Detailed Action
Status of Claims
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Action is in reply to the Application filed on 2/18/2025. Claims 1-30 are pending.
Priority
The later-filed application must be an application for a patent for an invention which is also disclosed in the prior application (the parent or original nonprovisional application or provisional application). The disclosure of the invention in the parent application and in the later-filed application must be sufficient to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, except for the best mode requirement. See Transco Products, Inc. v. Performance Contracting, Inc., 38 F.3d 551, 32 USPQ2d 1077 (Fed. Cir. 1994).
The disclosure of the prior-filed application, Provisional Applications Nos. 63358038 & 63554352, and US Applications Nos. 18217412 & 18378593, fails to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application. Each of these Applications fails to provide support for at least the steps of providing an interactive overlay on one or more pages of the retailer's digital store, for the consumer to initiate execution of a virtual style function; providing a carousel including a plurality of articles of clothing for viewing by the customer via the graphical user interface.
The claims are therefore afforded an effective filing date of 2/18/2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS filed 2/18/2025 was received and has been considered.
The IDS filed 6/2/2025 was received and has been considered.
The IDS filed 7/30/2025 was received and has been considered.
The IDS filed 3/3/2026 was received and has been considered.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to for the following informalities: “the online customers” should read “the online users,” and “the retailer’s store” should read “the retailer’s digital store.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 4 and 16 are objected to for the following informality: “the graphical overlap” should read “the graphical overlay.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 7 and 19 are objected to for the following informality: “the closet” should read “a closet.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 13 is objected to for the following informalities: “the online customer” should read “the online users,” and “the retailer’s store” should read “the retailer’s digital store.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 27-28 & 30 are objected to for the following informality: “the digital closet” should read “a digital closet.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejection - 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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
First, it is determined whether the claims are directed to a statutory category of invention. In the instant case, claims 1-2 are directed to a process. Therefore, claims 1-12 are directed to statutory subject matter under Step 1 as described in MPEP 2106 (Step 1: YES).
The claims are then analyzed to determine whether the claims are directed to a judicial exception. In determining whether the claims are directed to a judicial exception, the claims are analyzed to evaluate whether the claims recite a judicial exception (Prong One of Step 2A), as well as analyzed to evaluate whether the claims recite additional elements that integrate the judicial exception into a practical application of the judicial exception (Prong Two of Step 2A).
Claim 1 recites at least the following limitations that are believed to recite an abstract idea:
integrating a commerce display to an existing retailer's store, the display generating rapid images to facilitate a real-life experience for a customer that includes styling and try-on of articles of clothing at the retailer's store, by combining real-time images with pre-constructed images stored in a storage;
providing an overlay on one or more pages of the retailer's store, for the consumer to initiate execution of a style function;
receiving a human body representation of the consumer;
providing a carousel including a plurality of articles of clothing for viewing by the customer via the display;
receiving a selection from the customer representative of an article of clothing displayed in the retailer's store; and
warping an image of the article of clothing selected from the retailer's store to conform to the human body representation of the consumer in shape and measurement and provide a display of a synthesized image of the human body representation with the selected item of clothing.
The above limitations recite the concept of clothing fit analysis. These limitations, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, fall within the “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity” grouping of abstract ideas, enumerated in MPEP 2106, in that they recite commercial interactions, e.g. sales activities/behaviors, and managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, e.g., following rules or instructions. Accordingly, under Prong One of Step 2A, claims 1-12 recite an abstract idea (Step 2A, Prong One: YES).
Prong Two of Step 2A is the next step in the eligibility analyses and looks at whether the abstract idea is integrated into a practical application. This requires an additional element or combination of additional elements in the claims to apply, rely on, or user the judicial exception in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception, such that the claim is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception.
In this instance, the claims recite the additional elements of:
E-commerce
Elements being digital or virtual
Online users/customers
A graphical user interface
A database
An interactive overlay
However, these elements do not amount to an improvement in the functioning of a computer or any other technology or technical field; apply the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine; or apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort to monopolize the exception.
In addition, the recitations are recited at a high level of generality and also do not amount to an improvement in the functioning of a computer or any other technology or technical field; apply the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine; or apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort to monopolize the exception.
The dependent claims also fail to recite elements which amount to an improvement in the functioning of a computer or any other technology or technical field; apply the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine; or apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort to monopolize the exception. For example, claims 3, 7, 11-12 are directed to the abstract idea itself and do not amount to an integration according to any one of the considerations above. As for claims 2, 4-6, 8-10, these claims are similar to the independent claims except that they recite the further additional elements of a live image, interface options, further digital elements, a webpage display, further databases, metadata. These additional elements are recited at a high level of generality and also do not amount to an improvement in the functioning of a computer or any other technology or technical field; apply the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine; or apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort to monopolize the exception. Therefore, the dependent claims do not create an integration for the same reasons.
Step 2B is the next step in the eligibility analyses and evaluates whether the claims recite additional elements that amount to an inventive concept (i.e., “significantly more”) than the recited judicial exception. According to Office procedure, revised Step 2A overlaps with Step 2B, and thus, many of the considerations need not be re-evaluated in Step 2B because the answer will be the same.
In Step 2A, several additional elements were identified as additional limitations:
E-commerce
Elements being digital or virtual
Online users/customers
A graphical user interface
A database
An interactive overlay
These additional limitations, including the limitations in the dependent claims, do not amount to an inventive concept because they were already analyzed under Step 2A and did not amount to a practical application of the abstract idea. Therefore, the claims lack one or more limitations which amount to an inventive concept in the claims.
For these reasons, the claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claims 13-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
First, it is determined whether the claims are directed to a statutory category of invention. In the instant case, claims 13-30 are directed to a machine. Therefore, claims 13-30 are directed to statutory subject matter under Step 1 as described in MPEP 2106 (Step 1: YES).
The claims are then analyzed to determine whether the claims are directed to a judicial exception. In determining whether the claims are directed to a judicial exception, the claims are analyzed to evaluate whether the claims recite a judicial exception (Prong One of Step 2A), as well as analyzed to evaluate whether the claims recite additional elements that integrate the judicial exception into a practical application of the judicial exception (Prong Two of Step 2A).
Claim 13 recites at least the following limitations that are believed to recite an abstract idea:
integrating a commerce display to an existing retailer's store, the display generating rapid images to facilitate a real-life experience for a customer that includes styling and try-on of garments at the retailer's store, by combining real-time images with pre-constructed images stored in a storage;
provide the overlay on one or more pages of the retailer's store, for a consumer to initiate execution of a virtual style function;
receive a human body representation of the consumer;
providing a carousel including a plurality of garments for viewing by the customer via the display;
receive a selection of a garment of interest displayed in the retailer's store from the consumer; and
warp an image of the garment selected from the retailer's store to conform to the human body representation of the consumer in shape and measurement and provide a display of a modified image of the human body representation with the selected garment.
The above limitations recite the concept of clothing fit analysis. These limitations, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, fall within the “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity” grouping of abstract ideas, enumerated in MPEP 2106, in that they recite commercial interactions, e.g. sales activities/behaviors, and managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, e.g., following rules or instructions. Accordingly, under Prong One of Step 2A, claims 13-30 recite an abstract idea (Step 2A, Prong One: YES).
Prong Two of Step 2A is the next step in the eligibility analyses and looks at whether the abstract idea is integrated into a practical application. This requires an additional element or combination of additional elements in the claims to apply, rely on, or user the judicial exception in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception, such that the claim is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception.
In this instance, the claims recite the additional elements of:
E-commerce
Elements being digital or virtual
Online users/customers
A system comprising: a processor; a memory with executable code configured to cause the processor to execute an interactive graphical overlay, to execute instructions
A graphical user interface
A database
However, these elements do not amount to an improvement in the functioning of a computer or any other technology or technical field; apply the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine; or apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort to monopolize the exception.
In addition, the recitations are recited at a high level of generality and also do not amount to an improvement in the functioning of a computer or any other technology or technical field; apply the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine; or apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort to monopolize the exception.
The dependent claims also fail to recite elements which amount to an improvement in the functioning of a computer or any other technology or technical field; apply the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine; or apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort to monopolize the exception. For example, claims 14-15, 19, 23-26, 29 are directed to the abstract idea itself and do not amount to an integration according to any one of the considerations above. As for claims 16-18, 20-22, 27-28, and 30 these claims are similar to the independent claims except that they recite the further additional elements of a “graphical overlap,” user interface options, further digital elements, further databases, a webpage display. These additional elements are recited at a high level of generality and also do not amount to an improvement in the functioning of a computer or any other technology or technical field; apply the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine; or apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort to monopolize the exception. Therefore, the dependent claims do not create an integration for the same reasons.
Step 2B is the next step in the eligibility analyses and evaluates whether the claims recite additional elements that amount to an inventive concept (i.e., “significantly more”) than the recited judicial exception. According to Office procedure, revised Step 2A overlaps with Step 2B, and thus, many of the considerations need not be re-evaluated in Step 2B because the answer will be the same.
In Step 2A, several additional elements were identified as additional limitations:
E-commerce
Elements being digital or virtual
Online users/customers
A system comprising: a processor; a memory with executable code configured to cause the processor to execute an interactive graphical overlay, to execute instructions
A graphical user interface
A database
These additional limitations, including the limitations in the dependent claims, do not amount to an inventive concept because they were already analyzed under Step 2A and did not amount to a practical application of the abstract idea. Therefore, the claims lack one or more limitations which amount to an inventive concept in the claims.
For these reasons, the claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101.
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 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.
Claim Rejection – 35 USC § 103
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-
obviousness.
Claims 1-10, 12-22, and 24-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kristal et al (US 20180047192 A1), hereinafter Kristal, in view of Chen et al (US 20170352091 A1), hereinafter Chen.
Regarding Claim 1, Kristal discloses a dynamic e-commerce method for providing an e-commerce digital journey to online users by rapid generation of images that are presented to the online customers, the method comprising:
integrating an e-commerce graphical user interface to an existing retailer's digital store, the graphical user interface generating rapid images to facilitate a real-life experience for a customer that includes styling and virtual try-on of articles of clothing at the retailer's digital store, by combining real-time images with pre-constructed images stored in a database (Kristal: “an e-commerce website that offers the product for sale. … a user interface element, such as a “Try It On” button, could be incorporated into the webpage to allow users to try on the product using the functionality of the system …Clicking this user interface element may result in a composite anchor image being generated and displayed via a user's web browser to show the product virtually dressed on the user. The composite anchor image could be displayed within the same webpage that depicts the product” [0123] – “enables the subsequent processing of “virtual dressing” to be rapid and efficient” [0139] – See Figures 38 and 40A-E, which illustrate the e-commerce website and generated images.);
providing an interactive overlay on one or more pages of the retailer's digital store, for the consumer to initiate execution of a virtual style function (Kristal: “a user interface element, such as a “Try It On” button, could be incorporated into the webpage to allow users to try on the product using the functionality of the system … Clicking this user interface element may result in a composite anchor image being generated and displayed via a user's web browser to show the product virtually dressed on the user. ” [0123] – See Figure 38, where the button is overlaid on each product in the store.);
receiving a human body representation [user image] of the consumer (Kristal: “the User Handler Module 4 may receive, as an input 22, at least one user image and, optionally, user size information, such as a user height. FIG. 2 illustrates that the User Handler Module 4 may generate, as an output 24, one or more of a user 3D mesh extraction” [0088] – “a user image may be obtained … The user image is processed, analyzed and improved by the Product Handler Module 6; and may be stored in a user profiles database 114, together with other user data that is obtained or extracted or received. ” [0123]);
providing a layout including a plurality of articles of clothing for viewing by the customer via the graphical user interface (Kristal: “FIG. 38 illustrates one example source representing a clothing product vendor's webpage, which may be viewed using a web browser or web application on a computer or, as shown in the inset, on a mobile device. It will be seen that the product images may include the previously discussed “Try It On” user interface element that activates the processing of FIG. 37 and virtually dresses the product on an image of a user.” [0449]);
receiving a selection from the customer representative of an article of clothing displayed in the retailer's digital store (Kristal: “allow users to try on the product …Clicking this user interface element may result in a composite anchor image being generated and displayed via a user's web browser to show the product virtually dressed on the user. ” [0123] – See Figures 38 and 40A-E); and
warping a digital image of the article of clothing selected from the retailer's store to conform to the human body representation of the consumer in shape and measurement and provide a display of a synthesized image of the human body representation with the selected item of clothing (Kristal: “virtual dressing, by overlaying or inserting or otherwise combining, a two-dimensional image of a product (two-dimensional images of several products), onto a two-dimensional image of a user” [0119] – “ensure that the product image fits accurately when overlayed over the user image, optionally by resizing the product image (or product mask) and/or the user image (or user mask). These operations may be performed by the Product size estimation process 8A and the Estimate product shape on the user according to user figure and fabric type process 8B. … thereby creating a more-realistic combined image” [0150] – “the composite anchor image is caused to be displayed. …on a user's mobile device or computer. … on an e-commerce webpage, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 38 (e.g., in response to a user activating the “Try It On” button)” [0451]).
While Kristal teaches providing various layouts including a plurality of articles of clothing for viewing, such as illustrated in Figures 38, & 40D-E, it does not specifically teach that the layout is a carousel.
However, Chen teaches techniques for combining a body model with a garment image (Chen: Abstract), including that the layout is a carousel (Chen: “FIG. 20 shows examples of screens which may include a scrollable section displaying different types of selectable garments” [0260] – “FIG. 15 left hand side, …is a version of the parallax view which acts as an explorer tab displaying everything that is available in the system …The parallax view can be scrolled horizontally where a variety of virtual avatars wearing different outfits are displayed. FIG. 31 displays one implementation of the horizontal parallax view when scrolled.” [0326-0328]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of invention to combine these references because the results would be predictable. Specifically, Kristal would continue to teach providing a layout including a plurality of articles of clothing for viewing by the customer via the graphical user interface, except that now it would also teach that the layout is a carousel, according to the teachings of Chen. This is a predictable result of the combination.
In addition, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of invention to combine these references because it would result in an improved user experience in online shopping through outfit visualization (Chen: [0293]).
Regarding Claim 2, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 1, wherein the human body representation of the consumer is generated by receiving at least one of a photo or live image of the consumer via the graphical overlay to create a personalized avatar with a likeness to the consumer (Kristal: “a user may capture a single image (or multiple images, or a video clip) of the user by way of a user application or device” [0060] – “the User Handler Module 4 may receive, as an input 22, at least one user image and, optionally, user size information, such as a user height. FIG. 2 illustrates that the User Handler Module 4 may generate, as an output 24, one or more of a user 3D mesh extraction” [0088] – See Figures 40A-E, which illustrate the user image/avatar.).
Regarding Claim 3, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 1, wherein the human body representation of the consumer is generated by presenting a plurality of human body models to the consumer and receiving a selection of a particular human body model from the consumer and generating a personalized avatar for the consumer, similar in shape and measurement (Kristal: “ A selection of models with different skin tones are available where the user can choose whichever model suits them best. See FIG. 11 for example. For further accuracy the user can adjust waist and hip size on their Virtual avatar.” [0324]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen with Kristal for the reasons identified above with respect to claim 1.
Regarding Claim 4, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 1, wherein the graphical overlap has a plurality of consumer interface options that the consumer executes via the graphical overlay to navigate the retailer's digital store (Kristal: “an e-commerce website that offers the product for sale. … a user interface element, such as a “Try It On” button, could be incorporated into the webpage to allow users to try on the product using the functionality of the system …Clicking this user interface element may result in a composite anchor image being generated and displayed via a user's web browser to show the product virtually dressed on the user. The composite anchor image could be displayed within the same webpage that depicts the product” [0123] – “enables the subsequent processing of “virtual dressing” to be rapid and efficient” [0139] – See Figure 38, which illustrates a plurality of options for navigation within the retailer’s store.).
Regarding Claim 5, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 4, wherein one of the consumer interface options is a digital closet for the consumer to store a selection of garments that the consumer has viewed via the graphical overlay (Kristal: “a user may obtain an emulated or simulated image which shows the user to appear to be wearing, concurrently, two different products that optionally originate from (or are sold by) two different vendors or sources; such as, a shirt made or sold by Vendor A, and a skirt made or sold by Vendor B. … while also keeping true-to-life dimensions or ratios” [0073] – “items that the system estimates that may be of interest to the user, based on his past history of virtual dressing.” [0120] – “The output of the Universal Dressing Module 8 may be provided to the user for display via his or her application or electronic device 110 running a client application 110, and may be further shared or sent by the user to selected recipients, such as via the social networks 112.” [0123]).
Regarding Claim 6, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 5, wherein the digital closet is configured to receive item of clothing selections from a plurality of different retailer digital stores (Kristal: “a user may obtain an emulated or simulated image which shows the user to appear to be wearing, concurrently, two different products that optionally originate from (or are sold by) two different vendors or sources; such as, a shirt made or sold by Vendor A, and a skirt made or sold by Vendor B. … while also keeping true-to-life dimensions or ratios” [0073]).
Regarding Claim 7, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 4, wherein the consumer can add the selection of items of clothing that the consumer wants to purchase directly from the closet to a retailer's shopping cart (Kristal: “After the dressing process, the user may proceed to purchase … an entire multiple-item attire or assembly of clothes…from multiple different vendors (e.g., online vendors and/or offline vendors), optionally by using a single click mechanism, utilizing a universal digital wallet or payment mechanism” [0077] – “universal digital wallet or payment mechanism may be used in order to enable the user to perform a single checkout process with regard to multiple items that were collected from multiple different vendors. … the transaction may be a redirect transaction that redirects a user to one or more vendor websites (or other e-commerce sites) where the products may be purchased using vendor-specific purchase mechanisms.” [0455] – See Figure 40E: “FIG. 40E additionally shows a single-click user interface element called “Buy This Look,” that may be used to initiate a coordinated transaction for purchasing all of the virtual dressing items shown in the third composite anchor image, namely, the jacket, the pants, and the purse.” [0453]).
Regarding Claim 8, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 1, wherein the graphical overlay provides a query with item of clothing data relating to a consumer selection of an item of clothing to an associated database, wherein the database responds with garment metadata and a try-on image corresponding to the consumer selection (Kristal: “Product Handler Module 6 of the system 2 may receive a product image, such as a clothing article that is worn by a human model. The Product extraction process 6A may perform product segmentation and classification. An equalized volume-metric reflectance map may be generated by the Features and classification process 6B and utilized (e.g., in conjunction with an equalized lighting map), and textual information or meta-data about the product may be obtained” [0137] – “the product image and product data may be stored into a product database 108, that in turn may feed the Universal Dressing Module 8.” [0122]).
Regarding Claim 9, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 1, wherein personalized avatar remains with the consumer as the consumer navigates a plurality of different retailer digital stores on a digital shopping journey (Kristal: “a user may obtain an emulated or simulated image which shows the user to appear to be wearing, concurrently, two different products that optionally originate from (or are sold by) two different vendors or sources; such as, a shirt made or sold by Vendor A, and a skirt made or sold by Vendor B. … while also keeping true-to-life dimensions or ratios” [0073]).
Regarding Claim 10, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 1, wherein the graphical overlay sits on top of a webpage display from a retailer's digital store (Kristal: “an e-commerce website that offers the product for sale. … a user interface element, such as a “Try It On” button, could be incorporated into the webpage to allow users to try on the product using the functionality of the system …Clicking this user interface element may result in a composite anchor image being generated and displayed via a user's web browser to show the product virtually dressed on the user. The composite anchor image could be displayed within the same webpage that depicts the product” [0123]).
Regarding Claim 12, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 1, wherein the personalized avatar is created by providing the consumer a plurality of measurement criteria, including at least one from a group of a plurality of different body shapes, a plurality of different sizes, a plurality of different heights, a plurality of different skin tones, a plurality of different ethnicities, a plurality of different hair colors, and a plurality of different ages (Kristal: “the user may manually enter his gender, and/or his height, and/or other optional user parameters (e.g., weight; shirt size; pants size; or the like). These optional parameters may further be utilized for enhancing or preparing the user depicted in the anchor image for virtual dressing of clothes or other products” [0061] – “evaluate the simulation combined with manual or external properties regarding the user and/or the product to give a better outcome. For example, the user may be asked to manually enter or provide his or her height and/or weight and/or gender and /or clothes size” [0083]).
Regarding Claim 13, Kristal discloses a dynamic e-commerce system for providing an e-commerce digital journey to online users by rapid generation of images that are presented to the online customer, the system comprising: a processor; a memory with executable code configured to cause the processor to execute (Kristal: Claim 11, [0456-0457]) an interactive graphical overlay (Kristal: [0123]), to execute the following actions:
integrating an e-commerce graphical user interface to an existing retailer's digital store, the graphical user interface generating rapid images to facilitate a real-life experience for a customer that includes styling and virtual try-on of garments at the retailer's digital store, by combining real-time images with pre-constructed images stored in a database; provide the interactive graphical overlay on one or more pages of the retailer's digital store, for a consumer to initiate execution of a virtual style function (Kristal: “an e-commerce website that offers the product for sale. … a user interface element, such as a “Try It On” button, could be incorporated into the webpage to allow users to try on the product using the functionality of the system …Clicking this user interface element may result in a composite anchor image being generated and displayed via a user's web browser to show the product virtually dressed on the user. The composite anchor image could be displayed within the same webpage that depicts the product” [0123] – “enables the subsequent processing of “virtual dressing” to be rapid and efficient” [0139] – See Figures 38 and 40A-E, which illustrate the e-commerce website and generated images);
receive a human body representation [body image] of the consumer (Kristal: “the User Handler Module 4 may receive, as an input 22, at least one user image and, optionally, user size information, such as a user height. FIG. 2 illustrates that the User Handler Module 4 may generate, as an output 24, one or more of a user 3D mesh extraction” [0088] – “a user image may be obtained … The user image is processed, analyzed and improved by the Product Handler Module 6; and may be stored in a user profiles database 114, together with other user data that is obtained or extracted or received. ” [0123]);
providing a layout including a plurality of garments for viewing by the customer via the graphical user interface (Kristal: “FIG. 38 illustrates one example source representing a clothing product vendor's webpage, which may be viewed using a web browser or web application on a computer or, as shown in the inset, on a mobile device. It will be seen that the product images may include the previously discussed “Try It On” user interface element that activates the processing of FIG. 37 and virtually dresses the product on an image of a user.” [0449]);
receive a selection of a garment of interest displayed in the retailer's digital store from the consumer (Kristal: “allow users to try on the product …Clicking this user interface element may result in a composite anchor image being generated and displayed via a user's web browser to show the product virtually dressed on the user. ” [0123] – See Figures 38 and 40A-E); and
warp a digital image of the garment selected from the retailer's store to conform to the human body representation of the consumer in shape and measurement and provide a display of a modified image of the human body representation with the selected garment (Kristal: “virtual dressing, by overlaying or inserting or otherwise combining, a two-dimensional image of a product (two-dimensional images of several products), onto a two-dimensional image of a user” [0119] – “ensure that the product image fits accurately when overlayed over the user image, optionally by resizing the product image (or product mask) and/or the user image (or user mask). These operations may be performed by the Product size estimation process 8A and the Estimate product shape on the user according to user figure and fabric type process 8B. … thereby creating a more-realistic combined image” [0150] – “the composite anchor image is caused to be displayed. …on a user's mobile device or computer. … on an e-commerce webpage, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 38 (e.g., in response to a user activating the “Try It On” button)” [0451]).
While Kristal teaches providing various layouts including a plurality of articles of clothing for viewing, such as illustrated in Figures 38, & 40D-E, it does not specifically teach that the layout is a carousel.
However, Chen teaches techniques for combining a body model with a garment image (Chen: Abstract), including that the layout is a carousel (Chen: “FIG. 20 shows examples of screens which may include a scrollable section displaying different types of selectable garments” [0260] – “FIG. 15 left hand side, …is a version of the parallax view which acts as an explorer tab displaying everything that is available in the system …The parallax view can be scrolled horizontally where a variety of virtual avatars wearing different outfits are displayed. FIG. 31 displays one implementation of the horizontal parallax view when scrolled.” [0326-0328]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of invention to combine these references because the results would be predictable. Specifically, Kristal would continue to teach providing a layout including a plurality of articles of clothing for viewing by the customer via the graphical user interface, except that now it would also teach that the layout is a carousel, according to the teachings of Chen. This is a predictable result of the combination.
In addition, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of invention to combine these references because it would result in an improved user experience in online shopping through outfit visualization (Chen: [0293]).
Regarding Claim 14, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the human body representation of the consumer is generated by receiving a photo of the consumer via the graphical overlay to create a personalized avatar (Kristal: “a user may capture a single image (or multiple images, or a video clip) of the user by way of a user application or device” [0060] – “the User Handler Module 4 may receive, as an input 22, at least one user image and, optionally, user size information, such as a user height. FIG. 2 illustrates that the User Handler Module 4 may generate, as an output 24, one or more of a user 3D mesh extraction” [0088] – See Figures 40A-E, which illustrate the user image/avatar.).
Regarding Claim 15, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the human body representation of the consumer is generated by presenting a plurality of human body models to the consumer and receiving a selection of a particular human body model from the consumer and generating a personalized avatar for the consumer, similar in shape and measurement (Kristal: “ A selection of models with different skin tones are available where the user can choose whichever model suits them best. See FIG. 11 for example. For further accuracy the user can adjust waist and hip size on their Virtual avatar.” [0324]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen with Kristal for the reasons identified above with respect to claim 13.
Regarding Claim 16, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the graphical overlap has a plurality of user interface options that the consumer executes via the graphical overlay to navigate the retailer's digital store (Kristal: “an e-commerce website that offers the product for sale. … a user interface element, such as a “Try It On” button, could be incorporated into the webpage to allow users to try on the product using the functionality of the system …Clicking this user interface element may result in a composite anchor image being generated and displayed via a user's web browser to show the product virtually dressed on the user. The composite anchor image could be displayed within the same webpage that depicts the product” [0123] – “enables the subsequent processing of “virtual dressing” to be rapid and efficient” [0139] – See Figure 38, which illustrates a plurality of options for navigation within the retailer’s store.).
Regarding Claim 17, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 16, wherein one of the user interface options is a digital closet for the consumer to store a selection of garments that the consumer has viewed via the graphical overlay (Kristal: “a user may obtain an emulated or simulated image which shows the user to appear to be wearing, concurrently, two different products that optionally originate from (or are sold by) two different vendors or sources; such as, a shirt made or sold by Vendor A, and a skirt made or sold by Vendor B. … while also keeping true-to-life dimensions or ratios” [0073] – “items that the system estimates that may be of interest to the user, based on his past history of virtual dressing.” [0120] – “The output of the Universal Dressing Module 8 may be provided to the user for display via his or her application or electronic device 110 running a client application 110, and may be further shared or sent by the user to selected recipients, such as via the social networks 112.” [0123]).
Regarding Claim 18, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 17, wherein the digital closet is configured to receive garment selections from a plurality of different retailer digital stores (Kristal: “a user may obtain an emulated or simulated image which shows the user to appear to be wearing, concurrently, two different products that optionally originate from (or are sold by) two different vendors or sources; such as, a shirt made or sold by Vendor A, and a skirt made or sold by Vendor B. … while also keeping true-to-life dimensions or ratios” [0073]).
Regarding Claim 19, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 16, wherein the consumer can add the selection of garments the consumer wants to purchase directly from the closet to a retailer's shopping cart (Kristal: “After the dressing process, the user may proceed to purchase … an entire multiple-item attire or assembly of clothes…from multiple different vendors (e.g., online vendors and/or offline vendors), optionally by using a single click mechanism, utilizing a universal digital wallet or payment mechanism” [0077] – “universal digital wallet or payment mechanism may be used in order to enable the user to perform a single checkout process with regard to multiple items that were collected from multiple different vendors. … the transaction may be a redirect transaction that redirects a user to one or more vendor websites (or other e-commerce sites) where the products may be purchased using vendor-specific purchase mechanisms.” [0455] – See Figure 40E: “FIG. 40E additionally shows a single-click user interface element called “Buy This Look,” that may be used to initiate a coordinated transaction for purchasing all of the virtual dressing items shown in the third composite anchor image, namely, the jacket, the pants, and the purse.” [0453]).
Regarding Claim 20, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the graphical overlay provides a query with garment data on a consumer selection of garment to an associated database, wherein the database responds with garment metadata and a try-on image corresponding to the consumer selection (Kristal: “Product Handler Module 6 of the system 2 may receive a product image, such as a clothing article that is worn by a human model. The Product extraction process 6A may perform product segmentation and classification. An equalized volume-metric reflectance map may be generated by the Features and classification process 6B and utilized (e.g., in conjunction with an equalized lighting map), and textual information or meta-data about the product may be obtained” [0137] – “the product image and product data may be stored into a product database 108, that in turn may feed the Universal Dressing Module 8.” [0122]).
Regarding Claim 21, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein personalized avatar remains with the consumer as the consumer navigates a plurality of different retailer digital stores (Kristal: “a user may obtain an emulated or simulated image which shows the user to appear to be wearing, concurrently, two different products that optionally originate from (or are sold by) two different vendors or sources; such as, a shirt made or sold by Vendor A, and a skirt made or sold by Vendor B. … while also keeping true-to-life dimensions or ratios” [0073]).
Regarding Claim 22, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the graphical overlay sits on top of a webpage display from a retailer's digital store (Kristal: “an e-commerce website that offers the product for sale. … a user interface element, such as a “Try It On” button, could be incorporated into the webpage to allow users to try on the product using the functionality of the system …Clicking this user interface element may result in a composite anchor image being generated and displayed via a user's web browser to show the product virtually dressed on the user. The composite anchor image could be displayed within the same webpage that depicts the product” [0123]).
Regarding Claim 24, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the personalized avatar is created by providing the consumer a plurality of measurement criteria, including at least one from a group of a plurality of different body shapes, a plurality of different sizes, a plurality of different heights, a plurality of different skin tones, a plurality of different ethnicities, a plurality of different hair colors, and a plurality of different ages (Kristal: “the user may manually enter his gender, and/or his height, and/or other optional user parameters (e.g., weight; shirt size; pants size; or the like). These optional parameters may further be utilized for enhancing or preparing the user depicted in the anchor image for virtual dressing of clothes or other products” [0061] – “evaluate the simulation combined with manual or external properties regarding the user and/or the product to give a better outcome. For example, the user may be asked to manually enter or provide his or her height and/or weight and/or gender and /or clothes size” [0083]).
Regarding Claim 25, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the personalized avatar is modified by selecting different image data (Kristal: “FIG. 40B depicts a first composite anchor image (on the left side of the display) following virtual dressing of the same user in a jacket. …FIG. 40D depicts a second composite anchor image (on the left side of the display) with the same user shown in FIGS. 40A-40C, but dressed in not only the jacket of FIGS. 40B-40C but also a pair of pants. To the right of the second composite anchor image is vendor information about the pants that were selected” [0453]).
Regarding Claim 26, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the fast generation of images in transmitted in quick succession (Kristal: “The product mask and the user mask may correspond to one another. … Such conversions may be performed in advance for each new user and stored …This enables the subsequent processing of “virtual dressing” to be rapid and efficient, and to build-upon previously-prepared masks/templates of the product and of the user.” [0139] – See Also Figures 40A-E.).
Regarding Claim 27, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the digital closet permits garments to be deleted and added by the consumer (Kristal: “virtually try-on countless products sold online and/or sold offline, and to see different looks of such products (e.g., clothes, accessories, or the like) shown in a realistic manner on the user's own image” [0076] – “A user may use the Universal Dressing Module 6 to create different looks” [0085]).
Regarding Claim 28, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the digital closet facilitates recommendations by a retailer's recommendation engine (Kristal: “ For each product, Universal Dressing Module 8 may estimate the recommended size for the user and change the simulation accordingly. This module may evaluate the simulation combined with manual or external properties regarding the user and/or the product to give a better outcome.” [0083]).
Regarding Claim 29, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein a consumer can exit and return via the graphical interactive overlay (Kristal: “the composite anchor image is caused to be displayed. …on a user's mobile device or computer. … on an e-commerce webpage, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 38 (e.g., in response to a user activating the “Try It On” button)” [0451] – “the transaction may be a redirect transaction that redirects a user to one or more vendor websites (or other e-commerce sites) where the products may be purchased using vendor-specific purchase mechanisms.” [0455] – See also Figures 37 and 40A-E).
Regarding Claim 30, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the graphical interface overlay includes a combination of styling, virtual try-one, the digital closet, a personalized consumer profile, a mirror feature, and a stylist approval or rejection input (Kristal: “virtual dressing, by overlaying or inserting or otherwise combining, a two-dimensional image of a product (two-dimensional images of several products), onto a two-dimensional image of a user” [0119] – “the composite anchor image is caused to be displayed. …on a user's mobile device or computer. … on an e-commerce webpage, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 38 (e.g., in response to a user activating the “Try It On” button)” [0451] – “FIG. 40E additionally shows a single-click user interface element called “Buy This Look,” that may be used to initiate a coordinated transaction for purchasing all of the virtual dressing items shown in the third composite anchor image, namely, the jacket, the pants, and the purse.” [0453] – “The user image is processed, analyzed and improved by the Product Handler Module 6; and may be stored in a user profiles database ” [0123]).
Claims 11 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kristal, in view of Chen, and further in view of Worley et al (US 9716842 B1), hereinafter Worley.
Regarding Claim 11, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce method according to claim 1, wherein the fast generation of images occurs instantly (Kristal: [0085-0086]), rapidly (Kristal: [0139]), or quickly (Chen: [0090]), but does not specifically teach that the fast generation of images occurs in 1-10 seconds.
However, Worley teaches techniques for virtual item representation on a user image (Worley: Abstract), including that the fast generation of images occurs in 1-10 seconds (Worley: “camera 106(1) of the device 102 may acquire the picture. This picture, and the resulting output image comprising the augmented image 124 described below, may be provided in near-real-time. For example, near-real-time may be expressed as providing output of the augmented image 124 less than ten seconds after acquisition of the imagery by the camera” Col. 14, lines 20-30– “The virtual item 126 is configured to appear in the augmented image 124, to be present on the wrist of the user, as if the user was wearing the wristwatch.” Col. 9, lines 20-30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of invention to combine these references because the results would be predictable. Specifically, Kristal/Chen would continue to teach the fast generation of images, except that now it would also teach that the fast generation of images occurs in 1-10 seconds, according to the teachings of Worley. This is a predictable result of the combination.
In addition, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of invention to combine these references because it would result in an improved user visualization of items considered for purchase (Col. 3, lines 20-30).
Regarding Claim 23, Kristal/Chen teach the dynamic e-commerce system according to claim 13, wherein the fast generation of images occurs instantly (Kristal: [0085-0086]), rapidly (Kristal: [0139]), or quickly (Chen: [0090]), but does not specifically teach that the fast generation of images occurs in 1-10 seconds.
However, Worley teaches techniques for virtual item representation on a user image (Worley: Abstract), including that the fast generation of images occurs in 1-10 seconds (Worley: “camera 106(1) of the device 102 may acquire the picture. This picture, and the resulting output image comprising the augmented image 124 described below, may be provided in near-real-time. For example, near-real-time may be expressed as providing output of the augmented image 124 less than ten seconds after acquisition of the imagery by the camera” Col. 14, lines 20-30– “The virtual item 126 is configured to appear in the augmented image 124, to be present on the wrist of the user, as if the user was wearing the wristwatch.” Col. 9, lines 20-30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of invention to combine these references because the results would be predictable. Specifically, Kristal/Chen would continue to teach the fast generation of images, except that now it would also teach that the fast generation of images occurs in 1-10 seconds, according to the teachings of Worley. This is a predictable result of the combination.
In addition, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of invention to combine these references because it would result in an improved user visualization of items considered for purchase (Col. 3, lines 20-30).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Faribault et al (US 20110078055 A1) teaches systems for virtual garment try-on, including the ability to scroll through a carousel of garment options, and to select a default or pre-made avatar/body model to view the garments on.
Lin (US 20200402147 A1) teaches virtual garment try-on systems, which display various items on spinning carousels for selection.
Haaramo et al (US 20140010449 A1) teaches virtual garment systems that render an avatar wearing selected garments, including the use of default models and incorporation of user images.
Isaacson et al (US 20190007381 A1) teaches virtual shopping systems, including a container/cart of items that exists across multiple stores to facilitate checkout at each specific store, and a virtual body model to try-on products from each retailer.
References U-W (NPL – see attached) discuss virtual try-on systems, including multiple items and online-shopping applications.
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/T.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 3689
/MARISSA THEIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3689
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