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 .
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 1-36 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-36 of U.S. Patent No.12,295,081 (hereinafter ‘081). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the content of the claims in US Patent ‘081 overlaps with the claims in the current application.
Current application
US Patent 12,295,081
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, video content;
performing object recognition on a portion of one or more images of the video content; and
causing, while a portion of a display is outputting the video content, illumination, in one or more colors that are selected based on the object recognition, of one or more environmental lights providing illumination beyond a border of the display.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, video content;
performing object recognition on one or more images of the video content, wherein the object recognition comprises distinguishing foreground and background objects; and
causing, based on the object recognition and while the video content is being displayed by a display device, illumination, in one or more colors that are selected based on a color of a recognized background object, of one or more environmental lights providing illumination behind the display device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more colors are selected further based on a priority of an object recognized by the object recognition.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the one or more colors to match a color of an object that was recognized by the object recognition.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the object recognition comprises text recognition.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the object recognition comprises text recognition, and the method further comprises causing illumination, at an area behind the display device and adjacent to recognized text on the display device, of one or more colors that are selected based on a color of the recognized text.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the object recognition comprises image pattern recognition and sound pattern recognition.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the video content comprises a movie recorded by a digital video recorder (DVR), the method further comprising performing audio pattern recognition on audio associated with the movie, and wherein the causing illumination is further based on the audio pattern recognition.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising scheduling the illumination of the one or more environmental lights to occur at a time before a recognized object appears on the display, wherein the causing the illumination is based on the scheduling.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising scheduling the illumination of the one or more environmental lights to occur at a time before a recognized object appears on a screen of the display device.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
associating different areas of the display with different corresponding environmental lights; and
selecting the one or more environmental lights based on an area, of the display, corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: associating different areas of the display device with different corresponding environmental lights; and selecting the one or more environmental lights based on an area, of the display device, corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more colors are selected further based on:
determining, based on metatags associated with the video content, one or more semantic labels corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition; and
determining at least one color associated with the one or more semantic labels.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving trigger parameters for environmental lighting illumination, wherein the trigger parameters indicate: an audio or video pattern for triggering environmental lighting illumination; and color for the one or more environmental lights, and wherein the object recognition is based on the trigger parameters.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more environmental lights is in contact with the border of the display.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the object recognition comprises image pattern recognition, and the method further comprises causing illumination, at an area behind the display device and adjacent to a recognized image pattern on the display device, of one or more colors that are selected based on a color of the recognized image pattern.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one the one or more environmental lights is separate from the display.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the causing illumination comprises causing illumination of a wall behind the display device.
10. A computing device comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the computing device to:
receive video content;
perform object recognition on a portion of one or more images of the video content; and
cause, while a portion of a display is outputting the video content, illumination, in one or more colors that are selected based on the object recognition, of one or more environmental lights providing illumination beyond a border of the display.
13. An apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the apparatus to:
receive video content;
perform object recognition on one or more images of the video content, wherein the object recognition comprises distinguishing foreground and background objects; and
cause, based on the object recognition and while the video content is being displayed by a display device, illumination, in one or more colors that are selected based on a color of a recognized background object, of one or more environmental lights providing illumination behind the display device.
11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the one or more colors are selected further based on a priority of an object recognized by the object recognition.
15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the apparatus to select the one or more colors to match a color of an object that was recognized by the object recognition.
12. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the object recognition comprises text recognition.
16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the object recognition comprises text recognition, and the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the apparatus to cause illumination, at an area behind the display device and adjacent to recognized text on the display device, of one or more colors that are selected based on a color of the recognized text.
13. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the object recognition comprises image pattern recognition and sound pattern recognition.
19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the video content comprises a movie recorded by a digital video recorder (DVR), and wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the apparatus to perform audio pattern recognition on audio associated with the movie and cause the illumination further based on the audio pattern recognition.
14. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the computing device to:
schedule the illumination of the one or more environmental lights to occur at a time before a recognized object appears on the display, wherein the causing the illumination is based on the scheduling.
18. The apparatus of claim 13, instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the apparatus to schedule the illumination of the one or more environmental lights to occur at a time before a recognized object appears on a screen of the display device.
15. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the computing device to:
associate different areas of the display with different corresponding environmental lights; and
select the one or more environmental lights based on an area, of the display, corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition.
22. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the apparatus to:
associate different areas of the display device with different corresponding environmental lights; and
select the one or more environmental lights based on an area, of the display device, corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition.
16. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the one or more colors are selected further based on:
determining, based on metatags associated with the video content, one or more semantic labels corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition; and
determining at least one color associated with the one or more semantic labels.
21. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the apparatus to receive trigger parameters for environmental lighting illumination, wherein the trigger parameters indicate: an audio or video pattern for triggering environmental lighting illumination; and color for the one or more environmental lights; and wherein the object recognition is based on the trigger parameters.
17. The computing device of claim 10, wherein at least one of the one or more environmental lights is in contact with the border of the display.
17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the object recognition comprises image pattern recognition, and the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the apparatus to cause illumination, at an area behind the display device and adjacent to a recognized image pattern on the display device, of one or more colors that are selected based on a color of the recognized image pattern.
18. The computing device of claim 10, wherein at least one the one or more environmental lights is separate from the display.
24. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the apparatus to cause the illumination by causing illumination of a wall behind the display device.
19. One or more non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause:
receiving, by a computing device video content;
performing object recognition on a portion of one or more images of the video content; and
causing, while a portion of a display is outputting the video content, illumination, in one or more colors that are selected based on the object recognition, of one or more environmental lights providing illumination beyond a border of the display.
25. One or more non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause:
receiving, by a computing device, video content; performing object recognition on one or more images of the video content, wherein the object recognition comprises distinguishing foreground and background objects; and
causing, based on the object recognition and while the video content is being displayed by a display device, illumination, in one or more colors that are selected based on a color of a recognized background object, of one or more environmental lights providing illumination behind the display device.
20. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the one or more colors are selected further based on a priority of an object recognized by the object recognition.
27. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause selecting the one or more colors to match a color of an object that was recognized by the object recognition.
21. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the object recognition comprises text recognition.
28. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the object recognition comprises text recognition, and the instructions, when executed, further cause illumination, at an area behind the display device and adjacent to recognized text on the display device, of one or more colors that are selected based on a color of the recognized text.
22. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the object recognition comprises image pattern recognition and sound pattern recognition.
31. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the video content comprises a movie recorded by a digital video recorder (DVR) and the instructions, when executed, further cause performing audio pattern recognition on audio associated with the movie, and wherein the causing illumination is further based on the audio pattern recognition.
23. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause:
scheduling the illumination of the one or more environmental lights to occur at a time before a recognized object appears on the display, wherein the causing the illumination is based on the scheduling.
30. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause scheduling the illumination of the one or more environmental lights to occur at a time before a recognized object appears on a screen of the display device.
24. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause:
associating different areas of the display with different corresponding environmental lights; and
selecting the one or more environmental lights based on an area, of the display, corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition.
34. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause: associating different areas of the display device with different corresponding environmental lights; and
selecting the one or more environmental lights based on an area, of the display device, corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition.
25. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the one or more colors are selected further based on:
determining, based on metatags associated with the video content, one or more semantic labels corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition; and
determining at least one color associated with the one or more semantic labels.
33. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause receiving trigger parameters for environmental lighting illumination, wherein the trigger parameters indicate: an audio or video pattern for triggering environmental lighting illumination; and color for the one or more environmental lights; and wherein the object recognition is based on the trigger parameters.
26. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein at least one of the one or more environmental lights is in contact with the border of the display.
29. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the object recognition comprises image pattern recognition, and the instructions, when executed, further cause illumination, at an area behind the display device and adjacent to a recognized image pattern on the display device, of one or more colors that are selected based on a color of the recognized image pattern.
27. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein at least one the one or more environmental lights is separate from the display.
36. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the causing illumination comprises causing illumination of a wall behind the display device.
28. A system comprising:
a first computing device configured to send video content; and
a second computing device comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the second computing device to:
receive, from the first computing device, the video content;
perform object recognition on a portion of one or more images of the video content; and
cause, while a portion of a display is outputting the video content, illumination, in one or more colors that are selected based on the object recognition, of one or more environmental lights providing illumination beyond a border of the display.
25. One or more non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause: receiving, by a computing device, video content; performing object recognition on one or more images of the video content, wherein the object recognition comprises distinguishing foreground and background objects; and causing, based on the object recognition and while the video content is being displayed by a display device, illumination, in one or more colors that are selected based on a color of a recognized background object, of one or more environmental lights providing illumination behind the display device.
29. The system of claim 28, wherein the one or more colors are selected further based on a priority of an object recognized by the object recognition.
27. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause selecting the one or more colors to match a color of an object that was recognized by the object recognition.
30. The system of claim 28, wherein the object recognition comprises text recognition.
28. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the object recognition comprises text recognition, and the instructions, when executed, further cause illumination, at an area behind the display device and adjacent to recognized text on the display device, of one or more colors that are selected based on a color of the recognized text.
31. The system of claim 28, wherein the object recognition comprises image pattern recognition and sound pattern recognition.
31. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the video content comprises a movie recorded by a digital video recorder (DVR) and the instructions, when executed, further cause performing audio pattern recognition on audio associated with the movie, and wherein the causing illumination is further based on the audio pattern recognition.
32. The system of claim 28, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the second computing device to:
schedule the illumination of the one or more environmental lights to occur at a time before a recognized object appears on the display, wherein the causing the illumination is based on the scheduling.
30. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause scheduling the illumination of the one or more environmental lights to occur at a time before a recognized object appears on a screen of the display device.
33. The system of claim 28, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the second computing device to:
associate different areas of the display with different corresponding environmental lights; and
select the one or more environmental lights based on an area, of the display, corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition.
34. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause:
associating different areas of the display device with different corresponding environmental lights; and
selecting the one or more environmental lights based on an area, of the display device, corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition.
34. The system of claim 28, wherein the one or more colors are selected further based on:
determining, based on metatags associated with the video content, one or more semantic labels corresponding to an object recognized by the object recognition; and
determining at least one color associated with the one or more semantic labels.
33. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause receiving trigger parameters for environmental lighting illumination, wherein the trigger parameters indicate: an audio or video pattern for triggering environmental lighting illumination; and color for the one or more environmental lights; and wherein the object recognition is based on the trigger parameters.
35. The system of claim 28, wherein at least one of the one or more environmental lights is in contact with the border of the display.
29. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the object recognition comprises image pattern recognition, and the instructions, when executed, further cause illumination, at an area behind the display device and adjacent to a recognized image pattern on the display device, of one or more colors that are selected based on a color of the recognized image pattern.
36. The system of claim 28, wherein at least one the one or more environmental lights is separate from the display.
36. The one or more non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the causing illumination comprises causing illumination of a wall behind the display device.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Wilson Lee whose telephone number is (571) 272-1824. Proposed amendment and interview agenda can be submitted to Examiner’s direct fax at (571) 273-1824.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, examiner’s supervisor, Alexander Taningco can be reached at (571) 272-8048. Papers related to the application may be submitted by facsimile transmission. Any transmission not to be considered an official response must be clearly marked "DRAFT". The official fax number is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. For more information about the Patent Center, see https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/WILSON LEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
Prosecution Insights