited to formulas or equations, and in fact specifically includes “mathematical calculations” as an exemplar of a mathematical concept. 2019 PEG Section I, 84 Fed. Reg. at 52. Thus, the limitations recites a concept that falls into the “mathematical concept” group of abstract ideas.
Next, the claim recites the additional limitations of “each anchor of the one or more anchors is associated with one or more nodes of the scene graph and comprises: a trigger, wherein the trigger is a description of at least one condition; wherein the at least one condition is a detection of a visual or audio or environment-based marker or property, and wherein the trigger is activated when a condition of the at least one condition is detected in a real environment; and an action, wherein the action comprises a description of process to be performed by an augmented reality engine; and media content items linked to the nodes of the scene graph”. Those limitations provide descriptions or definitions for each anchor. Therefore, the claim does not include additional elements providing meaningful limitation(s) to transform the abstract idea into a patent eligible application of the abstract idea such that the claim(s) amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. Accordingly, the claim is not patent eligible.
Claim 21 depends from claim 19 and recites additional limitations “wherein the trigger relies on a detection of an object in the real environment and wherein the trigger is associated with a model of the object or with a semantic description of the object”. “the trigger” is simple describe “mathematical calculations being performed on the object in the real environment” and “mathematical relationship” with “a model” or “a semantic description”. Thus, the limitation describes a “mathematical relationship,” which falls into the “mathematical concepts” grouping of abstract ideas. For the same reasons stated previously with respect to claim 19, the limitations do not integrate the recited judicial exception into a practical application. Therefore, the claim does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. The claim is not patent eligible.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-2, 6-8, 10-11, 15-17, 19 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bouazizi et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0335694 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Bouazizi discloses a method for rendering an augmented reality scene for a user in a real environment (Paragraph [0006], this disclosure describes techniques for streaming immersive media content, e.g., for extended reality (XR) content, such as augmented reality (AR) ... For example, the user may be able to navigate the virtual scene using controllers and/or real-world movement. In order to allow for proper movement in a real-world presentation environment ...), the method comprising:
obtaining a description of the augmented reality scene (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0156], client device 300 may receive a bitstream including a scene description (350); paragraph [0134], according to the techniques of this disclosure, an MPEG_scene_anchor extension may be added as a glTF 2.0 extension to the scene node. An AR scene may contain the MPEG_scene_anchor extension to describe the anchoring of the scene to a real-world XR space), the description comprising:
a scene graph (Paragraph [0156], the scene description may include a scene graph ... For example, the scene description may correspond to the example scene graph of FIG. 5, scene description and updates 200 of FIG. 6, scene graph 262 and scene graph updates 264 of FIG. 8, or scene graph 324 of FIG. 10); and
one or more anchors, wherein each anchor of the one or more anchors is associated with one or more nodes of the scene graph (Paragraphs [0092]-[0094], FIG. 5 shows a scene graph ... Each node in the graph holds pointers to its children. The child nodes can, among others, be a group of other nodes, a geometry element, a transformation matrix, accessors to media data buffers, camera information for the rendering ... Spatial transformations are represented as nodes of the graph and represented by a transformation matrix. Typical usage of transform nodes is to describe rotation, translation or scaling of the objects in its child nodes ...; FIG. 1; paragraph [0068], client device 40 may be configured to perform the various techniques of this disclosure alone or in any combination. In general, retrieval unit 52 may be configured to retrieve a bitstream including media data (e.g., scene data), as discussed above, as well as a scene description. The scene description may include anchor point data representing a correspondence between a virtual scene represented by the media data and a real-world presentation environment. Client device 40 may be configured to anchor the virtual scene to the real-world presentation environment using the anchor point data, and also transform the virtual scene as needed, e.g., through rotation, translation, and/or scaling) and comprises:
a trigger, wherein the trigger is a description of at least one condition (Paragraph [0157], the scene description may include data for an anchor point, such as the MPEG_scene_anchor as discussed above with respect to Table 1. The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space); wherein the at least one condition is a detection of a visual or audio or environment-based marker or property (Paragraph [0158], presentation unit 330 may automatically detect the real-world presentation environment using camera 308. In some examples, client device 300 may receive image and/or video data captured by camera 308 and upload this data via a sceneUnderstandingStream as indicated by the scene description), and wherein the trigger is activated when a condition of the at least one condition is detected in the real environment (Paragraph [0157], the data for the anchor point may further indicate whether the scene data is to be transformed (e.g., rotated, translated, and/or scaled) to match the real-world presentation environment ... In general, the scene description may include data that relates the scene anchor point to a real-world anchor point, such as a particular location on the floor (e.g., a midpoint of the floor)); and
an action, wherein the action comprises a description of a process to be performed by an augmented reality engine (Paragraph [0157], the anchor point may further include various actions that a user may perform, such as movements received via a controller or real-world repositioning of a device worn by the user); and
on condition that the trigger of one of the one anchor or more anchors is activated (Paragraph [0157], presentation unit 330 of client device 300 may determine an anchor point from the scene description (352). According to the techniques of this disclosure, the scene description may include data for an anchor point, such as the MPEG_scene_anchor as discussed above with respect to Table 1. The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space; paragraph [0133], in the example of FIG. 9, the anchor XR space is of type “stage,” corresponding to the floor of the viewer's living room), applying the action of the one anchor of the one or more anchors to the one or more nodes associated with the one anchor of the one or more anchors (Paragraph [0159], presentation unit 330 may anchor the virtual scene to the real-world presentation environment at the determined real-world anchor point (358). Presentation unit 330 may also transform the virtual scene to align with the real-world presentation environment (360), e.g., using rotation, translation, and/or scaling; paragraphs [0130]-[0133], FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example anchor XR space indicated by a scene description. According to the techniques of this disclosure, a scene description node may contain a reference to an XR space, which indicates that the scene is anchored to that space. The anchor XR space may be a reference space, e.g., local, view, or stage ... XR runtime systems, such as OpenXR, allow querying of the bounding space for an XR space. The scene description may request that the presentation engine aligns the scene extents, i.e. the bounding box of the scene, to the bounding box of the anchor XR space ... In the example of FIG. 9, the anchor XR space is of type “stage,” corresponding to the floor of the viewer's living room).
It's noted that Bouazizi does not use term of “a trigger” by the techniques described in the disclosure. However, the claim recites “a trigger, wherein the trigger is a description of at least one condition”. Paragraph [0157] of Bouazizi describes “The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space” and the data describes at least one type “a view, local, stage, or application” of reference space. Thus, the “type” described by Bouazizi can be considered equivalent to a “condition”. Accordingly, under broadest reasonable interpretation, “the data” described by Bouazizi can be considered equivalent to “a trigger” recited in the claim. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to understand Bouazizi disclose the invention as specified in claim.
Regarding claim 2, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), and Bouazizi further disclose wherein the trigger of one of the one or more anchors comprises one or more limit conditions (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0157], the scene description may include data for an anchor point, such as the MPEG_scene_anchor as discussed above with respect to Table 1. The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space) and wherein the media content items are linked to the at least one of the one or more nodes and loaded only (Paragraph [0151], after aligning the virtual scene anchor point with the real-world anchor point and making any necessary transformations, presentation unit 330 may present media data 322 via display 314. For example, media data 322 may include data defining virtual objects, textures, colors, and locations for the virtual objects) when the one or more limit conditions are observed in the augmented reality scene (Paragraph [0133], in the example of FIG. 9, the anchor XR space is of type “stage,” corresponding to the floor of the viewer's living room).
Regarding claim 6, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), and Bouazizi further disclose wherein the at least one condition is a member of a group of conditions comprising detection of:
one or more visual 2D markers, one or more visual 3D markers, one or more visual signatures, one or more visual geometric properties, one or more visual semantic properties, one or more audio markers, one or more audio properties, one or more temperature conditions, one or more movement of real or virtual objects, one or more hygrometry conditions, one or more lighting changes, and one or more wind conditions (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0148], anchor point detection unit 332 may determine a type of anchor point to be used from the data of scene graph 324, and identify a corresponding real-world anchor point using image data from camera 308. Presentation unit 330 may use the identified anchor point in the real-world presentation environment to align a virtual scene with the real-world presentation environment. For example, the real-world anchor point may be a point on the floor, a surface (e.g., a table), or the like. In some examples, a visual marker on the real-world object may be used, such as a quick response (QR) code, to represent the real-world anchor point).
Regarding claim 7, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), and Bouazizi further disclose the trigger of one of the one or more anchors relies on a detection of an object in the real environment (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0146], camera 308 represents a camera used to capture images or video data of the real-world presentation environment ... Additionally or alternatively, camera 308 may detect real-world objects, such as the floor ...) and wherein the trigger is associated with a model of the object or with a semantic description of the object (Paragraph [0157], the scene description may include data for an anchor point, such as the MPEG_scene_anchor as discussed above with respect to Table 1. The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space; paragraphs [0132]-[0133], the scene description may request that the presentation engine aligns the scene extents, i.e. the bounding box of the scene, to the bounding box of the anchor XR space ... If no scaling is applied, the presentation engine aligns the long edge of the scene bounding box to that of the XR space and then centers the scene bounding box to be collocated with the center of the XR space bounding box ... In the example of FIG. 9, the anchor XR space is of type “stage,” corresponding to the floor of the viewer's living room).
Regarding claim 8, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), and Bouazizi further disclose wherein the action of one of the one or more anchors is a member of a group of actions comprising:
playing, pausing or stopping a media content item;
modifying the description of the augmented reality scene (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0151], after aligning the virtual scene anchor point with the real-world anchor point and making any necessary transformations, presentation unit 330 may present media data 322 via display 314 ... Presentation unit 330 may update the presentation according to user movements detected from user interface devices 306, camera 308, and/or sensors 310, and/or based on updated to scene graph 324); and
connecting a remote device or service.
Regarding claim 10, Bouazizi discloses a device for rendering an augmented reality scene for a user in a real environment (Paragraph [0006], this disclosure describes techniques for streaming immersive media content, e.g., for extended reality (XR) content, such as augmented reality (AR) ... For example, the user may be able to navigate the virtual scene using controllers and/or real-world movement. In order to allow for proper movement in a real-world presentation environment ...), the device comprising a memory associated with a processor (Paragraph [0008], a device for presenting media data includes a memory configured to store media data defining one or more virtual objects in a virtual scene; and one or more processors implemented in circuitry and configured to ...) configured for:
obtaining a description of the augmented reality scene (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0156], client device 300 may receive a bitstream including a scene description (350); paragraph [0134], according to the techniques of this disclosure, an MPEG_scene_anchor extension may be added as a glTF 2.0 extension to the scene node. An AR scene may contain the MPEG_scene_anchor extension to describe the anchoring of the scene to a real-world XR space), the description comprising:
a scene graph (Paragraph [0156], he scene description may include a scene graph ... For example, the scene description may correspond to the example scene graph of FIG. 5, scene description and updates 200 of FIG. 6, scene graph 262 and scene graph updates 264 of FIG. 8, or scene graph 324 of FIG. 10); and
one or more anchors, wherein each anchor of the one or more anchors is associated with one or more nodes of the scene graph (Paragraphs [0092]-[0094], FIG. 5 shows a scene graph ... Each node in the graph holds pointers to its children. The child nodes can, among others, be a group of other nodes, a geometry element, a transformation matrix, accessors to media data buffers, camera information for the rendering ... Spatial transformations are represented as nodes of the graph and represented by a transformation matrix. Typical usage of transform nodes is to describe rotation, translation or scaling of the objects in its child nodes ...; FIG. 1; paragraph [0068], client device 40 may be configured to perform the various techniques of this disclosure alone or in any combination. In general, retrieval unit 52 may be configured to retrieve a bitstream including media data (e.g., scene data), as discussed above, as well as a scene description. The scene description may include anchor point data representing a correspondence between a virtual scene represented by the media data and a real-world presentation environment. Client device 40 may be configured to anchor the virtual scene to the real-world presentation environment using the anchor point data, and also transform the virtual scene as needed, e.g., through rotation, translation, and/or scaling) and comprises:
a trigger, wherein the trigger is a description of at least one condition (Paragraph [0157], the scene description may include data for an anchor point, such as the MPEG_scene_anchor as discussed above with respect to Table 1. The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space); wherein the at least one condition is a detection of a visual or audio or environment-based marker or property (Paragraph [0158], presentation unit 330 may automatically detect the real-world presentation environment using camera 308. In some examples, client device 300 may receive image and/or video data captured by camera 308 and upload this data via a sceneUnderstandingStream as indicated by the scene description), and wherein the trigger is activated when a condition of the at least one condition is detected in the real environment (Paragraph [0157], the data for the anchor point may further indicate whether the scene data is to be transformed (e.g., rotated, translated, and/or scaled) to match the real-world presentation environment ... In general, the scene description may include data that relates the scene anchor point to a real-world anchor point, such as a particular location on the floor (e.g., a midpoint of the floor)); and
an action, wherein the action comprises a description of a process to be performed by an augmented reality engine (Paragraph [0157], the anchor point may further include various actions that a user may perform, such as movements received via a controller or real-world repositioning of a device worn by the user); and
on condition that the trigger of one anchor of the one or more anchors is activated (Paragraph [0157], presentation unit 330 of client device 300 may determine an anchor point from the scene description (352). According to the techniques of this disclosure, the scene description may include data for an anchor point, such as the MPEG_scene_anchor as discussed above with respect to Table 1. The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space; paragraph [0133], in the example of FIG. 9, the anchor XR space is of type “stage,” corresponding to the floor of the viewer's living room), applying the action of the one anchor of the one or more anchors to the one or more nodes associated with the one anchor of the one or more anchors (Paragraph [0159], presentation unit 330 may anchor the virtual scene to the real-world presentation environment at the determined real-world anchor point (358). Presentation unit 330 may also transform the virtual scene to align with the real-world presentation environment (360), e.g., using rotation, translation, and/or scaling; paragraphs [0130]-[0133], FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example anchor XR space indicated by a scene description. According to the techniques of this disclosure, a scene description node may contain a reference to an XR space, which indicates that the scene is anchored to that space. The anchor XR space may be a reference space, e.g., local, view, or stage ... XR runtime systems, such as OpenXR, allow querying of the bounding space for an XR space. The scene description may request that the presentation engine aligns the scene extents, i.e. the bounding box of the scene, to the bounding box of the anchor XR space ... In the example of FIG. 9, the anchor XR space is of type “stage,” corresponding to the floor of the viewer's living room).
It's noted that Bouazizi does not use term of “a trigger” by the techniques described in the disclosure. However, the claim recites “a trigger, wherein the trigger is a description of at least one condition”. Paragraph [0157] of Bouazizi describes “The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space” and the data describes at least one type “a view, local, stage, or application” of reference space. Thus, the “type” described by Bouazizi can be considered equivalent to a “condition”. Accordingly, under broadest reasonable interpretation, “the data” described by Bouazizi can be considered equivalent to “a trigger” recited in the claim. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to understand Bouazizi disclose the invention as specified in claim.
Regarding claim 11, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 10), and Bouazizi further disclose wherein the trigger of one of the one or more anchors comprises one or more limit conditions (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0157], the scene description may include data for an anchor point, such as the MPEG_scene_anchor as discussed above with respect to Table 1. The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space) and wherein the media content items are linked to the one or more nodes and loaded only (Paragraph [0151], after aligning the virtual scene anchor point with the real-world anchor point and making any necessary transformations, presentation unit 330 may present media data 322 via display 314. For example, media data 322 may include data defining virtual objects, textures, colors, and locations for the virtual objects) when the one or more limit conditions are observed in the augmented reality scene (Paragraph [0133], in the example of FIG. 9, the anchor XR space is of type “stage,” corresponding to the floor of the viewer's living room).
Regarding claim 15, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 10), and Bouazizi further disclose wherein the at least one condition is a member of a group of conditions comprising detection of:
one or more visual 2D markers, one or more visual 3D markers, one or more visual signatures, one or more visual geometric properties, one or more visual semantic properties, one or more audio markers, one or more audio properties, one or more temperature conditions, one or more movement of real or virtual objects, one or more hygrometry conditions, one or more lighting changes, and one or more wind conditions (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0148], anchor point detection unit 332 may determine a type of anchor point to be used from the data of scene graph 324, and identify a corresponding real-world anchor point using image data from camera 308. Presentation unit 330 may use the identified anchor point in the real-world presentation environment to align a virtual scene with the real-world presentation environment. For example, the real-world anchor point may be a point on the floor, a surface (e.g., a table), or the like. In some examples, a visual marker on the real-world object may be used, such as a quick response (QR) code, to represent the real-world anchor point).
Regarding claim 16, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 10), and Bouazizi further disclose the trigger of one of the one or more anchors relies on a detection of an object in the real environment (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0146], camera 308 represents a camera used to capture images or video data of the real-world presentation environment ... Additionally or alternatively, camera 308 may detect real-world objects, such as the floor ...) and wherein the trigger is associated with a model of the object or with a semantic description of the object (Paragraph [0157], the scene description may include data for an anchor point, such as the MPEG_scene_anchor as discussed above with respect to Table 1. The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space; paragraphs [0132]-[0133], the scene description may request that the presentation engine aligns the scene extents, i.e. the bounding box of the scene, to the bounding box of the anchor XR space ... If no scaling is applied, the presentation engine aligns the long edge of the scene bounding box to that of the XR space and then centers the scene bounding box to be collocated with the center of the XR space bounding box ... In the example of FIG. 9, the anchor XR space is of type “stage,” corresponding to the floor of the viewer's living room).
Regarding claim 17, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 10), and Bouazizi further disclose wherein the at least an action of one of the one or more anchors is a member of a group of actions comprising:
playing, pausing or stopping a media content item;
modifying the description of the augmented reality scene (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0151], after aligning the virtual scene anchor point with the real-world anchor point and making any necessary transformations, presentation unit 330 may present media data 322 via display 314 ... Presentation unit 330 may update the presentation according to user movements detected from user interface devices 306, camera 308, and/or sensors 310, and/or based on updated to scene graph 324); and
connecting a remote device or service.
Regarding claim 19, Bouazizi discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying data representative of an augmented reality scene (Paragraph [0006], this disclosure describes techniques for streaming immersive media content, e.g., for extended reality (XR) content, such as augmented reality (AR) ... For example, the user may be able to navigate the virtual scene using controllers and/or real-world movement. In order to allow for proper movement in a real-world presentation environment ...; paragraph [0009], a computer-readable storage medium has stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to receive a scene description of a bitstream ...) and comprising:
a description of the augmented reality scene (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0156], client device 300 may receive a bitstream including a scene description (350); paragraph [0134], according to the techniques of this disclosure, an MPEG_scene_anchor extension may be added as a glTF 2.0 extension to the scene node. An AR scene may contain the MPEG_scene_anchor extension to describe the anchoring of the scene to a real-world XR space), the description comprising:
a scene graph (Paragraph [0156], he scene description may include a scene graph ... For example, the scene description may correspond to the example scene graph of FIG. 5, scene description and updates 200 of FIG. 6, scene graph 262 and scene graph updates 264 of FIG. 8, or scene graph 324 of FIG. 10); and
one or more anchors, wherein each anchor of the one or more anchors is associated with one or more nodes of the scene graph (Paragraphs [0092]-[0094], FIG. 5 shows a scene graph ... Each node in the graph holds pointers to its children. The child nodes can, among others, be a group of other nodes, a geometry element, a transformation matrix, accessors to media data buffers, camera information for the rendering ... Spatial transformations are represented as nodes of the graph and represented by a transformation matrix. Typical usage of transform nodes is to describe rotation, translation or scaling of the objects in its child nodes ...; FIG. 1; paragraph [0068], client device 40 may be configured to perform the various techniques of this disclosure alone or in any combination. In general, retrieval unit 52 may be configured to retrieve a bitstream including media data (e.g., scene data), as discussed above, as well as a scene description. The scene description may include anchor point data representing a correspondence between a virtual scene represented by the media data and a real-world presentation environment. Client device 40 may be configured to anchor the virtual scene to the real-world presentation environment using the anchor point data, and also transform the virtual scene as needed, e.g., through rotation, translation, and/or scaling) and comprises:
a trigger, wherein the trigger is a description of at least one condition (Paragraph [0157], the scene description may include data for an anchor point, such as the MPEG_scene_anchor as discussed above with respect to Table 1. The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space); wherein the at least one condition is a detection of a visual or audio or environment-based marker or property (Paragraph [0158], presentation unit 330 may automatically detect the real-world presentation environment using camera 308. In some examples, client device 300 may receive image and/or video data captured by camera 308 and upload this data via a sceneUnderstandingStream as indicated by the scene description), and wherein the trigger is activated when a condition of the at least one condition is detected in a real environment (Paragraph [0157], the data for the anchor point may further indicate whether the scene data is to be transformed (e.g., rotated, translated, and/or scaled) to match the real-world presentation environment ... In general, the scene description may include data that relates the scene anchor point to a real-world anchor point, such as a particular location on the floor (e.g., a midpoint of the floor)); and
an action, wherein the action comprises a description of process to be performed by an augmented reality engine (Paragraph [0157], the anchor point may further include various actions that a user may perform, such as movements received via a controller or real-world repositioning of a device worn by the user); and
media content items linked to the nodes of the scene graph (Paragraph [0142], scene data 320 represents one or more memories (storage devices) for storing media data 322; paragraph [0151], for example, media data 322 may include data defining virtual objects, textures, colors, and locations for the virtual objects).
It's noted that Bouazizi does not use term of “a trigger” by the techniques described in the disclosure. However, the claim recites “a trigger, wherein the trigger is a description of at least one condition”. Paragraph [0157] of Bouazizi describes “The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space” and the data describes at least one type “a view, local, stage, or application” of reference space. Thus, the “type” described by Bouazizi can be considered equivalent to a “condition”. Accordingly, under broadest reasonable interpretation, “the data” described by Bouazizi can be considered equivalent to “a trigger” recited in the claim. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to understand Bouazizi disclose the invention as specified in claim.
Regarding claim 21, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 19), and Bouazizi further disclose the trigger relies on a detection of an object in the real environment (FIGS. 10 and 11; paragraph [0146], camera 308 represents a camera used to capture images or video data of the real-world presentation environment ... Additionally or alternatively, camera 308 may detect real-world objects, such as the floor ...) and wherein the trigger is associated with a model of the object or with a semantic description of the object (Paragraph [0157], the scene description may include data for an anchor point, such as the MPEG_scene_anchor as discussed above with respect to Table 1. The data for the anchor point may include, for example, data indicating whether the reference space type (e.g., a real-world presentation environment) is to be a view, local, stage, or application type of reference space; paragraphs [0132]-[0133], the scene description may request that the presentation engine aligns the scene extents, i.e. the bounding box of the scene, to the bounding box of the anchor XR space ... If no scaling is applied, the presentation engine aligns the long edge of the scene bounding box to that of the XR space and then centers the scene bounding box to be collocated with the center of the XR space bounding box ... In the example of FIG. 9, the anchor XR space is of type “stage,” corresponding to the floor of the viewer's living room).
Claims 3-4 and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bouazizi et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0335694 A1) in view of Smet et al (U.S. Patent No. 10,825,258 B1).
Regarding claim 3, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1).
However, Bouazizi does not specifically disclose further comprising, when the one or more limit conditions are no longer observed in the augmented reality scene, unloading the media content items linked to the at least one of the one or more nodes.
In additional, Smet discloses (Abstract, a method includes by a computing device, displaying a user interface for designing augmented-reality effects. The method includes receiving user input through the user interface. The method includes displaying a graph generated based on the user input ...) further comprising, when the one or more limit conditions are no longer observed in the augmented reality scene (Col 14, lines 24-67, FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate example scene graphs associated with a variety of augmented-reality effects. FIG. 5A illustrates a scene graph 500a corresponding to an augmented-reality effect wherein a virtual statue object is render in an open, palm-up hand in the scene ...; Col 15, lines 3-33, FIG. 5B illustrates a scene graph 500b corresponding to an augmented-reality effect wherein gestures detected in association with face object instances affect the visibility and animation of assets in the effect. The scene graph 500b comprises a collective node 510b labeled “Facetracker” that corresponds to a module for identifying and tracking the first two recognized female faces in the scene. Thus, palm-up hand in the scene is no longer observed in the augmented reality scene after detecting face object), unloading the media content items linked to the at least one of the one or more nodes (Col 15, lines 3-33, the scene graph 500b comprises a collective node 510b labeled “Facetracker” that corresponds to a module for identifying and tracking the first two recognized female faces in the scene ... Thus, the scene graph 500a of “Handtracker” is unloaded after the scene graph 500b of “Facetracker” is loaded).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the scene description taught by Bouazizi incorporate the teachings of Smet, and applying the graph-based design of augmented-reality effects taught by Smet to collect nodes shown in the graph based on the object detection and provide the object type appearing in a scene to the user. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bouazizi according to the relied-upon teachings of Smet to obtain the invention as specified in claim.
Regarding claim 4, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1).
However, Bouazizi does not specifically disclose wherein the trigger of one of the one or more anchors comprises a descriptor indicating whether the action of the one or more anchors continues once the trigger is no longer activated.
In additional, Smet discloses (Abstract, a method includes by a computing device, displaying a user interface for designing augmented-reality effects. The method includes receiving user input through the user interface. The method includes displaying a graph generated based on the user input ...) wherein the trigger of one of the one or more anchors (Col 14, lines 24-67, FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate example scene graphs associated with a variety of augmented-reality effects. FIG. 5A illustrates a scene graph 500a corresponding to an augmented-reality effect wherein a virtual statue object is render in an open, palm-up hand in the scene ...; Col 15, lines 3-33, FIG. 5B illustrates a scene graph 500b corresponding to an augmented-reality effect wherein gestures detected in association with face object instances affect the visibility and animation of assets in the effect. The scene graph 500b comprises a collective node 510b labeled “Facetracker” that corresponds to a module for identifying and tracking the first two recognized female faces in the scene) comprises a descriptor indicating whether the action of the one or more anchors continues once the trigger is no longer activated (Col 15, lines 3-33, the scene graph 500b comprises a collective node 510b labeled “Facetracker” that corresponds to a module for identifying and tracking the first two recognized female faces in the scene ... Thus, the scene graph 500a of “Handtracker” is no longer activated after the scene graph 500b of “Facetracker” is loaded).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the scene description taught by Bouazizi incorporate the teachings of Smet, and applying the graph-based design of augmented-reality effects taught by Smet to collect nodes shown in the graph based on the object detection and provide the object type appearing in a scene to the user. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bouazizi according to the relied-upon teachings of Smet to obtain the invention as specified in claim.
Regarding claim 12, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 11).
However, Bouazizi does not specifically disclose wherein the processor is further configured for, when the one or more limit conditions are no longer observed in the augmented reality scene, unloading the media content items linked to the at least one of the one or more nodes.
In additional, Smet discloses (Abstract, a method includes by a computing device, displaying a user interface for designing augmented-reality effects. The method includes receiving user input through the user interface. The method includes displaying a graph generated based on the user input ...) wherein the processor is further configured for, when the one or more limit conditions are no longer observed in the augmented reality scene (Col 14, lines 24-67, FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate example scene graphs associated with a variety of augmented-reality effects. FIG. 5A illustrates a scene graph 500a corresponding to an augmented-reality effect wherein a virtual statue object is render in an open, palm-up hand in the scene ...; Col 15, lines 3-33, FIG. 5B illustrates a scene graph 500b corresponding to an augmented-reality effect wherein gestures detected in association with face object instances affect the visibility and animation of assets in the effect. The scene graph 500b comprises a collective node 510b labeled “Facetracker” that corresponds to a module for identifying and tracking the first two recognized female faces in the scene. Thus, palm-up hand in the scene is no longer observed in the augmented reality scene after detecting face object), unloading the media content items linked to the at least one of the one or more nodes (Col 15, lines 3-33, the scene graph 500b comprises a collective node 510b labeled “Facetracker” that corresponds to a module for identifying and tracking the first two recognized female faces in the scene ... Thus, the scene graph 500a of “Handtracker” is unloaded after the scene graph 500b of “Facetracker” is loaded).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the scene description taught by Bouazizi incorporate the teachings of Smet, and applying the graph-based design of augmented-reality effects taught by Smet to collect nodes shown in the graph based on the object detection and provide the object type appearing in a scene to the user. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bouazizi according to the relied-upon teachings of Smet to obtain the invention as specified in claim.
Regarding claim 13, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 10).
However, Bouazizi does not specifically disclose wherein the trigger of one of the one or more anchors comprises a descriptor indicating whether the action of the one or more anchors continues once the trigger is no longer activated.
In additional, Smet discloses (Abstract, a method includes by a computing device, displaying a user interface for designing augmented-reality effects. The method includes receiving user input through the user interface. The method includes displaying a graph generated based on the user input ...) wherein the trigger of one of the one or more anchors (Col 14, lines 24-67, FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate example scene graphs associated with a variety of augmented-reality effects. FIG. 5A illustrates a scene graph 500a corresponding to an augmented-reality effect wherein a virtual statue object is render in an open, palm-up hand in the scene ...; Col 15, lines 3-33, FIG. 5B illustrates a scene graph 500b corresponding to an augmented-reality effect wherein gestures detected in association with face object instances affect the visibility and animation of assets in the effect. The scene graph 500b comprises a collective node 510b labeled “Facetracker” that corresponds to a module for identifying and tracking the first two recognized female faces in the scene) comprises a descriptor indicating whether the action of the one or more anchors continues once the trigger is no longer activated (Col 15, lines 3-33, the scene graph 500b comprises a collective node 510b labeled “Facetracker” that corresponds to a module for identifying and tracking the first two recognized female faces in the scene ... Thus, the scene graph 500a of “Handtracker” is no longer activated after the scene graph 500b of “Facetracker” is loaded).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the scene description taught by Bouazizi incorporate the teachings of Smet, and applying the graph-based design of augmented-reality effects taught by Smet to collect nodes shown in the graph based on the object detection and provide the object type appearing in a scene to the user. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bouazizi according to the relied-upon teachings of Smet to obtain the invention as specified in claim.
Claims 5 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bouazizi et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0335694 A1) in view of Kottur (U.S. Patent No. 12,198,430 B1).
Regarding claim 5, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1).
However, Bouazizi does not specifically disclose wherein the trigger of one of the one or more anchors comprises a description of at least two conditions and a descriptor indicating how to combine the at least two conditions.
In additional, Kottur discloses (FIG. 6 shows a simplified scene graph generator) wherein the trigger of one of the one or more anchors (Col 50, lines 53-67; a scene graph may be updated dynamically over time as additional data concerning object(s) of interest is received. FIG. 10A illustrates an example image of a sporting scene 1000 captured by a camera of a client system 130. The image of the scene 1000 portrays a batter 1001, a catcher 1002, and a coach 1003 having various relationships with objects and spatial relationships with one another. FIGS. 10B-10D illustrate the incremental generation of scene graphs concerning the scene of FIG. 10A over time ...; Col 51, lines 41-67, FIG. 10C illustrates such an example final scene graph 1030 at time t. As an example and not by way of limitation, the final scene graph 1030 may include the node N1 corresponding to the batter 1001, as well as the various attributes A1-A4 and their respective values that were incrementally generated over the course of the dialog ...) comprises a description of at least two conditions (Col 52, lines 1-15, the stored final scene graph 1030 may be updated dynamically as information on the attributes A2 and A4 that were assigned values of “unknown” become available at a later time t+1. FIG. 10D illustrates an example final scene graph 1040 derived from final scene graph 1030 at time t+1 ... the assistant system 1020 may update these values (e.g., the value of the “facial expression” attribute A2 may be updated to “smiling”), thus creating a final scene graph 1040 having these updated values ...) and a descriptor indicating how to combine the at least two conditions (Col 52, lines 16-26, the dynamic updating of the scene graph may occur automatically and repeatedly over a period of time. As an example and not by way of limitation, the “facial expression” attribute A2 of the batter 1001 may be updated each time the batter 1001 moves in a way that his facial expression can be seen).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the scene description taught by Bouazizi incorporate the teachings of Kottur, and applying the scene graphs for assistant systems taught by Kottur to provide the multiple conditions into “the trigger” taught by Bouazizi and combine the at least two conditions to generate a set of content objects to display to a user. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bouazizi according to the relied-upon teachings of Kottur to obtain the invention as specified in claim.
Regarding claim 14, Bouazizi discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 10).
However, Bouazizi does not specifically disclose wherein a trigger of one of the one or more anchors comprises a description of at least two conditions and a descriptor indicating how to combine the at least two conditions.
In additional, Kottur discloses (FIG. 6 shows a simplified scene graph generator) wherein a trigger of one of the one or more anchors (Col 50, lines 53-67; a scene graph may be updated dynamically over time as additional data concerning object(s) of interest is received. FIG. 10A illustrates an example image of a sporting scene 1000 captured by a camera of a client system 130. The image of the scene 1000 portrays a batter 1001, a catcher 1002, and a coach 1003 having various relationships with objects and spatial relationships with one another. FIGS. 10B-10D illustrate the incremental generation of scene graphs concerning the scene of FIG. 10A over time ...; Col 51, lines 41-67, FIG. 10C illustrates such an example final scene graph 1030 at time t. As an example and not by way of limitation, the final scene graph 1030 may include the node N1 corresponding to the batter 1001, as well as the various attributes A1-A4 and their respective values that were incrementally generated over the course of the dialog ...) comprises a description of at least two conditions (Col 52, lines 1-15, the stored final scene graph 1030 may be updated dynamically as information on the attributes A2 and A4 that were assigned values of “unknown” become available at a later time t+1. FIG. 10D illustrates an example final scene graph 1040 derived from final scene graph 1030 at time t+1 ... the assistant system 1020 may update these values (e.g., the value of the “facial expression” attribute A2 may be updated to “smiling”), thus creating a final scene graph 1040 having these updated values ...) and a descriptor indicating how to combine the at least two conditions (Col 52, lines 16-26, the dynamic updating of the scene graph may occur automatically and repeatedly over a period of time. As an example and not by way of limitation, the “facial expression” attribute A2 of the batter 1001 may be updated each time the batter 1001 moves in a way that his facial expression can be seen).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the scene description taught by Bouazizi incorporate the teachings of Kottur, and applying the scene graphs for assistant systems taught by Kottur to provide the multiple conditions into “the trigger” taught by Bouazizi and combine the at least two conditions to generate a set of content objects to display to a user. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bouazizi according to the relied-upon teachings of Kottur to obtain the invention as specified in claim.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 Xilin Guo whose telephone number is (571)272-5786. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 AM-5:30 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel Hajnik can be reached at 571-272-7642. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/XILIN GUO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2616
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