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 .
Application Status
This office action is responsive to the amendments filed on 04/28/2026 (Foreign Priority Date: 02/08/2022; Priority Date: 02/06/2023).
Claims 1-18 are pending and presented for examination.
This action has been made FINAL.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 04/28/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant alleged the following: “Snoddy discloses a tool that allows a user to create personalized media from one or more images of the user. But Snoddy does not disclose that the personalized media includes a plurality of animations corresponding to the virtual object. In particular, Snoddy does not disclose that the textured 3D model of the user's head corresponds to a plurality of animations, let alone a plurality of animations, where each of the plurality of animations corresponds to a different emoji of the virtual object. Indeed, Snoddy is completely silent regarding different emojis of the textured 3D model of the user's head. For at least the foregoing reasons, Applicant submits that claim 1 is not anticipated by Snoddy. Accordingly, Applicant respectfully requests reconsideration and withdrawal of the 35 U.S.C. § 102 rejection to claim 1.” The examiner is not persuaded. Because "applicants may amend claims to narrow their scope, a broad construction during prosecution creates no unfairness to the applicant or patentee." In re ICON Health and Fitness, Inc., 496 F.3d 1374, 1379 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (citing In re Am. Acad. of Sci. Tech Ctr., 367 F.3d 1359, 1364 (Fed. Cir. 2004)). Moreover, the combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses the Applicant’s claim language. More specifically, Lee teachings of “In various embodiments, although not illustrated, when a user input related to an operation of an emoji is received in the emoji home screen, the processor may display, on the display, one animation among a plurality of animations stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 315 in FIG. 3A (or the emoji database 365 in FIG. 3B)) and related to the user input by applying the one animation to the emoji. For example, the plurality of animations stored in the memory (or the emoji database) and related to the user input may include an animation related to a designated operation corresponding to the user input and at least one animation downloaded from an external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 102 or 104 or the server 108 in FIG. 1) through wireless communication circuitry (e.g., the wireless communication circuitry 310 in FIG. 3A) and related to the user input” discloses the Applicant’s claim language of “wherein each of the plurality of animations corresponds to a different emoji of the virtual object.” MPEP § 2106 states Office personnel are to give claims their broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the supporting disclosure. In re Morris, 127 F.3d 1048, 1054-55, 44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027-28 (Fed Cir. 1997). Accordingly, the examiner maintains the rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Snoddy, US 8,730,231 in view of Lee, US 20210383588.
Claim 1:
Snoddy discloses an animation generation method (See Snoddy Abstract; Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-501; Column 2, Lines 45-602; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25).
Snoddy fails to disclose wherein each of the plurality of animations corresponds to a different emoji of the virtual object. However, Lee discloses this feature in Paragraph 00903. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified Snoddy by the teachings of Lee to enable improved generate an emoji that resembles a user, more effectively (See Lee Summary of Invention). In addition, both references teaches features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as generating animations/emojis. This close relation between both of the references highly suggests an expectation of success.
As modified:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses the following:
determining a material corresponding to at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-364; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48 —Examiner Note: See Paragraphs 0037 and 0046 of the Applicant’s specification5) of a virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25—Examiner Note: Snoddy’s teachings of “a human head model or avatar” is equivalent to the Applicant’s teachings of a “virtual object”6);
and in response to an animation generation operation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-507; Column 2, Lines 45-608; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating a plurality of animations (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-509; Column 2, Lines 45-6010; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-3611; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), wherein each of the plurality of animations corresponds to a different emoji of the virtual object (See Lee Paragraph 0090).
Claim 2:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses wherein the determining the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) of the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) comprises:
on a material selection interface (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) of the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), in response to a material selection operation (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) for the at least one object element of the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), determining the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48).
Claim 3:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses in response to an image generation operation for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating an image corresponding to the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), before the in response to the animation generation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) operation for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating the at least one animation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to the based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25),
wherein the material (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) corresponding to the at least one object element is displayed in the image (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25); wherein the in response to the animation generation operation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating the at least one animation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), comprises:
in response to the animation generation operation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) for the virtual object on a display page of the image (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating the at least one animation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48).
Claim 4:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses in response to a layer editing trigger operation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E, Item 1506-1508; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 27, Lines 64-67; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67) for a object element among the at least object element of the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), displaying a layer editing interface corresponding to the object element (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E, Item 1506-1508; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 27, Lines 64-67; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67);
determining a layer classification corresponding to the object element based on the layer editing interface (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E, Item 1506-1508; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 27, Lines 64-67; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67), wherein the layer classification corresponds to a display level identifier (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E, Item 1506-1508; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 27, Lines 64-67; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67), and the display level identifier represents a display level (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E, Item 1506-1508; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 27, Lines 64-67; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67) of the material of the object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) among the animation of the t virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25);
wherein the in response to the animation generation operation for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating the at least one animation corresponding to the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), comprises:
in response to the animation generation operation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating the at least one animation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) and the display level identifier (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E, Item 1506-1508; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 27, Lines 64-67; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67).
Claim 5:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses wherein the determining the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) of the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) comprises:
displaying a material display page (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to a object element among the at least one object element of the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), wherein at least one material (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) is displayed in the material display page (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25);
and in response to a selection operation for a material among the at least one material (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), determining the material as the material corresponding to the object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48).
Claim 6:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses wherein the in response to the selection operation for the material among the at least one material (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), determining the material as the material corresponding to the object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), comprises:
in response to the selection operation for the material among the at least one material (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), displaying a material editing page (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25);
and in response to an editing operation on the material editing page (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), editing the material (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) and determining the edited material (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) as the material corresponding to the object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48).
Claim 7:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses in response to a custom animation setting operation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 26, Lines 57-65; Column 30, Lines 19-30) for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), displaying a custom animation setting page (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 26, Lines 57-65; Column 30, Lines 19-30), after the determining the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) of the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), wherein the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48) of the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) is displayed on the custom animation setting page (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 26, Lines 57-65; Column 30, Lines 19-30);
and in response to a trigger operation for the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), acquiring motion (See Snoddy Column 23, Lines 45-55) or deformation information corresponding to the trigger operation (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48);
wherein the in response to the animation generation operation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating the at least one animation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), comprises:
in response to the animation generation operation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating the at least one animation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) according to the motion (See Snoddy Column 23, Lines 45-55) or deformation information, based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48).
Claim 8:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses wherein the motion information (See Snoddy Column 23, Lines 45-55) comprises starting position information and ending position information (See Snoddy Column 30, Lines 4-20) of the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48).
Claim 9:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses displaying a preview (See Snoddy Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 30, Limes 18-30 – Examiner Notes: The users are able to view (i.e. preview) the image prior to the “Saving the File” in Figures 21 and 22) effect of the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48).Claim 10:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses wherein the in response to an animation generation operation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating the at least one animation corresponding to the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48), comprises: in response to the animation generation operation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) for the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), generating the at least one animation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to the virtual object according to a specified generation mode (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25), based on the material corresponding to the at least one object element (See Snoddy Column 2, Lines 25-36; Column 10, Lines 1-15; Column 18, Lines 34-48).
Claim 11:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses receiving at least one material uploaded or shot for the at least one object element of the virtual object (See Column 10, Lines 1-5).
Claim 12:
The combination of Snoddy and Lee discloses at least one of:
in response to a zoom-in operation for the at least one animation corresponding to the virtual object, displaying the at least one animation corresponding to the virtual object in a zoom-in manner;
in response to a share operation for the at least one animation corresponding to the virtual object, sharing the at least one animation corresponding to the virtual object; or
in response to a save operation for the at least one animation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to the virtual object, saving the at least one animation (See Snoddy Figure 15A-E; Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 1, lines 45-50; Column 2, Lines 45-60; Column 4, Lines 1-65; Column 28, Lines 4-15; Column 28, Lines 60-67; Column 38, Lines 20-25) corresponding to the virtual object (See Snoddy Figure 21; Figure 22; Column 30, Limes 18-30).
Claims 13-16:
Claims 13-16 are rejected on the same basis as claims 1-3.
Claims 14-18:
Claims 14-18 are rejected on the same basis as claims 1-3.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent No.: 10872452 & US Patent No.: 11270489 discloses an expression animation generation method performed at a computing device. The method includes: obtaining an object model of a target virtual object; obtain an object control model matching the target virtual object by adapting the obtained object model to a target skeleton, the object control model comprising a plurality of control vertices and a plurality of control skeletons; obtaining an adjustment instruction for the target virtual object; identifying a target control vertex and associated target control skeletons to be adjusted in the object control model according to the adjustment instruction; adjusting the identified target control vertex and the associated target control skeletons in the object control model according to respective control weights of the associated target control skeletons, to obtain an expression frame image of the target virtual object; and generating an expression animation of the target virtual object by using the expression frame image.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/SHEREE N BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612 May 11, 2026
1 Column 1, lines 45-50 of Snoddy discloses “three-dimensional (3D) image animation systems and methods, and more particularly, to systems and methods for personalization of background media content.”
2 Column 2, Lines 45-60 of Snoddy discloses “the display of the 3D head model data can occur as video or moving images and can further include animation. Animation of video data can include portrayal of such events as turning or tilting of the head, speaking, blinking, and/or different facial expressions.”
3 Paragraph 0090 of Lee recites the following: “In various embodiments, although not illustrated, when a user input related to an operation of an emoji is received in the emoji home screen, the processor may display, on the display, one animation among a plurality of animations stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 315 in FIG. 3A (or the emoji database 365 in FIG. 3B)) and related to the user input by applying the one animation to the emoji. For example, the plurality of animations stored in the memory (or the emoji database) and related to the user input may include an animation related to a designated operation corresponding to the user input and at least one animation downloaded from an external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 102 or 104 or the server 108 in FIG. 1) through wireless communication circuitry (e.g., the wireless communication circuitry 310 in FIG. 3A) and related to the user input.”
4 Column 2, Lines 25-36 of Snoddy recites “produces an individualized 3D head model that can be further customized with hair, headwear, eyewear, and/or other accessories.”
5 Paragraph 0037 of the Applicant’s specification defines object elements such as hair style, clothes, nose. Paragraph 0046 of the Applicant’s specification defines an object element as hair or clothes.
6 Paragraph 0039 of the Applicant’s specification recites “when the user clicks the save control in Fig. 2, an image generation operation for the virtual object may be triggered”. Therefore, the examiner interprets a “virtual object” as being the same as an “human head model or avatar”, which is taught by the prior art reference, Snoddy.
7 Column 1, lines 45-50 of Snoddy discloses “three-dimensional (3D) image animation systems and methods, and more particularly, to systems and methods for personalization of background media content.”
8 Column 2, Lines 45-60 of Snoddy discloses “the display of the 3D head model data can occur as video or moving images and can further include animation. Animation of video data can include portrayal of such events as turning or tilting of the head, speaking, blinking, and/or different facial expressions.”
9 Column 1, lines 45-50 of Snoddy discloses “three-dimensional (3D) image animation systems and methods, and more particularly, to systems and methods for personalization of background media content.”
10 Column 2, Lines 45-60 of Snoddy discloses “the display of the 3D head model data can occur as video or moving images and can further include animation. Animation of video data can include portrayal of such events as turning or tilting of the head, speaking, blinking, and/or different facial expressions.”
11 Column 2, Lines 25-36 of Snoddy recites “produces an individualized 3D head model that can be further customized with hair, headwear, eyewear, and/or other accessories.”
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