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 .
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the communications filed on May 26, 2026. The Applicants’ Amendments and Request for Reconsideration has been received and entered.
Claims 1-10 and 22-31 are currently pending and have been examined. Claims 1-2 and 6 have been amended. Claims 11-21 have been canceled. Claims 22-31 are newly added.
The previous rejection of claims 1-21 under 35 USC 112(b) has been withdrawn.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed May 26, 2026, has been considered by the Examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ amendments necessitated any new grounds of rejection.
The previous rejection of claims 1-21 under 35 USC 112(b) has been withdrawn in view of Applicants’ amendments.
Applicants’ arguments regarding the rejections under 35 USC 102 and 35 USC 103 have been fully considered but, as they are directed to the instantly amended claims, they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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 as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention 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.
Claims 1, 3-10, 22-27, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0327642 A1 to Kabir et al. (hereinafter “Kabir”), in view of US 9,076,184 B2 to Dempsey (hereinafter “Dempsey”).
Claim 1: Kabir discloses a “system and method for generating and providing personalized virtual property tours” as an “interactive open house experience.” (See Kabir, at least Abstract). Kabir further discloses that the system “enables a user to view an open house virtually through a display of a floor plan, photos of rooms, videos of rooms, three-dimensional tours of rooms and/or a virtual interactive engagement with rooms.” (See Kabir, at least Abstract). Kabir further discloses:
assembling, at a virtual tour server, a plurality of images wherein each image corresponds to a location in the real estate property (See Kabir, at least para. [0056], tour creation server receives indication to create a new virtual property tour including receiving at least one floor layout, text, and/or images/video related to a property; tour creation server than identifies and/or classifies property features in each image and classifies each room; para. [0057], rooms are classified using the characteristics within the room and are classified such as Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Living Room, Den, Family Room, Office, Bedroom, Master Bedroom, etc.);
transmitting a first set of images to a user device, wherein the first set of images includes at least some of the images (See Kabir, at least para. [0074], tour hosting server transmits personalized version of the property tour to an application in the user device);
generating, at the virtual tour server, a virtual tour route through the real estate property, the virtual tour route comprising an ordered sequence of locations in the real estate property (See Kabir, at least para. [0073], tour hosting server determines an image or tour sequence based on the preference matching; para. [0076], application on user device displays images, text, video, etc. of a virtual property tour and may select the content based on a defined sequence);
presenting, at the user device, a virtual tour of the real estate property by displaying a second set of images of the real estate property, in accordance with the generated virtual tour route (See Kabir, at least para. [0073], tour hosting server determines an image or tour sequence based on the preference matching; para. [0076], application on user device displays images, text, video, etc. of a virtual property tour and may select the content based on a defined sequence), wherein the virtual tour is presented by a virtual tour guide (See Kabir, at least para. [0065], tour creation server creates an automated guided tour; paras. [0061]-[0064], tour creation server adds a virtual host or graphical animation that may include a three-dimensional rendering of an agent, a picture of the agent, or an avatar; the virtual host may be configured to announce audio information regarding each room or feature), and wherein the virtual tour guide includes an audio guide component that includes, when one or more of the images are displayed, a narration corresponding to the displayed images (See Kabir, at least paras. [0061]-[0064], tour creation server adds a virtual host or graphical animation that may include a three-dimensional rendering of an agent, a picture of the agent, or an avatar; the virtual host may be configured to announce audio information regarding each room or feature; para. [0078], application includes audio presentation engine for providing audio of the property tour; may play separate or integrated audio file for each room, each property feature, or provide a continuous tour), and wherein the second set of images includes at least some of the images in the first set of images (See Kabir, at least para. [0073], tour hosting server determines an image or tour sequence based on the preference matching; para. [0076], application on user device displays images, text, video, etc. of a virtual property tour and may select the content based on a defined sequence).
Kabir does not expressly disclose receiving, via the user device during the presentation of the virtual tour, user input indicating a location of interest in the real estate property, the location of interest being different from a next location in the ordered sequence of locations of the generated virtual tour route; and in response to the user input, generating, at the virtual tour server, an adapted virtual tour route in which the location of interest is the next location in the ordered sequence of locations; presenting, at the user device, an adapted virtual tour by displaying a third set of images of the real estate property in accordance with the adapted virtual tour route, wherein the third set of images includes at least some of the images in the first set of images; and adapting the narration provided by the audio guide component to correspond to the adapted virtual tour route.
However, Dempsey discloses a “method and a system to provide real estate agents across the United States the ability to support and enhance open house video tours for residential and commercial properties using the Internet.” (See Dempsey, at least Abstract). Dempsey further discloses:
receiving, via the user device during the presentation of the virtual tour, user input indicating a location of interest in the real estate property, the location of interest being different from a next location in the ordered sequence of locations of the generated virtual tour route (See Dempsey, at least col. 10, lines 30-45, user starts open house tour at the front of the house and they could either go through the front door or turn 360 degrees to view the neighborhood; if user goes through the front door, user goes to living room and then decides where to go from there; user can decide to view the video from start to finish and follow a default path or interact with the video to choose where to go; col. 12, lines 10-22, user deviates from the default path; and at the next visual decision point, follows a path not yet taken for example, if the user decides to enter the kitchen using path 114, user then follows path to view the unseen bedrooms and bathrooms automatically without any further user interaction; FIG. 7 and associated text; col. 13, lines 1-10, user selects particular hypertext link to choose the next room to view); and
in response to the user input,
generating, at the virtual tour server, an adapted virtual tour route in which the location of interest is the next location in the ordered sequence of locations (See Dempsey, at least col. 12, lines 10-22, user deviates from the default path and at the next visual decision point, follows a path not yet taken for example, if the user decides to enter the kitchen using path 114, user then follows path 102 to view the unseen bedrooms and bathrooms automatically without any further user interaction);
presenting, at the user device, an adapted virtual tour by displaying a third set of images of the real estate property in accordance with the adapted virtual tour route, wherein the third set of images includes at least some of the images in the first set of images (See Dempsey, at least col. 12, lines 10-22, user deviates from the default path and at the next visual decision point, follows a path not yet taken for example, if the user decides to enter the kitchen using path 114, user then follows path 102 to view the unseen bedrooms and bathrooms automatically without any further user interaction; user is interacting with the video so respective images of these rooms are accessed from the video); and
adapting the narration provided by the audio guide component to correspond to the adapted virtual tour route (See Dempsey, at least col. 6, lines 50-65, real estate agent is filmed walking through the property while describing the property, i.e.,, video contains narration of each room so next room contains narration of that room).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir the ability of receiving, via the user device during the presentation of the virtual tour, user input indicating a location of interest in the real estate property, the location of interest being different from a next location in the ordered sequence of locations of the generated virtual tour route; and in response to the user input, generating, at the virtual tour server, an adapted virtual tour route in which the location of interest is the next location in the ordered sequence of locations; presenting, at the user device, an adapted virtual tour by displaying a third set of images of the real estate property in accordance with the adapted virtual tour route, wherein the third set of images includes at least some of the images in the first set of images; and adapting the narration provided by the audio guide component to correspond to the adapted virtual tour route as disclosed by Dempsey since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to allow users to make decisions on what they want to view next.’ (See Dempsey, at least col. 5, lines 40-50).
Claim 3: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Kabir further discloses wherein the virtual tour guide is additionally presented with a video guide component (See Kabir, at least para. [0065], tour creation server creates an automated guided tour; paras. [0061]-[0064], tour creation server adds a virtual host or graphical animation that may include a three-dimensional rendering of an agent, a picture of the agent, or an avatar).
Claim 4: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Kabir further discloses wherein the virtual tour guide is additionally presented with a video guide component, and wherein the video guide component includes an avatar of a person (See Kabir, at least para. [0065], tour creation server creates an automated guided tour; paras. [0061]-[0064], tour creation server adds a virtual host or graphical animation that may include a three-dimensional rendering of an agent, a picture of the agent, or an avatar).
Claim 5: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Kabir further discloses wherein the virtual tour guide is additionally presented with a video guide component, and wherein the video guide component includes a digitally created image of a person (See Kabir, at least para. [0065], tour creation server creates an automated guided tour; paras. [0061]-[0064], tour creation server adds a virtual host or graphical animation that may include a three-dimensional rendering of an agent, a picture of the agent, or an avatar).
Claim 6: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Kabir further discloses wherein the ordered sequence of locations corresponds to buyer preference information corresponding to the potential buyer (See Kabir, at least para. para. [0072], tour hosting server identifies positive and negative preferences in the user profile and matches them to description information in the property in the virtual property tour; para. [0073], tour hosting server determines an image or tour sequence based on the preference matching; para. [0076], application on user device displays images, text, video, etc. of a virtual property tour and may select the content based on a defined sequence).
Claim 7: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Kabir further discloses wherein at least some of the buyer preference information is determined based on inputs provided by the potential buyer during the virtual tour (See Kabir, at least para. [0080], application contains user preference engine that is configured to obtain user preferences before, during, and/or after a property tour).
Claim 8: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 7 discussed above.
Kabir further discloses wherein at least some of the buyer preference information is determined prior to the presentation of the virtual tour based on demographic information about the potential buyer (See Kabir, at least para. [0080], application contains user preference engine that is configured to obtain user preferences before, during, and/or after a property tour; user preference engine may prompt a user for demographic information).
Claim 9: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 7 discussed above.
Kabir further discloses wherein at least some of the buyer preference information is determined prior to the presentation of the virtual tour based on the potential buyer's interactions with at least one previous virtual tour of a different real estate property (See Kabir, at least para. [0048], feedback from tour feedback server is used to update the user profile; tour feedback server aggregates property features that are favorable and unfavorable for a user and stores this to the user profile; tour feedback server builds a user profile that reflects what features in a property interest a user using feedback received in real time while the user is touring properties; updating the user profile enables the tour hosting server to pater personalize virtual property tours for subsequent properties toured or viewed by the user).
Claim 10: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Kabir further discloses wherein at least some of the buyer preference information is determined based on responses provided by the potential buyer in response to prompts from the virtual tour guide during the virtual tour (See Kabir, at least para. [0008], during the virtual property tour, prompts are provided that enable a user to easily leave feedback for a property generally, specific rooms, and/or individual photos or videos; prompts may include like/dislike icons and/or text boxes that enable a user to enter comments; para. [0080], application contains user preference engine that is configured to obtain user preferences before, during, and/or after a property tour).
Claim 22: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Kabir does not expressly disclose wherein generating the adapted virtual tour route comprises determining a remaining ordered sequence of locations to be presented after the location of interest in the adapted virtual tour route.
However, Dempsey discloses wherein generating the adapted virtual tour route comprises determining a remaining ordered sequence of locations to be presented after the location of interest in the adapted virtual tour route (See Dempsey, at least col. 12, lines 10-22, user deviates from the default path and at the next visual decision point, follows a path not yet taken for example, if the user decides to enter the kitchen using path 114, user then follows path 102 to view the unseen bedrooms and bathrooms automatically without any further user interaction; user with then follow the default path from that point on).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir the ability wherein generating the adapted virtual tour route comprises determining a remaining ordered sequence of locations to be presented after the location of interest in the adapted virtual tour route as disclosed by Dempsey since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to allow users to make decisions on what they want to view next.’ (See Dempsey, at least col. 5, lines 40-50).
Claim 23: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 22 discussed above.
Kabir does not expressly disclose wherein the remaining ordered sequence of locations includes at least a portion of the ordered sequence of locations of the generated virtual tour route.
However, Dempsey discloses wherein the remaining ordered sequence of locations includes at least a portion of the ordered sequence of locations of the generated virtual tour route (See Dempsey, at least col. 12, lines 10-22, user deviates from the default path and at the next visual decision point, follows a path not yet taken for example, if the user decides to enter the kitchen using path 114, user then follows path 102 to view the unseen bedrooms and bathrooms automatically without any further user interaction; user with then follow the default path from that point on).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir the ability wherein the remaining ordered sequence of locations includes at least a portion of the ordered sequence of locations of the generated virtual tour route as disclosed by Dempsey since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to allow users to make decisions on what they want to view next.’ (See Dempsey, at least col. 5, lines 40-50).
Claim 24: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 22 discussed above.
Kabir does not expressly disclose wherein determining the remaining ordered sequence of locations comprises selecting one or more subsequent locations in the real estate property based on the location of interest such that the adapted virtual tour route continues from the location of interest.
However, Dempsey discloses wherein determining the remaining ordered sequence of locations comprises selecting one or more subsequent locations in the real estate property based on the location of interest such that the adapted virtual tour route continues from the location of interest (See Dempsey, at least col. 12, lines 10-22, user deviates from the default path and at the next visual decision point, follows a path not yet taken for example, if the user decides to enter the kitchen using path 114, user then follows path 102 to view the unseen bedrooms and bathrooms automatically without any further user interaction; user with then follow the default path from that point on).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir the ability wherein determining the remaining ordered sequence of locations comprises selecting one or more subsequent locations in the real estate property based on the location of interest such that the adapted virtual tour route continues from the location of interest as disclosed by Dempsey since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to allow users to make decisions on what they want to view next.’ (See Dempsey, at least col. 5, lines 40-50).
Claim 25: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 24 discussed above.
Kabir does not expressly disclose wherein continuing the adapted virtual tour route from the location of interest comprises selecting the one or more subsequent locations on a same floor of the real estate property as the location of interest.
However, Dempsey discloses wherein continuing the adapted virtual tour route from the location of interest comprises selecting the one or more subsequent locations on a same floor of the real estate property as the location of interest (See Dempsey, at least col. 12, lines 10-22, user deviates from the default path and at the next visual decision point, follows a path not yet taken for example, if the user decides to enter the kitchen using path 114, user then follows path 102 to view the unseen bedrooms and bathrooms automatically without any further user interaction; user with then follow the default path from that point on).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir the ability wherein continuing the adapted virtual tour route from the location of interest comprises selecting the one or more subsequent locations on a same floor of the real estate property as the location of interest as disclosed by Dempsey since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to allow users to make decisions on what they want to view next.’ (See Dempsey, at least col. 5, lines 40-50).
The Examiner notes that the claim limitation "on a same floor of the real estate property" appears to be non-functional descriptive language. This limitation does not further modify the structural limitations of the claim as currently recited and does not result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art. If the prior art is capable of performing the recited functionality, then the prior art meets the language of the claims. Dempsey is capable of selecting different locations of the real estate property and thus meets the language of the claims.
Claim 26: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Kabir does not expressly disclose wherein adapting the narration comprises transitioning from narration associated with the generated virtual tour route to narration associated with the adapted virtual tour route.
However, Dempsey discloses wherein adapting the narration comprises transitioning from narration associated with the generated virtual tour route to narration associated with the adapted virtual tour route (See Dempsey, at least col. 6, lines 50-65, real estate agent is filmed walking through the property while describing the property, i.e.,, video contains narration of each room so next room contains narration of that room).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir the ability wherein adapting the narration comprises transitioning from narration associated with the generated virtual tour route to narration associated with the adapted virtual tour route as disclosed by Dempsey since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to allow users to make decisions on what they want to view next.’ (See Dempsey, at least col. 5, lines 40-50).
Claim 27: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 26 discussed above.
Kabir does not expressly disclose wherein transitioning from the narration associated with the generated virtual tour route to the narration associated with the adapted virtual tour route comprises completing a narration segment associated with a location displayed before the location of interest and linking the narration segment to a narration segment associated with the location of interest.
However, Dempsey discloses wherein transitioning from the narration associated with the generated virtual tour route to the narration associated with the adapted virtual tour route comprises completing a narration segment associated with a location displayed before the location of interest and linking the narration segment to a narration segment associated with the location of interest (See Dempsey, at least col. 6, lines 50-65, real estate agent is filmed walking through the property while describing the property, i.e.,, video contains narration of each room so next room contains narration of that room).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir the ability wherein transitioning from the narration associated with the generated virtual tour route to the narration associated with the adapted virtual tour route comprises completing a narration segment associated with a location displayed before the location of interest and linking the narration segment to a narration segment associated with the location of interest as disclosed by Dempsey since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to allow users to make decisions on what they want to view next.’ (See Dempsey, at least col. 5, lines 40-50).
Claim 30: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Kabir does not expressly disclose wherein the location of interest corresponds to a room of the real estate property.
However, Dempsey discloses wherein the location of interest corresponds to a room of the real estate property (See Dempsey, at least col. 12, lines 10-22, user deviates from the default path and at the next visual decision point, follows a path not yet taken for example, if the user decides to enter the kitchen using path 114).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir the ability wherein the location of interest corresponds to a room of the real estate property as disclosed by Dempsey since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to allow users to make decisions on what they want to view next.’ (See Dempsey, at least col. 5, lines 40-50).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kabir in view of Dempsey as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2021/0248674 A1 to Ogunbunmi (hereinafter “Ogunbunmi”).
The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Neither Kabir nor Dempsey expressly discloses wherein the presentation of the virtual tour includes display of a floorplan of the real estate property, and wherein, when one of the images is displayed, the display of the floorplan includes a marker identifying a location corresponding to the displayed image.
However, Ogunbunmi discloses systems and methods for “generating leads for loan applications for purchase of an asset via a virtual tour of the asset.” (See Ogunbunmi, at least Abstract). Ogunbunmi further discloses that a “customer may visit a website for the asset and activate a virtual tour that includes a sequence of graphical content representing different views of the asset.” (See Ogunbunmi, at least Abstract). Ogunbunmi further discloses wherein the presentation of the virtual tour includes display of a floorplan of the real estate property, and wherein, when one of the images is displayed, the display of the floorplan includes a marker identifying a location corresponding to the displayed image (See Ogunbunmi, at least FIG. 1A and associated text; para. [0026], GUI 104 includes a view 106 of an entry or foyer area of a property, and a map 107 depicting a floorplan of the property. In some examples, GUI 104 may also include a view indicator 108 that indicates a location within map 107 of current view 106. As shown in FIG. 1A, view indicator 108 is a rectangle shape overlaid on a portion of map 107 corresponding to a foyer area of the property's floorplan to represent that the current view 106 is of the entry or foyer area of the property).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir and the open house video tour system and method of Dempsey the ability wherein the presentation of the virtual tour includes display of a floorplan of the real estate property, and wherein, when one of the images is displayed, the display of the floorplan includes a marker identifying a location corresponding to the displayed image as disclosed by Ogunbunmi since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to “simulate[s] the experience of a user viewing the property in-person.” (See Ogunbunmi, at least para. [0026]).
Claims 28-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kabir in view of Dempsey as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2015/0169284 A1 to Quast et al. (hereinafter “Quast”).
Claim 28: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Neither Kabir nor Dempsey expressly discloses wherein the user input comprises a natural language question received as text or audio.
However, Quast discloses “a virtual assistant that may access a user's profile containing information about the user and customize, based on at least some information in the profile, its behavior when interacting with the user. Accessing information in a user's profile allows the virtual assistant to cater to the user's preferences in any of numerous ways (e.g., by adjusting the style in which the virtual assistant presents information to the user and/or the content of information the virtual assistant presents to the user).” (See Quast, at least para. [0048]). Quast further discloses wherein the user input comprises a natural language question received as text or audio (See Quast, at least para. [0079], virtual assistant receives voice input from a user; voice input may comprise natural language input and a virtual assistant may be configured to process the natural language input using any suitable speech recognition and/or natural language understanding techniques).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir and the open house video tour system and method of Dempsey the ability wherein the user input comprises a natural language question received as text or audio as disclosed by Quast since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to provide “an improved and increasingly personalized user experience.” (See Quast, at least para. [0048]).
Claim 29: The combination of Kabir and Dempsey and Quast discloses all the limitations of claim 28 discussed above.
Neither Kabir nor Dempsey expressly discloses wherein the location of interest is determined by identifying a room, area, item, or feature of the real estate property to which the natural language question relates.
However, Quast discloses wherein the location of interest is determined by identifying a room, area, item, or feature of the real estate property to which the natural language question relates (See Quast, at least para. [0253], In response to receiving the user's request to create a personalized tour, the virtual assistant may create the tour based at least in part on information in the request; para. [0252], user may request a personalized tour of an area (e.g., a city, a town, a neighborhood, a region, etc.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir and the open house video tour system and method of Dempsey the ability wherein the location of interest is determined by identifying a room, area, item, or feature of the real estate property to which the natural language question relates as disclosed by Quast since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to provide “an improved and increasingly personalized user experience.” (See Quast, at least para. [0048]).
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kabir in view of Dempsey as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2022/0138641 A1 to Lee (hereinafter “Lee”).
The combination of Kabir and Dempsey discloses all the limitations of claim 1 discussed above.
Neither Kabir nor Dempsey expressly discloses wherein at least one of the generated virtual tour route or the adapted virtual tour route is determined using a machine learning module.
However, Lee discloses a method of “automatic generation of a virtual lineup of venues for a potential tour of a performer. For example, where a performer desires to go on tour, some embodiments may include a touring app that be employed on smartphones (e.g., a smartphone app) by the performer, by venue owners, and by fans to manage the tour from start to finish.” (See Lee, at least para. [0019]). Lee further discloses wherein at least one of the generated virtual tour route or the adapted virtual tour route is determined using a machine learning module (See Lee, at least para. [0037], tour manager app 118 may use, at action 207, the machine learning classifier 120 to generate three virtual tours, namely a first virtual tour from Victoria to Los Angeles lasting 20 days, a second virtual tour from Victoria to Edmonton lasting 16 days, and a third virtual tour from Victoria to Los Angeles lasted 9 days. Each of these three virtual tours may be generated by the machine learning classifier 120 with a most efficient routing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the virtual tour system and method of Kabir and the open house video tour system and method of Dempsey the ability wherein at least one of the generated virtual tour route or the adapted virtual tour route is determined using a machine learning module as disclosed by Lee since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to provide “a fully integrated system through which the performers can plan a tour (e.g., domestic and/or international), interact directly with the venues to book, confirm and settle the event, efficiently handle transportation logistics, and market directly to fans and supporters to take deposits and/or sell tickets.” (See Lee, at least para. [0022]).
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/Anne M Georgalas/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3689
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