DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
3. Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by TIAN et al (2020/0117213).
As to claims 1-4, TIAN, discloses method and system for providing remote robot control and further discloses a video distribution system, comprising:
a first receiving unit which receives a first video acquired by a robot; a second receiving unit which receives operation information of the robot from a terminal of an operator (figs.1-13, Abstract, [0004-0009], User or Haptic Device) ; a third receiving unit which receives a second video acquired by the terminal of the operator ([0004-0009]), Robot receives streams from sensors around the environment ;
a transmitting unit which transmits the operation information of the robot to the robot; and a distributing unit which distributes the first video and the second video to a terminal of a viewer (Display Device, figs.1-13, [0029-0034] and [0041-0051); a control unit which controls, based on operation authority information which defines an operation authority with respect to the robot, acceptance of operation information of the robot; wherein when the control unit accepts a setting operation for the operation authority information by the operator, the control unit sets new operation authority information in accordance with the setting operation and determines whether or not to permit acceptance of operation information of the robot, based on the set new operation authority information ([0029-0034] and [0041-0051), Robot programmed to move via specific direction in response to detecting or sensing some detected activities via the environmental sensors, the human operator interacts with the virtualized environment to access physical scene(s).
As to claims 5-6, TIAN further discloses wherein when a request for a distribution object video is accepted from the viewer, the distributing unit processes the first video and the second video, based on the request and distributes processed videos to the terminal of the viewer and wherein the terminal of the viewer is equipped with a haptic feedback function, and the distributing unit transmits tactile data acquired by the robot to the terminal of the viewer ([0029-0034] and [0041-0051).
As to claim 7, the claimed “A server apparatus…” is composed of the same structural elements that were discussed with respect to claims 1-3.
As to claim 8, the claimed “A server apparatus…” is composed of the same structural elements that were discussed with respect to claims 1-3.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
5. Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TIAN et al (2020/0117213) in view of LOYAL et al (8,125,334)
As to claim 2, TIAN discloses all the claim limitations as discussed above with respect to claims 1, BUT appears silent as to where when a display operation of a pointer by the operator is accepted, the distributing unit generates a superimposed video in which the pointer is superimposed on the first video in accordance with the display operator and distributes the superimposed video to the terminal of the viewer.
However, in the same field of endeavor, LOYAL discloses visual event detections system and further discloses where when a display operation of a pointer by the operator is accepted, the distributing unit generates a superimposed video in which the pointer is superimposed on the first video in accordance with the display operator and distributes the superimposed video to the terminal of the viewer (figs.1-13, Col.10, line 47-Col.12, line 1+), the environmental detection system, detects various moving objects: gun, person and other objects, when pointer by the operator is accepted the system generates specific graphic indicators, superimpose on the map for distribution to other viewers.
Hence it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the teaching of LOYAL into the system of TIAN to generate specific enhancement that convey information to a viewer
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNAN Q SHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7355. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7-4.
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/ANNAN Q SHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424
ANNAN Q. SHANG
