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 .
Priority
This application is a continuation of 17/180,551, filed 02/19/2021, which claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 62/982,528, filed 02/27/2020.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted is considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1, 12 and 20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 9 and 16 of U.S. Patent No. 12,229,800 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1, 12 and 20 are anticipated by claims 1, 9 and 16. Claims 1, 12 and 20 are the broadest recitations of Patent No. 12,229,800 B2’s claims 1, 9 and 16 as shown below.
Instant Application
1. A system, comprising: a guest recognition system configured to recognize one or more guests in an amusement or theme park and to detect activity of the one or more guests relative to a themed attraction of the amusement or theme park; and a guest experience analysis system configured to receive activity data relating to the activity of the one or more guests from the guest recognition system, to receive experience-related data relating to previous experiences of the one or more guests relative to the amusement or theme park, to generate guest experience information for the one or more guests based at least in part on activity data relating to the activity of the one or more guests and the experience-related data, and to transmit the guest experience information for the one or more guests to an augmented reality display device for display to an operator of the amusement or theme park on an augmented reality display of the augmented reality display device, wherein the guest experience information comprises one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the one or more guests.
12. A method comprising: recognizing, via a guest recognition system, one or more guests in an amusement or theme park; detecting, via the guest recognition system, activity of the one or more guests relative to a themed attraction of the amusement or theme park; generating, via a guest experience analysis system, guest experience information for the one or more guests based at least in part on activity data relating to the activity of the one or more guests and experience-related data relating to previous experiences of the one or more guests relative to the amusement or theme park; generating, via the guest experience analysis system, one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the one or more guests based at least in part on the guest experience information for the one or more guests; and transmitting, via the guest experience analysis system, the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the one or more guests to an augmented reality display device for display to an operator of the amusement or theme park on an augmented reality display of the augmented reality display device.
20. An augmented reality display device, comprising: an augmented reality display configured to pass-through images of one or more guests of an amusement or theme park; and one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving guest experience information relating to activity of a targeted guest of the one or more guests relative to the amusement or theme park from a guest experience analysis system, wherein the guest experience information comprises one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest of the one or more guests relative to a themed attraction of the amusement or theme park, wherein the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest are generated by the guest experience analysis system based at least in part on activity data relating to the activity of the one or more guests and experience-related data relating to previous experiences of the one or more guests relative to the amusement or theme park; and superimposing at least one recommended experience of the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest on the augmented reality display near pass-through images of the targeted guest.
Patent No. 12,229,800 B2
1. A system, comprising: a guest recognition system configured to recognize a guest in an amusement or theme park and to detect activity of the guest relative to the amusement or theme park; and a guest experience analysis system configured to receive data relating to the detected activity of the guest from the guest recognition system, to generate guest experience information relating to the guest based at least in part on the received data relating to the detected activity of the guest, and to transmit the guest experience information relating to the guest to an augmented reality display device for display to an operator of the amusement or theme park on an augmented reality display of the augmented reality display device and to enable receipt of one or more input commands from the operator of the amusement or theme park via one or more input devices of the augmented reality display device, wherein the generated guest experience information comprises one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the guest relative to a themed attraction of the amusement or theme park, and wherein the one or more input commands relate to the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the guest.
9. A method comprising: recognizing, via a guest recognition system, a guest in an amusement or theme park; generating, via a guest experience analysis system, guest experience information relating to the guest; generating, via the guest experience analysis system, one or more recommendations relating to one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the guest relative to a themed attraction of the amusement or theme park based at least in part on the guest experience information relating to the guest; transmitting, via the guest experience analysis system, the one or more recommendations relating to one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the guest relative to the themed attraction of the amusement or theme park to an augmented reality display device for display to an operator of the amusement or theme park on an augmented reality display of the augmented reality display device; and receiving, via the guest experience analysis system, one or more input commands from the operator of the amusement or theme park via one or more input devices of the augmented reality display device, wherein the one or more input commands relate to the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the guest.
16. An augmented reality display device, comprising: an augmented reality display configured to pass-through images of one or more guests of an amusement or theme park; and one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving guest experience information relating to activity of a targeted guest of the one or more guests relative to the amusement or theme park from a guest experience analysis system, wherein the guest experience information comprises one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest of the one or more guests relative to a themed attraction of the amusement or theme park, wherein the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest are generated by the guest experience analysis system; superimposing at least one recommended theme-related experience of the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest on the augmented reality display near pass-through images of the targeted guest; and receiving one or more input commands via one or more input devices of the augmented reality display device, wherein the one or more input commands relate to the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sahadi (US Publication Number 2018/0352378 A1) in view of in view of Zielkowski (US Publication Number 2019/0206132 A1).
(1) regarding claim 1:
As shown in fig. 1, Sahadi disclosed a system (100, fig. 1, para. [0028], note that a system architecture for personalizing journeys and itineraries is disclosed), comprising:
a guest recognition system configured to recognize one or more guests in an amusement or theme park and to detect activity of the one or more guests relative to a themed attraction of the amusement or theme park (para. [0028], note that application servers 125 can ingest, normalize and process data collected from mobile devices 110 and various POS or POE terminals 115. Types of information 140 gathered from data sources 105 and processed by back-end application servers 125 are generally inclusive of identity information such as user profiles [0027] A platform discussed herein generates a current path of a venue attendee based on the venue attendee's recorded location data. The platform also generates a suggested path for the venue attendee from the venue attendee's location to the point of interest); and
a guest experience analysis system configured to receive activity data relating to the activity of the one or more guests from the guest recognition system, to receive experience-related data relating to previous experiences of the one or more guests relative to the amusement or theme park (para. [0045], note that user profile can accumulate, and reflect, the user's experience with a theme park, with theme parks of a particular type, with a cruise ship, with visits to locations within venues or around the world, and the like. Among other things, the user experience can keep track of what a user has done during past visits, including capturing positive and negative ratings), to generate guest experience information for the one or more guests based at least in part on activity data relating to the activity of the one or more guests and the experience-related data, and (para. [0090], note that the real time management of highly personalized experiences of customers can connect to the computing devices of the customers and their family members, as well as computing devices of the host and its personnel, including staff at the venue and personal located remote from the venue. The computing devices can include phones, tablets, watches, wearable devices (including ones dedicated to use at the venue), augmented reality or virtual reality glasses), wherein the guest experience information comprises one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the one or more guests (para. [0048], note that the physical world content management system 238 is described in more detail elsewhere in this disclosure. The EaaS platform 230 may also include a recommendation engine 240 for recommending experiences or points of interest (POI) or aspects of experiences, either directly to a visitor or to personnel of a host, such as to assist in assembling experiences or to assist staff in guiding visitors to favorable experiences).
Sahadi disclosed most of the subject matter as described above except for specifically teaching to transmit the guest experience information for the one or more guests to an augmented reality display device for display to an operator of the amusement or theme park on an augmented reality display of the augmented reality display device.
However, Ziekowski disclosed to transmit the guest experience information for the one or more guests to an augmented reality display device for display to an operator of the amusement or theme park on an augmented reality display of the augmented reality display device (para. [0020], note that displaying text or subtitles (e.g., on eyeglasses or electronic goggles) associated with the AR, VR, or mixed reality experience may allow the one or more users (e.g., guests) to interpret the narrative or receive any of a variety of messages (e.g., as text), thereby conveying information to the one or more users despite any difficulty associated with hearing sound. Such experiences may provide an attraction-filled experience for guests (e.g., users) of an amusement park that may be customizable, personalized, and/or interactive).
At the time of filing for the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art to teach transmitting the guest experience information for the one or more guests to an augmented reality display device for display to an operator of the amusement or theme park on an augmented reality display of the augmented reality display device. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been in order to enhance the immersive experience of guests within attractions and to provide a more personalized or customized experience for guests (para. [0004]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Sahadi with Ziekowski to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
(2) regarding claim 2:
Sahadi further disclosed the system of claim 1, wherein the guest recognition system is configured to recognize the one or more guests utilizing facial recognition algorithms (para. [0048], note that visitor is identified through the visitor's history, a visitor's current state or by tracking or a current mood, or by an indicator (such as from a physiological monitor or facial recognition facility)).
(3) regarding claim 3:
Sahadi further disclosed the system of claim 1, wherein the guest recognition system is configured to recognize the one or more guests utilizing clothing recognition algorithms (para. [0029], note that mobile devices 110 are inclusive of wearable devices. Wearable devices (or ‘wearables’) are any type of mobile electronic device that can be worn on the body or attached to or embedded in clothes and accessories of an individual, such as wristwatches, wristbands, armbands, chest bands, ankle bands, glasses, head-worn devices, devices integrated into clothing (including shoes, pants, shirts, jackets, hats, and others), and other).
(4) regarding claim 4:
Sahadi further disclosed the system of claim 1, wherein the guest recognition system is configured to recognize the one or more guests utilizing movement recognition algorithms (para. [0109], note that the EaaS platform 230/app server 125 can also estimate movement speed of the venue attendee).
(5) regarding claim 5:
Sahadi further disclosed the system of claim 1, wherein the guest recognition system is configured to identify one or more groups of the one or more guests based at least in part on an amount of time that individual guests of the one or more guests remain in proximity with each other (para. [0048], note that the EaaS platform 230 can further include, connect to, or integrate with a context engine 243, which may be used to determine the context of a visitor at a given time and place, such as taking into account the visitor's identity, the time of day, the season, the weather, the presence or proximity of various physical world elements (such as points of interest, displays, and infrastructure elements), the presence or proximity of other individuals (such as members of a family or social group, or the like)).
(6) regarding claim 6:
Sahadi further disclosed the system of claim 5, wherein the guest experience analysis system is configured to receive activity data relating to the one or more groups from the guest recognition system, to receive experience-related data relating to previous experiences of the one or more groups relative to the amusement or theme park (para. [0048], note that visitors might provide feedback about energy levels, mood, or interest that may be used to refine machine-learning models that infer such factors based on other factors, such as time of day, weather, the consumption foods, and the like), to generate guest group experience information for the one or more groups based at least in part on the activity data and the experience-related data (para. [0048], note that output from the context engine 243 may be provided to other aspects of the EaaS platform 230, such as the assembly layer, the experience generator, the SDK, the development application, and the like, so that experiences can be created that are appropriate for the context of a particular visitor or group), and to transmit the guest group experience information to the augmented reality display device for display on the augmented reality display of the augmented reality display device (para. [0029], note that processors and sensors associated with a wearable can gather, process, display, and transmit and receive information, including location information, motion information and physiological information, among many other types).
(7) regarding claim 7:
Sahadi further disclosed the system of claim 1, wherein the guest experience analysis system is configured to transmit a control signal to one or more physical objects disposed within the amusement or theme park to implement one or more physical effects via the one or more physical objects in accordance with the guest experience information (para. [0066], note that the personal user profile 330 of the son indicates the son prefers to ride roller coasters, ride Ferris wheels and eat pizza. The personal user profile 330 of the father indicates the father has no ride preferences and prefers healthy eating options. Also see para. [0067], note that e father would like to minimize the cost of the trip and asked a question on a social network about how to minimize costs during a trip to a theme park. This question is used to signal the live experience development application 352 to include special deals and offers in the full journey personal itinerary 302. Such information may alternately be included in the father's user profile).
(8) regarding claim 8:
Sahadi disclosed most of the subject matter as described above except for specifically teaching wherein the guest experience analysis system is configured to transmit the guest experience information relating to the one or more guests to the augmented reality display device such that the guest experience information for the one or more guests may be superimposed on the augmented reality display device near pass-through images of the one or more guests.
However, Ziekowski disclosed wherein the guest experience analysis system is configured to transmit the guest experience information relating to the one or more guests to the augmented reality display device such that the guest experience information for the one or more guests may be superimposed on the augmented reality display device near pass-through images of the one or more guests (para. [0049], note that the virtual objects 109, 110 may be generated by the computer graphics generation system 40 and displayed on the displays 30, 32 of the visualization devices 14. Specifically, the virtual objects 109, 110 may be superimposed on the real-world perception of the passengers 102, 104,106, 108).
At the time of filing for the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art to teach wherein the guest experience analysis system is configured to transmit the guest experience information relating to the one or more guests to the augmented reality display device such that the guest experience information for the one or more guests may be superimposed on the augmented reality display device near pass-through images of the one or more guests. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been in order to enhance the immersive experience of guests within attractions and to provide a more personalized or customized experience for guests (para. [0004]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Sahadi with Ziekowski to obtain the invention as specified in claim 8.
(9) regarding claim 9:
Sahadi disclosed most of the subject matter as described as above except for specifically teaching wherein the guest experience analysis system is configured to switch focus on the augmented reality display device from a targeted guest of the one or more guests to another targeted guest of the one or more guests.
However, Ziekowski disclosed wherein the guest experience analysis system is configured to switch focus on the augmented reality display device from a targeted guest of the one or more guests to another targeted guest of the one or more guests (para. [0026], note that the visualization device 14 may include a device in which certain virtual features are overlaid onto a transparent surface (e.g., glasses), or may include a device in which virtual features are overlaid onto substantially real-time video, or a combination thereof (e.g., the visualization device 14 may be capable of switching between transparent and opaque user visualization)).
At the time of filing for the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art to teach wherein the guest experience analysis system is configured to switch focus on the augmented reality display device from a targeted guest of the one or more guests to another targeted guest of the one or more guests. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been in order to enhance the immersive experience of guests within attractions and to provide a more personalized or customized experience for guests (para. [0004]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Sahadi with Ziekowski to obtain the invention as specified in claim 9.
(10) regarding claim 10:
Sahadi disclosed most of the subject matter as described above except for specifically teaching wherein the augmented reality display device comprises a stationary augmented reality display endpoint disposed within the amusement or theme park.
However, Ziekowski disclosed wherein the augmented reality display device comprises a stationary augmented reality display endpoint disposed within the amusement or theme park (para. [0049], note that for the environment 20 that includes a combination of real-world images 22 and other AR/VR images 24 (FIG. 1), the first virtual object 109 remains stationary relative to the real-world images 22 (e.g., stationary relative to the real-world image 22 of the track 98), while the second virtual object 110 moves relative to the real-world images 22).
At the time of filing for the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art to teach wherein the augmented reality display device comprises a stationary augmented reality display endpoint disposed within the amusement or theme park. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been in order to enhance the immersive experience of guests within attractions and to provide a more personalized or customized experience for guests (para. [0004]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Sahadi with Ziekowski to obtain the invention as specified in claim 10.
(11) regarding claim 11:
Sahadi further disclosed the system of claim 1, wherein the augmented reality display device comprises augmented reality glasses, augmented reality goggles, or other augmented reality headgear (para. [0080], note that he computing devices can include phones, tablets, watches, wearable devices (including ones dedicated to use at the venue), augmented reality or virtual reality glasses, as well as laptop and desktop computers).
(12) regarding claim 20:
As shown in fig. 8, Sahadi disclosed an augmented reality display device (para. [0080], note that the computing devices can include phones, tablets, watches, wearable devices (including ones dedicated to use at the venue), augmented reality or virtual reality glasses), comprising:
an augmented reality display configured to pass-through images of one or more guests of an amusement or theme park (para. [0021], note that determining that a user has entered a managed location by a computing device and identifying user contacts within the venue. Also see para. [0027], note that [0027] A platform discussed herein generates a current path of a venue attendee based on the venue attendee's recorded location data); and
one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations (para. [0029], note that mobile and wearable devices 110 can execute applications via processors that make use of sensors and receivers of the respective mobile and wearable devices 110 to generate customer engagement data and then share that customer engagement data as the information 140 to the application server(s) 125) comprising:
receiving guest experience information relating to activity of a targeted guest of the one or more guests relative to the amusement or theme park from a guest experience analysis system, wherein the guest experience information comprises one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest of the one or more guests relative to a themed attraction of the amusement or theme park (para. [0045], note that user profile can accumulate, and reflect, the user's experience with a theme park, with theme parks of a particular type, with a cruise ship, with visits to locations within venues or around the world, and the like. Among other things, the user experience can keep track of what a user has done during past visits, including capturing positive and negative ratings), wherein the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest are generated by the guest experience analysis system based at least in part on activity data relating to the activity of the one or more guests and experience-related data relating to previous experiences of the one or more guests relative to the amusement or theme park (para. [0048], note that the physical world content management system 238 is described in more detail elsewhere in this disclosure. The EaaS platform 230 may also include a recommendation engine 240 for recommending experiences or points of interest (POI) or aspects of experiences, either directly to a visitor or to personnel of a host, such as to assist in assembling experiences or to assist staff in guiding visitors to favorable experiences).
Sahadi disclosed most of the subject matter as described above except for specifically teaching superimposing at least one recommended experience of the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest on the augmented reality display near pass-through images of the targeted guest.
However, Ziekowski disclosed superimposing at least one recommended experience of the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest on the augmented reality display near pass-through images of the targeted guest (para. [0049], note that the virtual objects 109, 110 may be generated by the computer graphics generation system 40 and displayed on the displays 30, 32 of the visualization devices 14. Specifically, the virtual objects 109, 110 may be superimposed on the real-world perception of the passengers 102, 104,106, 108).
At the time of filing for the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art to teach superimposing at least one recommended experience of the one or more recommended theme-related experiences for the targeted guest on the augmented reality display near pass-through images of the targeted guest. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been in order to enhance the immersive experience of guests within attractions and to provide a more personalized or customized experience for guests (para. [0004]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Sahadi with Ziekowski to obtain the invention as specified in claim 20.
The proposed rejection of claims 1-8 renders obvious the steps of the method of claims 12-18 because these steps occur in the operation of the proposed rejection as discussed above. Thus, the arguments like that presented above for claims 1-8 are equally applicable to claims 12-18.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ptucha et al. (US Publication Number 2013/0201105 A1) disclosed a method for controlling a multi-user interactive display system including a soft-copy display including at least an information display region and a command control region, and a digital image capture system positioned to capture a time sequence of images of users located in a field-of-view of the soft-copy display.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to Hilina K Demeter whose telephone number is (571) 270-1676.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, King Y. Poon could be reached at (571) 270- 0728. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HILINA K DEMETER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2617
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