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 .
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Paragraph [0001], line 2, --now US Patent No. 12,124,658 issued on October 22-2022,-- should be inserted after “filed 22 November 2022,”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 22-31, 33-38 and 40-44 are objected to because of the following informalities: Line 1, “A” should be changed to --The--. Appropriate correction is required.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claims 21-44 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-5, 8, 12-17 and 20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,124,658. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because they can be interpreted to describe substantially identical, very similar claimed limitations, or being obvious which are shown below:
Instant application 18/826,836
U.S. Patent No. 12,124,658
Claim 21: A system for receiving input to control an apparatus, the system comprising: a display for displaying video content based on display signals; one or more capacitive sensors which are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by a human body part in proximity to a user-facing side of the display;
a controller connected to receive one or more capacitive sensor signals from the one or more capacitive sensors to generate a control signal based on the one or more capacitive sensor signals, the controller connectable to the apparatus to provide the control signal as an input to a control system of the apparatus and to thereby cause the control system of the apparatus to operate the apparatus based on the control signal;
wherein at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors is located on a user-facing side of the display, the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors fabricated from transparent conductive material, so that the human user can see the display through the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors.
Claim 1: A retrofit interface apparatus for interfacing with a target device to provide the target device with touchless user input, the apparatus comprising: a touchless sensing system comprising one or more sensors responsive to touchless input made by a human user and for generating one or more corresponding sensor input signals;
a controller connected to receive the one or more sensor input signals from the touchless sensing system and configured to generate, based on the one or more sensor input signals, a corresponding control signal; the controller connectable to the target device to bypass a touch-based input of the target device and to provide the control signal as an input to an existing control system of the target device to thereby cause the control system of the target device to operate the target device based on the control signal;
wherein the touchless sensing system comprises one or more capacitive sensors which are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by a human body part in proximity to the one or more capacitive sensors;
and wherein at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors is located on a user-facing side of a display of the target device, the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors fabricated from transparent conductive material, so that the human user can see the display of the target device through the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors.
With regard to claim 22, it would have been obvious that wherein at least a portion of the one or more capacitive sensors of the instant application 18/826,836 can be located around a perimeter of the display and are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by a human body part in proximity to a user-facing side of the display in a middle of the perimeter as well.
Claims 23-27 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 2-5 and 8 of U.S. Patent No. 12,124,658, respectively, because they are substantially identical.
With regard to claim 28, it would have been obvious that wherein the controller of the instant application 18/826,836 can be configured, based on the one or more sensor input signals, to estimate a line-of-sight vector of the human user as well.
With regard to claim 29, it would have been obvious that wherein the controller of the instant application 18/826,836 can be configured, based on the one or more sensor input signals, to estimate a position of a portion of a hand of the user and wherein the controller is configured to generate the control signal based at least in part on a combination of the estimated line-of-sight vector and the estimated position of the portion of the hand of the user as well.
With regard to claim 30, it would have been obvious that wherein the controller of the instant application 18/826,836 can be configured to generate a display signal, which causes the display to skew an image displayed by the display based on the estimated line of sight vector as well.
With regard to claim 31, it would have been obvious that the system of the instant application 18/826,836 can be implemented a layer of non-conductive material located to cover a user-facing side of the one or more capacitive sensors as well in order to provide a protection layer for the user-facing side of the one or more capacitive sensors.
Instant application 18/826,836
U.S. Patent No. 12,124,658
Claim 32: A system for receiving input for controlling an apparatus comprising a display, the system comprising: one or more sensors responsive to touchless input made by a human user and for generating one or more corresponding sensor input signals; and,
a controller connected to receive the one or more sensor input signals from the one or more sensors and configured to generate, based on the one or more sensor input signals, a corresponding control signal; the controller connectable to the apparatus to provide the control signal as an input to a control system of the apparatus to thereby cause the control system of the apparatus to operate the apparatus based on the control signal;
wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more capacitive sensors which are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by a human body part in proximity to the one or more capacitive sensors;
wherein at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors is located on a user-facing side of the display, the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors fabricated from transparent conductive material, so that the human user can see the display through the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors.
Claim 1: A retrofit interface apparatus for interfacing with a target device to provide the target device with touchless user input, the apparatus comprising: a touchless sensing system comprising one or more sensors responsive to touchless input made by a human user and for generating one or more corresponding sensor input signals;
a controller connected to receive the one or more sensor input signals from the touchless sensing system and configured to generate, based on the one or more sensor input signals, a corresponding control signal; the controller connectable to the target device to bypass a touch-based input of the target device and to provide the control signal as an input to an existing control system of the target device to thereby cause the control system of the target device to operate the target device based on the control signal;
wherein the touchless sensing system comprises one or more capacitive sensors which are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by a human body part in proximity to the one or more capacitive sensors;
and wherein at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors is located on a user-facing side of a display of the target device, the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors fabricated from transparent conductive material, so that the human user can see the display of the target device through the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors.
Instant application 18/826,836
U.S. Patent No. 12,124,658
Claim 32: A system for receiving input for controlling an apparatus comprising a display, the system comprising: one or more sensors responsive to touchless input made by a human user and for generating one or more corresponding sensor input signals; and,
a controller connected to receive the one or more sensor input signals from the one or more sensors and configured to generate, based on the one or more sensor input signals, a corresponding control signal; the controller connectable to the apparatus to provide the control signal as an input to a control system of the apparatus to thereby cause the control system of the apparatus to operate the apparatus based on the control signal;
wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more capacitive sensors which are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by a human body part in proximity to the one or more capacitive sensors;
wherein at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors is located on a user-facing side of the display, the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors fabricated from transparent conductive material, so that the human user can see the display through the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors.
Claim 20: A method for interfacing with a target device to provide the target device with touchless user input, the method comprising: detecting a touch-free input corresponding to a gesture made by a human user and generating one or more corresponding input signals in response thereto;
providing a controller connected to receive the one or more input signals and generating, by the controller and based on the one or more input signals, a corresponding control signal; and connecting the controller to the target device to bypass a touch-based input of the target device and to provide the control signal as an input to an existing control system of the target device to thereby cause the control system of the target device to operate the target device based on the control signal;
wherein detecting the touch-free input comprises mounting a touchless sensing system comprising one or more sensors responsive to touchless input; wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more capacitive sensors which are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by a human body part in proximity to the one or more capacitive sensors and the one or more capacitive sensors generating one or more corresponding capacitive sensor signals which form at least part of the input signals;
wherein at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors is located on a user-facing side of a display of the target device, the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors fabricated from transparent conductive material, so that the human user can see the display of the target device through the at least one electrode of each of the one or more capacitive sensors.
Claims 33 and 36-38 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 8 and 2-4 of U.S. Patent No. 12,124,658, respectively, because they are substantially identical.
With regard to claim 34, it would have been obvious that wherein the controller of the instant application 18/826,836 can be configured, based on the one or more sensor input signals, to estimate a line-of-sight vector of the human user as well.
With regard to claim 35, it would have been obvious that wherein the controller of the instant application 18/826,836 can be configured, based on the one or more sensor input signals, to estimate a position of a portion of a hand of the user and wherein the controller is configured to generate the control signal based at least in part on a combination of the estimated line-of-sight vector and the estimated position of the portion of the hand of the user and wherein the controller is configured to generate a display signal, which causes the display to skew an image displayed by the display based on the estimated line of sight vector.
Instant application 18/826,836
U.S. Patent No. 12,124,658
Claim 39: A system for receiving input to control an apparatus comprising a display, the system comprising: one or more sensors responsive to touchless input made by a human user and for generating one or more corresponding sensor input signals;
a controller connected to receive the one or more sensor input signals from the one or more sensors and configured to generate, based on the one or more sensor input signals, a corresponding control signal; the controller connectable to the apparatus to provide the control signal as an input to a control system of the apparatus to thereby cause the control system of the apparatus to operate the apparatus based on the control signal;
wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more capacitive sensors which are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by a human body part in proximity to the one or more capacitive sensors and the one or more capacitive sensors generate one or more corresponding capacitive sensor signals which form at least part of the sensor input signals; and
wherein at least a portion of the one or more capacitive sensors are located around a perimeter of the display of the apparatus and are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by the human body part in proximity to a user facing side of the display in a middle of the perimeter.
Claim 12: A retrofit interface apparatus for interfacing with a target device to provide the target device with touchless user input, the apparatus comprising: a touchless sensing system comprising one or more sensors responsive to touchless input made by a human user and for generating one or more corresponding sensor input signals;
a controller connected to receive the one or more sensor input signals from the touchless sensing system and configured to generate, based on the one or more sensor input signals, a corresponding control signal; the controller connectable to the target device to bypass a touch-based input of the target device and to provide the control signal as an input to an existing control system of the target device to thereby cause the control system of the target device to operate the target device based on the control signal;
wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more capacitive sensors which are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by a human body part in proximity to the one or more capacitive sensors and the one or more capacitive sensors generate one or more corresponding capacitive sensor signals which form at least part of the sensor input signals; and
wherein at least a portion of the one or more capacitive sensors are located around a perimeter of a display of the target device and are sensitive to disturbances in their electric fields caused by the human body part in proximity to a user-facing side of the display in a middle of the perimeter.
Claims 40-44 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 13-17 of U.S. Patent No. 12,124,658, respectively, because they are substantially identical.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAI L NGUYEN whose telephone number is 571-272-1747. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 09:00am to 06:00pm Eastern time.
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/HAI L NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2842 February 18, 2026