DETAILED ACTION
Applicant's Submission of a Response
Applicant’s submission of a response on 7/15/2026 has been received and fully considered. In the response, claims 1, 3, 4, and 6-9 have been amended; claim 2 has been canceled; and new claims 10-18have been added. Therefore, claims 1 and 3-18 are pending.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 4 and 7-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 10,031,594 to Albano (Fig. 2 show below for convenience, but entire reference is relevant as cited) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0239524 to Longman and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0117963 to Westerman.
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With regard to claim 1, Albano discloses controller apparatus that is connected to an information processing apparatus in a communicable manner (e.g., see at least Fig. 2 that shows a spherical controller/input device 200 connected via wireless communication 218 to an information processing apparatus 222; see also column 8, lines 25-31 for discussion of communication link 218 connecting input device 200 and computer system 222), the controller apparatus comprising: a main body (e.g., see Figs. 1 and 2 that shows a main body/outer sphere 120; see also column 7, lines 32-35) that is elastically deformable (e.g., see at least column 3, lines 9-11, “The outer sphere is compressible. The outer sphere may be made of a material that is deformable”, emphasis added by the Examiner; wherein the deformation creates a “flat shape”); a detection section that detects a user operation performed on the main body (e.g., see at least Fig. 2 that shows a microcontroller 202 with sensors, 106, 108, and 210); and an output section that outputs information indicating an operation detected by the detection section to the information processing apparatus (e.g., see at least Fig. 2 that shows a control module 208; see the paragraph bridging columns 7 and 8 that discusses control module 208 that interprets sensor data and references a gesture library; see also Figs. 3 and 4 that show determining a control gesture), wherein the information outputted by the output section is used in controlling the controller apparatus or the information processing apparatus (e.g., see at least Figs. 3 and 4 that show determining a control gesture 304/412).
[claim 3] wherein operations for use in controlling of the controller apparatus or the information gathering apparatus include an operation involving at least one type of elastic deformation of the main body detected by the detection section (e.g., see at least column 3, lines 9-11, “The outer sphere is compressible. The outer sphere may be made of a material that is deformable”, emphasis added by the Examiner);
[claim 4] wherein the operation is a predetermined operation pattern including at least one type of an operation detected by the detection means (e.g., see at least column 5, lines 20-27 for discussion of a detecting input patterns for outputting control gestures), and a plurality of operation patterns for the operation are determined, and, when a series of any operations among the plurality of determined operation patterns is performed (e.g., see at least column 5, lines 20-27 for discussion of a detecting input patterns for outputting control gestures);
In the same field of endeavor, Longman teaches the use of authenticating a pattern of inputs for device authentication to lock and unlock an input device (e.g., see at least paragraph 73 that discusses “the user 22 selects an unlocking security code having the same or different sequence of actions. Thus, any suitable sequence of actions will serve to lock and/or unlock the game controller device 34 for use”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current invention to modify Albano with authentication/unlocking process as taught by Longman in order to use a known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way. In this case, allowing a user a lock/unlock a gaming controller increases security of the computing device.
Albano fails to expressly disclose the use of capacitance sensors and estimating a pose of a user’s hand.
In the same field of endeavor, Westerman teaches an input device that includes capacitance sensors for estimating a pose of a user hand (e.g., see Fig. 4, touch sensor 424; see also paragraphs 52 and 53 for discussion of capacitance sensors and estimating a hand pose; each sensor grid node in considered a separate sensor)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current invention to modify Albano with capacitance sensors for estimating hand pose as taught by Longman in order to use a known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way. In this case, estimating hand pose is an additional input for increasing the input versatility of the input device.
Regarding the newly added claim 10, Albano discloses detecting deformation and Westerman teaches capacitance sensors, both discussed above.
Regarding the newly added claim 11, Albano discloses the device is a gamepad (e.g., see column 2, lines 64-65 gamepads are known to control game characters, including Pac-Man, Mario, Link, Sonic, and Master Chief).
Regarding the newly added claims 12-14, Longman discloses controlling a lock state of the controller as discussed above.
Regarding the newly added claims 15-18, Albano discloses X, Y, and Z direction sensors and deformation causing a “flat state” and Westerman teaches capacitance sensors that are touched, both discussed above.
Claims 7-9 are made obvious by the combination of Albano, Longman, and Westerman as set forth above for claims 1, 3, and 4, which are similar in claim scope.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Albano in view of Longman and Westerman as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 10,775,941 to Heath.
With regard to claims 5 and 6, Albano discloses all of recited elements (in combination with Longman) but is silent regarding triggering lights, audio, or vibrations.
In the same field of endeavor, Heath teaches a sensorized spherical input/output device that includes triggering lights and haptic/vibrations (e.g., see at least column 12, lines 6-17 for discussion of triggering “LED lights”; see also column 16, lines 32-51 for discussion of lights and haptic/vibration feedback).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current invention to modify Albano with trigger indicators including light and haptic feedback as taught by Heath in order to use a known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way. In this case, providing the user with a trigger indicator helps the user understand when a command has been received by the computing device.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 3-18 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES S MCCLELLAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7167. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (8:30AM-5:00PM).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kang Hu can be reached at 571-270-1344. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/James S. McClellan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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