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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in India on 5/17/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement has been considered and placed in the record on file and is in compliance with USPTO requirements.
Drawings
The Drawings have been considered and placed in the record on file and are in compliance with USPTO requirements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
The USPTO “Interim Guidelines for Examination of Patent Applications for Patent Subject Matter Eligibility” (Official Gazette notice of 22 November 2005), Annex IV, reads as follows:
In contrast, a claimed computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program is a computer element which defines structural and functional interrelationships between the computer program and the rest of the computer which permit the computer program's functionality to be realized, and is thus statutory. See Lowry, 32 F.3d at 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d at 1035.
Claims that recite nothing but the physical characteristics of a form of energy, such as a frequency, voltage, or the strength of a magnetic field, define energy or magnetism, per se, and as such are nonstatutory natural phenomena. O'Reilly, 56 U.S. (15 How.) at 112-14. Moreover, it does not appear that a claim reciting a signal encoded with functional descriptive material falls within any of the categories of patentable subject matter set forth in Sec. 101.
… a signal does not fall within one of the four statutory classes of Sec. 101.
… signal claims are ineligible for patent protection because they do not fall within any of the four
statutory classes of Sec. 101.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101. Claim 20 recites a computer-readable medium storing computer executable code. Claim 20 does not limit the computer-readable medium to non-transitory tangible media. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to a computer-readable medium (also called recording medium and other such variations) typically covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer-readable media, particularly when the specification is silent. See MPEP 2111.01. When the broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim covers a signal per se, the claim must be rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as covering non-statutory subject matter. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1356-57 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (transitory embodiments are not directed to statutory subject matter) and Interim Examination Instructions for Evaluating Subject Matter Eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101, Aug. 24, 2009; p. 2. 1351 Off. Gaz. Pat. Off. 212 (2010). The computer-readable medium recited in claim 20 encompasses a transitory, propagating signal, which is not a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. Nuijten, 500 F.3d at 1357. The claim “covers material not found in any of the four statutory categories [and thus] falls outside the plainly expressed scope of § 101.” Id. at 1354. Examiner suggests amending the claims to recite “non-transitory computer- readable medium” in order to overcome said rejection.
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.
Claims 1, 3, and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Strong (US 2012/0274750 A1 hereinafter Strong).
In regards to claim 1, Strong discloses an apparatus for graphics processing, comprising:
a memory (see figure 1, memory 112); and
a processor coupled to the memory (see figure 1, processor system 110) and, based on information stored in the memory, the processor is configured to: obtain first capability information for a first wearable display device and second capability information for a second wearable display device (see paragraphs 0032 and 0033, information specific to each different HMD is obtained);
render, based on the first capability information, a first frame for the first wearable display device (see paragraphs 0036 to 0038, image frame data for each of the different HMDs is rendered based on the information specific to each different HMD);
render, based on the second capability information, a second frame for the second wearable display device (see paragraphs 0036 to 0038, image frame data for each of the different HMDs is rendered based on the information specific to each different HMD); and
transmit the rendered first frame for the first wearable display device and the rendered second frame for the second wearable display device (see paragraph 0039, the rendered image frame data for each of the different HMDs is respectively transmitted to each different HMD).
In regards to claim 3, as recited in claim 1, Strong further discloses wherein the first capability information includes at least one of a first resolution of the first wearable display device, a first refresh rate of the first wearable display device, or a first display size of the first wearable display device, and wherein the second capability information includes at least one of a second resolution of the second wearable display device, a second refresh rate of the second wearable display device, or a second display size of the second wearable display device (see paragraphs 0033 and 0037, the size of the display and or viewpoint area of each HMD and the format which includes resolution).
In regards to claim 15, as recited in claim 1, Strong further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain first pose information of the first wearable display device and second pose information of the second wearable display device, wherein to render the first frame, the processor is configured to render the first frame based on the first pose information, and wherein to render the second frame, the processor is configured to render the second frame based on the second pose information (see paragraphs 0033 to 0034, rendered output frame is based on the geometric orientation of the HMD, which corresponds to pose information).
In regards to claim 16, as recited in claim 1, Strong further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: render a base frame, wherein to render the first frame, the processor is configured to render the first frame based on the base frame and the first capability information, and wherein to render the second frame, the processor is configured to render the second frame based on the base frame and the second capability information (see paragraphs 0036 to 0038, image frame data for each of the different HMDs is rendered based on the information specific to each different HMD).
In regards to claim 17, as recited in claim 16, Strong further discloses wherein to render the first frame based on the base frame and the first capability information, the processor is configured to scale the first frame according to a first scaling, and wherein to render the second frame based on the base frame and the second capability information, the processor is configured to scale the second frame according to a second scaling that is different from the first scaling (see paragraphs 0036 to 0038, image frame data for each of the different HMDs is rendered based on the information specific to each different HMD, therefore different scaling for different resolutions).
In regards to claim 18, as recited in claim 1, Strong further discloses wherein the first frame is associated with a first reprojection for the first wearable display device, wherein the second frame is associated with a second reprojection for the second wearable display device, and wherein the second reprojection is different from the first reprojection (see paragraphs 0036 to 0038, image frame data for each of the different HMDs is rendered based on the information specific to each different HMD, therefore different scaling for different resolutions);
first wearable display device and a companion device, and wherein the second capability information includes second WLAN interference conditions of a second link between with the second wearable display device and the companion device (see paragraph 0039, the HMD interface comprise one or more RF transceivers).
In regards to claim 19, Strong discloses a method of graphics processing, comprising:
obtaining first capability information for a first wearable display device and second capability information for a second wearable display device (see paragraphs 0032 and 0033, information specific to each different HMD is obtained);
rendering, based on the first capability information, a first frame for the first wearable display device (see paragraphs 0036 to 0038, image frame data for each of the different HMDs is rendered based on the information specific to each different HMD);
rendering, based on the second capability information, a second frame for the second wearable display device (see paragraphs 0036 to 0038, image frame data for each of the different HMDs is rendered based on the information specific to each different HMD); and
transmitting the rendered first frame for the first wearable display device and the rendered second frame for the second wearable display device (see paragraph 0039, the rendered image frame data for each of the different HMDs is respectively transmitted to each different HMD).
In regards to claim 20, Strong discloses a computer-readable medium storing computer executable code, the computer executable code, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:
obtain first capability information for a first wearable display device and second capability information for a second wearable display device (see paragraphs 0032 and 0033, information specific to each different HMD is obtained);
render, based on the first capability information, a first frame for the first wearable display device (see paragraphs 0036 to 0038, image frame data for each of the different HMDs is rendered based on the information specific to each different HMD);
render, based on the second capability information, a second frame for the second wearable display device (see paragraphs 0036 to 0038, image frame data for each of the different HMDs is rendered based on the information specific to each different HMD); and
transmit the rendered first frame for the first wearable display device and the rendered second frame for the second wearable display device (see paragraph 0039, the rendered image frame data for each of the different HMDs is respectively transmitted to each different HMD).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, and 4-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER J KOHLMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5503. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30.
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/CHRISTOPHER J KOHLMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628
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