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 .
DETAILED ACTION
1. This is in response to application filed on 10/01/2024 in which claim 1-20 are presented for examination.
Status of Claims
2. Claims 1-20 are pending, of which claim 1, 10 and 16 are in independent form.
Double Patenting
3. The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
Claims 1-20 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting over claims 1-18 of US Patent 12,141,367 and claims 1-14 of US Patent 11,861,070.
The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is covered by the patent since the patent and the application are claiming common subject matter, as claims 1-20 of the current application are broadened versions of claims claims 1-18 of US Patent 12,141,367 and claims 1-14 of US Patent 11,861,070.
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.
4. Claims 1, 4-5, 7-8, 10, 13, 16 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Hilliges (US PG Pub 2012/0113223) published on May 10, 2012 in view of TSUMURA (US PG Pub 2015/0058806) published on February 26, 2015 in further view of Kuscher et al. (US PG Pub 2015/0205516) published on July 23, 2015.
As per claim 1, 10 and 16, Hilliges teaches A method of controlling virtual elements using an eyewear device comprising a camera system and a display(Para[0025-0028] discloses hmd display and camera to capture images, as taught by Hilliges), wherein the method comprises: capturing frames of video data using the camera system(Para[0025-0028] [0002]discloses video camera to capture images, as taught by Hilliges),;
detecting in the frames of video data a hand at a current hand location relative to the display(fig 4 displays hands, as taught by Hilliges), wherein detecting the hand comprises detecting a palm location and a plurality of finger locations relative to the palm location; (fig3-4 displays hands, palm and fingers, as taught by Hilliges)
presenting on the display a virtual menu icon at a current icon position, wherein the current icon position is associated with the current hand location(fig 3-5 Para[0030-0032] displays virtual object on top of the palm, as taught by Hilliges), wherein the virtual menu icon is associated with a plurality of virtual graphical menu elements, and wherein each of the plurality of virtual graphical menu elements is associated with a radial direction relative to the virtual menu icon(fig 3-5 Para[0030-0032] displays virtual object and icon on top of the palm and the selected icon located in a straight-line path extending directly outward from or inward toward a central point of the palm , as taught by Hilliges);
associating each of the plurality of virtual graphical menu elements with the plurality of finger locations based on the radial directions, such that each virtual graphical menu element is correlated with at least one of the plurality of finger locations(fig 3-5 Para[0030-0032][0045] displays virtual object and icon on top of the palm. "copy" icon 308, "paste" icon 310, "send" icon 312, "save" icon 314 and "new" icon 316 associated with a respective fingertip, as taught by Hilliges);
and at a finger angle relative to the palm location(Para[0045][0048] discloses bending the fingers or copy" function by touching the tip of the thumb of the non-dominant hand with a digit of the dominant hand which includes finger angle, as taught by Hilliges);
identifying a particular graphical menu element associated with the finger motion based on the radial direction relative to the finger angle(Para[0045][0048] discloses bending the fingers or copy" function by touching the tip of the thumb of the non-dominant hand with a digit of the dominant hand which includes finger angle, as taught by Hilliges); and
Hilliges does not explicitly teach detecting a finger motion characterized by a particular finger location detected beyond a threshold distance
presenting on the display the particular graphical menu element along a path in a progression relative to the current icon position based on the finger motion, such that the particular graphical menu element appears to move relative to the virtual menu icon.
On the other hand, TSUMURA teaches presenting on the display the particular graphical menu element along a path in a progression relative to the current icon position based on the finger motion, such that the particular graphical menu element appears to move relative to the virtual menu icon(fig 3-5 Para[0037-0040] submenu displays corresponding to application icon according to the direction of the finger movement, as taught by Tsumura).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the
invention to modify Hilliges invention with the teaching of TSUMURA because doing so would
result in increased visibility by displaying only the selected menu item based on user’s finger movement.
The combination of Hilliges and TSUMURA does not explicitly teach detecting a finger motion characterized by a particular finger location detected beyond a threshold distance
On the other hand, KUSCHER teaches detecting a finger motion characterized by a particular
finger location detected beyond a threshold distance(Para[0025] sliding three fingers 101(a), 101(b),
and 101(c) at least a predetermined distance to the left, as taught by KUSCHER)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the
invention to modify Hilliges and Tsumura invention with the teaching of Kuscher because doing so would
result in reducing difficulty to determine which finger gesture is mapped to which command.
As per claim 4, 13 and 19, the combination of Hilliges, Tsumura and Kuscher teaches further comprising: sizing the virtual menu icon relative to the hand, wherein the virtual menu icon comprises one or more shapes selected from a group consisting of a circle, a polygon, a ball, a polyhedron, a regular shape(fig 3-5, as taught by Hilliges), an irregular shape, and an apparently graspable shape.
As per claim 5, the combination of Hilliges, Tsumura and Kuscher teaches wherein detecting the hand comprises: detecting an exposed palmar surface(fig 3-5 shows palmer surface, as taught by Hilliges); and detecting one or more fingers relaxed relative to the exposed palmar surface(fig 3-5, as taught by Hilliges).
As per claim 7, the combination of Hilliges, Tsumura and Kuscher teaches wherein detecting the finger motion comprises one or more of: detecting one or more fingers opening away from the palm location(Para[0042-0048], as taught by Hilliges), or detecting one or more fingers hyperextended beyond the threshold distance relative to the palm location.
As per claim 8, the combination of Hilliges, Tsumura and Kuscher teaches wherein presenting the particular graphical menu element comprises: detecting one of more fingers closing toward the palm location, such that the particular graphical menu element appears to move along the path toward the current icon position(Fig 4-5 Para[0042-0052], as taught by Hilliges).
5. Claims 2-3, 9, 11-12, 15 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Hilliges (US PG Pub 2012/0113223) published on May 10, 2012 in view of TSUMURA (US PG Pub 2015/0058806) published on February 26, 2015 in view of Kuscher et al. (US PG Pub 2015/0205516) published on July 23, 2015 in further view of Nakata(US PG Pub 2020/0402265) published on December 24, 2020.
As per claim 2, 11 and 17, the combination of Hilliges, Tsumura and Kuscher does not explicitly teach determining a current eyewear device location relative to the current hand location; and calculating a correlation between the current hand location relative to the display based on the current eyewear device location, wherein presenting the virtual menu icon comprises sizing the virtual menu icon based on the correlation.
On the other hand, Nakata teaches determining a current eyewear device location relative to the current hand location(fig 3 shows hmd corresponding to the user’s hand, as taught by Nakata); and calculating a correlation between the current hand location relative to the display based on the current eyewear device location(Para[0030] hand location corresponding to the HMD, as taught by Nakata), wherein presenting the virtual menu icon comprises sizing the virtual menu icon based on the correlation(fig 3 and 6 shows virtual item image attached to the fingertip, as taught by Nakata).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the
invention to modify Hilliges, Kuscher and Tsumura invention with the teaching of Nakata because doing
so would result in allow various parameters to be changed for content control by displaying options for
selection through simple operation with a minimum of inconvenience.
As per claim 3, 12 and 18, the combination of Hilliges, Tsumura, Nakata and Kuscher teaches wherein presenting the virtual menu icon comprises: setting the current icon position relatively above the current hand location, such that the virtual menu icon appears to hover above the hand(fig 3 shows icon on top of the fingertip, as taught by Hilliges); and
presenting the virtual menu icon as an overlay relative to the current hand location, such that the virtual menu icon is persistently viewable(fig 6 e.g. 132a-c, as taught by Nakata).
As per claim 9 and 15, the combination of Hilliges, Tsumura, Nakata and Kuscher teaches wherein detecting the hand comprises: detecting a series of hand shapes(fig 8a-c shows multiple hand shape, as taught by Nakata);
determining whether the series of hand shapes matches a predefined hand gesture from among a plurality of predefined hand gestures stored in a hand gesture library(Para[0054-0056] the pose of the hand can be compared to a library of predefined poses by the computing device 110, wherein each predefined pose corresponds to a gesture. If the pose of the hand is sufficiently close to a predefined pose in the library, then the corresponding gesture is detected, as taught by Hilliges) ; and
presenting the particular graphical menu element in accordance with the predefined hand gesture(fig 7B causing the display to switch to the image of “game B”, as taught by Nakata).
6. Claims 6, 14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Hilliges (US PG Pub 2012/0113223) published on May 10, 2012 in view of TSUMURA (US PG Pub 2015/0058806) published on February 26, 2015 in view of Kuscher et al. (US PG Pub 2015/0205516) published on July 23, 2015 in further view of Hori(US PG Pub 2015/0091824) published on April 02, 2015.
As per Claim 6, 14 and 20, the combination of Hilliges, Tsumura and Kuscher does not teach further comprising: estimating a finger speed based on the particular finger location relative to the palm location; and animating the progression of the particular graphical menu element along the path at an apparent progression speed based on the finger speed, such that the particular graphical menu element appears persistently correlated with the particular finger location.
On the other hand, Hori teaches further comprising: estimating a finger speed based on the particular finger location relative to the palm location(Para[0089] speed of the finger, as taught by Hori); and animating the progression of the particular graphical menu element along the path at an apparent progression speed based on the finger speed, such that the particular graphical menu element appears persistently correlated with the particular finger location(Para[0089] when the user performs a flick operation on the menu screen, animation processing is performed in which the menu items are scrolled in accordance with the speed of change in the touch coordinate of the flick operation. Namely, the scroll amount of the menu items corresponds to the speed at which the user moves his/her finger, as taught by Hori).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify Hilliges, Tsumura and Kuscher invention with the teaching of Hori because doing so would result in improving operability when the user performs an operation on the touch panel.
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Faulkner(US PG Pub 2021/0096726) discloses “ a hand at a first position that corresponds to a portion of the three-dimensional environment. In response to detecting the hand at the first position: in accordance with a determination that the hand is being held in a first predefined configuration, the computer system displays a visual indication of a first operation context for gesture input using hand gestures in the three-dimensional environment”.
7. The examiner requests, in response to this Office action, support be shown for language added to any original claims on amendment and any new claims. That is, indicate support for newly added claim language by specifically pointing to page(s) and line no(s) in the specification and/or drawing figure(s). This will assist the examiner in prosecuting the application.
8. When responding to this office action, Applicant is advised to clearly point out the patentable novelty which he or she thinks the claims present, in view of the state of the art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made. He or she must also show how the amendments avoid such references or objections See 37 CFR 1.111(c).
Point of Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYEEZ R CHOWDHURY whose telephone number is (571)270-3069. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-6:30PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William L Bashore can be reached at 571-272-4088. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAYEEZ R CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2174 Saturday, July 25, 2026
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