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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1, 11 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (PGPUB Document No. US 2019/0035149) in view of Deng et al. (PGPUB Document No. US 2021/0074054).
Regarding claim 11, Chen teaches a data processing apparatus, comprising:
At least one memory configured to store computer program code (the system of Chen (Chen: 0172, FIG.40) requires the use of some form of memory);
And at least one processor configured to read the program code and operate as instructed by the program code (Chen: 0087) the program code comprising:
First obtaining code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to obtain first graph data of a target object, the first graph data comprising a plurality of vertexes (low-resolution mesh simplified from an original hairstyle model (Chen: 0446), wherein vertexes are innate properties of mesh models);
Second obtaining code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to obtain smoothness degree data of the plurality of vertexes (the required parameters of the simplification algorithm for creating the low-resolutional mesh geometry simplified from the original hairstyle model (Chen: 0446). The extent to which the model is simplified by the algorithm corresponds to the degree of smoothness);
First processing code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to obtain second graph data by performing smoothing processing on the first graph data based on the smoothness degree data of the plurality of vertexes, the smoothing processing comprising simplifying a structure of the target object (low-resolutional mesh geometry simplified from the original hairstyle based on the simplification algorithm (Chen: 0446));
And second processing code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to determine target weight data based on the second graph data, wherein the target weight data indicates an association degree between one or more joints of the target object and the plurality of vertexes (applying computed skinning weights of each vertex (joint) of the low resolution hair model to the original hair model).
However, Chen does not expressly teach but Deng teaches the first graph data comprising at least one first mesh data sub-graph, wherein each of the at least one first mesh data sub-graph are connected to each other (“the whole face image is divided into multiple triangle regions according to the key points, and the multiple triangle regions are connected to form a triangulation mesh” (Deng: 0103)).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of an ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Chen such as to generate mesh models by utilizing key points as taught by Deng, because this enables an effective method of generating mesh models comprising various geometric features.
Claim(s) 1 is a corresponding method claim(s) of claim(s) 11. The limitations of claim(s) 1 are substantially similar to the limitations of claim(s) 11. Therefore, it has been analyzed and rejected substantially similar to claim(s) 1.
Claim(s) 20 is a corresponding computer-readable medium claim(s) of claim(s) 11. The limitations of claim(s) 20 are substantially similar to the limitations of claim(s) 11. Therefore, it has been analyzed and rejected substantially similar to claim(s) 20. Note, the system of Chen (Chen: 0060, 0061) requires some form of storage device to run the computer program product (Chen: 0061).
Claim(s) 5 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen in view of Deng as applied to the claim(s) above, and further in view of Ma et al (PGPUB Document No. US 2023/0260146).
Regarding claim 15, the combined teachings above do not expressly teach but Ma teaches the apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the smoothness degree data indicates:
A smoothness degree of curvature of a curved surface around a vertex, larger smoothness degree data of the vertex indicating increased sharpness of the curved surface around the vertex, or smaller smoothness degree data of the vertex indicating increased smoothness of the curved surface around the vertex (Ma discloses the use of a Gaussian curvature as a measure of indicating a degree of curvature at one point (vertex) on a curved surface (Ma: 0061). A higher Gaussian curvature indicates a sharper surface bend (“increased sharpness”), whereas a smaller Gaussian curvature indicates a smoother surface bend (“increased smoothness”)).
And wherein the smoothness degree data comprises at least one of: a discrete average curvature, a Gaussian curvature, a normal curvature, or a principal curvature (Gaussian curvature (Ma: 0061)).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of an ordinary skill in the art to modify the combined teachings above such as to define/measure curvatures in the manner taught by Ma, because this enables an effective manner of modeling curved surfaces.
Claim 5 is similar in scope to claim 15, and the rejection claim 5 similarly applies to claim 15.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 6-10, 12-14 and 16-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David H Chu whose telephone number is (571)272-8079. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30 - 1:30pm, 3:30-8:30pm.
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/DAVID H CHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2616