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 .
Specification
The word “dyslexia” appears five times throughout the specification. It appears to be a mistranslation. The Written Description, as originally filed in PCT/KR2024/016300 on October 24, 2024, does not disclose a reading assistance device that uses status information describing a gaze and focus of the user to detect “whether the user has dyslexia.” This appears to be a mistranslation of the word 난독 (“nandok”), which simply means reading difficulty. The word for dyslexia in Korean is 난독증 (“nandok-jeung”), where the -jeung suffix explicitly denotes a clinical condition, disorder, or syndrome. Nandok-jeung (난독증) does not appear anywhere in the original PCT application.
Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. § 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. § 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. § 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
As an initial matter, the Applicant is reminded that the original filing date of an application filed under 35 U.S.C. § 371 is its international filing date, not the date of entry into the national stage. Consequently, the claims of this application are not entitled to the presumption of adequate written description ordinarily afforded to originally-presented claims (e.g., those filed on the date of an ordinary utility application), because the original filing date of a national stage application is its international filing date, not the date it enters the national stage. See MPEP § 714.01(e) (“A preliminary amendment filed with a submission to enter the national stage of an international application under 35 U.S.C. 371 is not part of the original disclosure under 37 CFR 1.115(a) because it was not present on the international filing date accorded to the application under PCT Article 11”); see also MPEP § 1893.01(a)(3).
The Written Description, as originally filed in PCT/KR2024/016300 on October 24, 2024, does not disclose a reading assistance device that uses status information describing a gaze and focus of the user to detect “whether the user has dyslexia.” This appears to be a mistranslation of the word 난독 (“nandok”), which simply means reading difficulty. The word for dyslexia in Korean is 난독증 (“nandok-jeung”), where the -jeung suffix explicitly denotes a clinical condition, disorder, or syndrome. Nandok-jeung (난독증) does not appear anywhere in the original PCT application.
Even setting aside the translation error, the English specification itself does not “describe the claimed invention in sufficient detail that one skilled in the art can reasonably conclude that the inventor had possession of the claimed invention,” as required by 35 U.S.C. § 112(a). MPEP § 2163 (subsection I.). There is nothing in either the Korean or English version of the specification that lends any credibility to the idea that the claimed device can make a formal diagnosis of dyslexia merely because it detects that the user is struggling to read or re-read certain words.
Therefore, claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) for reciting new matter.
Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. § 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 11, 12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Korean Patent Application Publication No. 20150108281 A (“Yoon I”). The quotes in this Office Action come from the EPO’s machine translation website, a copy of which is attached to this office action labeled as “REF.OTHER” in the file wrapper.
Claim 1
Yoon discloses:
A reading assistance device comprising: smart glasses that are worn by a user
“FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the detailed configuration of a wearable computer (100) in a book system for reading enhancement using a wearable computer (100).” Yoon ¶ 56. Throughout several figures, we see that wearable computer 100 “may be implemented in a form that can be worn on the body, such as glasses.” Yoon ¶ 54.
and capture images of a book which the user is reading and the pupils of the user who is reading to generate corresponding image information;
The wearable computer 100 includes a “camera module (110)” that has “a surrounding environment observation camera, a pupil observation camera, an eye tracking camera.” Yoon ¶ 58. “[T]he surrounding environment observation camera can photograph a specific part of the book (10),” Yoon ¶ 58, while the “pupil observation camera can capture the[] [user’s] pupil reactions.” Yoon ¶ 59. Additionally, the “eye-tracking camera can identify the object being observed by the user by tracking the position of the pupil.” Yoon ¶ 60.
and a controller that detects book-related information and a portion of the book that the user is currently reading on the basis of the generated image information,
“As illustrated in FIG. 4, the wearable computer (100) of the book system for reading enhancement using the wearable computer (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention can detect reading content and biosignals by tracking the user's pupil through the camera module (110) and photographing the part of the book (10) where the user's gaze rests when the user wears the wearable computer (100) and reads the book (10).” Yoon ¶ 61.
determines that a preset event has occurred when contents of the detected portion of the book include a preset word, and controls at least one of a visual effect and an auditory effect corresponding to the event to be output.
One example of this is shown in FIG. 5, where “glasses-type wearable computer (100) may be used, and reading support information including explanations of words or phrases related to the reading content, auxiliary materials such as videos, recommended books related to the content, and introductions to mentors who can provide help may be output around the reading content detected according to the user's gaze.” Yoon ¶ 65.
As another example, the wearable computer 100 may send data to a server comprising the user’s biosignals (which include the pupil information) and the content he is currently reading, and the server “can determine the user's reaction to the specific reading content and determine the user's level of interest, level of understanding, etc., regarding the individual reading content,” and output explanations, videos, and reference materials about the content to the user, responsive to his level of understanding based on the biosignals. Yoon ¶¶ 69–70 and 84.
Claim 2
Yoon discloses the reading assistance device of claim 1,
wherein the controller detects status information about a gaze and a focus of the user on the basis of the image information of the pupils of the user whose image is captured, calculates a reading-related concentration level by using the detected status information,
“The information processing module (210) can process the biosignal to determine the user's response. That is, the information processing module (210) can analyze the biosignals received from the wearable computer (100) to determine the user's reaction, including the user's level of understanding, level of interest, and level of empathy regarding the reading content.” Yoon ¶ 69. “At this time, the biosignals detectable by the camera module (110) may include pupil response and gaze fixation time.” Yoon ¶ 61.
and determines that the event has occurred when the calculated concentration level is lower than a preset reference.
“[T]he information extraction module (220) can extract reading support information that can help the user's reading activities by using the user's level of understanding, level of interest, level of empathy, etc., regarding the reading content. For example, if it is determined that the user's level of understanding of the reading content is low, the information extraction module (220) can extract sentence explanations, reference videos, reference materials, etc., that can enhance the understanding of the reading content as reading support information.” Yoon ¶ 69.
Claim 4
Yoon discloses the reading assistance device of claim 1, wherein
when the user reads the book by producing sound, the controller detects information related to at least one of pronunciation, a breathing position, reading speed, and a misread portion included in voice information about the sound, and provides feedback information on a part requiring correction on the basis of the detected information.
“[T]he information processing module (210) can analyze the biosignals received from the wearable computer (100) to determine the user's reaction, including the user's level of understanding, level of interest, and level of empathy regarding the reading content.” Yoon ¶ 69. Importantly, one of the biosignals received while consuming the content includes “the user’s voice,” Yoon ¶ 62, and furthermore, by using the biosignals (which include the user’s voice) to determine the user’s reaction, “the information extraction module (220) can extract sentence explanations, reference videos, reference materials, etc., that can enhance the understanding of the reading content as reading support information.” Yoon ¶ 70.
Claim 11
Claim 11 recites the same method that the device of claim 1 performs as part of its normal operation, and is therefore rejected based on the same findings and rationale provided above in the rejection of claim 1.
Claim 12
Claim 12 recites a reading assistance system that comprises (1) substantially the same reading assistance device described claim 1, and (2) and a management server that receives user information of the user and monitoring information about the reading process the user from the reading assistance device and manages reading habit of the user by using the received monitoring information.
Yoon I discloses element (1) for the reasons given in the rejection of claim 1. Yoon II discloses element (2), packaged together with element (1) as an overall system, in paragraphs 16, 20, and 21, with its operations disclosed in FIGS. 8–10 and the corresponding text of the disclosure.
Claim 14
The additional elements of claim 14 are the same as those in claim 4, and therefore, claim 14 is rejected over the same additional findings as provided above in the rejection of claim 4.
Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. § 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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were effectively filed absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 C.F.R. § 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was effectively filed in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
I. Yoon I and Yoon II teach claims 5, 6, 8, 13, and 15.
Claims 5, 6, 8, 13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon I as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and further in view of Korean Patent Application Publication No. 20120041636 A (“Yoon II”).
Claim 5
Yoon I teaches the reading assistance device of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose replacing the name of at least one character in the book.
Yoon II, however, teaches:
wherein when reading an e-book that provides contents of the book in an image form, the controller replaces a name of at least one character of characters included in the contents of the book with a random name and controls the contents of the e-book to be output with the replaced name.
Specifically, Yoon II teaches a control unit (60) that recognizes the name of a character in the content of the book, and a voice output unit (30) that can be controlled to replace the recognized character's name with a previously registered name stored in the storage unit (40) and output it. Yoon II ¶ 44. Note that although the name is “previously registered,” it is still random within the meaning of the claim, because the user does not choose which previously registered name replaces a given character.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve the device in Yoon I’s disclosure with the instructions for the control unit 60 of Yoon II’s device. One would have been motivated to combine Yoon II with Yoon I because Yoon II’s method makes the story more familiar to young children, and therefore easier to understand. Yoon II ¶ 7.
Claim 6
Yoon I and Yoon II teach the reading assistance device of claim 5,
wherein whenever the random name is output in the contents of the e-book, the controller determines that the event has occurred.
“In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the reading guidance method of the storytelling method reading guidance system may further include the step of recognizing the name of a character in the content of a book and the step of replacing the recognized name of the character with a pre-registered name and outputting it as voice.” Yoon II ¶ 54.
Claim 8
Yoon I and Yoon II teach the reading assistance device of claim 5,
wherein when a user input is input from the user and the user input includes a specific word, the controller allows the e-book to return to a preset page thereof.
Referring to FIG. 4, the book’s content list allows for continued listening when the leader’s voice playback is interrupted. Yoon II ¶¶ 41–42. This falls within the scope of “the user input includes a specific word,” because the user input in this case was the leader’s voice, who, by reading up to a specific word in the book, caused the book to save the last read position for later retrieval.
Claim 13
Yoon I teaches the reading assistance system of claim 12, but does not generate a new story in which the user is included as a character.
Yoon II, however, teaches a system that:
processes the monitoring information on the basis of the user information to generate a new story in which the user is included as a character, and generates image-based content by using the generated story.
Specifically, Yoon II teaches a control unit (60) that recognizes the name of a character in the content of the book, and a voice output unit (30) that can be controlled to replace the recognized character's name with a previously registered name stored in the storage unit (40) and output it. Yoon II ¶ 44. Note that although the name is “previously registered,” it is still random within the meaning of the claim, because the user does not choose which previously registered name replaces a given character.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve the device in Yoon I’s disclosure with the instructions for the control unit 60 of Yoon II’s device. One would have been motivated to combine Yoon II with Yoon I because Yoon II’s method makes the story more familiar to young children, and therefore easier to understand. Yoon II ¶ 7.
Claim 15
Claim 15 is rejected over the same findings and rationale as provided above for claim 5.
II. Yoon I, Yoon II, and Martin
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon I and Yoon II as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0253717 A1 (“Martin”).
Claim 7
Yoon I and Yoon II teach the reading assistance device of claim 5, and while and while both references perform a rudimentary analysis of the content (e.g., for boundary detection in the case of Yoon I ¶¶ 58, 60, and 65), neither analyze the book to determine a character’s personality, let alone provide a chatbot for the same.
Martin, however, teaches an analogous controller (computing system 100), wherein the controller:
performs analysis of the contents of the book, uses a result of the analysis to estimate a personality of each of the characters, and, when one of the characters is selected, controls a personality of the corresponding character to be reflected in a chatbot conversation pattern.
“The character foundation module 1000 may provide a story establishment unit 110 configured to receive backstory data for each of a plurality of characters, wherein each character has a known storyline, surrounding critical character-building events, and an identifiable personality (“social characteristics”), such as the aforementioned Hulk™. By way of another example, the backstory data of, say, Napoleon Bonaparte may include movies or novels about Napoleon Bonaparte, wherein the social characteristics associated with the Napoleon Bonaparte character (e.g., decisiveness and bluntness) portrayed in such stories can be determined by the present invention. The present invention, would in turn, infuse the chatbot with the determined social characteristic. These social characteristics may be determined by analysis of the language and tone used by the Napoleon Bonaparte character in the story as well as by the Napoleon Bonaparte character's non-verbal interactions with other characters and events in the story.” Martin ¶ 36.
The user may then converse with the chatbot. See, e.g., Martin ¶¶ 19, 47, and 49.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve the combined computers of Yoon I and Yoon II with Martin’s technique of analyzing novels for character personalities, and imbuing chatbots with those personalities. One would have been motivated to improve Yoon I and II with Martin because such a chatbot “elicits and evokes information from the human user they would have otherwise withheld from a static character who is defined only by the words they generate over the chatbot interface.” Martin ¶ 7.
III. Yoon I and Lee teach claims 9 and 10.
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon I as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of 102271723 B (“Lee”).
Claim 9
Yoon I teaches the reading assistance device of claim 1, and further teaches that reading progress is tracked throughout a book, albeit at a more granular level than considering the last page as recited in claim 9. Yoon I also does not output a congratulatory message.
Lee, however, teaches a controller that:
determines that a reading completion event has occurred when the detected portion of the book is a last page of the book,
According to one embodiment, different first identifiers may be displayed on the front cover and the back cover of the first book, respectively, and when the device (200) receives the first identifier information displayed on the front cover of the first book, it may set the first book as a book that has started reading and add it to the reading history, and when it receives the first identifier information displayed on the back cover of the first book, it may set the first book as a book that has finished reading and add it to the reading history. Lee ¶ 72; see also Lee ¶¶ 102 and 150 (explaining that completion percentage is based on the difference between the user’s current page number and the last page number).
and controls a congratulatory message and information about a process of the reading to be output.
As a reward for completing a book, device (200) provides information about a celebrity to the reader. See Lee ¶¶ 139–140.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yoon I so as to gauge a user’s completion of reading a book based on the user reading the last page, and providing the user with a message about completing the book, as taught by Lee. One would have been motivated to improve Yoon I with at least Lee’s completion message, because such a message may motivate the user to finish reading a book. Lee ¶ 140.
Claim 10
Yoon I and Lee teach the reading assistance device of claim 9,
wherein the controller controls the reading completion event to occur only when a record of the user reading the book sequentially from a first page of the book to the last page thereof is saved.
As mentioned above, Lee’s device (200) logs progress by determining the difference between the “first page” number, and the number of the last page in the book. Lee ¶¶ 102 and 150. Note that Lee is using the word “first” as merely a patent drafting ordinal, not to signify the actual first page. See Lee ¶ 98 (referring to the “first page” as the last page where the user had stopped reading).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Justin R. Blaufeld whose telephone number is (571)272-4372. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am - 4:00pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James K Trujillo can be reached at (571) 272-3677. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Justin R. Blaufeld
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2151
/Justin R. Blaufeld/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2151
Prosecution Insights