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 .
Claims 6-10 filed on January 8, 2025 are pending.
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.
Claims 6, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liao (US 2022/0244802 A1, Filed on January 17, 2022) in view of Kozuru (JP 2022126107, Filed on February 18, 2021).
As to claim 6, Liao discloses a non-contact input device comprising:
a display device that displays a non-contact interface screen (Liao Fig. 1, display module 200);
an operation space located in such a position as not to overlap the non-contact interface screen (Liao at Fig. 1, imaging space S does not overlap display module 200; ¶ [0030], [0041])
a detection device that detects hand movement of a user in the operation space in a non-contact manner, wherein when the detection device detects the hand movement of the user in the operation space (Liao at Fig. 1, touch module 400; ¶ [0039]),…
the operation of the non-contact interface screen is performed by this hand movement (Liao at Fig. 1 finger FG; ¶ [0040]).
Liao does not disclose this hand movement is displayed on the non-contact interface screen.
However, Kozuru does disclose this hand movement is displayed on the non-contact interface screen (Kozuru at Figs. 1, 3, shadow 202A-202C; Page ## discloses “The shadow generation unit 130 generates a shadow (for example, a two-dimensional image of the hand) that resembles the shape of the user's hand based on the measurement result. The shadow generation unit 130 outputs the shadow, the position of the shadow, the size of the shadow, and the like to the display control unit 140. The display control unit 140 outputs the shadow of the user's hand to the projection unit 111. The projection unit 111 displays the shadow of the hand on the operation screen 112 so that the shadow of the hand of the measurement unit 120, the user's hand, and the user's hand overlap (align along one direction). By configuring in this way, the user can see the shadow of his or her hand on the operation screen 112, so that the user can intuitively operate how to move his or her hand to the button.”).
Liao discloses a base non-contact input system upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Kozuru discloses a comparable non-contact input system which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to Liao the teachings of Kozuru for the predictable result of allowing a user to intuitively operate how to move his or hand to the button (Kozuru at page ##).
As to claim 10, the combination of Liao and Kozuru discloses the non-contact input device according to claim 7, wherein the non-contact interface screen is an aerial display (Liao at Figs 1-2, in particular).1
Claims 7, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liao and Kozuru as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Ladouceur (US 2013/0187894 A1, Published July 25, 2013).
As to claim 7, the combination of Liao and Kozuru discloses the non-contact input device according to claim 6.
Although strongly implied by the shadow of Kozuru at Fig. 3, the combination does not expressly state that the hand movement of the user displayed on the non-contact interface screen is displayed semi-transparently, and the user can view the elements constituting the non-contact interface screen through this semi-transparent display.
However, Ladouceur does disclose that the hand movement of the user displayed on the non-contact interface screen is displayed semi-transparently, and the user can view the elements constituting the non-contact interface screen through this semi-transparent display (Ladouceur at Fig. 7, in particular; ¶ [0039] discloses “Because the second touch-sensitive display 114 is opaque, a visual representation of a selector 702, which is the user's thumbs in this example, is also displayed, as shown. The visual representation of the selector 702 is an outline of the user's thumbs that does not obscure the keys of the virtual keyboard 600. During user input, the visual representation 602 of the virtual keyboard 600 and selector 702 is used as a guide by the user to increase the likelihood of selecting the correct key on the virtual keyboard 600.”).2
The combination of Liao and Kozuru discloses a base display input device upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Ladouceur discloses a comparable display input device which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to the combination of Liao and Kozuru the teachings of Ladouceur for the predictable result of reducing input errors and improving overall input efficiency (Ladouceur at ¶ [0045]).
As to claim 9, the combination of Liao and Kozuru discloses the non-contact input device according to claim 6.
The combination does not disclose that the operation space is located below the non-contact interface screen.
However, Ladouceur does disclose that the operation space is located below the non-contact interface screen (Ladouceur at Figs. 4, 7).
The combination of Liao and Kozuru discloses a base display input device upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Ladouceur discloses a comparable display input device which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to the combination of Liao and Kozuru the teachings of Ladouceur for the predictable result of reducing input errors and improving overall input efficiency (Ladouceur at ¶ [0045]).
Claims 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liao and Kozuru as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Kawashima (US 2010/0079413 A1, Published April 1, 2010).
As to claim 8, the combination of Liao and Kozuru discloses the non-contact input device according to claim 6.
The combination does not expressly disclose that the hand movement of the user displayed on the non-contact interface screen are indicated by a pointer indicating the position of the fingertips.
However, Kawashima does disclose that the hand movement of the user displayed on the non-contact interface screen are indicated by a pointer indicating the position of the fingertips (Kawashima at ¶ [0013] discloses “For example, the control device may be configured to display a pointer image indicative of the present position of a fingertip and a move target image so that the pointer image and the move target image are movable together even when a finger of a user is spaced apart from a manipulation surface of a touch input device.”).
The combination of Liao and Kozuru discloses a base display input device upon which the claimed invention is an improvement. Kawashima discloses a comparable display input device which has been improved in the same way as the claimed invention. Hence, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify or add to the combination of Liao and Kozuru the teachings of Kawashima for the predictable result of enabling input operation in a intuitive manner (Kawashima at ¶ [0015]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Dawson (US 2008/0084395 A1, Published April 10, 2008) is made of record for its relevance to claims 6 and 9 by its disclosure of an input device 302, 402 below display 304, 404 at Figs. 3-4:
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sanjiv D Patel whose telephone number is (571)270-5731. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Boddie can be reached at 571-272-0666. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Sanjiv D. Patel/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625
07/21/2026
1 See also Kozuru at Figs 1, 3, operation screen 112.
2 See also Kawashima at Figs. 16-17, 19, in particular.
Prosecution Insights