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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/05/2025 has been entered.
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.
Claims 18-22, 27, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Bevis et al. (USPAPN 2016/0147408).
Regarding claim 18, Bevis discloses:
a first information processing apparatus (see para [25], a computer); and
a second information processing apparatus comprising circuitry (see fig 1-2, a headset including a processor and a memory) configured to:
determine, based on a first control information, a selection of a first measurement mode or a selection of a second measurement mode (see para [43] and fig 6, determine, based on an expressive indication from a user, a selection of a length measurement mode (606-607 in fig 6) or an area measurement mode (608-609 in fig 6)),
wherein a distance in the first measurement mode is measured by using at least two reference points specified based on a second control information (see para [35] and fig 3B, a distance in the length measurement mode is measured by using at least two points based on endpoints specified by the user), and
wherein, in the second measurement mode, a first virtual object with a predetermined shape having predetermined dimensions is displayed based on a third control information (see para [35] and fig 3E, in the area measurement mode, a virtual ruler is displayed based on a ruler placement command from the user), and
wherein the predetermined shape and the predetermined dimensions are predefined without previously specifying any reference points (see para [31], [34], and [37], the virtual ruler has a shape and size predetermined from a previous experience, without reference to any endpoints in the current experience).
Regarding claim 19, Bevis further discloses: wherein the first control information and the second control information are same as each other, or wherein the first control information and the second control information are different from each other (see rejection of claim 18, the expressive indication from a user and the endpoints specified by the user are different from each other).
Regarding claim 20, Bevis further discloses: wherein the circuitry is further configured to change a position or a size of the first virtual object based on a fourth control information (see para [35], moving the virtual ruler based on the ruler move command from the user).
Regarding claim 21, Bevis further discloses: wherein the first control information, the second control information, and the third control information are user operation information input from the first information processing apparatus, and wherein at least two of the first control information, the second control information, and the third control information are different from each other or same as each other (see rejection of claim 18, the expressive indication from a user, the endpoints specified by the user, and the ruler placement command from the user are user inputs different from each other).
Regarding claim 22, Bevis further discloses: wherein the circuitry is further configured to control a display to display a second virtual object indicating at least one of length, width, or depth of the first virtual object (see para [35], displaying the length of each side of the virtual ruler).
Regarding claim 27, Bevis further discloses: wherein the first information processing apparatus is spatially separated from the second information processing apparatus (see para [25], the computer is external to the headset).
Regarding claim 30, Bevis discloses everything claimed as applied above (see rejection of claim 18).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-17, 23-26, 28, and 29 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 1, Bevis discloses:
a first information processing apparatus (see para [25], a computer); and
a second information processing apparatus comprising circuitry (see fig 1-2, a headset including a processor and a memory) configured to:
control a display to display a first virtual object from the first information processing apparatus (see para [19], [25], and fig 1, the headset for displaying a virtual ruler in connection to the computer);
determine, based on a first control information, a selection of a first measurement mode or a selection of a second measurement mode (see para [43] and fig 6, determine, based on an expressive indication from a user, a selection of an area measurement mode (608-609 in fig 6) or a length measurement mode (606-607 in fig 6));
determine, in the first measurement mode, a plurality of reference points based on a second control information (see para [35], [43], and fig 3E, determine, in the area measurement mode, points specified by the user based on user point input);
determine, in the first measurement mode, a distance between at least two reference points of the plurality of reference points or an area of a region enclosed by at least three reference points of the plurality of reference points (see para [35], [43], and fig 6, determine, in the area measurement mode, an area enclosed by three or more points specified by the user);
control, in the second measurement mode, the display to display a second virtual object based on a third control information (see para [33], [38], [43], and fig 3I, control, in the length measurement mode, to display an adjusted virtual ruler, based on a ruler movement command from the user); and
control, in the second measurement mode, the display to display a third virtual object indicating at least one of length, width, or depth of the second virtual object (see fig 3I, control, in the length measurement mode, to display measurements made by the adjusted virtual ruler (i.e., “6 ft” and “8 ft” in fig 3I)).
However, Bevis does not disclose: a first virtual object extending from the first information processing apparatus (i.e., Bevis does not disclose that the virtual ruler displayed extends from the computer, as shown V43 in applicant’s fig 14). Similar reasons apply to claim 17, as Bevis does not disclose the virtual object extending from a separate processing apparatus.
Regarding claim 23, Bevis discloses everything claimed as applied above (see rejection of claim 18), and further discloses wherein the circuitry is further configured to control a display to display a third virtual object extending from the first information processing apparatus (see para [19], [25], and fig 1, the headset for displaying a virtual ruler in connection to the computer).
However, Bevis does not disclose: a third virtual object extending from the first information processing apparatus (i.e., Bevis does not disclose that the virtual ruler displayed extends from the computer, as shown V43 in applicant’s fig 14).
Regarding claim 28, Bevis discloses everything claimed as applied above (see rejection of claim 18), however, does not disclose wherein the circuitry is further configured to: receive an image of the first information processing apparatus captured by an image capturing device; and recognize the first information processing apparatus based on the image.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/05/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claim 18, the applicant argues that Bevis fails to disclose the limitation “a first virtual object with a predetermined shape having predetermined dimensions” and “predetermined shape and the predetermined dimensions are predefined without previously specifying any reference points”, specifically because Brevis’s use of the ruler requires the specification of “endpoints”.
The examiner respectfully disagrees. The applicant’s claim merely states that the shape and dimensions of the ruler a predetermined without specifying any reference points, while not clearly stating what such “reference points” refer to. Brevis clearly discloses loading a virtual ruler having a shape and size predetermined from a previous experience, without specifying any endpoints during a current experience, which reads on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claimed “without specifying any reference points”.
In view of the above reasons, the rejection is maintained. Similar reasons apply to claim 30.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SJ PARK whose telephone number is (571)270-3569. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/SJ Park/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2675