DETAILED ACTION
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 § 101
2. 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 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claim invention is not supported by a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. In the state of the art, transitory signals are commonplace as a medium for transmitting computer instructions and thus, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary and given a broadest reasonable interpretation, the scope of a " computer-readable recording medium" covers a signal per se. A transitory signal does not fall within the definition of a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matters. Independent claim 13 when read in light of specification “Examples of the media include optical recording media such as a digital versatile disc (DVD) or a phase change rewritable disk (PD), a magneto-optical recording medium such as a magneto- optical disk (MO), a tape medium, a magnetic recording medium, and semiconductor memory” (Specification paragraph 130) does not define a computer-readable recording medium to include the disclosed tangible computer readable medium, while at the same time excluding the intangible media such as signals, carrier waves, propagated signals, etc, and is thus non-statutory for that reason.. The specification or claims must be amended to limit the computer-readable medium to only non-transitory signals, and state the exclusion of transitory signals (See Official Gazette Notice 1351 OG 212, dated February 23, 2010). The Examiner suggests amending the claims to state "A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium…" to overcome the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC §103
3. 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.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn et al (Pub. No.: US 2022/0353464 A1; hereinafter Ahn) in view of Swierk et al (Pub. No.: US 2022/0239848 A1; hereinafter Swierk)
Consider claims 1, 12, and 13, Ahn clearly shows and discloses a computer-readable recording medium and an information processing device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires first sensing information of a first user acquired by using a sensing device and second sensing information of a second user acquired by using a sensing device while the first user and the second user are performing conversation online ( a video call session between a first terminal and a second terminal, transmitting at least one of a first video and a first sound obtained from the first terminal corresponding to a first user to the second terminal, receiving, by the first terminal, at least one of a second video and a second sound obtained from the second terminal corresponding to a second user the gyro sensor 120 may include a sensor for detecting movement of an object using a gyroscope, an inertial sensor, or an acceleration sensor) (paragraphs: 0011, 0045, 0050, 0053, 0057-0058, 0094); and an information processing unit that specifies a disclosure level of information to be transmitted and received between the first user and the second user based on a situation of the first user and a situation of the second user corresponding to the first sensing information and the second sensing information, respectively (detecting, by the first terminal, a specific event during the video call session, determining, by the first terminal, whether an inappropriate element is included in the first video or the first sound in response to the detecting of the specific event, such as he specific event may include an event in which a face of the first user disappears at a velocity exceeding a threshold velocity from the first video obtained by the first terminal) (paragraphs: 0013, 0014, 0017, 0020, 0022-0024, 0080 and fig. 7); however, Ahn does not specifically disclose another example for an acquisition unit that acquires first sensing information of a first user acquired by using a sensing device and second sensing information of a second user acquired by using a sensing device while the first user and the second user are performing conversation online.
In the same field of endeavor, Swierk clearly specifically discloses an acquisition unit that acquires first sensing information of a first user acquired by using a sensing device and second sensing information of a second user acquired by using a sensing device while the first user and the second user are performing conversation online (paragraphs: 0016, 0021, fig. 8).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the teaching of Swierk into teaching of Ahn for the purpose of dynamically switch audio source of participant when there is a failure of an audio or video device in order to maintain consistent voice quality during the video conference.
Consider claim 2, Ahn and Swierk clearly show the information processing device, further comprising a communication control unit that controls a type and an amount of information to be transmitted and received between the first user and the second user based on the disclosure level (Ahn: paragraphs: 0089-0091).
Consider claim 3, Ahn and Swierk clearly show the information processing device, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the first sensing information and the second sensing information acquired using at least one sensing device among a microphone, a camera, and a sensor (Ahn: paragraph: 0050 and 0058).
Consider claim 4, Ahn and Swierk clearly show the information processing device, wherein the first user is a user being a speaker who speaks to the second user, the second user is a user being a listener who listens to a speech from the first user, and the information processing unit further executes processing of determining whether the first user wants to know information of the second user as a situation of the first user based on the first sensing information and the second sensing information, and processing of determining whether the second user wants to transmit information of the first user as a situation of the second user based on the first sensing information and the second sensing information (Ahn: paragraph: 0011-0015).
Consider claim 5, Ahn and Swierk clearly show the information processing device, wherein the information processing unit specifies communication details between the first user and the second user based on the first sensing information and the second sensing information, and determines the situation of the first user based on the specified communication details (Ahn: paragraph: 0091- 0092, 0096, and 0097).
Consider claim 6, Ahn and Swierk clearly show the information processing device, wherein the information processing unit specifies an external environment of the second user based on the second sensing information, and determines the situation of the first user based on the specified external environment (Ahn: paragraph: 0011-0016, 0091- 0092, 0096, and 0097).
Consider claims 7, Ahn and Swierk clearly show the information processing device, wherein the information processing unit specifies whether or not the second sensing information includes information that can confirm an unpleasant situation with respect to the first user, and determines the situation of the first user based on a result of the specification (Ahn: paragraph: 0091- 0092, 0096, and 0097).
Consider claims 8 and 20, Ahn and Swierk clearly show the information processing device, wherein the information processing unit specifies an external environmental factor of the second user based on the second sensing information, and determines the situation of the second user based on the specified external environmental factor (Ahn: paragraph: 0091- 0092, 0096, and 0097).
Consider claims 9 and 18, Ahn and Swierk clearly show the information processing device, herein the information processing unit specifies an appearance or a health condition of the second user based on the second sensing information, and determines the situation of the second user based on the specified appearance or health condition of the second user (Ahn: paragraph: 0083-0084, 0086, and 0089).
Consider claim 10, Ahn and Swierk clearly show the information processing device, wherein the information processing unit specifies a behavioral state of the second user based on the second sensing information, and determines the situation of the second user based on the specified behavioral state (Ahn: paragraph: 0091- 0092, 0096, and 0097).
Consider claim 11, Ahn and Swierk clearly show the information processing device, wherein the information processing unit specifies an emotional expression of the second user based on the second sensing information, and determines the situation of the second user based on the specified emotional expression (Ahn: paragraph: 0091- 0092, 0096, and 0097).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Amal Zenati whose telephone number is 571- 270- 1947. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00 -5:00 M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ahmad Matar can be reached on 571- 272- 7488. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571- 273-8300.
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/AMAL S ZENATI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693