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 § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-9, 11-18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Timonen et al. (US 20200293120 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Timonen discloses A device (ABST reciting “An augmented reality or virtual reality (AR/VR) device” Fig. 1 showing AR/VR device 102 and Fig. 15 showing computing device 1502.) comprising:
one or more processors; and
a tangible memory storing instructions thereon and the one or more processors are configured to: (¶56 reciting “a computing device may range from full resource devices with substantial memory and processor resources”. ¶154)
detect a companion device in a first physical environment of the device; (¶62 reciting “FIG. 2 depicts an example 200 showing operation of the AR/VR device 102 of FIG. 1 as pairing with the companion device 104 over the network 108. . . FIG. 5 depicts a procedure 500 in an example implementation in which an AR/VR device pairs with a companion device through the use of a service provider.” ¶67 reciting “the AR/VR device 102 automatically communicates the network address 208 to the companion device 104, such as by broadcasting and/or transmitting the network address 208 using a wireless signal to the companion device 104 as network address 210.”) and
based on a persistent association between first content and the companion device, display an indicator of the first content on a display of the device, wherein the first content is accessed, via the persistent association between the first content and the companion device, in a second physical environment different from the first physical environment. (¶10 reciting “an AR/VR hub receives a request via a network from a companion device for companion data that corresponds to an AR/VR application configured for execution by an AR/VR device. The AR/VR hub locates the companion data from a plurality of companion data stored via the AR/VR hub, and communicates the companion data to the companion device.”, where the companion data correspond to the first content.
Further, ¶46 reciting “a companion device may establish a connection to the AR/VR hub system and exchange communications with the system to facilitate the distribution of the markup files to the companion device to generate the companion user interface.”
Furthermore, ¶79 reciting “At the first stage 402, the companion device 104 displays the companion user interface 116 on a display device 322 of the companion device 104. In implementations, a browser of the companion device 104 processes the companion data 316 to render the companion user interface 116 . . . Here, the companion user interface 116 corresponds to an AR/VR scene currently being displayed at the AR/VR device 102, and includes an item 408 for purchase at an online marketplace.”
In addition, ¶37 reciting “rendering of the companion user interface by the companion device that is synchronized with rendering of an AR/VR environment of an AR/VR application by the AR/VR device. . . AR/VR scenes may include different views within a 360-degree AR/VR environment as well as different 360-degree environments and even to support movement within the environment. The companion user interface supports user interaction to initiate actions as part of the scene being rendered by the AR/VR device, and thus expands functionality of the AR/VR device.” In other words, the device (each AR/VR device) and the companion device can be used in different environments.)
Regarding Claim 2. Timonen discloses The device of claim 1, wherein the device is a first device, wherein the first content is stored at a server and wherein first content is accessed in the second physical environment by a second device different from the first device. (Fig. 1 showing a server 106 including an AR/VR Hub system 120. ¶10 reciting “an AR/VR hub receives a request via a network from a companion device for companion data that corresponds to an AR/VR application configured for execution by an AR/VR device. The AR/VR hub locates the companion data from a plurality of companion data stored via the AR/VR hub, and communicates the companion data to the companion device.”)
Regarding Claim 3. Timonen discloses The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
provide a prompt on a display of the device to present the companion device in the first physical environment of the device, wherein the detection of the companion device is performed in response to the prompt. (Fig. 2. ¶66 reciting “In the illustrated example 200, the AR/VR device 102 displays the network address 208 using a same display device that provides visual experiences to the user, e.g. the same display device used to provide visual experiences associated with an AR/VR application 110. The network address 208 can be displayed for a predetermined amount of time, until a timeout occurs, or until a successful pairing to a companion device 104 occurs. In another example, the AR/VR device 102 displays the network address 208 until user input associated with terminating the paring process is received.”)
Regarding Claim 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the prompt has a shape corresponding to a shape of the companion device.
Regarding Claim 5. Timonen discloses The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
form the persistent association between the first content and the companion device in response to detecting the companion device in association with the first content being accessed by the device. (¶46 reciting “a companion device may establish a connection to the AR/VR hub system and exchange communications with the system to facilitate the distribution of the markup files to the companion device to generate the companion user interface.”
)
Regarding Claim 6. Timonen discloses The device of claim 1, wherein the first content is accessed in the second physical environment by the device, wherein accessing the first content in the second physical environment by the device comprises:
detecting the companion device in the second physical environment; and
based on the persistent association, obtaining the first content at the device. (¶37 reciting “rendering of the companion user interface by the companion device that is synchronized with rendering of an AR/VR environment of an AR/VR application by the AR/VR device. . . AR/VR scenes may include different views within a 360-degree AR/VR environment as well as different 360-degree environments and even to support movement within the environment. The companion user interface supports user interaction to initiate actions as part of the scene being rendered by the AR/VR device, and thus expands functionality of the AR/VR device.” In other words, the device (each AR/VR device) and the companion device can be used in different environments.)
Regarding Claim 7. Timonen discloses The device of claim 6, wherein detecting the companion device in the second physical environment includes obtaining an identifier of the companion device based on a physical presence of the companion device including: based on the identifier obtained by a camera of the device or based on the identifier obtained by a communication between the companion device and the device. (¶8 reciting “a digital image is captured of pairing data displayed by a display device of a companion device using a camera of an AR/VR device. The AR/VR device verifies the pairing data, and pairs with the companion device as communicatively coupled such that the AR/VR device is configured to initiate an action as part of an AR/VR environment based on input data received from the companion device.” Further, ¶36 reciting “The pairing data is then received at the companion device, e.g., as an authentication code, a Quick Response (QR) code, and so forth. The pairing data is displayed on a display device of the companion device, and a digital image is captured using a front-facing camera by the AR/VR device.” Furthermore, ¶121-122 disclosing a companion device ID included in the request.)
Regarding Claim 8. Timonen discloses The device of claim 6, wherein obtaining the first content at the device based on the persistent association comprises:
obtaining a key for the first content from the companion device or from a server; and
accessing the first content based on the key.
(¶82 reciting “The AR/VR device 102 receives the input data 412 (block 610), and initiates the action for the AR/VR environment output by the AR/VR device 102 based on the input data 412 (block 612). To illustrate, the AR/VR device 102 can extract an action identifier from the input data 412 to identify which action to take. Alternately or additionally, the AR/VR device 102 can extract a scene identifier from the input data to validate that the currently active scene corresponds to the input data. In response to validating the input data 412 and/or identifying a corresponding action, the AR/VR device 102 invokes the corresponding action in the AR/VR application 110.”)
Regarding Claim 9. Timonen discloses The device of claim 8, wherein the first content is previously stored at the device, the companion device, or the server, and the key is used to access the first content at the device. (¶10 reciting “The AR/VR hub locates the companion data from a plurality of companion data stored via the AR/VR hub, and communicates the companion data to the companion device.”)
Regarding Claim 11. Timonen discloses The device of claim 1, wherein the companion device includes a companion display, wherein following forming the persistent association, the companion display is altered to indicate the persistent association with the first content. (ABST reciting “to cause the companion device to configure a companion user interface”. Further, ¶9 reciting “to generate a companion user interface at a display device of the companion device”)
Claim 12, has similar limitations as of Claim(s) 1, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as Claim(s) 1.
Claim 13, has similar limitations as of Claim(s) 2, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as Claim(s) 2.
Claim 14, has similar limitations as of Claim(s) 3, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as Claim(s) 3.
Claim 15, has similar limitations as of Claim(s) 4, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as Claim(s) 4.
Claim 16, has similar limitations as of Claim(s) 6, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as Claim(s) 6.
Claim 17, has similar limitations as of Claim(s) 7, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as Claim(s) 7.
Claim 18, has similar limitations as of Claim(s) 8, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as Claim(s) 8.
Claim 20, has similar limitations as of Claim(s) 1, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as Claim(s) 1.
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.
Claim(s) 10 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Timonen et al. (US 20200293120 A1), and in view of Niruyi et al. (US 20160191269 A1).
Regarding Claim 10. Timonen discloses The device of claim 9.
However, Timonen does not explicitly disclose wherein the companion device is a passive device free from circuitry and the key is used to access the first content from the device or from the server.
Niruyi teaches “A system and method for immersive companion device responsive to being associated with a defined situation” (ABST). More specifically, ¶61 recites “In one or more embodiments, the companion device, e.g. 262, may act as a passive device. The embedded computer system 300 may be used to store at least one unique identifier in a passive device, e.g. identification module 302 may be passive, and all actions may be performed external to the companion device, e.g. by Computer 222. The companion device, e.g. 262, may have at least one unique identifier, which may be permanent.”
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the device (taught by Timonen) to make the companion device a passive device (taught by Niruyi). The suggestions/motivations would have been to apply a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results.
Claim 19, has similar limitations as of Claim(s) 9 and 10, therefore it is rejected under the same rationale as Claim(s) 9 and 10.
Conclusion
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/YI WANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2619
