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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/202026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendments, filed 03/20/2026, have been entered and made of record. Claims 1-6 and 8-12 are pending. Claim 7 was previously cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 03/20/2026 have been considered but are moot because of the new ground of rejection sets forth below.
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.
Claims 1-6 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FUKUCHI et al. (US PG PUB 2012/0210254 hereinafter referred as Fukuchi) in view of Kimura et al. (US Pat. No. 10, 719, 121 hereinafter referred as Kimura).
Regarding claim 1, Regarding claim 1, Fukuchi discloses a head-mounted display device (see figure 1A) comprising:
one or more memories storing instructions (see paragraphs 0053 and 0125a non-transitory computer readable storage medium); and
one or more processors capable of executing the instructions causing the head- mounted display device (see paragraphs 0008 and 0125 CPU) to:
project a virtual space in a field of view of a user wearing the head-mounted display device (see paragraph 0040 direction of the line of sight of the user);
execute control processing to enable a see-through mode to check a real space (see paragraph 0039 see-through screen); and
display a virtual object generated based on captured data on a physical object in the real space within the virtual space projected in the field of view of the user (see paragraph 0041 display device displays a series of input images; see also paragraph 0044),
wherein the captured data includes data indicating a feature amount of a surrounding real space including the physical object, wherein the virtual object is displayed at a position within the virtual space determined using feature amount (see the response above, figures 4, 17 and paragraphs 0005, 0046, 0057, 0071 and also 0120), and
wherein the virtual object is shared with another member participating in the virtual space to allow the another member to view the virtual object (see paragraph 0046 sharing of virtual object; paragraph 0063 object is presented to the user).
Claim 1 differs from FUKUCHI in that the claim further requires matching the feature amount included in the captured data with a feature amount detected in the real space to display the virtual object within the virtual space position.
In the same field of endeavor Kimura discloses determining a position by matching the feature amount included in the captured data with a feature amount detected in the real space (see col. 6 lines 5-53 collating feature amounts determined from captured image with feature amounts of objects registered in advance; recognizing object identification information associated with feature amounts which best matches the feature amounts of the objects projected in the captured image; and the locations and postures of the objects in the real space; see also figure 4, viewpoint detected; see col. 7 line 45-8 line 8).
Therefore, in light of the teaching in Kimura, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify FUKUCHI by adding the feature of matching feature amount included in the captured data with feature amount detected in real space in order to determine whether predetermined object is present in the input recognition area and whether the region of interest within the user interface changes.
Regarding claim 2, Fukuchi discloses the virtual object is shared in a form based on a type of the physical object corresponding to the virtual object (see figure 6 and paragraphs 0071-0072).
Regarding claim 3, Fukuchi discloses a virtual object generated based on image data on the physical object or text data obtained by performing character recognition on the image data is displayed within the virtual space (see paragraphs 0003, 0039, 0048 and also 0054).
Regarding claim 4, Fukuchi discloses the image data or the text data corresponding to the virtual object is posted to an account for a member with which a service having a message posting function is to be shared (see figures 4 and 6; and paragraphs 0063 and 0071).
Regarding claim 5, Fukuchi discloses the image data or the text data posted to the account for the member with which the service is to be shared is viewed through a screen for the service displayed within a virtual space projected in a field of view of the member (see figures 0039, 0058 and 0069).
Regarding claim 6, Fukuchi discloses a virtual object generated based on three-dimensional data on the physical object is stereoscopically displayed within the virtual space (see paragraphs 0058, 0074 and 0084).
Regarding claim 8, Fukuchi discloses the instructions further cause the head-mounted display device to issue an instruction to share the virtual object generated based on the captured data with one or more members participating in the virtual space (see figures 15 and 17 and paragraphs 0115-0116).
Regarding claim 9, Fukuchi discloses the instructions further cause the head-mounted display device to receive the captured data from another device (see figure 1A and paragraphs 0038, 0042 and 0044).
Regarding claim 10, Fukuchi discloses an image capturing device, wherein the image capturing device generates the captured data by capturing an image of the physical object (see paragraphs 0039 and 0044-0045).
Regarding claims 11-12, the limitation of claims 11-12 is found in claim 1. Therefore, claims 11-12 are analyzed and rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 1 above.
Claims 1-6 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FUKUCHI et al. (US PG PUB 2012/0210254 hereinafter referred as Fukuchi) in view of KANEKO (US PG PUB 2023/0377290).
The applied reference has a common Assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
Regarding claim 1, Regarding claim 1, Fukuchi discloses a head-mounted display device (see figure 1A) comprising:
one or more memories storing instructions (see paragraphs 0053 and 0125a non-transitory computer readable storage medium); and
one or more processors capable of executing the instructions causing the head- mounted display device (see paragraphs 0008 and 0125 CPU) to:
project a virtual space in a field of view of a user wearing the head-mounted display device (see paragraph 0040 direction of the line of sight of the user);
execute control processing to enable a see-through mode to check a real space (see paragraph 0039 see-through screen); and
display a virtual object generated based on captured data on a physical object in the real space within the virtual space projected in the field of view of the user (see paragraph 0041 display device displays a series of input images; see also paragraph 0044),
wherein the captured data includes data indicating a feature amount of a surrounding real space including the physical object, wherein the virtual object is displayed at a position within the virtual space determined using feature amount (see the response above, figures 4, 17 and paragraphs 0005, 0046, 0057, 0071 and also 0120), and
wherein the virtual object is shared with another member participating in the virtual space to allow the another member to view the virtual object (see paragraph 0046 sharing of virtual object; paragraph 0063 object is presented to the user).
Claim 1 differs from FUKUCHI in that the claim further requires matching the feature amount included in the captured data with a feature amount detected in the real space to display the virtual object within the virtual space position.
In the same field of endeavor Kaneko discloses determining a position by matching the feature amount included in the captured data with a feature amount detected in the real space (see paragraph 0032).
Therefore, in light of the teaching in Kaneko, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify FUKUCHI by adding the feature of matching feature amount included in the captured data with feature amount detected in real space in order to manage conditions for determining a method of providing virtual object to the user in association with identification information.
Regarding claim 2, Fukuchi discloses the virtual object is shared in a form based on a type of the physical object corresponding to the virtual object (see figure 6 and paragraphs 0071-0072).
Regarding claim 3, Fukuchi discloses a virtual object generated based on image data on the physical object or text data obtained by performing character recognition on the image data is displayed within the virtual space (see paragraphs 0003, 0039, 0048 and also 0054).
Regarding claim 4, Fukuchi discloses the image data or the text data corresponding to the virtual object is posted to an account for a member with which a service having a message posting function is to be shared (see figures 4 and 6; and paragraphs 0063 and 0071).
Regarding claim 5, Fukuchi discloses the image data or the text data posted to the account for the member with which the service is to be shared is viewed through a screen for the service displayed within a virtual space projected in a field of view of the member (see figures 0039, 0058 and 0069).
Regarding claim 6, Fukuchi discloses a virtual object generated based on three-dimensional data on the physical object is stereoscopically displayed within the virtual space (see paragraphs 0058, 0074 and 0084).
Regarding claim 8, Fukuchi discloses the instructions further cause the head-mounted display device to issue an instruction to share the virtual object generated based on the captured data with one or more members participating in the virtual space (see figures 15 and 17 and paragraphs 0115-0116).
Regarding claim 9, Fukuchi discloses the instructions further cause the head-mounted display device to receive the captured data from another device (see figure 1A and paragraphs 0038, 0042 and 0044).
Regarding claim 10, Fukuchi discloses an image capturing device, wherein the image capturing device generates the captured data by capturing an image of the physical object (see paragraphs 0039 and 0044-0045).
Regarding claims 11-12, the limitation of claims 11-12 is found in claim 1. Therefore, claims 11-12 are analyzed and rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 1 above.
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HELEN SHIBRU whose telephone number is (571)272-7329. The examiner can normally be reached M-TR 8:00AM-5:00PM.
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/HELEN SHIBRU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2484 May 8, 2026
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