DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to the application filed on March 5, 2025 where Claims 1 – 18, of which Claims 1, 12, and 17 are in independent form, are presented for examination.
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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on March 5, 2025 was filed before the mailing date of the current action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
101 Analysis
Claims 1, 12, and 17 are directed to generating an access right to an object in the Metaverse or virtual reality. While the generating of access privileges to objects can be seen as an abstract idea, such as organizing of human activity (e.g., renting/borrowing library books), the claims recite improvements to a particular technical field of virtual reality [See Specification, Para. 0005]. Therefore, the claims integrate the judicial exception into a practical application and satisfies Step 2A, Prong Two of the 2019 Revised 101 Patent Eligibility Guidelines as patent eligible subject matter.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 – 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by PGPub. 2023/0376625 (hereinafter “Soryal”).
1. Regarding Claims 1, 12, and 17, Soryal discloses a system for selective object rendering in Metaverse [Abstract; Para. 0009], the system comprising a Metaverse server having a processor connected to a non-transitory computer readable medium [Figs. 1 and 3; Para. 0079-82], wherein the system is configured to:
analyze a performed action by a first, a second or any further user to identify a
private or sensitive object [Para. 0013, 0034-35];
render the private or sensitive object [Para. 0011, 0013, 0034-35]; and
send the rendered private or sensitive object to the first, the second and/or any further user only in the case that the first, the second and/or any further user has access rights to view the rendered private or sensitive object [Para. 0010-11, 0034-35].
2. Regarding Claims 2 and 18, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claims 1 and 17. Soryal further discloses that the step of analyzing the performed action of the first, the second or any further user is performed by a device of the first, the second or any further user locally, and rendering by the device of the first, the second or any further user the private or sensitive object locally if it does not exist on the Metaverse or retrieving by the device of the first, the second or any further user the private or sensitive object from a data structure, a map or a database of the Metaverse [Para. 0023, 0025, 0027-28, 0034-35, 0055].
3. Regarding Claim 3, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 1. Soryal further discloses that the step of analyzing the performed action of the first, the second or any further user is triggered by detecting a voice information or conversation or by detecting a sound level below or above a predefined threshold, by tracking movements of a head and eyes of the first, the second and/or any further user, by tracking of pupil center corneal reflection (PCCR) of the first, the second and/or any further user, by body moving of the first, the second and/or any further user to each other, by spatial proximity of the first, the second and/or any further user to each other, by affiliation of the first, the second and/or any further user to a common group of users, or upon detection of any gesture of the first, the second and/or any further user which indicates that the performed action is private or sensitive [Para. 0016-19, 0034-35].
4. Regarding Claims 4 and 14, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claims 1 and 12. Soryal further discloses that the step of analyzing the performed action of the first, the second and/or any further user further comprises using a machine learning (ML) module and/or an artificial intelligence (AI) module [Para. 0042-44].
5. Regarding Claim 5, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 1. Soryal further discloses that before the step of sending the rendered private or sensitive object, the method further comprises separately setting, by the first, the second and/or any further user, the access rights to view the rendered private or sensitive object [Para. 0034-35].
6. Regarding Claim 6, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 1. Soryal further discloses that the step of analyzing the performed action of the first user further comprises identifying, by the metaverse server or the device of the first, the second or any further user, a private conversation between the first user, the second user and/or any further user [Para. 0018-19], and wherein the method further comprises:
rendering, by the device of the first, the second or any further user, the private
or sensitive object locally [Para. 0018-19];
sending, by the device of the first, the second and/or any further user, the rendered private or sensitive object to the Metaverse server and/or the device of the first, the second or any further user only that are part of the private conversation [Para. 0018-19].
7. Regarding Claim 7, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 1. Soryal further discloses that if the private or sensitive object has been partly or fully changed, the method further comprises re-rendering, by the Metaverse server or locally by the device of the first, the second or any further user the complete or selective parts of the private or sensitive object [Para. 0050-52].
8. Regarding Claim 8, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 1. Soryal further discloses that the step of analyzing the performed action of the first, the second or any further user comprises associating and/or predicting, by the Metaverse server or by the device of the first, the second or any further user of private or sensitive objects in a predetermined time period after the first, the second and/or any further user performed an action [Para. 0046, 0051, 0065].
9. Regarding Claim 9, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 1. Soryal further discloses that the method further comprises:
generating, by the Metaverse server and/or the device of the first, of the
second or of any further user one or more replicated objects [Para. 0036-38];
disseminating, by the Metaverse server and/or the device of the first, of the
second or of any further user, the one or more replicated object to users having no access rights to view the rendered private or sensitive object [Para. 0036-38]; and/or
anonymizing, by the Metaverse server and/or the device of the first, of the
second or of any further user the first, the second and/or any further user having
access rights to view the rendered private or sensitive object [Para. 0036-38].
10. Regarding Claim 10, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 1. Soryal further discloses that the method further comprises altering, by the Metaverse server and/or the device of the first, of the second or of any further user the audio stream of the first, the second or any further user having access rights to view the rendered private or sensitive object and/or altering the audio stream of users having no access rights to view the rendered private or sensitive object [Para. 0018-19, 0036-38].
11. Regarding Claim 11, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 1. Soryal further discloses that the step of analyzing the performed action of the first, the second or any further user further comprises deep learning and/or image similarity methodologies [Para. 0042-44].
12. Regarding Claim 13, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 12. Soryal further discloses that the system also comprises: a first, a second and/or any further user device of the first, the second or any further user [Fig. 1].
13. Regarding Claim 15, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 14. Soryal further discloses that the ML module and/or the AI module is an internal component of the Metaverse server, an external component communicatively connectable to the Metaverse server, a cloud module communicatively connectable to the Metaverse server, or a software as a service (SAAS) communicatively connectable to the Metaverse server [Para. 0043-44].
14. Regarding Claim 16, Soryal discloses the limitation of Claim 12. Soryal further discloses that the system further comprises a rendering server or application to render the private or sensitive object and/or wherein the rendering server or application is part of the Metaverse server or is part of the first, the second and/or any further user device or is a Software as a Service (SaaS) or a cloud server [Para. 0014-18].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. PGPub. 2023/0400959; PGPub. 2021/0397811; PGPub. 2019/0213767.
Contacts
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAE K KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-1979. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jorge Ortiz-Criado can be reached at 5712727642. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TAE K KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2496
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