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 .
Response to Amendment
2. Applicant has amended the claims and argues for Claims 1, 14, and 20 that Merrifield does not specify a duration less than a duration of the user selected music track. Examiner agrees with respect to Claims 1 and 14 however not with Claim 20 as there is no such duration limitation. With the claims moving more towards music interleaving the rejection under 35 USC § 102 based on Merrifield is withdrawn. However, Claims 1, 14, and 20 are rejected under 35 USC § 103 as anticipated by Shih in view of Merrifield as presented below for Applicant’s consideration.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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 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.
4. 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. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
6. Claims 1-10, 12-17, 20-24, and 26-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2003/0227473 to Shih in view of U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0072451 to Merrifield.
In Reference to Claims 1, 14, and 20
Shih discloses a method, comprising:
analyzing an original game music track {gameplay data} defined for a video game (Titl., Abstr. gameplay data rendered with original soundtrack game music of Fig. 1) wherein analyzing the original game music track includes identifying a portion of the original game music track corresponding to an activity of the video game and determining a first attribute of the portion defining a music style for the activity (Shih discloses video games containing a pre-determined set of sound files that defines all of the soundtrack possibilities within a game {original game music} ([0002], see also Fig. 1 Soundtrack; [0027-0028], where a game engine determines {analyzes} from scheme information [0027] “events that will be signaled and the sound files associated with those events” {portion} [0026] and determining a first attribute of the portion “events that will be signaled” [0026];
analyzing a user selected {background} music track to identify {defining} one or more candidate {distinct} audio clips having music {original} attributes that match the {original attributes of the} music style defined for the activity (a user is able via a user interface to assign encoded tags associated with the user-selected sound files that have information that is referenced by the scheme information for events and attributes [0007, 0037, 0039]), wherein the one or more candidate {distinct} audio clips each have a duration less than a duration of the user selected {background} music track matching the tag information attributes (the sound files comprise samples which are “of a specified duration” [0019, 0020] and are “typically shorter fragments of sound or music”, See also ”a portion less than the entirety of the sound file” [0037, 0042]);
detecting, based on gameplay data generating during gameplay of the video game, occurrence of the activity (during the game, based on playback trigger data [0043] the engine identifies the occurrence of the event from the scheme [0043]);
{identifying a resumption point associated with the activity (Examiner construes the resumption point as the decision block 2 of Fig. 1}
selecting {identifying} a candidate audio clip from the one or more candidate audio clips based on a correspondence between a second attribute of the candidate audio clip and the first attribute of the portion of the original game music track corresponding to the activity (Figs. 1, 2 where a second attribute is the event as part of the tag playback trigger data [0043] corresponding to the first attribute of “events that will be signaled” [0009, 0026]); and
responsive to detecting occurrence of the activity modifying the original game music track comprising pausing the original game music track and rendering the candidate audio clip for a duration of the activity (Figs. 1 and 2 showing a pause of the soundtrack for the play of the event sound where, for example, responsive to detecting a “monster attack” the original pre-determined set of soundfiles (samples or songs) of the soundtrack is replaced with user-selected sound samples [0009, 0010, 0028, 0046]).
{generating {rendering} a new background music by mixing audio clips identified in the background music with the original game music, such that said distinct audio clip of the background music identified for each activity replaces a corresponding portion of the original game music wherein the new background music includes portions of the background music and portions of the original game music} (Figs. 1 and 2 where the sound for the video game is a mix of the original soundtrack and event samples mixed together where the event samples are interleaved into the soundtrack based on their start and end times see music engine [0023-0037] and encoded end tags [0038-0046]).
{dynamically transitioning a portion of the original game music starting at the resumption point to render audio content of the audio clip, and upon completing rendering of the audio clip, resuming the rendering of the original game music from the resumption point (Fig. 1 defines a resumption point as the decision mode block 2 where the soundtrack is stopped and the event sample is played}
Shih discloses that the encoded tag text file further includes a data encoding information about the sound file itself but is silent as disclosing {matching} attributes of a music style in the scheme information and in the tag for an event . One of skill in the art would be aware of the teachings of Merrifield.
Merrifield teaches of media playback in a virtual environment (Titl.) for example, by monitoring user actions in a computer game user characterizations of media files may be retrieved to better suit an emotional experience of a user playing the computer game (Abstr.). In particular, the style of music is determined in a computer game scene with genre identifiers [0037]. As in Fig. 3A, Bob is inquiring about the well-being of Adam while a rock song is playing. Also, in the scene Adam is expressing sadness and replying to Bob [0045]. The computer game assigns a genre of blues to the sadness detected by Adam in the scene [0043, 0046]. According to Merrifield, “[a] user of the media player 164 provides and/or modifies properties 201 of a soundtrack using the GUI screen 200. As shown, the properties 201 include a filename 202 of the soundtrack, a title 204 of the soundtrack, an artist 206 of the soundtrack, an album 208 that the soundtrack belongs to, a genre 210 of the soundtrack, and a user-provided characterization 211 of the soundtrack. Users can also specify that sad events are associated with a blues song [0046]. As a result, when the event is the detection of sadness, a media profile 158 is accessed and the computer game selects a user-specified blues song for the scene [0046] so the song is “befitting the mood” in Fig. 3B and selects an external soundtrack 156, [0045-0046]).
The Supreme Court in KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007) identified a number of rationales to support a conclusion of obviousness
(A) Combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results;
(B) Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results;
(C) Use of known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way; and
(D) Applying a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results.
Here, it would require only routine skill in the art to modify the game scheme {first attribute} information and user tag {second attribute} data of Shih to also include music genre of Merrifield to achieve the predicable result of allowing users to incorporate music samples into the video game that are “befitting the mood.” The Courts have held that combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results to be indicia of obviousness.
In Reference to Claim 2
Shih Fig. 1 resumes the soundtrack after the event is finished at the mode 2.
In Reference to Claims 3
Examiner construes Claim 3 as merely an iteration of the prior method steps for another activity and associated original music that is executed as the game progresses to another event such as Shih’s “health low” event [0043].
Shih repeats the music modification of the original soundtrack to further include pausing the original game music track and rendering the candidate audio clip for a duration of the second activity (Figs. 1 and 2 showing a pause of the soundtrack for the play of the event sound where, for example, responsive to detecting a “health low” event the original pre-determined set of soundfiles (samples or songs) of the soundtrack is replaced with user-selected sound samples [0009, 0010, 0028, 0043, 0046]).
In Reference to Claim 4
Shih modifies the original game music track includes morphing content
rendering in an original format in the portion of the background music associated with the activity into the candidate audio clip where “[t]he music engine must also interface with sound files. Preferably, the music engine software is programmed to be capable of interacting with a number of sound file formats, such as MP3, Liquid Audio, Red Book Audio, Realaudio, Windows Media, WAV, and the like [0024] (see also [0044]). Yet Merrifield teaches that as in Figs. 3A and 3B to morph a song for song format, see also musical scores and sound effects formats, where these are targeted for replacement [0018].
In Reference to Claim 5
Shih further discloses that the user has defined and selected samples plural [0037] that can be assembled into lists [0046] and discloses “[a] single sound file may be "tagged" in different sections as various "start" and "end" points for playback” [0046] which would result in categorically different samples. However, if Applicant disagrees Merrifield teaches that a user can specify a genre identifier in media profile 158 [0040] which will access many different stored external soundtracks 15 [0036] which will reflect a range of emotions from happiness, sadness [0043].
It would require only routine skill in the art to use several different genre identifiers of
Merrifield into the tag encoding of Shih to achieve the predictable result of creating more than one sample to integrate into the soundtrack.
In Reference to Claims 6 and 16
Shih provides an encoded tag generator [0048, 0049] allowing a user the ability to create an encoded tag to effect the change {switching} process of Fig. 1 anywhere in the video game. Additionally, Merrifield discloses a user is able to use an interface to select from among background music options via a GUI screen 200 of media player 164 ([0040]) wherein modifies properties of a soundtrack which in turn impart characterizations by the user for selecting one background over another (See Fig. 2). Using the interface a user is also able to use the media player 164 to skip to a next soundtrack [0036].
In Reference to Claim 7
Merrifield discloses that each original music is identified by an audio source associated with the user (Fig. 1A external soundtracks 156).
In Reference to Claim 8
Shih discloses sample clips that associated with encoded tags and identifying data and context identifiers [0007-0010, 0020, 0039] especially playback triggers representing the game context of the video game [0043] stored as part of a sound file in a central location [0019,l 020, 0030] to dynamically adjust the original sound track during gameplay (Fig. 1). Additionally,
Merrifield discloses the use of descriptive tags characterizing each media file (Claim 2) and of profiles 158 used to influence the selection of the music for playback and of mappings of game events to emotional moods used for selection when an event meets criteria corresponding to the emotional mood [0043] which when combined with the characterizations of Fig. 2 tag and identify each audio with mood context identifiers representing game context of the video game which are stored in the profile 158.
In Reference to Claim 9
Shih discloses that one or more samples are portions of user-selected songs [0019, 0042, 0046].
In Reference to Claim 10
Shih modifies the original game music track further comprising:
extracting the candidate audio clip identified for the activity (Shih discloses that samples are extractions from songs ([0019, 0037]); and
dynamically replacing original content in a first portion of the background music original game music track corresponding to the activity with the candidate audio clip extracted for the activity (Fig. 1), the dynamic replacement including:
pausing rendering of the original game music track content, the pausing identifying a resumption point for restarting the original game music track content (Fig. 1 resumption point at node 2);
rendering the candidate audio clip in the first portion instead of the original game music track content (the event branch at node 3); and
resuming the rendering of the original game music track content from the resumption point after conclusion of the activity (at the end of the end the node ends at 6 and returns to start over to enter node 2 again).
In Reference to Claim 12
Merrifield teaches of emotion and of mood attributes (Figs. 3A and 3B, [0018, 0037, 0040-0043]).
In Reference to Claim 13
Shih discloses prior art soundtracks are pre-set by the game developer [0002]. Also, Merrifield discloses wherein the original game music is defined by a game developer as part of the video game (developer assigns predefined associations with the identified moods [0043, 0046] and provides original music in Fig. 1A internal soundtracks 155).
In Reference to Claim 15
Shih discloses that when a playback trigger is reached for a different activity such as changing from a monster attack to a health low event [0043] rendering is automatic because the tag contains the playback trigger data and duration data [0039] preset by the user.
In Reference to Claim 17
Merrifield discloses wherein generating the new background music further includes, synthesizing, using an audio synthesizer, the original game music defined for the video game so as to include the distinct audio clip corresponding to each activity in appropriate portions of the original game music, such that the background music is synthesized to match to the music style of said each activity and to game context of the video game determined from game state data generated during gameplay, the new background music generated matches aesthetics and mood of the video game and mimics music style of said each activity. (Figs 3A and 3B, [0045-0046, 0048-0049]).
In Reference to Claim 21
Merrifield discloses that a user is able to express preferences by editing and saving profiles (Fig. 2, see also media profiles 158 [0037, 0040, 0041]) and stored as external soundtracks 156 (Fig. 1A).
In Reference to Claim 22
Shih discloses here the resumption point is based on a type of activity “event” as well as a status of the activity as an active playback trigger as in Fig. 1 mode 2, see also [0043].
In Reference to Claim 23
Shih Fig. 1 defines a resumption point which is a beginning, an end, or any place in between because the start, end and duration times are user-defined and evaluated in Fig. 1 mode 2.
In Reference to Claim 24
Shih’s monster attack and health low events have specifically identified playback trigger data and duration data associated with them [0039, 0043] where the status is that the event trigger has been activated switching to the event sample of Fig. 1. Likewise in Merrifield’s active conversation between on screen characters is an activate status (Figs. 3A and 3B) in which the system monitors the event to determine points to replace soundtrack music ([0045-0046]). The mode node 2 of Fig. 1 of Shih is a resumption point based on the status of the playback trigger.
In Reference to Claim 26
Shih discloses different activities “monster attack” and “health low” [0043] as part of “generating a list of one or more events contained in the program to be associated with user-selected sound files [0010] for identifying samples with music attributes that match the second activity [0010] which are rendered in place of a corresponding portion of the music track starting at the resumption point of Fig. 1 mode node 2.
In Reference to Claim 27
Examiner construes the limitation to mean that the second audio clip is distinguishable
from the background music. In Fig. 1 of Shih, the background soundtrack is stopped and the event sample is played which would be differentiated from the soundtrack.
In Reference to Claim 28
Examiner construes the limitation to mean that the second audio clip is distinguishable from the background music. In Fig. 1 of Shih, the background soundtrack is stopped and the event sample is played which would be differentiated from the soundtrack. And the sample is retrieved from a central location associated with the user [0030] different from the background and original music (user source [0026]).
7. Claims 11, 18, 19, and 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shih, Merrifield further in view of U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2017/0034596 to Newell.
In Reference to Claim 18
Shih discloses the invention substantially as claimed to generate new background music. However, the reference does not explicitly disclose tuning one or more attributes in the distinct audio clip of the background music associated with an activity to substantially mimic the attributes of the original game music corresponding to said activity, the distinct audio clip of the background music with the tuned one or more attributes replacing a portion of the original game music corresponding to said activity when generating the new background music.
Newell teaches of mandatory flags 212 for attributes {tuning} where “[t]he mandatory flag may be set by the producer of program 150 or by another party to prevent replacement of certain songs, or to ensure that certain features of the song are preserved. For example, if a particular feature of a song is considered to be “mandatory”, then the flag can be set to ensure that any replacement songs have the same feature. A producer could determine, for example, that replacement songs must come from the same time period as the default song. In such cases, a mandatory flag 212 that is associated with the time period attribute 210 could be set to ensure that any replacement songs were selected from the same time period.
One of skill in the art would deem the use of the mandatory flags on the attributes of Newell to be imposed on the attributes of Shih would achieve the predictable result of tuning attributes so that the resulting in music associated with the activity is of the same feature {substantially mimic} the attributes of the original game music. The Courts have held that applying a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results to be indicia of obviousness.
In Reference to Claim 19
Examiner construes Claim 19 as merely an iteration of the prior method steps for another tuning activity (of Claim 18).
In Reference to Claims 11 and 25
Shih discloses the invention substantially as claimed to include morphing the original content to the sample content as in Fig. 1 (See rejection of claim 4). However, the reference does not explicitly disclose wherein a speed of morphing is based on a game context of the gameplay and in-game actions provided by the user during gameplay. One of skill in the art would be aware of the teachings of Newell.
Newell teaches of video game personalized soundtracks. As in FIG. 2, “the start time 204, end time 205 and duration 206 attributes are also marked as “mandatory”, thereby indicating that variance from these parameters is not allowed. This could be used, for example, to ensure that any replacement songs have sufficient duration to play for the “mandatory” time period, and that the replacement songs are rendered at the appropriate time.” [0045]. One of skill in the art would understand this to mean that the rendering is accomplished at a speed that is dependent on the context of gameplay and in-game actions so as to make the soundtrack fit satisfactorily.
Here, it would require only routine skill in the art to modify the duration start and end time data of Shih to account for the speed of rendering to fit mandatory time periods to achieve the predictable result of minimizing or elimination gaps in the video game soundtrack. The Courts have held that the use of a known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way to be indicia of obviousness.
Conclusion
8. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 mailing date of this final action.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Paul A. D’Agostino whose telephone number is (571) 270-1992.
10. 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.
11. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kang Hu can be reached on (571) 270-1344. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-2992.
/PAUL A D'AGOSTINO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
