DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Following prior arts are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20210373671 A1 (hereinafter Yang)
US 20190018364 A1 (Fig.3)
US 20250053241 A1 (Fig.20)
Response to Remarks/Arguments
Non-statutory double patenting rejection has been withdrawn in view of approved terminal disclaimer
Applicant has not presented any specific arguments with respect to 103 rejections. As explained in detail in the 103 rejections, this rejection is valid.
Claim Objection
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 8 is depended upon now canceled claim 7, given that subject matter of claim 7 is move to claim 1, examiner understood that claim 8 is dependent upon claim 1 and applicant inadvertently forget to amend the dependency . Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-6, 8-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over different embodiments of Yang
Regarding Claim 1.Yang in some embodiment (such as embodiment of Fig.6) teaches a system with integration of a flat display and a floating-image display [(Fig.8, Fig.4 in combination of Fig.3, Fig.6)] , comprising: a flat display module [(Fig.8 unit 801 or computer system 35 in Fig.3)] : and a floating-image display module , connecting to the flat display module via a communication interface [(Fig.8 unit 821 or Fig.3 unit 10)] : wherein a method for operating the system with integration of the flat display and the floating-image display comprises: in an initialization procedure when the system is activated, establishing a signal channel over the communication interface between the flat display module and the floating-image display module [(para 58 “In the beginning of the process, the computer system receives the image data after establishing a connection between the computer system and floating image display”; see Fig.4; system is shown in Fig.3; para 75)] : in response to a flat display signal, using a display panel of the flat display module to display a 2D image [(Fig.6 s603; “In the beginning of the process, the computer system receives the image data after establishing a connection between the computer system and floating image display” para 58)] : generating a floating-image display signal according to a control instruction for displaying a floating image by the floating-image display of the floating-image display module [(Fig.6 s607)] : receiving an interaction instruction that is computed by a control circuit of the floating-image display module when a user manipulates the floating image [(para 59)] : updating, by the control circuit of the floating-image display module, the floating image to be displayed according to the interaction instruction: [(Fig.6 S619; para 61; Fig.8 & para 75)] : and receiving, by the flat display module, the interaction instruction via the signal channel, and correspondingly displaying another 2D image by the display panel [(Fig.6 S615)]
Embodiment of Fig.6 is silent about whether the flat display module and the floating-image display module are integrated into one device
Additionally, it does not teach transmitting a signal in response to updating the floating image to be displayed to the flat display module via the signal channel. In other word it does not teach changing the flat panel display in response to updating floating image, instead in Fig.6 shows the interactive instruction s613 cause update on the flat panel first.
However, these are simple design choices, as shown by the embodiments of Fig.8 and Fig.9
Fig. 8 and para 75 teaches the flat display module and the floating-image display module are integrated into one device.
From the Fig.8 and Fig.9 it also makes sense that based on the interaction with the floating display, changing on the floating display can happen first, the flat display changes in response.
This is further evident from para 75 and 77 (copied below). Para 77 shows the floating image display 92 contain the complete image data therefore no need to the computer device 90 for interacted data to display. Para 77 also shows the image can be obtained from computer device 90 (similar to Fig.6), on the other hand Fig.4 the display procedure is parallel. Therefore, the specific order of whether the flat panel or the floating air display displays the interacted image first, is an obvious design choice.
[0075] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram depicting a floating image display module 82 built in a computer device 80 in one embodiment of the disclosure. The floating image display is modularized to be installed inside the structure of the computer device 80. A floating image 821 is displayed by the floating image display module 82 at a specific position of the computer device 80. The corresponding software procedure operated in the computer device 80 drives the display to display a corresponding image 801.
[0077] In addition to viewing the product floating image 921 via the floating image display 92, the user can also browse a three-dimensional view of the product through gesture operation. The gesture operation can be referred to as the arrows around the three-dimensional product floating image 921 exemplarily shown in the diagram. The arrows indicate that the user can manipulate a floating image to be rotated in various spatial directions such as left-to-right horizontal rotation, up-to-down vertical rotation, or other directions of rotation. The floating image responsive to the gesture can be rendered according to the aforementioned embodiments of the disclosure. In one aspect of the disclosure, the floating image display 92 can contain a complete image data of the product. In another aspect of the disclosure, the image data can be obtained from the computer device 90 or an external image server based on the gesture operation of the user.
Therefore, in light of above discussion it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of the prior arts because such combination would provide predictable result and would have improve the overall systems interactive capabilities and enhance user experience.
Yang teaches with respect to following claims
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the floating-image display module comprises a floating-image display having an optical module and a display panel, in which the optical module is a lens array having multiple lens elements, and the optical module and the display panel are combined in opposition: the display panel is used to display an integrated image that having multiple unit images, wherein each of the unit images corresponds to one or more lens elements of the optical module: and the multiple unit images to be displayed on the display panel are used to project a three-dimensional floating image above the floating-image display through the lens array.[[(para 34 and Fig.8)]
4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the floating-image display module connects with a floating-image database via a data-transmission circuit, and the floating-image database provides floating-image data for the floating-image display module to display the floating image [(para 49; Fig.3)] .
5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a gesture sensor that is connected with the floating-image display module: when the floating-image display displays the floating image, the gesture sensor is also driven to sense a gesture performed by the user on the floating image.[[(para 15)]
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein, when the interaction instruction is generated in response to the gesture, the floating-image display module retrieves a floating-image data from a floating-image database according to the control instruction so as to update the floating image to be displayed. .[[(para 41, 49)]
8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the floating-image display module comprises a floating-image display having an optical module and a display panel: wherein the optical module is a lens array composed of multiple lens elements, and the optical module is combined with the display panel in opposition, in which the display panel is used to display an integrated image that is composed of multiple unit images and each of the unit images corresponds to one or more lens elements of the optical module: and wherein the display panel displays multiple unit images that are used to project a three-dimensional floating image above the floating-image display through the lens array. .[[(para 34 and Fig.8)]
9. A method for operating a system with integration of a flat display and a floating-image display, comprising: activating and initializing the system with integration of the flat display and the floating-image display, and, in an initialization procedure, establishing a signal channel between a flat display module and a floating-image display module: in response to a flat display signal, using a display panel of the flat display module to display a 2D image: generating a floating-image display signal according to a control instruction for displaying a floating image by the floating-image display of the floating-image display module: receiving an interaction instruction that is computed by a control circuit of the floating-image display module when a user manipulates the floating image: updating, by the control circuit of the floating-image display module, the floating image to be displayed according to the interaction instruction: and receiving, by the flat display module, the interaction instruction via the signal channel, and correspondingly displaying another 2D image by the display panel. [(see analysis of claim 1)]
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the user manipulates the floating image by gesture, and the interaction instruction is computed when the gesture is sensed by a gesture sensor. [(Fig.6 s609, s619)]
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, when the gesture is referred to for generating the interaction instruction, the floating-image display module updates and displays the floating image according to the control instruction, and, when the floating image is updated, a signal is transmitted to the flat display module via the signal channel for displaying a corresponding 2D image. .[[(Fig.6 s613, s615)]
12. The method according to claim 9, wherein, in the floating-image display module, the control circuit loads a floating-image data from a floating-image database, and the floating image is generated when an image processor processes the floating-image data. [(para 49; Fig.3)] .
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the control instruction instructs that the 2D image is converted to the floating image, and the control instruction also instructs the floating-image display module to load the floating-image data of an object corresponding to the 2D image and to display the floating image corresponding to the 2D image. [(Fig.6 and para 59-60 )] .
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the floating-image data includes color information and three-dimensional spatial information of the object.[[(para 14)]
15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the control instruction instructs the floating-image display module to load the floating image data of a floating control interface, and the floating-image display module is used to display the floating control interface that is provided for the user to manipulate the floating control interface to control contents to be displayed by the flat display module. .[[(Fig.6; s603-s621)]
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the user manipulates the floating image by gesture, and the interaction instruction is computed when the gesture is sensed by a gesture sensor. .[[(Fig.6; s609, s619)]
17. The method according to claim 16, wherein, when the interaction instruction is generated in response to the gesture, the floating-image display module updates the floating image to be displayed according to the control instruction: when the updated floating image is displayed, a signal is transmitted to the flat display module via the signal channel, and the flat display module is driven to display a corresponding 2D image. .[[(Fig.6; s609, s619, s613, s615)]
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Shahan Rahaman whose telephone number is (571)270-1438. The examiner can normally be reached on 7am - 3:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nasser Goodarzi can be reached at telephone number (571) 272-4195. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/SHAHAN UR RAHAMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426
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