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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
Use of the word “means” (or “step for”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim element is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph). The presumption that 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) is invoked is rebutted when the function is recited with sufficient structure, material, or acts within the claim itself to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step for”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim element is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph). The presumption that 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) is not invoked is rebutted when the claim element recites function but fails to recite sufficiently definite structure, material or acts to perform that function.
Claim elements in this application that use the word “means” (or “step for”) are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Similarly, claim elements that do not use the word “means” (or “step for”) are presumed not to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
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.
Claim 1 is 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim elements “information acquisition unit”, “video generation unit”, and “output control unit” is a limitation that invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. However, the written description fails to disclose the corresponding structure, material, or acts for the claimed function.
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph; or
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)).
If applicant is of the opinion that the written description of the specification already implicitly or inherently discloses the corresponding structure, material, or acts so that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function applicant should clarify the record by either:
(a) Amending the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function and clearly links or associates the structure, material, or acts to the claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(b) Stating on the record what the corresponding structure, material, or acts, which are implicitly or inherently set forth in the written description of the specification, perform the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
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) 1-7, and 14-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Phillips (2017/0374116).
As for claims 1 and 20, Phillips discloses an information processing device comprising:
an information acquisition unit that selects, on a basis of a movement state of a moving body, first video information indicating a video of a content viewed by a user in the moving body, or variable information that is information varying according to the content, and receives the selected first video information or variable information from a server group including one or more servers (As vehicle approaches the ingress boundary 1320, a plurality of high bitrate live media segments followed by a plurality of low bitrate segments due to varying network bandwidth are pre-loaded into the ABR buffer. When the vehicle exits the egress boundary of the video outage area, the ABR buffer begins to fill with lower quality live media segments, e.g., low bitrate segments; [0089], [0084], [0086], [0092], [0040]);
a video generation unit that generates second video information indicating a video of the content, on a basis of fixed information that is information fixed in the content and acquired in advance, and the variable information ([0089], [0082]-[0084], [0086], [0092], [0081]); and
an output control unit that controls output of the first video information and the second video information to a display unit ([0089], [0082]-[0084], [0086], [0092], [0081]).
As for claim 2, Phillips discloses wherein the movement state includes at least one of a place where the moving body is moving, a state around the moving body, or a state of the moving body (location monitoring; determine its location, rate of travel, and direction of travel; [0084]).
As for claim 3, Phillips discloses wherein the information acquisition unit receives the first video information from the server group in a case where the moving body is stopped or in a case where the moving body is moving in a predetermined place, and receives the variable information from the server group in a case where the moving body is moving in a place other than the predetermined place ([0037], [0041], [0045], [0080]-[0081], [0092], [0095]).
As for claim 4, Phillips discloses wherein the information acquisition unit receives the fixed information from the server group before distribution of the content starts while the moving body is stopped ([0037], [0041], [0045], [0080]-[0081], [0092], [0095]).
As for claim 5, Phillips discloses wherein the moving body includes a vehicle, and the predetermined place includes a road for cars only ([0037], [0089]).
As for claim 6, Phillips discloses wherein the information acquisition unit receives the first video information from the server group in a case where the vehicle is stopped or in a case where the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed or higher on the road for cars only, and receives the variable information from the server group in a case where the vehicle is traveling in a place other than the road for cars only or in a case where the vehicle is traveling at a speed lower than the predetermined speed ([0041], [0047], [0050], [0067], [0068]).
As for claim 7, Phillips discloses wherein the output control unit outputs the first video information to the display unit in a case where the information acquisition unit has received the first video information, and outputs the second video information to the display unit in a case where the information acquisition unit has received the variable information ([0089], [0082]-[0084], [0086], [0092], [0081]).
As for claim 14, Phillips discloses wherein the content is live-streamed ([0024], [0033], [0034]).
As for claim 15, Phillips discloses wherein the first video information has a higher definition than that of the second video information (higher bitrate; [0039]-[0040]).
As for claim 16, Phillips discloses further comprising a state detection unit that detects the movement state ([0050]-[0058]).
As for claim 17, Phillips discloses wherein the display unit is provided outside (lenticular display: [0094], [0217], [0422], [0590]).
As for claim 18, Phillips discloses further comprising the display unit ([0025], [0069]).
As for claim 19, Phillips discloses wherein the information acquisition unit preferentially receives the first video information from the server closer to the moving body in the server group ([0036], [0068], [0079], [0095]).
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) 8-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Phillips as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of McCombe (2018/0189550).
As for claim 8, Phillips fails to disclose wherein the content includes a free-viewpoint video of an event.
In an analogous art, McCombe discloses wherein the content includes a free-viewpoint video of an event ([0016], [0035], [0048]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention advantage to modify Phillips invention to include the abovementioned limitation, as taught by McCombe, for the advantage of enabling a user to view a remote scene in a manner that gives the user a visual impression of being present with respect to the remote scene.
As for claim 9, McCombe discloses wherein the information acquisition unit transmits control information including
information regarding a field of view of the user to the server group, and receives, from the server group, the first video information generated from a first three-dimensional model representing each scene of the event on a basis of the control information ([0082], [0117], [0127]).
As for claim 10, McCombe discloses wherein the video generation unit generates, on a basis of the control information, the second video information from a second three-dimensional model based on the fixed information and the variable information, the second three-dimensional model representing each scene of the event ([0082], [0117], [0127]).
As for claim 11, McCombe discloses wherein the fixed information includes at least one of information regarding a place where the event is held, information regarding an appearance of a performer of the event, information regarding planning of a production of the event, or information regarding an appearance of an audience of the event, and the variable information includes at least one of information regarding a motion of the performer, information regarding a motion of the production, or information regarding a motion of the audience ([0439], [0445], [0482], [0497]).
As for claim 12, McCombe discloses wherein the display unit is configured to display the free-viewpoint video ([0016], [0035], [0048], [0044]).
As for claim 13, McCombe discloses wherein the display unit includes a head mounted display (HMD: [0101], [0445], [0020], [0021]).
Relevant Prior Art
Xu (11483533) discloses receiving immersive media content, creating foreground information for rendering foreground video content of the immersive media content, receiving a first PoV of a first viewer, generating a background video content from the immersive media content
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUMAIYA A CHOWDHURY whose telephone number is (571)272-8567. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-3:00 PM.
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SUMAIYA A. CHOWDHURY
Examiner
Art Unit 2421
/SUMAIYA A CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421
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