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 .
Application Status
This office action is responsive to Application No.:19/066,947 filed on 02/28/2025 (Provisional Filing Date:02/28/2024).
Claims 1-20 are pending and presented for examination.
This action has been made NON-FINAL.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/18/2025 is being considered by the examiner. A signed IDS is hereby attached.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Independent claims 1 and 13 recites “determine an orientation of the system based on the sensor data.” However, it is not clear exactly how this determination is carried out. Therefore, this claim limitation is rendered as indefinite. The examiner suggests providing detailed language on how to execute this “determining” step.
Independent claims 1 and 13 recites “determine an orientation of a face of a user relative to the system based on the sensor data.” However, it is not clear exactly how this determination is carried out. Therefore, this claim limitation is rendered as indefinite. The examiner suggests providing detailed language on how to execute this “determining” step.
Claim 6 recites “substantially.” The term “substantially” is indefinite because the specification lacked some standard for measuring the degrees intended (See MPEP 2173.05(b)).
Claim 9 and 17 recites “determine the audio input …” However, it is not clear exactly how this determination is carried out. Therefore, this claim limitation is rendered as indefinite. The examiner suggests providing detailed language on how to execute this “determining” step.
The dependent claims are rejected for depending upon a rejected base claim.
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Battle, US 20180232739 in view of HUANG, US 20250029307.
Claim 1:
Battle discloses a system (See Battle Abstract; Figure 9, Item 902). Battle failed to explicitly disclose a control rotation. However, HUANG discloses this feature in paragraph 0047. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified Battle by the teachings of HUANG to enable improved facial animation output, more effectively (See HUANG Abstract). In addition, both of the references teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as facial (biometrics) animation. This close relation between both references highly suggests an expectation of success.
As modified:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses the following:
a sensor configured to generate sensor data based on a factor of the system (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054);
a display configured to display an animated face of an artificial intelligence (AI) agent (See Battle Paragraph 0081);
a processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) coupled to the sensor (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054) and the display (See Battle Figure 3, Item 306; Paragraphs 0033-0035), the processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) configured to:
determine an orientation of the system based on the sensor data (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054);
determine an orientation of a face of a user (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054; 0083; 0088) relative to the system based on the sensor data (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054);
and control rotation (See HUANG Paragraph 0047) of the animated face on the display based on the orientation of the system (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) and the orientation of the face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of the user to maintain a consistent orientation of the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) on the display relative to the face of the user (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088).
Claim 2:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses wherein the display is configured to display the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of the Al agent (See Battle Paragraph 0081) such that the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) occupies an entirety of a viewable area of the display (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088).
Claim 3:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses a housing (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088) configured to house the display (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088), wherein: the housing defines a viewable area of the display (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088); and the display is configured to display the Al agent (See Battle Paragraph 0081) such that the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) occupies an entirety of the viewable area such that the housing forms (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088) a portion of a head of the Al agent (See Battle Paragraph 0081).
Claim 4:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses wherein: the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of the Al agent (See Battle Paragraph 0081) includes a facial feature (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088); the system comprises an input device (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026), the input device configured to capture user input (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026) and generate input data representative of the user input (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026); the processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) is configured to; receive the input data (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026); identify an output of the system based on the input data (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026); and animate the facial feature of the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) based on the identified output (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026) of the system such that the facial feature (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) is synchronized (See HUANG Paragraph 0049) with the output of the system (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026).
Claim 5:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses wherein: the facial feature (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) comprises at least one of a mouth or a face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088); the system further comprises a memory (See Battle Figure2, Item 202; Paragraph 0018) to store viseme data1 (See HUANG Paragraph 0040 Note: HUANG may not expressly mention the term “viseme” however, HUANG discloses facial features corresponding to different speech sounds or various words”, as defined in paragraph 0050 of the Applicant’s specification) representative of positions of the mouth or the face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) when speaking various words (See HUANG Paragraph 0040); and the processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) is configured to: identify a word included in the output of the system (See HUANG Figure 2, Item 214; Paragraphs 0038; 0042); and animate the mouth or the face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of the Al agent (See Battle Paragraph 0081) based on the viseme data2 (See HUANG Paragraph 0040 Note: HUANG may not expressly mention the term “viseme” however, HUANG discloses facial features corresponding to different speech sounds or various words”, as defined in paragraph 0050 of the Applicant’s specification) such that the mouth or the face are synchronized (See HUANG Paragraph 0049) with the word as part of the output of the system (See HUANG Figure 2, Item 214; Paragraphs 0038; 0042).
Claim 6:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses wherein: the system comprises a housing configured to house the display (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088), at least a portion of the housing (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088) comprising a substantially circular shape (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088); the display comprises a viewable area that includes a substantially circular shape (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088); the display is configured to display the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of the Al agent (See Battle Paragraph 0081) within the viewable area such that the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) is substantially centered around a point of the display (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088); and the processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) is configured to control the rotation (See HUANG Paragraph 0047) of the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) such that the animated face rotates (See HUANG Paragraph 0047) around the point of the display to maintain substantially consistent distances (See HUANG Paragraph 0047) between individual facial features of the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) and a boundary of the viewable area or edges of the housing (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088) when the system is at different orientations (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088).
Claim 7:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses wherein: the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of the AI agent (See Battle Paragraph 0081) includes a facial feature (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088); the processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) is configured to: identify an output of the system (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026); determine an emotion (See HUANG Paragraph 0040-0042) corresponding to the output of the system (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026); and animate the facial feature to show the emotion (See HUANG Paragraph 0040-0042) corresponding to the output of the system (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026).
Claim 8:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses wherein the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) comprises eyes (See Battle Paragraph 0051); and the processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) is configured to: track movement of eyes (See Battle Paragraph 0051) of the user based on the sensor data (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054); and control a gaze of the eyes (See Battle Paragraph 0051) of the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) based on the movement of the eyes (See Battle Paragraph 0051) of the user such that the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) maintains eye contact with the eyes of the user (See Battle Paragraph 0051).
Claim 9:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses a microphone (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026) configured to capture audio input and generate audio data representative of the audio input (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026), wherein the processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) is configured to: determine the audio input (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026) comprises a wake command (See Battle Paragraph 00653) based on the audio input (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026); and cause the display (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) to transition from a standby mode to an active mode (See Battle Paragraph 0025) and cause the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of the Al agent to be displayed (See Battle Paragraph 0081).
Claim 10:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses a memory (See Battle Figure2, Item 202; Paragraph 0018) configured to store at least one of sensor data, viseme data, output data, or input data (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0025; 0049-0051; 0054).
Claim 11:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses wherein the sensor (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054) comprises at least one of an accelerometer, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a magnetometer (See Battle Paragraph 0019), a gyroscope, a magnetic compass, a light detection and ranging sensor, or a camera (See Battle Paragraph 0083).
Claim 12:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses wherein the processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) controls the rotation (See HUANG Paragraph 0047) of the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) on the display (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) to permit the user to position the system in different positions (See HUANG Paragraph 0054) based on a preference of the user rather than factors of the display or the system (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088).
Claim 13:
Battle discloses a system (See Battle Abstract; Figure 9, Item 902). Battle failed to explicitly disclose facial feature is synchronized. However, HUANG discloses this feature in paragraph 0049. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified Battle by the teachings of HUANG to enable improved facial animation output, more effectively (See HUANG Abstract). In addition, both of the references teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as facial (biometrics) animation. This close relation between both references highly suggests an expectation of success.
As modified:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses the following:
a sensor configured to generate sensor data based on a factor of the system (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054);
a display configured to display an animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of an artificial intelligence (Al) agent (See Battle Paragraph 0081) such that the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) occupies an entirety of a viewable area of the display (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088), the animated face comprising a facial feature (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088);
a housing configured to house the display (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088), the housing defining the viewable area of the display (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088);
and a processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) coupled to the sensor (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054) and the display (See Battle Figure 9; Paragraph 0088), the processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) configured to:
determine an orientation of the system based on the sensor data (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054); determine an orientation of a face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of a user relative to the system based on the sensor data (See Battle Paragraphs 0019-0020; 0049-0051; 0054); position the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) on the display based on the orientation of the system and the orientation of the face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of the user to maintain a consistent orientation of the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) on the display relative to the face of the user (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088);
identify an output of the system (See Battle Paragraphs 0022-0026);
and animate the facial feature of the animated face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) based on the identified output of the system such that the facial feature is synchronized with the output of the system (See HUANG Paragraphs 0049; 0054).
Claim 14:
The combination of Battle and HUANG discloses wherein: the facial feature comprises at least one of a mouth or a face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0049; 0083; 0088); the system further comprises a memory (See Battle Figure2, Item 202; Paragraph 0018) configured to store viseme data4 (See HUANG Paragraph 0040 Note: HUANG may not expressly mention the term “viseme” however, HUANG discloses facial features corresponding to different speech sounds or various words”, as defined in paragraph 0050 of the Applicant’s specification) representative of positions of the mouth or the face when speaking various words (See HUANG Paragraph 0040); and the processor (See Battle Figure 2, Item 204; Paragraph 0018) is configured to: identify a word included in the output of the system (See HUANG Paragraphs 0040; 0049; 0054); and animate the mouth or the face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) of the AI agent (See Battle Paragraph 0081) based on the viseme data5 (See HUANG Paragraph 0040 Note: HUANG may not expressly mention the term “viseme” however, HUANG discloses facial features corresponding to different speech sounds or various words”, as defined in paragraph 0050 of the Applicant’s specification) such that the mouth or the face (See Battle Figure 7C, Item 706; Figure 9; Paragraphs 0083; 0088) are synchronized with the word as part of the output of the system (See HUANG Paragraphs 0049; 0054).
Claims 15-20:
Claims 15-20 are rejected on the same basis as claims 7-12.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20180025506 discloses avatar animation may accurately mimic facial expression(s) of the recorded individual.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEREE N BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-4229. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-2:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SAID BROOME can be reached at (571) 272-2931. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHEREE N BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612 September 23, 2026
1 Applicant’s paragraph 0050 defines viseme data as follows: “viseme data 126 may represent visual positions and movements of facial features corresponding to different speech sounds or various words.”
2 Applicant’s paragraph 0050 defines viseme data as follows: “viseme data 126 may represent visual positions and movements of facial features corresponding to different speech sounds or various words.”
3 Note: The examiner interprets the Applicant’s teachings of “wake command” to be the same as Battle’s teachings of a “notification” in paragraph 0065 of Battle.
4 Applicant’s paragraph 0050 defines viseme data as follows: “viseme data 126 may represent visual positions and movements of facial features corresponding to different speech sounds or various words.”
5 Applicant’s paragraph 0050 defines viseme data as follows: “viseme data 126 may represent visual positions and movements of facial features corresponding to different speech sounds or various words.”
Prosecution Insights