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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “control unit… acquiring a display area”, “control unit… generating a three-dimensional mask area” and “control unit… estimating at least either a position” in claims 1-13. These units correspond to a computer (e.g., “a processor executing various programs stored in a storage device…”) at ¶ [0065], programmed to perform the functions of “first sensor image acquisition unit 1311” at [0069], “mask space calculation unit 1317” at ¶¶ [0088]-[0098] and “self-position estimation unit 132” at ¶¶ [0105]-[0107]. See, FIGS. 5-6.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because, taken as a whole, claim 15 is directed to the description of a computer program. 35 U.S.C. 101 enumerates four categories of subject matter that Congress deemed to be appropriate subject matter for a patent: processes, machines, manufactures and compositions of matter. As explained by the courts, these "four categories together describe the exclusive reach of patentable subject matter. If a claim covers material not found in any of the four statutory categories, that claim falls outside the plainly expressed scope of § 101 even if the subject matter is otherwise new and useful." In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1354, 84 USPQ2d 1495, 1500 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Non-limiting examples of claims that are not directed to any of the statutory categories include products that do not have a physical or tangible form, such as information (often referred to as "data per se") or a computer program per se (often referred to as "software per se") when claimed as a product without any structural recitations. Software expressed as code or a set of instructions detached from any medium is an idea without physical embodiment. See Microsoft Corp. v. AT&T Corp., 550 U.S. 437, 449, 82 USPQ2d 1400, 1407 (2007); see also Benson, 409 U.S. 67, 175 USPQ2d 675 (An "idea" is not patent eligible). Thus, a product claim to a software program that does not also contain at least one structural limitation (such as a "means plus function" limitation) has no physical or tangible form, and thus does not fall within any statutory category.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 are allowed.
Claim 15 is currently rejected under 35 USC § 101, but is otherwise not subject to any prior art rejections under either 35 U.S.C. § 102 or 35 U.S.C. § 103. Assuming that the foregoing shortcomings of this claim were rectified, this claim would be allowable.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With regards to independent claims 1, 14 and 15, several of the features of these claims were known in the art as evidenced by Kobayashi et al (WIPO Pub. No. JP WO2019131198 A1) which discloses acquiring an image captured by an imaging apparatus at p. 3, but does not disclose acquiring a display area of a display apparatus included in the image. Kobayashi discloses generating a three-dimensional mask area and a three-dimensional feature point map based on the image that has been acquired at pp. 10-11. However, Kobayashi does not disclose a display area of a display apparatus is included in the image. Kobayashi discloses estimating at least either a position or an orientation of the imaging apparatus using at least either the three-dimensional mask area or the three-dimensional feature point map and one or a plurality of feature points extracted from the image captured by the imaging apparatus at p. 4 and p. 11
With regards to claims 2-13, these claims depend from claim 1 and therefore incorporate the features of that claim that were found allowable.
Other prior art considered and hereby made of record includes:
Benko et al (US Patent No. 9,480,907) which discloses a primary display that displays a primary image. A peripheral illusion is displayed around the primary display by an environmental display so that the peripheral illusion appears as an extension of the primary image. For example, in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, light is not projected onto the plants, bookshelf, decorations, or floor. It is also worth noting that the primary display may be masked from projection in all illusions.
Srivastava (US PG Pub. No. 2022/0277484) which discloses a software engine that enables a user to interact with a display (e.g., television ) by using an image capture device (e.g., camera). In one non-limiting example, a user can operate a device (such as a mobile phone) to run an application that interfaces with the software engine, so that the device's camera can operate in unison with a separate display to enable unique types of user interactions. For example, the user may use such an application to tap a user interface button or draw a shape with their hand, directly on the surface of a larger display (e.g., television ), in view of the mobile phone's camera; the application's visual state would update in response to the user's captured gestures and to the position and orientation of the mobile phone. In another non-limiting example, a user, while playing a game utilizing the software engine, swings a device (such as a mobile phone) in free space, to control the position and orientation of a paddle within the three-dimensional scene of the game, presented on the larger display.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID F DUNPHY whose telephone number is (571)270-1230. The examiner can normally be reached on 9 am - 5 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chineyere Wills-Burns can be reached on (571) 272-9752. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID F DUNPHY/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2668