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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I (claims 1-6 and 16-20) in the reply filed on 14 July 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the Applicant submits that searching all of the claims of the present application would not place a serious burden on the Examiner as it is not clear how searching for one would not also result in searching for the other. This is not found persuasive because Groups I and II are related as subcombinations that are usable together in a single combination. However, each subcombination is distinct because they do not overlap in scope and are not obvious variants, and at least one subcombination is separately usable. Since the scope of the claims do not overlap, they require two separate searches and each search would not result in searching for the other. Group I is directed towards a method of signaling a haptic java script object notation (JSON) interchange file format (HJIF) file using time-triggered spatial haptic effects and Group II is directed towards a method of signaling a haptic java script object notation (JSON) interchange file format (HJIF) file using data hierarchy. Therefore, the inventions as described above in Groups I and II do not relate to a single general inventive concept because they lack the same or corresponding special technical features.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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, 3, 4, 16, 18, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asfour et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0278903) in view of Galvane et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2025/0036203).
Regarding claim 1, Asfour et al. discloses a method of signaling a haptic file (abstract – the haptic effects are encoded as a haptic effect pattern that identifies a start time and a duration for each of the haptic effects; paragraph [0042] – .hapt files (a haptic file type from Immersion Corp.)), the method comprising: processing the file (paragraph [0033] – a processor 212 converts or encodes haptic stream 218 into a haptic effect pattern 219 by analyzing the sampled values or waveforms of media stream 211 – in particular, haptic effect pattern 219 is used to identify the start time and duration of each haptic effect; paragraph [0042] - .hapt files; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects), wherein the file comprises a plurality of time-triggered spatial haptic effects (Figs. 4A-4C; paragraph [0033] - a processor 212 converts or encodes haptic stream 218 into a haptic effect pattern 219 by analyzing the sampled values or waveforms of media stream 211 – in particular, haptic effect pattern 219 is used to identify the start time and duration of each haptic effect; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0048] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device), wherein at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect from the plurality of special haptic effects varies along a spatial axis (Fig. 4B – the time-triggered haptic effects vary along the time axis as shown; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0046] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device; paragraph [0047] – Fig. 4B illustrates a haptic effect timeline 420 of the haptic effects rendered according to haptic effect pattern 410 – in other words, the haptic effect timeline 420 visually represents haptic effect pattern 410 which is depicted in Fig. 4A; paragraph [0048]), wherein the at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect is associated with a first parameter defining a trigger time (Figs. 4A and 4B – the time-triggered haptic effect is associated with a time and duration field (first parameter defining a trigger time); paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0048] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device), and wherein a renderer is configured to render at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect in accordance with the trigger time (Fig. 1; Figs. 4A and 4B; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0046] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device; paragraph [0047] – Fig. 4B illustrates a haptic effect timeline 420 of the haptic effects rendered according to haptic effect pattern 410 – in other words, the haptic effect timeline 420 visually represents haptic effect pattern 410 which is depicted in Fig. 4A; paragraph [0048]). However, Asfour et al. fails to disclose a haptic java script object notation (JSON) interchange file format (HJIF) file; and processing the HJIF file into a binary file format for distribution in a bitstream.
Referring to the Galvane et al. reference, Galvane et al. discloses a method, comprising: a haptic java script object notation (JSON) interchange file format (HJIF) file (paragraph [0008] – a new haptic file format is being defined within the MPEG standardization group and relates to a coded representation for haptics – the Reference Model of this format is not yet released but is referenced herein as RM0 – with this reference model, the encoded haptic description file can be exported either as a JSON interchange format (for example a .gmpg file) that is human readable or as a compressed binary distribution format (for example a .mpg) that is particularly adapted for transmission towards rendering devices; paragraph [0048] – the interchange file 204 is then generated in step 220, in compliance with the data format according to one of the embodiments described herein (here, the Haptics JSON interchange format is a .hjif format) - an adaption process 225 may also be performed considering the target device specifications 209 and more particularly to the haptic rendering capabilities of the target device - this will generate an interchange file or distribution file adapted to the target device); and processing the HJIF file into a binary file format for distribution in a bitstream (paragraph [0008] – a new haptic file format is being defined within the MPEG standardization group and relates to a coded representation for haptics – the Reference Model of this format is not yet released but is referenced herein as RM0 – with this reference model, the encoded haptic description file can be exported either as a JSON interchange format (for example a .gmpg file) that is human readable or as a compressed binary distribution format (for example a .mpg) that is particularly adapted for transmission towards rendering devices; paragraph [0048] – the interchange file 204 is then generated in step 220, in compliance with the data format according to one of the embodiments described herein (here, the Haptics JSON interchange format is a .hjif format) - an adaption process 225 may also be performed considering the target device specifications 209 and more particularly to the haptic rendering capabilities of the target device - this will generate an interchange file or distribution file adapted to the target device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used a haptic java script object notation (JSON) interchange file format (HJIF) file and processed the HJIF file into a binary file format for distribution in a bitstream as disclosed by Galvane et al. in the method disclosed by Asfour et al. in order to create a transmission-friendly form, thereby making the file more compact.
Regarding claim 3, Asfour et al. in view of Galvane et al. discloses all of the limitations as previously discussed with respect to claim 1 including that wherein the trigger time is an offset from a playback start time (Asfour et al.: paragraph [0033] - Figs. 4A-4C; paragraph [0033] - a processor 212 converts or encodes haptic stream 218 into a haptic effect pattern 219 by analyzing the sampled values or waveforms of media stream 211 – in particular, haptic effect pattern 219 is used to identify the start time and duration of each haptic effect – for example, if haptic effect pattern 219 corresponds to a media stream 211 having a duration 10 seconds, and includes a haptic effect that starts at a time of 9 seconds with a duration of 1 second, then processor 212 may begin to process and render the haptic effect at the start time of the haptic effect, that is 9 seconds, and during the haptic effect duration, which is 1 second; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0048] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device).
Regarding claim 4, Asfour et al. in view of Galvane et al. discloses all of the limitations as previously discussed with respect to claim 1 including that wherein the trigger time is a time interval indicating a duration of the at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect (Asfour et al.: paragraph [0033] - Figs. 4A-4C; paragraph [0033] - a processor 212 converts or encodes haptic stream 218 into a haptic effect pattern 219 by analyzing the sampled values or waveforms of media stream 211 – in particular, haptic effect pattern 219 is used to identify the start time and duration of each haptic effect – for example, if haptic effect pattern 219 corresponds to a media stream 211 having a duration 10 seconds, and includes a haptic effect that starts at a time of 9 seconds with a duration of 1 second, then processor 212 may begin to process and render the haptic effect at the start time of the haptic effect, that is 9 seconds, and during the haptic effect duration, which is 1 second; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0048] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device).
Regarding claim 16, Asfour et al. discloses a method of decoding a haptic file (abstract – the haptic effects are encoded as a haptic effect pattern that identifies a start time and a duration for each of the haptic effects; paragraph [0042] – .hapt files (a haptic file type from Immersion Corp.)), the method comprising: receiving a bitstream (paragraph [0033] – a processor 212 converts or encodes haptic stream 218 into a haptic effect pattern 219 by analyzing the sampled values or waveforms of media stream 211 – in particular, haptic effect pattern 219 is used to identify the start time and duration of each haptic effect; paragraph [0042] - .hapt files; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects); decoding the bitstream to extract the haptic file (Fig. 1; Figs. 4A and 4B; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0046] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device; paragraph [0047] – Fig. 4B illustrates a haptic effect timeline 420 of the haptic effects rendered according to haptic effect pattern 410 – in other words, the haptic effect timeline 420 visually represents haptic effect pattern 410 which is depicted in Fig. 4A; paragraph [0048]); and rendering a plurality of time-triggered spatial haptic effects included in the haptic file (Fig. 1; Figs. 4A and 4B; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0046] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device; paragraph [0047] – Fig. 4B illustrates a haptic effect timeline 420 of the haptic effects rendered according to haptic effect pattern 410 – in other words, the haptic effect timeline 420 visually represents haptic effect pattern 410 which is depicted in Fig. 4A; paragraph [0048]), wherein at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect from the plurality of special haptic effects varies along a spatial axis (Fig. 4B – the time-triggered haptic effects vary along the time axis as shown; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0046] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device; paragraph [0047] – Fig. 4B illustrates a haptic effect timeline 420 of the haptic effects rendered according to haptic effect pattern 410 – in other words, the haptic effect timeline 420 visually represents haptic effect pattern 410 which is depicted in Fig. 4A; paragraph [0048]), wherein the at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect is associated with a first parameter defining a trigger time (Figs. 4A and 4B – the time-triggered haptic effect is associated with a time and duration field (first parameter defining a trigger time); paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0048] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device), and wherein the at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect is rendered in accordance with the trigger time (Fig. 1; Figs. 4A and 4B; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0046] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device; paragraph [0047] – Fig. 4B illustrates a haptic effect timeline 420 of the haptic effects rendered according to haptic effect pattern 410 – in other words, the haptic effect timeline 420 visually represents haptic effect pattern 410 which is depicted in Fig. 4A; paragraph [0048]). However, Asfour et al. fails to disclose a haptic java script object notation (JSON) interchange file format (HJIF) file.
Referring to the Galvane et al. reference, Galvane et al. discloses a method, comprising: a haptic java script object notation (JSON) interchange file format (HJIF) file (paragraph [0008] – a new haptic file format is being defined within the MPEG standardization group and relates to a coded representation for haptics – the Reference Model of this format is not yet released but is referenced herein as RM0 – with this reference model, the encoded haptic description file can be exported either as a JSON interchange format (for example a .gmpg file) that is human readable or as a compressed binary distribution format (for example a .mpg) that is particularly adapted for transmission towards rendering devices; paragraph [0048] – the interchange file 204 is then generated in step 220, in compliance with the data format according to one of the embodiments described herein (here, the Haptics JSON interchange format is a .hjif format) - an adaption process 225 may also be performed considering the target device specifications 209 and more particularly to the haptic rendering capabilities of the target device - this will generate an interchange file or distribution file adapted to the target device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used a haptic java script object notation (JSON) interchange file format (HJIF) file as disclosed by Galvane et al. in the method disclosed by Asfour et al. in order to create a transmission-friendly form, thereby making the file more compact.
Regarding claim 18, Asfour et al. in view of Galvane et al. discloses all of the limitations as previously discussed with respect to claim 16 including that wherein the trigger time is an offset from a playback start time (Asfour et al.: paragraph [0033] - Figs. 4A-4C; paragraph [0033] - a processor 212 converts or encodes haptic stream 218 into a haptic effect pattern 219 by analyzing the sampled values or waveforms of media stream 211 – in particular, haptic effect pattern 219 is used to identify the start time and duration of each haptic effect – for example, if haptic effect pattern 219 corresponds to a media stream 211 having a duration 10 seconds, and includes a haptic effect that starts at a time of 9 seconds with a duration of 1 second, then processor 212 may begin to process and render the haptic effect at the start time of the haptic effect, that is 9 seconds, and during the haptic effect duration, which is 1 second; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0048] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device).
Regarding claim 19, Asfour et al. in view of Galvane et al. discloses all of the limitations as previously discussed with respect to claim 16 including that wherein the trigger time is a time interval indicating a duration of the at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect (Asfour et al.: paragraph [0033] - Figs. 4A-4C; paragraph [0033] - a processor 212 converts or encodes haptic stream 218 into a haptic effect pattern 219 by analyzing the sampled values or waveforms of media stream 211 – in particular, haptic effect pattern 219 is used to identify the start time and duration of each haptic effect – for example, if haptic effect pattern 219 corresponds to a media stream 211 having a duration 10 seconds, and includes a haptic effect that starts at a time of 9 seconds with a duration of 1 second, then processor 212 may begin to process and render the haptic effect at the start time of the haptic effect, that is 9 seconds, and during the haptic effect duration, which is 1 second; paragraph [0043] – at 360, functionality 300 renders the haptic effects according to the haptic effect pattern – once the haptic effect pattern is encoded in the hapt file, it may be used to render haptic effects – using the haptic pattern, the haptic effects are rendered by scheduling events to occur at the assigned start times of the haptic effects – once the haptic effects are triggered, the haptic effect pattern is used to render the haptic effects; paragraphs [0044]-[0048] – Figs. 4A-4C illustrate a haptic effect pattern 410, 430 and a haptic effect timeline 420 according to the example embodiments of the present invention – as shown in Fig. 4A, example haptic effect pattern 410 includes a list of haptic effects 411A-D, and a plurality of corresponding fields for each haptic effect including time field 412, duration field 413, and pattern field 414 – haptic effects 411A-D may be stored in a list that is sorted by start time (e.g., start times 0, 340, 610, and 9100), as indicated within time field 412 – optional duration field 413 indicates the total duration of the pattern stored within corresponding pattern field 414 – duration field 413 may be used to more readily provide more advanced or dynamic haptic effects, such as ramp-up, ramp down, and spatial haptic effects – pattern field 414 includes the duration times for alternating actuator OFF and actuator ON time periods – when each haptic effect 411A-D is triggered, the corresponding pattern field 414 is rendered at the target haptic output device).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5, 6, 17, and 20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Prior art, alone or in combination, fails to teach or fairly suggest, in combination with the other elements claimed:
wherein the at least one time triggered spatial effect is associated with a second parameter that indicates a distance from an origin for spatial perception of the at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect (dependent claim 2, which depends from claim 1).
wherein the plurality of time-triggered spatial haptic effects comprise another time-triggered spatial haptic effect that is rendered at a same position as the at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect (dependent claim 5, which depends from claim 1; claim 6 depends from claim 5).
wherein the at least one time triggered spatial effect is associated with a second parameter that indicates a distance from an origin for spatial perception of the at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect (dependent claim 17, which depends from claim 16).
wherein the plurality of time-triggered spatial haptic effects comprise another time-triggered spatial haptic effect that is rendered at a same position as the at least one time-triggered spatial haptic effect (dependent claim 20, which depends from claim 16).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cruz Hernandez et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0094975) discloses spatial haptic effects varies along a spatial axis (dynamic position based haptic effects (spatial haptic effects) varies by a position change (spatial axis)) (paragraphs [0079], [0113], and [0114]).
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/HEATHER R JONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481
September 3, 2026
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