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 07/09/2026.
Claims 1-8, 17, 18 and 20-29 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 07/09/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant alleged the following: “Liu does not disclose anything that happens during a process of playing the animation.” The examiner is not persuaded. Liu discloses the Applicant’s claim language. More specifically, Liu recites “a play button on the animation display interface, and the user can play the animation by clicking the play button” in Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 0115, in which, correlates to the Applicant’s claim language of “a process of playing the animation”. Accordingly, the examiner maintains the rejection.
The Applicant alleged the following: “Liu does not disclose identifying at least one image frame from a plurality of image frames during a process of playing the animation.” The examiner is not persuaded. The examiner asserts, Liu discloses the Applicant’s claim language. Liu Paragraph 0071 recites “the number of keyframes,” in which correlates to the Applicant’s claim lanague of “identifying at least one image frame from a plurality of image frames.” Moreover, Liu recites “a play button on the animation display interface, and the user can play the animation by clicking the play button” in Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 0115, in which, correlates to the Applicant’s claim language. Accordingly, the examiner maintains the rejection.
The Applicant alleged the following: “Liu also does not disclose displaying an effect during the process of playing the animation by controlling the at least one image frame to play based on a preset shooting parameter that is configured to control the at least one image frame to move according to a certain motion trajectory. As much, Liu does not meet what Applicant claims.” The examiner is not persuaded. Liu discloses the Applicant’s claim language. More specifically, Liu recites “a play button on the animation display interface, and the user can play the animation by clicking the play button” in Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 0115, in which, correlates to the Applicant’s claim language of “a process of playing the animation”. Liu goes on to disclose in Paragraph 0071 “the number of keyframes,” in which, correlates to the Applicant’s claim lanague of “identifying at least one image frame from a plurality of image frames.” Moreover, Liu recites “a play button on the animation display interface, and the user can play the animation by clicking the play button” in Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 0115, in which, correlates to the Applicant’s claim language. Further, Liu discloses the Applicant’s claim language of “wherein the preset shooting parameter is configured to control the at least one effect image frame to move according to a certain motion trajectory” in Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 0115. 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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8, 17, 18 and 20-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu, US 20200349753.
Claim 1:
Liu discloses an animation effect generation method (See Liu Abstract; Figures 1-14; Paragraphs 0002; 0003-0015), comprising:
acquiring an image frame file of a target object and a configuration file (See Figure 1; Item S11; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-00691), wherein the image frame file comprises a plurality of image frames (See Liu Paragraph 00712) and a play time of each of the image frames (See Paragraphs 0063-00693);
generating an animation file (See Figure 1; Item S13; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-0069; 0126-01274) based on the plurality of image frames (See Liu Paragraph 00715), the play time of each of the image frames and the configuration file (See Paragraphs 0063-00696)
playing the animation file (See Figure 1; Item S13; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-0069);
identifying at least one effect image frame from the plurality of image frames in a process of playing the animation file (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 01157);
displaying an effect in the process of playing the animation file (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 0115) by controlling the at least one effect image frame to play (See Liu Paragraphs 0042; 0044; 01298) based on a preset shooting parameter (See Liu Paragraph 01499) wherein the preset shooting parameter is configured to control the at least one effect image frame to move (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 0115) according to a certain motion trajectory (See Liu Paragraphs 0111).
Claim 2:
Liu discloses wherein the identifying the at least one effect image frame (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 011510) in the process of playing the animation file (See Liu Paragraph 012911) comprises:
in the process of playing the animation file (See Liu Paragraph 012912), acquiring a currently playing image frame of the animation file in response to receiving an effect input operation (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 011513);
matching the currently playing image frame with the plurality of image frames to obtain a key image frame (See Liu Paragraphs 0011; 0043-0044; 0109; 015214);
and determining the at least one effect image frame(s) from the plurality of image frames (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 011515) based on the key image frame (See Liu Paragraphs 0011; 0043-0044; 0109; 015216) and a preset number of image frames (See Liu Paragraph 007117).
Claim 3:
Liu discloses wherein the identifying the at least one effect image frame (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 011518) in the process of playing the animation file (See Liu Paragraph 012919) comprises:
in the process of playing the animation file (See Liu Paragraph 012920), in response to detecting a matching image frame satisfying a preset effect condition (See Liu Paragraphs 0011; 0043-0044; 0109; 015221), determining the at least one effect image frame(s) from the plurality of image frames based on the matching image frame (See Liu Paragraphs 0011; 0043-0044; 0109; 015222) and a preset number of image frames (See Liu Paragraph 007123).
Claim 4:
Liu discloses wherein acquiring the image frame file of the target object (See Figure 1; Item S11; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-006924) comprises: collecting a plurality of color images in a scene (See Liu Paragraphs 0003; 0043) where the target object moves based on a preset motion trajectory (See Liu Paragraphs 0062-0065), and depth image(s) (See Liu Paragraphs 0105-0107) and transparency image(s) corresponding to at least part of the color images (See Liu Paragraph 0066); determining playing times of the color images (See Paragraphs 0063-006925); and generating the image frame file according to the plurality of color images (See Liu Paragraphs 0003; 0043), the depth image(s) and the transparency image(s) corresponding to the at least part of the color images (See Liu Paragraph 0066), and the playing times of the color images (See Paragraphs 0063-006926).
Claim 5:
Liu discloses wherein the generating the image frame file according to the plurality of color images (See Figure 1; Item S11; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-006927), the depth image(s) and the transparency image(s) corresponding to the at least part of the color images (See Liu Paragraph 0066), and the playing times of the color images (See Paragraphs 0063-006928) comprises: encoding each of the color images (See Liu Paragraph 0047), a depth image and a transparency image corresponding to each of the at least part of the color images respectively (See Liu Paragraph 0066), and the playing times of the color images (See Paragraphs 0063-006929) to obtain an encoded file (See Liu Paragraph 0047); and decoding the encoded file to obtain the image frame file (See Liu Paragraph 0047).
Claim 6:
Liu discloses wherein the configuration file (See Figure 1; Item S11; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-006930) comprises a background image frame (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0400), and the generating the animation file based on the plurality of image frames (See Figure 1; Item S13; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-0069; 0126-012731), the playing timesplay time of each of the image frames (See Paragraphs 0063-006932) and the configuration file (See Figure 1; Item S11; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-006933) and playing the animation file (See Figure 1; Item S13; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-0069; 0126-012734) comprises:
taking the plurality of image frames (See Liu Paragraphs 0003; 0043) as foreground image frames (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0400), and fusing the foreground image frames with the background image to obtain animation image frames (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0400);
and generating the animation file (See Figure 1; Item S13; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-0069; 0126-012735) based on the playing timeplay time of each of the image frames (See Paragraphs 0063-006936) and the animation image frames and playing the animation file (See Figure 1; Item S13; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-0069; 0126-012737).
Claim 7:
Liu discloses wherein:
the animation effect generation (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 011538) method further comprises receiving a configuration update request comprising a new configuration file (See Figure 1; Item S11; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-006939);
and the generating the animation file based on the plurality of image frames (See Figure 1; Item S13; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-0069; 0126-012740), the playing times play time of each of the image frames (See Paragraphs 0063-006941) and the configuration file and playing the animation file (See Figure 1; Item S13; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-0069; 0126-012742) comprises:
generating a new animation file based on the new configuration file (See Figure 1; Item S13; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-0069; 0126-0127; 015743), the playing timesplay time of each of the image frames (See Paragraphs 0063-006944) and the image frame file and playing the new animation file (See Figure 1; Item S13; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-0069; 0126-0127; 015745).
Claim 8:
Liu discloses wherein the configuration file comprises an audio file (See Liu Paragraph 0059-0060), and the animation effect generation (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 011546) method further comprises:
detecting whether a currently playing image frame (See Figure 1; Item S11; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-006947) is consistent with corresponds to a preset audio time point (See Paragraphs 0063-006948) after the controlling the at least one effect image frame to play (See Liu Paragraphs 0045; 0047; 0111; 011549) based on the preset shooting parameter (See Liu Paragraph 014950);
acquiring a target audio point (See Liu Paragraph 0059-0060) corresponding to the currently playing image frame (See Figure 1; Item S11; Paragraphs 0050-0056; 0066-006951) in response to the currently playing image frame being not consistent with not corresponding to the preset audio time point (See Paragraphs 0063-006952);
and synchronously playing the currently playing image frame and audio file at the target audio point (See Liu Paragraph 0059-0060).
Claim 17:
Claim 17 is rejected on the same basis as claim 1.
Claims 20-26:
Claims 20-26 are rejected on the same basis as claims 2-8.
Claim 18:
Claim 18 is rejected on the same basis as claim 1.
Claims 27-29:
Claims 27-29 are rejected on the same basis as claims 2-4.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 11295505 relates to the field of animation rendering, and in particular, to methods of generating animation, apparatuses for generating animation, and electronic devices.
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEREE N BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-4229. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-2:00 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SAID BROOME can be reached at (571) 272-2931. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SHEREE N BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612 August 10, 2026
1 Liu Paragraph 0050 recites “acquiring a configuration file corresponding to a configuration file identifier.”
2 Liu Paragraph 0071 recites “the number of keyframes.”
3 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
4 Liu Paragraph 0053 recites “acquiring first animated resources based on first animated resource identifiers in the behavior information.” Paragraph 0126 recites “animated resources (i e animated resources, usually pictures or audio files).”
5 Liu Paragraph 0071 recites “the number of keyframes.”
6 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
7 Liu Paragraph 0115 recites “animation behavior descriptive information is used to represent the animated behaviors of the whole animation, such as the duration of the whole animation and the display effect (for example, the cupcakes drop from the top of the interface, or the cupcakes float from the left side of the interface to the right side).”
8 Liu Paragraph 0129 recites “animation view is input, and external animation playing control interfaces such as start and pause are provided for animation display.”
9 Liu Paragraph 0149 discloses a “present analysis rule,” in which, the examiner interprets as being the same as the Applicant’s “preset shooting parameter.”
10 Liu Paragraph 0115 recites “animation behavior descriptive information is used to represent the animated behaviors of the whole animation, such as the duration of the whole animation and the display effect (for example, the cupcakes drop from the top of the interface, or the cupcakes float from the left side of the interface to the right side).”
11 Liu Paragraph 0129 recites “animation playing control interfaces such as start and pause are provided for animation display, as shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B.”
12 Liu Paragraph 0129 recites “animation playing control interfaces such as start and pause are provided for animation display, as shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B.”
13 Liu Paragraph 0115 recites “animation behavior descriptive information is used to represent the animated behaviors of the whole animation, such as the duration of the whole animation and the display effect (for example, the cupcakes drop from the top of the interface, or the cupcakes float from the left side of the interface to the right side).”
14 Note: The Examiner interprets the Applicant’s teachings of “matching” and being the same as Liu’s teachings of “grouping two or more related animations”
15 Liu Paragraph 0115 recites “animation behavior descriptive information is used to represent the animated behaviors of the whole animation, such as the duration of the whole animation and the display effect (for example, the cupcakes drop from the top of the interface, or the cupcakes float from the left side of the interface to the right side).”
16 Note: The Examiner interprets the Applicant’s teachings of “matching” and being the same as Liu’s teachings of “grouping two or more related animations”
17 Liu Paragraph 0071 recites “the number of keyframes.”
18 Liu Paragraph 0115 recites “animation behavior descriptive information is used to represent the animated behaviors of the whole animation, such as the duration of the whole animation and the display effect (for example, the cupcakes drop from the top of the interface, or the cupcakes float from the left side of the interface to the right side).”
19 Liu Paragraph 0129 recites “animation playing control interfaces such as start and pause are provided for animation display, as shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B.”
20 Liu Paragraph 0129 recites “animation playing control interfaces such as start and pause are provided for animation display, as shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B.”
21 Note: The Examiner interprets the Applicant’s teachings of “matching” and being the same as Liu’s teachings of “grouping two or more related animations”
22 Note: The Examiner interprets the Applicant’s teachings of “matching” and being the same as Liu’s teachings of “grouping two or more related animations”
23 Liu Paragraph 0071 recites “the number of keyframes.”
24 Liu Paragraph 0050 recites “acquiring a configuration file corresponding to a configuration file identifier.”
25 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
26 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
27 Liu Paragraph 0050 recites “acquiring a configuration file corresponding to a configuration file identifier.”
28 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
29 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
30 Liu Paragraph 0050 recites “acquiring a configuration file corresponding to a configuration file identifier.”
31 Liu Paragraph 0053 recites “acquiring first animated resources based on first animated resource identifiers in the behavior information.” Paragraph 0126 recites “animated resources (i e animated resources, usually pictures or audio files).”
32 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
33 Liu Paragraph 0050 recites “acquiring a configuration file corresponding to a configuration file identifier.”
34 Liu Paragraph 0053 recites “acquiring first animated resources based on first animated resource identifiers in the behavior information.” Paragraph 0126 recites “animated resources (i e animated resources, usually pictures or audio files).”
35 Liu Paragraph 0053 recites “acquiring first animated resources based on first animated resource identifiers in the behavior information.” Paragraph 0126 recites “animated resources (i e animated resources, usually pictures or audio files).”
36 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
37 Liu Paragraph 0053 recites “acquiring first animated resources based on first animated resource identifiers in the behavior information.” Paragraph 0126 recites “animated resources (i e animated resources, usually pictures or audio files).”
38 Liu Paragraph 0115 recites “animation behavior descriptive information is used to represent the animated behaviors of the whole animation, such as the duration of the whole animation and the display effect (for example, the cupcakes drop from the top of the interface, or the cupcakes float from the left side of the interface to the right side).”
39 Liu Paragraph 0050 recites “acquiring a configuration file corresponding to a configuration file identifier.”
40 Liu Paragraph 0053 recites “acquiring first animated resources based on first animated resource identifiers in the behavior information.” Paragraph 0126 recites “animated resources (i e animated resources, usually pictures or audio files).”
41 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
42 Liu Paragraph 0053 recites “acquiring first animated resources based on first animated resource identifiers in the behavior information.” Paragraph 0126 recites “animated resources (i e animated resources, usually pictures or audio files).”
43 Liu Paragraph 0053 recites “acquiring first animated resources based on first animated resource identifiers in the behavior information.” Paragraph 0126 recites “animated resources (i e animated resources, usually pictures or audio files).”
44 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
45 Liu Paragraph 0053 recites “acquiring first animated resources based on first animated resource identifiers in the behavior information.” Paragraph 0126 recites “animated resources (i e animated resources, usually pictures or audio files).”
46 Liu Paragraph 0115 recites “animation behavior descriptive information is used to represent the animated behaviors of the whole animation, such as the duration of the whole animation and the display effect (for example, the cupcakes drop from the top of the interface, or the cupcakes float from the left side of the interface to the right side).”
47 Liu Paragraph 0050 recites “acquiring a configuration file corresponding to a configuration file identifier.”
48 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
49 Liu Paragraph 0115 recites “animation behavior descriptive information is used to represent the animated behaviors of the whole animation, such as the duration of the whole animation and the display effect (for example, the cupcakes drop from the top of the interface, or the cupcakes float from the left side of the interface to the right side).”
50 Liu Paragraph 0149 discloses a “present analysis rule,” in which, the examiner interprets as being the same as the Applicant’s “preset shooting parameter.”
51 Liu Paragraph 0050 recites “acquiring a configuration file corresponding to a configuration file identifier.”
52 Liu Paragraph 0069 recites “a set of times can be used to represent the keyframe times.”
Prosecution Insights