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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) interpolating for loss of a tactile signal. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the steps of interpolating data are nothing more than mere instructions to apply a process on a generic computer. The dependent claims only further limit the interpolation process. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the claims amount to nothing more than generating an interpolation signal using a generic computer.
Claims 10 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because computer programs are not eligible subject matter.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aoki et al. (US pub No. 2021/0060421).
Regarding claims 1, 9, and 10, Aoki teaches signal processing device comprising: an interpolation signal generation unit that generates an interpolation signal based on a tactile signal in an adjacent section of a loss section and a physical model or a human perception model related to tactile sensation as an interpolation signal that interpolates a tactile signal lost during transmission (See abstract, Fig. 11 and [0160] which teach a vibration control section that receives vibration information from a generation section and performs an interpolation process to smooth the noise in the vibration data signal according to a waveform model).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS S MCCORMACK whose telephone number is (571)272-0841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/THOMAS S MCCORMACK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686
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