DETAILED ACTION
Acknowledgements
This Office Action is in reply to Applicant’s original application filed 02 April 2025.
Claims 1–20 are currently pending and have been examined.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on 29 April 2025 has been considered. An initialed copy of the Form 1449 is enclosed herewith.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 USC § 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.
Claims 1–8, 10–17, and 19–20 are rejected under 35 USC § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu et al. (US 2022/0080313 A1; “Wu”).
As per claim 1, Wu discloses:
1. An interaction method in a virtual scene performed by an electronic device, the method comprising:
displaying a plurality of interaction objects and at least one interaction control in a virtual scene (¶¶ [0093]–[0094], [0102], [0105], [0123]; Figs. 9–10);
controlling, in response to a press operation for a first interaction control, the first interaction control to be in a pressed state (¶¶ [0102], [0105], [0107]–[0108]);
controlling, in response to a selection operation for a first interaction object that is triggered based on the first interaction control in the pressed state, the first interaction object to be in a selected state (¶¶ [0102], [0107]–[0108], [0112]); and
performing, in response to a release operation for the press operation, an interaction operation associated with the first interaction control for the first interaction object (¶¶ [0102], [0114], [0154]).
As per claim 2, Wu discloses:
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the displaying at least one interaction control comprises: determining at least one target interaction operation performable for the plurality of interaction objects; and displaying an interaction control of the at least one target interaction operation, the interaction control and the target interaction operation being in a one-to-one correspondence (¶ [0105]).
As per claim 3, Wu discloses:
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: displaying, for each interaction object, interaction indication information of the interaction object, the interaction indication information indicating an interaction operation performable for the interaction object (e.g., ¶ [0106]).
As per claim 4, Wu discloses:
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the displaying at least one interaction control comprises: displaying the interaction control in an activated state by using a first control style when an activation condition of the interaction control is satisfied; and displaying the interaction control in an inactivated state by using a second control style when the activation condition of the interaction control is not satisfied (¶ [0142]).
As per claim 5, Wu discloses:
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the displaying a plurality of interaction objects comprises: displaying the plurality of interaction objects under a first perspective in the virtual scene; after controlling the first interaction control to be in the pressed state: controlling the first perspective to be in a locked state; and receiving, in the locked state, the selection operation for the first interaction object that is triggered based on the first interaction control in the pressed state (¶¶ [0105]–[0108]).
As per claim 6, Wu discloses:
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: triggering the press operation for the first interaction control in at least one of the following manners: a press duration for the first interaction control reaching a press duration threshold; a press intensity for the first interaction control reaching a press intensity threshold; and a press area for the first interaction control reaching a press area threshold (¶ [0102]).
As per claim 7, Wu discloses:
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: after controlling the first interaction control to be in the pressed state: displaying a state exit control of the pressed state; and controlling, in response to a trigger operation for the state exit control, the first interaction control to exit the pressed state (¶¶ [0143], [0161]–[0162]).
As per claim 8, Wu discloses:
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: after controlling the first interaction control to be in the pressed state: receiving a drag operation performed from a press action position of the press operation; and receiving, when a drag end position of the drag operation is configured for indicating to select the first interaction object, the selection operation for the first interaction object that is triggered based on the first interaction control in the pressed state (¶¶ [0102], [0108], [0112]).
As per claim 10, Wu discloses:
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: after controlling the first interaction object to be in the selected state: displaying the first interaction object by using a first object style; and displaying other interaction objects of the plurality of interaction objects except the first interaction object by using a second object style, the second object style being different from the first object style (¶ [0142]).
As per claims 11–17 and 19–20, these claims contain language similar to claims 1–8 and 10 as discussed in the preceding paragraphs, and for reasons similar to those discussed above, claims 11–17 and 19–20 are also rejected under 35 USC § 102 as anticipated by Wu.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 USC § 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.
Claims 9 and 18 are rejected under 35 USC § 103 as being unpatentable over Wu, in view of McMain, II et al. (US 2015/0231509 A1; “McMain”) and Wan et al. (US 2022/0035515 A1; “Wan”).
As per claim 9, Wu teaches:
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the virtual scene comprises a target virtual object, the target virtual object having a virtual aiming item (e.g., [0251]–[0254]).
Wu does not expressly disclose the method further comprises:
displaying a crosshair pattern of the virtual aiming item; after controlling the first interaction control to be in the pressed state: determining a first distance between a position of each interaction object and the crosshair position of the crosshair pattern; and receiving, when an interaction object corresponding to a smallest first distance is the first interaction object, the selection operation for the first interaction object that is triggered based on the first interaction control in the pressed state.
First, McMain teaches displaying a crosshair pattern of [a] virtual aiming item (Fig. 2, ¶ [0031], [0033]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Wu to include the crosshair pattern as taught by McMain in the aiming module. One would have been motivated to do so to display a traditional crosshair style aiming reticule to assist the user in aiming at a particular object.
Second, Wan teaches after controlling [a] first interaction control to be in the pressed state: determining a first distance between a position of each interaction object and the [reticle] position of the [reticle]; and receiving, when an interaction object corresponding to a smallest first distance is the first interaction object, the selection operation for the first interaction object that is triggered based on the first interaction control in the pressed state (¶¶ [0070], [0120]; Figs. 4 & 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Wu/McMain to include the steps taught by Wan, in order to automatically select one of two target objects, thereby assisting the user in aiming.
As per claim 18, this claim contains language similar to claim 9 as discussed in the preceding paragraphs, and for reasons similar to those discussed above, claim 18 is also rejected under 35 USC § 103.
Conclusion
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/JACOB C. COPPOLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992
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