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
Double Patenting
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12170044. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because they perform the same generating a mapping and display functions, using an image, model and mapping, where 18/942169 merely adds the step where it creates the model from the image rather than being provided with the information 12170044 is strictly broader than 18/942169. It is well settled that "anticipation is the epitome of obviousness," in re McDaniel, 293 F3d. 1379,1385 (Fed. Cir. 2002}{quoting Connell v. Sears Roebuck & Co,, 722 F.2d 1542, 1.548 (Fed. Cir. 1.983}}; In re Fracalossi, 681 F.2d 792, 794 (CCPA 1982). Claim 1 is mapped below, the remaining claims 2-20 map directly.
18/942169
12170044 (18/140529)
1. A method, comprising:
A method, comprising:
generating a three-dimensional model of a modifiable portion of a pre-rendered image whose underlying three-dimensional model is not known;
generating a mapping corresponding to the modifiable portion of the image based on the generated three-dimensional model of the modifiable portion of the image that maps pixels of the modifiable portion of the image to pixels of a canvas used to specify custom content for the modifiable portion of the image;
generating a mapping from a three-dimensional model of a modifiable portion of an image that maps pixels of the modifiable portion of the image to pixels of a canvas used to specify custom content for the modifiable portion of the image;
and providing both the image and the mapping in response to a request for the image,
wherein modifications of the canvas are dynamically displayed on the modifiable portion of the image in real time according to the mapping as edits are received on the canvas and in a manner that preserves geometric properties of surfaces comprising the modifiable portion of the image when canvas pixels replace corresponding image pixels.
and providing both the image and the mapping in response to a request for the image, w
herein the provided image comprises a rendered image rendered from one or more three-dimensional mesh models and wherein modifications of the canvas
are dynamically displayed on the modifiable portion of the rendered image in real time according to the mapping as edits are received on the canvas and in a manner that preserves geometric properties of surfaces comprising the modifiable portion of the rendered image when canvas pixels replace corresponding image pixels.
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.
Claim(s) 1-, 3, 6-9, 13-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harville U.S. Patent/PG Publication 8514220.
Regarding claim 1 (independent):
A method, comprising: (Harvill C2 L67- C3 L5 FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrates an exemplary implementation of the product modeling system 100. In this implementation, the system is implemented on a stand alone computing device, such as a personal computer and the product modeling system is implemented as one or more pieces of software comprising a plurality of lines of computer code that are executed by a processing unit in the computing device to implement the product modeling system.)(Harvill C3 L20-35 The chassis 104 may house a processing unit 106 such as an Intel processor, a persistent storage device 108 such as a hard disk drive and a memory 110 wherein the memory may store the software modules/applications being executed by the processing unit. When the product modeling system is being implemented on the computing device, the computing device may also include a product modeling store 112, such as a software implemented database and the memory may store an operating system 114 that controls the operations of the computing device and a product modeling module 116 that has a plurality of lines of computer code wherein the plurality of lines of computer code are executed by the processing unit to implement the product modeling system and method as described below.)
generating a three-dimensional model of a modifiable portion of a pre-rendered image whose underlying three-dimensional model is not known (Harvill C5 L25-30 Once the one or more pieces of apparel are prepared with the markers, an image for each piece of apparel on each different human model may be generated (150) such as by using a camera to take a picture of the piece of apparel being worn by a human model.)(Harvill C5 L40-55 Once the image of the piece of apparel on a plurality of human models in a plurality of different poses are taken, the model for the piece of apparel on a particular model in a particular pose are preprocessed (160) by the product modeling system. During the preprocessing, the product modeling system may detect the plurality of markers on the piece of apparel image, remove the marker images from the image of the piece of apparel and then generate a representation of the surface of the piece of apparel when worn by the human model.).
generating a mapping corresponding to the modifiable portion of the image based on the generated three-dimensional model of the modifiable portion of the image that maps pixels of the modifiable portion of the image to pixels of a canvas used to specify custom content for the modifiable portion of the image (Harvill C4 L11-21 A consumer may select a design (122) such as the design shown in FIG. 8A and a warp process (124) may be performed to generate a warp design (128). […] Once these processes are completed, the model is created with the design (134) wherein the model with the design is shown to the consumer.)
and providing both the image and the mapping in response to a request for the image, (Harvill C4 L47-66 store the mapping to avoid recalculation of the mapping each time.) (Harvill C3 L1-14: The product modeling system, however, can also be implemented on other computing devices and computing systems, such as a networked computing system, a client/server system,) (Harvill C3 L62-C4 L3 In another implementation/embodiment of the product modeling system, the system may permit a consumer to provide their own images/models, such as models of the actual consumer, so that the consumer can upload the image to a service and then have the selected design displayed on the model of the actual consumer wherein the service provides: 1) the model components (to create the model form); 2) a tool to upload/modify the model images to the service; ).
wherein modifications of the canvas are dynamically displayed on the modifiable portion of the image in real time according to the mapping as edits are received on the canvas (Harvill C7 L40-46 In the mapping process, a point in the design is mapped to the surface contour grid which is in turn mapped onto the piece of apparel. The image background can be easily exchanged by the product modeling system as shown in FIGS. 9A-9C.) (Harvill C4 L16-21 Once the background and design are chosen by the consumer, the design is warped and then surface shading (130) and a surface specular process (132) is performed. Once these processes are completed, the model is created with the design (134) wherein the model with the design is shown to the consumer.) since it is real-time or substantially real-time.
and in a manner that preserves geometric properties of surfaces comprising the modifiable portion of the image when canvas pixels replace corresponding image pixels (Harvill C6 L37-47 To generate the representation of the contours of the surface of the piece of apparel when worn by a particular human model in a particular pose, the system maps the position of the markers 190 relative to each other as shown in FIG. 6D into a set of contour curves 194 that represent the surface of the piece of apparel when worn by a particular human model in a particular pose. Since the system has information about the markers and the grid that they form on a flat surface as shown FIG. 4A, the system is able to determine the contours of the surface of the piece of apparel when worn by a particular human model in a particular pose.).
Harvill discloses the above elements in several embodiments. With the embodiments being disclosed in a single reference, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention being aware of one embodiment would also have been aware of the others, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the invention to have combined these elements from two or more embodiments into a single arrangement for the benefit of enjoying the advantages of all the embodiments disclosed combined into a single arrangement.
Regarding claim 3:
The method of claim 1, has all of its limitations taught by Harvill. Harvill further teaches wherein the mapping comprises a one-to-one mapping (Harvill C4 L47-66 In more detail, the markers that form a grid on a flat surface (the piece of apparel flat on a surface when the markers are properly positioned on the piece of apparel) may be used to map to a grid of markers on a non-flat surface (the piece of apparel when worn on a human model). As shown in FIG. 4A, the grid of markers 186 on the flat surface are mapped to a grid 187 with the same markers in the same positions on a non-flat surface so that the mapping between the grid on the flat surface and the grid on the non-flat surface is determined. The system may interpolate the marker locations to generate a mapping from the plurality of markers to the grid on the flat surface and may then store the mapping to avoid recalculation of the mapping each time. In one embodiment, the markers may be a number of non-visible lines that form a grid. In another embodiment, the markers may be a plurality of optical markers 190 that may be affixed to a piece of apparel 192 as shown in FIG. 4B that permits the optical tagging of the piece of apparel to map the surface of the piece of apparel when worn by a human model.)(Harvill C5 L42-52 Once the image of the piece of apparel on a plurality of human models in a plurality of different poses are taken, the model for the piece of apparel on a particular model in a particular pose are preprocessed (160) by the product modeling system. During the preprocessing, the product modeling system may detect the plurality of markers on the piece of apparel image, remove the marker images from the image of the piece of apparel and then generate a representation of the surface of the piece of apparel when worn by the human model.)
Regarding claim 6:
The method of claim 1, has all of its limitations taught by Harvill. Harvill further teaches wherein the canvas is composited on the modifiable portion of the image (Harvill C4 L16-21 Once the background and design are chosen by the consumer, the design is warped and then surface shading (130) and a surface specular process (132) is performed. Once these processes are completed, the model is created with the design (134) wherein the model with the design is shown to the consumer.)
Regarding claim 7:
The method of claim 1, has all of its limitations taught by Harvill. Harvill further teaches wherein empty portions of the canvas that do not include any content comprise transparent pixels that do not replace corresponding image pixels (Harvill Fig. 8A-8B)
Regarding claim 8:
The method of claim 1, has all of its limitations taught by Harvill. Harvill further teaches wherein the canvas comprises a textured image (Harvill C7 L13-20 The system may also layer color and texture so that the colorized model of the particular piece of apparel on the particular human model in the particular pose more accurately emulates different fabrics and/or threads of the fabric which results, for example, in an accurate emulation of the printed ink of the design on the piece of apparel with the particular type of fabric.).
Regarding claim 9 (independent):
The claim is a parallel version of claim 1. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Regarding claim 13:
The claim is a parallel version of claim 8. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Regarding claim 14:
The claim is a parallel version of claim 6. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Regarding claim 15:
The claim is a parallel version of claim 7. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Regarding claim 16:
The method of claim 9, has all of its limitations taught by Harvill. Harvill further teaches wherein the image comprises a photoreal image (Harvill C5 L25-30 Once the one or more pieces of apparel are prepared with the markers, an image for each piece of apparel on each different human model may be generated (150) such as by using a camera to take a picture of the piece of apparel being worn by a human model.)
Regarding claim 17 (independent):
The claim is a parallel version of claim 1. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Regarding claim 18 (independent):
The claim is a parallel version of claim 1. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Regarding claim 19 (independent):
The claim is a parallel version of claim 1. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Regarding claim 20 (independent):
The claim is a parallel version of claim 1. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Claim(s) 2, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harville U.S. Patent/PG Publication 8514220 in view of Schrag U.S. Patent/PG Publication 20100194768.
Regarding claim 2:
The method of claim 1, has all of its limitations taught by Harvill. Harvill does not expressly disclose UV mapping. In a related field of endeavor, Schrag teaches:
wherein the mapping comprises UV mapping (Schrag [0021]: In step 330, the 3D rendering software generates an additional image layer that comprises the UV coordinates of the displayed pixels of the perspective (hereinafter, the " UV coordinate layer").)
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use UV mapping as taught by Schrag. The rationale for doing so would have been obvious to try, since UV mapping is specifically a way of projecting a 2D image onto a 3D model, and Harvill is taking a 2D image and mapping it to a 3D shape, where the end result is mapping a 2D image onto a 3D model regardless of method. Therefore it would have been obvious to combine Schrag with Harvill to obtain the invention.
Regarding claim 10:
The claim is a parallel version of claim 2. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Claim(s) 4-5, 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harville U.S. Patent/PG Publication 8514220 in view of Poirier U.S. Patent/PG Publication 20070177433.
Regarding claim 4:
The method of claim 1, has all of its limitations taught by Harvill. Harvill further teaches wherein generating the mapping comprises (Harvill C4 L16-21 Once the background and design are chosen by the consumer, the design is warped and then surface shading (130) and a surface specular process (132) is performed. Once these processes are completed, the model is created with the design (134) wherein the model with the design is shown to the consumer.)
Harvill does not expressly disclose encoding. In a related field of endeavor, Poirier teaches:
encoding (Poirier [0029]: [0029] Embodiments may provide improved data security for data stored on data storage media, such as software, audio data on compact discs (CDs) and video data on digital video discs (DVDs), by encoding the data stored on the storage media with an encryption key that is known only to the entity that stores the data on the recording media.)
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use encoding as taught by Poirier. The motivation for doing so would have been improved security for data version (Poirier [0029]: [0029] Embodiments may provide improved data security for data stored on data storage media, such as software, audio data on compact discs (CDs) and video data on digital video discs (DVDs), by encoding the data stored on the storage media with an encryption key that is known only to the entity that stores the data on the recording media.). Therefore it would have been obvious to combine Poirier with Harvill in view of Samaneigo to obtain the invention.
Regarding claim 5:
The method of claim 1, has all of its limitations taught by Harvill. Harvill further teaches wherein generating the mapping comprises rendering an (Harvill C4 L16-21 Once the background and design are chosen by the consumer, the design is warped and then surface shading (130) and a surface specular process (132) is performed. Once these processes are completed, the model is created with the design (134) wherein the model with the design is shown to the consumer.)
Harvill does not expressly disclose encoding. In a related field of endeavor, Poirier teaches:
encoded version (Poirier [0029]: [0029] Embodiments may provide improved data security for data stored on data storage media, such as software, audio data on compact discs (CDs) and video data on digital video discs (DVDs), by encoding the data stored on the storage media with an encryption key that is known only to the entity that stores the data on the recording media.)
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use encoding as taught by Poirier. The motivation for doing so would have been improved security for data version (Poirier [0029]: [0029] Embodiments may provide improved data security for data stored on data storage media, such as software, audio data on compact discs (CDs) and video data on digital video discs (DVDs), by encoding the data stored on the storage media with an encryption key that is known only to the entity that stores the data on the recording media.). Therefore it would have been obvious to combine Poirier with Harvill in view of Samaneigo to obtain the invention.
Regarding claim 11:
The claim is a parallel version of claim 4. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Regarding claim 12:
The claim is a parallel version of claim 5. As such it is rejected under the same teachings.
Conclusion
For the prior art referenced and the prior art considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure but not relied upon, see PTO-892 “Notice of References Cited”.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON PRINGLE-PARKER whose telephone number is (571) 272-5690 and e-mail is jason.pringle-parker@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30am-5:00pm est Monday-Friday. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, King Poon can be reached on (571) 270-0728. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON A PRINGLE-PARKER/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2617
Prosecution Insights