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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/24/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 1-2, 7, 10-12 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over limure et al. (US 2024/0061525) in view of Onoda (US 2020/0301548).
Regarding claim 1, limure discloses an information processing device (100, figs.
1-4) comprising:
a processor (200, fig. 3, paras. 0026-0030) configured to detect a position,
among a plurality of positions of a plate-shaped body (100), at which pressure is applied based on a first signal (from 152) from a first sensor indicating a pressure applied to the
plate-shaped body (100) and a second signal (from 160) from a second sensor
indicating an inclination direction of the plate-shaped body.
limure does not specifically disclose the first sensor is stacked beneath the
second sensor and wherein a vertical projection of the second sensor overlaps an interior portion of the first sensor in a plan view.
In a similar field of endeavor of sensing device, Hatano disclose a first sensor (26, fig. 4B, para. 0048) is stacked beneath a second sensor (25, para. 0048) and wherein a vertical projection of the second sensor overlaps an interior portion of the first sensor in a plan view (para. 0048).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before
effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the position as taught by
Hatano in the system of limure in order to improve the operability.
Regarding claim 2, limure discloses the processor updates a threshold for
determining whether or not the pressure is applied to the plate-shaped body on a basis
of the first signal (paras. 0028-0030 and 0061-0063).
Regarding claim 7, limure discloses the second signal is an angle signal (para.
0022).
Regarding claim 10, limure discloses the processor controls presentation of
tactile information on a basis of a detected result (paras. 0039-0041).
Regarding claim 11, limure discloses the processor changes a form of the
tactile information to be presented depending on the detected position (paras. 0039-
0041).
Regarding claim 12, limure discloses the processor controls presentation of
video information on a basis of a detected result (paras. 0039-0041).
Regarding claim 16, limure discloses an information processing method of an
information processing device (100, figs. 1-4) including a processor (200, fig. 3,
paras. 0026-0030), the information processing method comprising:
detecting, by the processor, among a plurality of positions of a plate-shaped body
(100), at which pressure is applied based on a first signal (from 152) from a first sensor
indicating a pressure applied to the plate-shaped body (100) and a second signal (from
160) from a second sensor indicating an inclination direction of the plate-shaped body.
limure does not specifically disclose the first sensor is stacked beneath the
second sensor and wherein a vertical projection of the second sensor overlaps an interior portion of the first sensor in a plan view.
In a similar field of endeavor of sensing device, Hatano disclose a first sensor (26, fig. 4B, para. 0048) is stacked beneath a second sensor (25, para. 0048) and wherein a vertical projection of the second sensor overlaps an interior portion of the first sensor in a plan view (para. 0048).
Regarding claim 17, limure discloses an information processing device (100, figs. 1-4) comprising:
a plate-shaped body (100);
a first sensor (152) configured to output a first signal indicating a pressure
applied to the plate- shaped body; and
a second sensor (160) configured to output a second signal indicating an
inclination direction of the plate-shaped body (paras. 0026-0030);
wherein a processor (100) detects, among a plurality of positions of the plate-
shaped body, a position at which pressure is applied based on the first signal and
second signal (paras. 0026-0030).
limure does not specifically disclose the first sensor is stacked beneath the
second sensor and wherein a vertical projection of the second sensor overlaps an interior portion of the first sensor in a plan view.
In a similar field of endeavor of sensing device, Hatano disclose a first sensor (26, fig. 4B, para. 0048) is stacked beneath a second sensor (25, para. 0048) and wherein a vertical projection of the second sensor overlaps an interior portion of the first sensor in a plan view (para. 0048).
Regarding claim 18, limure discloses a first member (152, figs. 2A-B) configured
to support the plate-shaped body; and
a second member (160) interposed between the first sensor and the plate-
shaped body, wherein
the first member has a Young's modulus larger than a Young's modulus of the
second member (paras. 0021-0023 and 0080).
Regarding claim 19, limure discloses the second sensor is fixed to the plate-
shaped body (paras. 0021-0023 and 0080).
Regarding claim 20, limure discloses an actuator configured to vibrate the plate-
shaped body, wherein the actuator is arranged between the plate-shaped body and the
first sensor (paras. 0021-0023 and 0080).
Claims 3-6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
limure et al. in view of Onoda and further in view of Huang et al. (US 2023/0040492).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of limure and Onoda discloses the
processing unit sets, as the threshold, a smallest value out of values of a plurality of
signals after the first signal (paras. 0028-0030 and 0061-0063 of limure).
The combination of limure and Hatano does not specifically disclose the signal is
subjected to filter processing by a plurality of filters having different characteristics.
In a similar field of endeavor of detection device, Huang discloses signal is
subjected to filter processing by a plurality of filters having different characteristics
(para. 0047).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before
effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the filter processing as
taught by Huang in the system of limure and Onoda in order to improve accuracy of
sensor data (para. 0047 of Huang).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of limure, Onoda and Huang discloses the
plurality of
filters is a plurality of low-pass filters having different cutoff frequencies (para. 0047 of
Huang).
Regarding claim 5, the combination, Hatano of Onoda and Huang discloses the
processing unit performs offset removal processing on the second signal (paras. 0084-
0088 of Huang).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of limure, Onoda and Huang discloses the
offset removal processing is processing of gradually or stepwise bringing the second signal closer to 0 with a lapse of time (paras. 0084-0088 of Huang).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of limure and Huang discloses the second
signal is an angular velocity signal (para. 0038 of Huang).
Claims 9 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Iimure et al. in view of Onoda and further in view of Yokoyama et al. (US 2022/0335454).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of limure and Onoda discloses the
processing unit detects a region to which a pressure is applied out of regions obtained
by dividing the plate-shaped body into plurality sections as the position to which the
pressure is applied (para. 0081).
The combination of limure and Onoda does not specifically disclose dividing the plate-shaped body into nine sections.
In a similar field of endeavor of detection device, Yokoyama discloses dividing
the plate-shaped body (100, fig. 1, para. 0036) into nine sections (140).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before
effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the filter processing as
taught by Huang in the system of limure and Onoda in order to make it possible to
achieve a variety of representations of tactile senses (para. 0039 of Yokoyama).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of limure, Onoda and Yokoyama discloses
the processing unit changes a presentation position of the video information depending
on the detected position (paras. 0038-0039 of Yokoyama).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of limure, Onoda and Yokoyama discloses
the processing unit changes a size of presentation of the video information depending
on the pressure applied to the plate-shaped body (paras. 0038-0039 of Yokoyama).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of limure, Onoda and Yokoyama discloses
the processing unit sets a center of gravity position between the detected position and a
position to which a pressure is applied to another plate-shaped body adjacent to the
plate-shaped body as a presentation position of the video information (paras. 0038-
0039 of Yokoyama).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on at least one reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7696. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin C Lee can be reached at 5712722963. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JENNIFER T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2629
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