Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/848,141

INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Sep 18, 2024
Priority
Mar 30, 2022 — JP 2022-056495 +1 more
Examiner
YANG, ANDREW GUS
Art Unit
2614
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Sony Group Corporation
OA Round
2 (Final)
69%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
11m
Est. Remaining
77%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 69% — above average
69%
Career Allowance Rate
392 granted / 567 resolved
+7.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+7.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
593
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.5%
-29.5% vs TC avg
§103
64.8%
+24.8% vs TC avg
§102
15.3%
-24.7% vs TC avg
§112
5.7%
-34.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 567 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . 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) 1-4, 6-7, 10-12, 14, 16, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gavriliuc et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20170076505) in view of Wang et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190213769) and further in view of Mendes da Costa et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20090125481). With respect to claim 1, Gavriliuc et al. disclose an information processing device (paragraph 80, FIG. 8 schematically shows a non-limiting embodiment of a computing system 800) comprising: circuitry (paragraph 82, Logic processor 804 includes one or more physical devices configured to execute instructions. For example, the logic processor may be configured to execute instructions that are part of one or more applications, programs, routines, libraries, objects, components, data structures, or other logical constructs) configured to: acquire position information indicating a position of an exhibit in a virtual space (paragraph 35, first user 302 may use the first display device 30 to capture an image of the art piece 312, paragraph 37, first user 302 may instruct the First display device 30 to generate a virtual place-located anchor at a world-locked virtual location, paragraph 38, the first display device 30 may transmit to computing device 200 an instruction 54 to generate a virtual place-located anchor 56 at a virtual location that is world-locked); register a comment on the exhibit in association with a specific position in the virtual space (paragraph 39, In response to the instruction 54 from first user 302 via first display device 30, the anchor program 214 may link a subset 64 of the plurality of data items 62 from the first target data source 38 to the virtual place-located anchor 56. In the present example, the anchor program 214 may filter the data items 62 to identify and select comments to the first user's posting 320 of the image of the art piece 312. The anchor program 214 may then transmit first display data 66 to the first display device 30 that causes the device to display one or more holograms of this subset of data items to the first user 302); and output an image of the virtual space from a specific viewpoint corresponding to the avatar on a basis of the comment that has been disposed (paragraph 40, In the example of FIG. 3, the first display device 30 may display to the first user 302 holograms of comments to the first user's posting 320 of the image of the art piece 312. For example, a hologram 330A of the comment “Nice!” from Friend A to the first user's posting 320 may be displayed at the world-locked virtual place-located anchor at the virtual location. One or more other holograms of comments to the first user's posting 320 from other friends and/or users of social network A, such as holograms 330B and 330C, may also be displayed). However, Gavriliuc et al. do not expressly disclose determining whether an avatar present in the virtual space is close to the exhibit on a basis of position information indicating a position of the avatar and the position information of the exhibit, and when the avatar is close to the exhibit, dispose the comment in a vicinity of the exhibit on a basis of attribute information of the comment, the position information of the avatar, and the position information of the exhibit, and when the avatar is not close to the exhibit, hide the comment on the exhibit. Wang et al., who also deal with virtual environments, disclose a method for disposing the comment in a vicinity of the exhibit on a basis of attribute information of the comment (paragraph 124, the comments 201-205 are assigned to a hierarchical structure based at least on semantic analysis of the comment, paragraph 126, the inclusion of the comment in the subset may be based on a correlation between the location of the point of view of the virtual reality view provided to the user and the comment-spatial-range, paragraph 128, The size and/or shape of the comment-spatial-range may be based on one or more of the hierarchal position in the hierarchy 400; the generality of the comment based on semantic analysis). The comment is displayed in part on the comment-spatial range, which is based on the hierarchical position. Gavriliuc et al. and Wang et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely computer graphics. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method of disposing the comment in a vicinity of the exhibit on a basis of attribute information of the comment, as taught by Wang et al., to the Gavriliuc et al. system, because this may be advantageous as more general comments [based on the hierarchical position] may be provided for display when the view of the point of interest in the VR view is more distant and more specific comments are displayed as the VR view moves closer to the point of interest (paragraph 122 of Wang et al.). Mendes da Costa et al., who also deal with virtual environments, disclose a method for determining whether an avatar present in the virtual space is close to the exhibit on a basis of position information indicating a position of the avatar and the position information of the exhibit, and when the avatar is close to the exhibit, disposing the comment in a vicinity of the exhibit on a basis of the position information of the avatar, and the position information of the exhibit, and when the avatar is not close to the exhibit, hide the comment on the exhibit (paragraph 106, the annotation is displayed by client 1216 in response to the meeting of a pre-defined condition, such as in response to the entering of a correct password, the avatar of the client 1216 being within a certain radius or proximity of the portal object). By displaying the comment in response to the avatar being within a certain radius or proximity, this infers using the position information of the avatar and exhibit (portal object) to make such a determination. The comment is hidden, i.e., not displayed, when the avatar is not within a certain radius or proximity. Gavriliuc et al., Wang et al., and Mendes da Costa et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely computer graphics. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method of determining whether an avatar present in the virtual space is close to the exhibit on a basis of position information indicating a position of the avatar and the position information of the exhibit, and when the avatar is close to the exhibit, disposing the comment in a vicinity of the exhibit on a basis of the position information of the avatar, and the position information of the exhibit, and when the avatar is not close to the exhibit, hide the comment on the exhibit, as taught by Mendes da Costa et al., to the Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. system, because when a comment does not meet or no longer meets the criteria and/or after a predetermined time, it may or may not be excluded from the subset (paragraph 130 of Wang et al.) and this may be advantageous for small display screen sizes or where there are many comments (paragraph 131 of Wang et al.). With respect to claim 2, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry arranges a plurality of comments on the exhibit in the vicinity of the exhibit (Gavriliuc et al.: paragraph 48, In the example of FIG. 3, an anchor hologram in the form of a holographic star 356 may be displayed at the world-locked virtual location corresponding to the virtual place-located anchor 56. In some examples, the holograms 330A, 330B and 330C may be displayed within a predetermined distance of the anchor hologram. For example, the holograms 330A, 330B and 330C may be displayed within 0.5 m, 1.0 m, 2.0 m, or any suitable predetermined distance from the holographic star 356). With respect to claim 3, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the circuitry arranges the plurality of comments in the vicinity of the exhibit on a basis of attribute information of each of the plurality of comments (Wang et al.: paragraph 124, the comments 201-205 are assigned to a hierarchical structure based at least on semantic analysis of the comment, paragraph 128, The size and/or shape of the comment-spatial-range may be based on one or more of the hierarchal position in the hierarchy 400; the generality of the comment based on semantic analysis), the position information of the avatar (Wang et al.: paragraph 102, each comment of the subset of comments may be provided for display such that they are positioned in the VR view within a predetermined distance of the position at which the point of interest is visible in the video imagery. They may be positioned not obscure the point of interest but appear associated with it, paragraph 104, The apparatus may then be configured to filter the comments based on the viewing direction of the comment being within a threshold of the viewing direction of the virtual reality view and the point of interest being visible. The threshold may be up to 30, 25, 20, 15, 10 or 5°), and the position information of the exhibit (Gavriliuc et al.: paragraph 48, In the example of FIG. 3, an anchor hologram in the form of a holographic star 356 may be displayed at the world-locked virtual location corresponding to the virtual place-located anchor 56. In some examples, the holograms 330A, 330B and 330C may be displayed within a predetermined distance of the anchor hologram. For example, the holograms 330A, 330B and 330C may be displayed within 0.5 m, 1.0 m, 2.0 m, or any suitable predetermined distance from the holographic star 356). With respect to claim 4, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 3, wherein the circuitry arranges the plurality of comments in the vicinity of the exhibit depending on an importance level of each of the comments (Wang et al.: paragraph 125, the fifth comment 205 is considered the most general and assigned to a category at the top of the tree 400. The fourth comment 204 is considered more specific and assigned to a second level in the tree 400. The first to third comments all relate to Big Ben, although the second comment 202 is determined to be opinion and the first and third comments to be facts. Accordingly, the second comment 202 is placed in a first branch 401 and the first and third comments are placed in a second branch 402. Finally, in the second branch 402, the first comment 201 is considered more specific than the third comment 203 and is placed in a third and fourth level respectively. Thus, in this example, the comments are categorized based on generality and type (fact or opinion), Wang et al.: paragraph 128, The size and/or shape of the comment-spatial-range may be based on one or more of the hierarchal position in the hierarchy 400). With respect to claim 6, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the attribute information of the comment includes a reaction of a user to the comment (Gavriliuc et al.: paragraph 40, a hologram 330A of the comment “Nice!” from Friend A to the first user's posting 320 may be displayed at the world-locked virtual place-located anchor at the virtual location. One or more other holograms of comments to the first user's posting 320 from other friends and/or users of social network A, such as holograms 330B and 330C, may also be displayed). With respect to claim 7, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the attribute information of the comment includes information regarding a user who has input the comment (Gavriliuc et al.: paragraph 58, a hologram 380A of the comment “Cool!” from User F may be displayed at the virtual place-located anchor at the world-locked virtual location. One or more other holograms of comments to the first user's posting from other friends and/or users of the other social network, such as hologram 380B, may also be displayed, thus including the social network as an attribute of the user to the comment). With respect to claim 10, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry prevents the comment from being disposed in an area where the comment cannot be disposed (Wang et al.: paragraph 103, the apparatus 100 may be configured to provide for determination of a subset of the comments based on more than visibility of the point of interest in the virtual reality view. For example, further factors may be considered to filter out comments from the subset or control when they are displayed to a user). The filtered out comments are based on the condition of too many comments. It would have been obvious to apply the teachings of Wang et al. because the display of all of the comments may be bothersome for a user trying to view the point of interest (paragraph 103 of Wang et al.), or too cluttered. With respect to claim 11, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 10, wherein the area where the comment cannot be disposed is either set in advance or set on a basis of information regarding the specific viewpoint corresponding to the avatar (Wang et al.: paragraph 104, Accordingly, in order to be within the subset of comments provided for display, the point of interest is required to appear, at least in part, within the virtual reality view and the user must be viewing the point of interest with a similar viewing direction to that of the commenting-user). With respect to claim 12, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of an orientation or a position of the comment disposed in the vicinity of the exhibit is adjusted on a basis of at least one of the attribute information of the comment, the position information of the avatar, or the position information of the exhibit (Gavriliuc et al.: paragraph 46, In response to identifying the art piece 312 in the kitchen 400, the computing device 200 may transmit display data to the first display device 30 that causes the device to display the holograms 330A, 330B and 330C to the first user 302 at the virtual place-located anchor at the virtual location world-locked to the position relative to the art piece 312 in the kitchen 400). With respect to claim 14, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a character size or interline spacing of the comment disposed in the vicinity of the exhibit is adjusted depending on an angle of view of an image of the virtual space to be output (Wang et al.: paragraph 128, The size and/or shape of the comment-spatial-range may be based on one or more of the hierarchal position in the hierarchy 400; the generality of the comment based on semantic analysis; the virtual position and/or the viewing direction of the commenting user when the comment was made or other factors). With respect to claim 16, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 6, wherein the image output unit outputs an image of the virtual space on a basis of the comment including a favorable evaluation as a reaction of the user (Gavriliuc et al.: paragraph 40, a hologram 330A of the comment “Nice!” from Friend A to the first user's posting 320 may be displayed at the world-locked virtual place-located anchor at the virtual location), and the image of the virtual space that is output is posted on a social networking service (SNS) (Gavriliuc et al.: paragraph 35, In the example of FIG. 3, first user 302 may use the first display device 30 to capture an image of the art piece 312. The first user 302 may desire to share the image with others via social network A 316. Accordingly, the first user 302 may send the image to the social network A 316 in a posting 320 to the network). With respect to claim 19, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose an information processing method, by an information processing device, as executed by the system of claim 1; see rationale for rejection of claim 1. With respect to claim 20, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose a recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to function (Gavriliuc et al.: paragraph 31, The computing device 200 may include an anchor program 214 that may be stored in mass storage 218 of the computing device) as a system like in claim 1; see rationale for rejection of claim 1. Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gavriliuc et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20170076505) in view of Wang et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190213769), Mendes da Costa et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20090125481), and further in view of Kawakami et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20130013089). With respect to claim 5, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 2. However, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. do not expressly disclose the circuitry moves a comment, which is disposed at an overlapping position, among the plurality of comments to a non-overlapping position. Kawakami et al., who also deal with virtual worlds, disclose a method wherein the circuitry moves a comment, which is disposed at an overlapping position, among the plurality of comments to a non-overlapping position (paragraph 120, the `CPU` outputs the comment stored in the `main memory` at a predetermined display position on the display panel (not shown in figure) through the `output circuit for image` while processing, for example, to avoid overlap of a plurality of comments when displaying the moving comment). Gavriliuc et al., Wang et al., Mendes da Costa et al., and Kawakami et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely computer graphics. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method wherein the circuitry moves a comment, which is disposed at an overlapping position, among the plurality of comments to a non-overlapping position, as taught by Kawakami et al., to the Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. system, because even the viewer (viewer of a virtual world) of the stage can view the distributed live image of the stage including the comment entered by the viewer utilizing the user terminal, and can control the production equipment on the stage by the comment, so that the viewer can get a feel for participation in the performance on the real stage in a different way from the viewer (viewer of the real world) of the real stage (paragraph 17 of Kawakami et al.). Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gavriliuc et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20170076505) in view of Wang et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190213769), Mendes da Costa et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20090125481), and further in view of Kawakami et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20240346743, referred to as Kawakami ‘743 herein). With respect to claim 8, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 1. However, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. do not expressly disclose the circuitry outputs a bird's-eye view image of the virtual space mapped with the exhibit in the virtual space. Kawakami ‘743, who also deals with virtual spaces, discloses a method wherein the circuitry outputs a bird's-eye view image of the virtual space mapped with the exhibit in the virtual space (paragraph 107, [Step S702] A first virtual space to which the user belongs is identified. In this case, belong includes, for example, not only the case where the user is present in the first virtual space but also the case where the user is at a position close to the first virtual space and is attempting to enter the first virtual space, the case where an artwork of the user is displayed in the first virtual space and the user is approaching the first virtual space, and the like). Fig. 3A-3D show artwork 12A in the bird’s eye view. Gavriliuc et al., Wang et al., Mendes da Costa et al., and Kawakami ‘743 are in the same field of endeavor, namely computer graphics. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method wherein the circuitry outputs a bird's-eye view image of the virtual space mapped with the exhibit in the virtual space, as taught by Kawakami ‘743, to the Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. system, because this would provide an alternative view that shows a wider perspective of the virtual space. Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gavriliuc et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20170076505) in view of Wang et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190213769), Mendes da Costa et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20090125481), Kawakami et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20240346743, referred to as Kawakami ‘743 herein), and further in view of Spivack et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20200019295). With respect to claim 9, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al., Mendes da Costa et al., and Kawakami ‘743 disclose the information processing device according to claim 8. However, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al., Mendes da Costa et al., and Kawakami ‘743 do not expressly disclose the circuitry superimposes information regarding a comment amount for the exhibit on the bird's-eye view image. Spivack et al., who also deal with VR environments, disclose a method wherein the circuitry superimposes information regarding a comment amount for the exhibit (paragraph 140, Item 586 depicts a Vizz Preview: A minimized picture or video of the Boxed Vizz—tap to close the Vizz (re-box it). The little boxes within this are badges for number of likes and number of comments for the Vizz). Gavriliuc et al., Wang et al., Mendes da Costa et al., Kawakami ‘743, and Spivack et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely computer graphics. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method wherein the circuitry superimposes information regarding a comment amount for the exhibit, as taught by Spivack et al., to the Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al., Mendes da Costa et al., and Kawakami ‘743 system comprising the bird’s-eye image, because this would implement techniques to control or adjust various mixtures of perceptibility, in a digital environment, between the real world objects/content/environment and virtual objects/content/environment (paragraph 32 of Spivack et al.). Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gavriliuc et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20170076505) in view of Wang et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190213769), Mendes da Costa et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20090125481), and further in view of Moore et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20150106755). With respect to claim 13, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 1. However, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. do not expressly disclose a color of the comment is adjusted depending on a background of the comment disposed in the vicinity of the exhibit. Moore et al., who also deal with virtual spaces, disclose a method wherein a color of the comment is adjusted depending on a background of the comment disposed in the vicinity of the exhibit (paragraph 140, note editor 96 may automatically modify, or invoke note enhancement module 89 to automatically modify, the color of one or more foreground objects based on the updated background color). Gavriliuc et al., Wang et al., Mendes da Costa et al., and Moore et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely computer graphics. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method wherein a color of the comment is adjusted depending on a background of the comment disposed in the vicinity of the exhibit, as taught by Moore et al., to the Gavriluic et al. as modified by Wang et al. system, because this may enable editing of the background color of the digital note without sacrificing the readability of the one or more foreground objects (paragraph 140 of Moore et al.). Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gavriliuc et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20170076505) in view of Wang et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190213769), Mendes da Costa et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20090125481) and further in view of Flynn et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20120290591). With respect to claim 15, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 1. However, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. do not expressly disclose the comment includes an artist's comment and a comment of a user, and the artist's comment and the comment of the user are adjusted in a distinguishable manner. Flynn et al., who also deal with virtual reality spaces, disclose a method wherein the comment includes an artist's comment and a comment of a user (paragraph 35, the tags may include various forms of user-created content, such as comments posted by other users, tag icons selected by other users, digital photographs or videos captured by other users to be displayed with the real-world object, etc., paragraph 36, The tags might include the artist's comment 1358 "How do you like my art???" and/or a link to the artist's web page), and the artist's comment and the comment of the user are adjusted in a distinguishable manner (paragraph 36, This tag data 1356 and 1358 associated with the street art 1302 may then be rendered by the virtual tagging client 112 over the video being captured by mobile device 110-N in order to alert the user of mobile device 110-N that tag data for the real world object is available). The tag data 1356 and 1358 are distinguishable based on the different shade in Fig. 13. Gavriliuc et al., Wang et al., Mendes da Costa et al., and Flynn et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely computer graphics. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method wherein the comment includes an artist's comment and a comment of a user, and the artist's comment and the comment of the user are adjusted in a distinguishable manner, as taught by Flynn et al., to the Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. system, which includes user’s comments, because this would facilitate sharing of tags, or user comments. Claim(s) 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gavriliuc et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20170076505) in view of Wang et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190213769), Mendes da Costa et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20090125481), and further in view of Kawano (U.S. PGPUB 20200004321). With respect to claim 17, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. disclose the information processing device according to claim 1. However, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. do not expressly disclose the comment is obtained by converting user's voice into text by voice recognition. Kawano, who also deals with VR spaces, discloses a method wherein the comment is obtained by converting user's voice into text by voice recognition (paragraph 169, the character string 60 may be the voice recognition result itself or may be only the interjection extracted from the voice recognition result). Gavriliuc et al., Wang et al., Mendes da Costa et al., and Kawano are in the same field of endeavor, namely computer graphics. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method wherein the comment is obtained by converting user's voice into text by voice recognition, as taught by Kawano, to the Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al. and Mendes da Costa et al. system, because it is possible to notify the user that the user has uttered (and notify the user of a word actually uttered by the user). Furthermore, usually, visual information tends to be easier for the user to return to himself/herself than sound information, and it is thus possible to significantly reduce the immersion degree of the user by the display example (paragraph 172 of Kawano). With respect to claim 18, Gavriliuc et al. as modified by Wang et al., Mendes da Costa et al., and Kawano disclose the information processing device according to claim 17, wherein the comment is displayed on a display device in a real space (Kawano: paragraph 169, in a case where the voice recognition result includes the interjection, as in a video 30b illustrated in FIG. 22, the output control unit 106 causes a character string 60 corresponding to the voice recognition result to be superimposed and displayed on the video 30b in the vicinity of a gaze point of the user in the video 30b (or in the vicinity of the center of the video 30b)). Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 19-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. PGPUB 20240221338 to Ide for a method of causing artwork and corresponding commentary to be displayed on a user terminal. U.S. PGPUB 20130132477 to Bosworth et al. for a method of displaying comments related to an exhibit at a user’s location. 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 ANDREW GUS YANG whose telephone number is (571)272-5514. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 AM - 5:30 PM. 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, Kent Chang can be reached at (571)272-7667. 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. /ANDREW G YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2614 9/8/26
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 18, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 24, 2026
Response Filed
Sep 09, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12737959
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CLIENT-DEVICE TRANSFORMATION OF STATIC IMAGE DELIVERED OVER DISTRIBUTED COMPUTER NETWORK
2y 0m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12731323
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING RAY INTERSECTIONS WITH DISPLACED MICRO-MESHES
2y 8m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12705815
SOFTWARE GRAPHICS RENDERING
2y 10m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12700298
AUGMENTED REALITY OF A BUILDING
2y 8m to grant Granted Aug 04, 2026
Patent 12678229
SYSTEMS AND METHOD OF PLANNING THORACIC SURGERY
3y 4m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
69%
Grant Probability
77%
With Interview (+7.6%)
2y 11m (~11m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 567 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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