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 10/15/2024 in which claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Status of Claims
2. Claims 1-20 are pending, of which claim 1, 11 and 20 are in independent form.
Allowable Subject Matter
3. Claims 18-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(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.
4. Claims 1-2, 7-12, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by West (US PG Pub 2017/0091977) published on March 30, 2017.
As per claim 1, 11 and 20, West teaches A computer-implemented method for retiming segments included in character animations, the method comprising:
displaying a set of keyposes associated with a character animation along an animation timeline(fig 4-5 Para[0032-0034] displays pose object and each displayed pose 414 of the character 402 on the time bar 412 corresponds with a point in time (an “animation time”), as taught by West);
receiving a selection of a plurality of keyposes included in the set of keyposes, the plurality of keyposes defining a selected segment included in the character animation(Para[0035-0044] fig 4-5 The user 100 may interact with objects within the interactive timeline platform 410, such as the time bar 412, or any of the individual poses 414 of the character 402 shown at each particular animation time 416. Interacting with any one of the pose objects 414 may cause modifications to the adjacent poses 414. The animation module 210 detects various interactions with a pose object 414 and calculates alterations to the adjacent poses 414. The animation module 210 then updates the adjacent poses 414 accordingly, as taught by West);
receiving a command to expand or contract the selected segment along the animation timeline, wherein the command specifies an updated segment(fig 6-7 Para[0047] grabbing the two frames at the edges of the region (e.g., a first timebar marker 610 at animation time t=7.0s and a second timebar marker 612 at animation time t=6.6s) and squeeze the timebar markers together. In some embodiments, to generate the timebar markers 610, 612, the user 100 may grab the pose object 414 associated with the animation time t=7.0s with one hand and the pose object 414 associated with the animation time t=6.6s with the other hand. In other embodiments, the user 100 may touch a point on the time bar 412 with one finger (e.g., at time t=7.0s) and touch another point on the time bar 412 with another finger (e.g., at time t=6.6s). The two timebar markers 610, 612 define a compressed region 620 between time t=6.6s and t=7.0s, as taught by West); and
executing one or more retiming operations on the selected segment to generate the updated segment(Para[0048-0051] fig 4-5 the compressed region 620 provides a break in the time bar 412, thereby allowing the time increment to be different within the compressed region 620. Further, the time bar 412 also provides a visual indicator that the compressed pose object 604 represents a range of time rather than just one point in time (e.g., illustrated by a rectangle 622 highlighting the start time (t=6.6s) and end time (t=7.0s) of the compressed region 620). Adjusted time bar being displayed, as taught by West).
As per claim 2 and 12, West teaches wherein the one or more retiming operations executed on the selected segment are based on a degree of an expansion or a contraction of the selected segment along the animation timeline(Para[0048-0051] e.g. the time increment before the compressed region 620 may be 0.4 seconds, and the time increment after the compressed region 620 may be 3 seconds, as taught by West).
As per claim 7, West teaches wherein the command received comprises a command to expand the selected segment to slow down a motion of the character within the selected segment(Para[0047], as taught by West).
As per claim 8, West teaches wherein the command received comprises a command to contract the selected segment for speeding up a motion of the character within the selected segment(Para[0047], as taught by West).
As per claim 9, West teaches wherein the set of keyposes and the animation timeline are displayed via a three-dimensional immersive environment interface(fig 4-7a-b shows 3d object, as taught by West).
As per claim 10, West teaches wherein the plurality of keyposes included in the set of keyposes are selected via one or more immersive environment controllers(Para[0037-0038][0092] discloses touch input and it can include haptic feedback corresponding to the touch input. Also includes receive alphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumeric input components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointing instruments), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen that provides location or force of touches or touch gestures, or other tactile input components), motion-sensing input components (e.g., hand controllers), as taught by West).
As per claim 17, West teaches wherein executing the one or more retiming operations on the selected segment includes: computing an initial frame distance associated with the selected segment(fig 5 Para[0047], as taught by West); and computing an updated frame distance associated with the updated segment(fig 5-7A shows updated image, as taught by West).
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.
5. Claims 3-6and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over West (US PG Pub 2017/0091977) published on March 30, 2017 in view of Tyou et al. (US PG Pub 2021/0234863) published on July 29, 2021.
As per claim 3 and 13, West teaches wherein executing the one or more retiming operations on the selected segment comprises: computing a degree of an expansion or a contraction of the selected segment along the animation timeline(Para[0048-0051] fig 4-7 the time increment before the compressed region 620 may be 0.4 seconds, and the time increment after the compressed region 620 may be 3 seconds, as taught by West); and
based on the degree of the expansion or the contraction of the selected segment(Para[0048-0051] Fig 4-7, as taught by West).
West does not explicitly teach computing a speed curve function.
On the other hand, Tyou teaches computing a speed curve function(Para[0060] discloses a change in the cumulative value of the number of patterns to a function that expresses a predetermined curve, as taught by Tyou)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the
invention to modify West invention with the teaching of Tyou because doing so would
result in increased efficiency by displaying the data in a graphical format.
As per claim 4 and 14, the combination of West and Tyou teaches wherein executing the one or more retiming operations on the selected segment further comprises modifying the selected segment based on the speed curve function(Para[0038-0048], as taught by Tyou).
As per claim 5 and 15, the combination of West and Tyou teaches wherein executing the one or more retiming operations on the selected segment further comprises removing one or more poses included in the selected segment based on the speed curve function(fig 4-5, as taught by West).
As per claim 6 and 16, the combination of West and Tyou teaches wherein executing the one or more retiming operations on the selected segment further comprises adding one or more poses to the selected segment based on the speed curve function(fig 4-7A-B shows more object added, as taught by West).
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Aguado(US PG Pub 2017/0221251) discloses continuous curve as a three-dimensional function defined by start and end control points 700 and 701: the curve data. Intermediate control points may be provided or required to define the curve, such as for a Bezier curve. These control points are not illustrated. The start control point includes parameters defining a start location and curve definition parameters illustrated by a local frame at a tangent to the curve. One example of such a frame is the Frenet frame. The frame is a moving frame that provides a coordinate system at each point of the curve that is “best adapted” to the curve near that point.
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
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
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