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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claim Status
This action is in response to application filed on April 21, 2025. Claims 1-19 are pending for examination.
CLAIM INTERPRETATION
Examiner interprets Claim 1 limitation in lines 10-11 “at least one of information on a format of the haptic control signal and information on a capacity of the haptic control signal” as “at least one of information on a format of the haptic control signal and at least one of information on a capacity of the haptic control signal”. The plain English meaning of the phrase “at least one of X and Y” is “at least one of X and at least one of Y”.
Examiner interprets Claims 4 and 9 limitation “at least one of a signal amplitude characteristic, a signal direction characteristic, and a signal state characteristic of the haptic control signal” as “at least one of a signal amplitude characteristic, and at least one of a signal direction characteristic, and at least one of a signal state characteristic of the haptic control signal”. The plain English meaning of the phrase “at least one of X and Y” is “at least one of X and at least one of Y”.
Examiner interprets Claim 18 “at least one of a raining effect and a gunshot effect” as “at least one of a raining effect and at least one of a gunshot effect”. The plain English meaning of the phrase “at least one of X and Y” is “at least one of X and at least one of Y”..
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 §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) 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 USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The 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/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claims 1-19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-9 and 11-18 of U.S. Patent No. 11,847,262 (reference application) respectively. Claims 1-19 are generally broader than the respective claims 1-9 and 11-18 in U.S. Patent No. 11,847,262. Broader claims in a later application constitute obvious double patenting of narrow claims in an issued patent. See In re Van Ornum and Stang, 214, USPQ 761, 766, and 767 (CCPA) (the court sustained an obvious double patenting rejection of generic claims in a continuation application over narrower species claims in an issued patent); In re Vogel, 164 USPQ 619, 622, and 623 (CCPA 1970) (generic application claim specifying "meat" is obvious double patenting of narrow patent claim specifying "pork").
Reference application claim 1 corresponds to instant claim 1,
reference application claim 2 corresponds to instant claim 2,
reference application claim 3 corresponds to instant claim 3,
reference application claim 4 corresponds to instant claim 4,
reference application claim 5 corresponds to instant claim 5,
reference application claim 6 corresponds to instant claim 6,
reference application claim 1 corresponds to instant claim 7,
reference application claim 7 corresponds to instant claim 8,
reference application claim 8 corresponds to instant claim 9,
reference application claim 9 corresponds to instant claim 10,
reference application claim 11 corresponds to instant claim 11,
reference application claim 12 corresponds to instant claim 12,
reference application claim 13 corresponds to instant claim 13,
reference application claim 14 corresponds to instant claim 14,
reference application claim 15 corresponds to instant claim 15,
reference application claim 16 corresponds to instant claim 16,
reference application claim 17 corresponds to instant claim 17,
reference application claim 18 corresponds to instant claim 18.
reference application claim 1 corresponds to instant claim 19.
Claims 1-19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-9 and 11-19 of U.S. Patent No. 12,299,202 (reference application) respectively. Claims 1-19 are generally broader than the respective claims 1-9 and 11-19 in U.S. Patent No. 12,299,202. Broader claims in a later application constitute obvious double patenting of narrow claims in an issued patent. See In re Van Ornum and Stang, 214, USPQ 761, 766, and 767 (CCPA) (the court sustained an obvious double patenting rejection of generic claims in a continuation application over narrower species claims in an issued patent); In re Vogel, 164 USPQ 619, 622, and 623 (CCPA 1970) (generic application claim specifying "meat" is obvious double patenting of narrow patent claim specifying "pork").
Reference application claim 1 corresponds to instant claim 1,
reference application claim 2 corresponds to instant claim 2,
reference application claim 3 corresponds to instant claim 3,
reference application claim 4 corresponds to instant claim 4,
reference application claim 5 corresponds to instant claim 5,
reference application claim 6 corresponds to instant claim 6,
reference application claim 1 corresponds to instant claim 7,
reference application claim 7 corresponds to instant claim 8,
reference application claim 8 corresponds to instant claim 9,
reference application claim 9 corresponds to instant claim 10,
reference application claim 11 corresponds to instant claim 11,
reference application claim 12 corresponds to instant claim 12,
reference application claim 13 corresponds to instant claim 13,
reference application claim 14 corresponds to instant claim 14,
reference application claim 15 corresponds to instant claim 15,
reference application claim 16 corresponds to instant claim 16,
reference application claim 17 corresponds to instant claim 17,
reference application claim 18 corresponds to instant claim 18.
reference application claim 19 corresponds to instant claim 19.
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, 6, 8, 9, 11-14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inada et al. (Inada: US 2004/0097851) in view of Cruz-Hernandez et al. (Cruz-Hernandez : US 20060129719).
Regarding Claim 1, Inada teaches an apparatus for providing a haptic control signal, the apparatus (Fig. 3 and Fig. 6, control device 13, 29 and para 98, a built-in control device 13 for controlling rotation of the motors 5a, 10, and 11 for massaging operations in accordance with an audio signal) comprising:
a haptic pattern data determiner configured to determine haptic pattern data based on an input signal (para 22, a frequency band of the audio signal is selected and processed waveform is arbitrarily extracted, or these are combined, thereby deriving patterns of operation control of plural kinds of drive sources from one type of audio signal);
a haptic control signal generator configured to generate the haptic control signal for controlling a haptic operation of a haptic device based on the haptic pattern data (para 100, the control portion is provided for each of the motors 5a, 10, and 11 to independently control each of them and para 22, thereby deriving patterns of operation control of plural kinds of drive sources from one type of audio signal); and
a transmitter configured to transmit the haptic control signal to the haptic device (para 100, the control portion is provided for each of the motors 5a, 10, and 11 to independently control each of them and para 103, Control signals (audio signals) of the motors 5a, 10, and 11 are derived from an external sound source A).
Inada does not explicitly disclose
the haptic control signal comprises: a data header including at least one of information on a format of the haptic control signal and information on a capacity of the haptic control signal; an amplitude data for determining a haptic intensity of the haptic device; and a signal state data including data for a period when the haptic operation of the haptic device maintains a specific amplitude or data for a period when the haptic operation of the haptic device maintains an idle state.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Cruz-Hernandez teaches () and further teaches the haptic control signal comprises:
a data header including at least one of information on a format of the haptic control signal and information on a capacity of the haptic control signal (Par 71, The header block 702 can also include information regarding the format version and size of the timeline-effect file 500 and Table 1);
an amplitude data for determining a haptic intensity of the haptic device (Fig. 10 and Par 77, certain override values can be specified for the various basis haptic-effect signals (e.g., a duration override, a magnitude override, a period override, etc.), and see also Par 68, Par 72, 74); and
a signal state data including data for a period when the haptic operation of the haptic device maintains a specific amplitude (Fig. 8 and Par 72, Par 74 and Par 76, Each event indicates the basis haptic effect and the launch time when that effect is to begin within the timeline effect) or data for a period when the haptic operation of the haptic device maintains an idle state.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Cruz-Hernandez in order to
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the haptic pattern data determiner is configured to extract an audio bit pattern from the input signal and determine the haptic pattern data based on the extracted audio bit pattern (Inada: Fig. 4(c) and Fig. 5(c), para 22, a frequency band of the audio signal is selected and processed waveform is arbitrarily extracted, or these are combined, thereby deriving patterns of operation control of plural kinds of drive sources from one type of audio signal).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the haptic pattern data determiner is configured to divide the input signal based on a frequency band (Inada: para 101, 16b and 16c), select a signal of at least one frequency band including desired bit pattern information from signals into which the audio signal is divided based on the frequency band (Inada: para 104, operation patterns vary depending on massage positions in such a manner that, in an audio signal derived from jazz as the music source, a signal with a low frequency band such as drum and base is allocated to the control signal of the tapping motor 11, a signal with a medium frequency band such as vocal, piano, and guitar is allocated to the control signal of the kneading motor 10, and a signal with a high frequency band such as a cymbal is allocated to the control signal of the vibration motor 5a. ), and extract the audio bit pattern by performing half-wave rectification on the selected signal of the at least one frequency band (Inada: Fig. 4 and para 101, smoothing circuit has a half wave rectifier).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the haptic control signal generator is configured to determine at least one of a signal amplitude characteristic, a signal direction characteristic, and a signal state characteristic of the haptic control signal based on the haptic pattern data (Inada: par 118, the volume data and time data of the MIDI signal correspond to voltage i.e. amplitude and time of the control signal and para 121).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the haptic device is configured to receive the haptic control signal from the apparatus and generate an actuator control signal for controlling an operation of an actuator based on the received haptic control signal (Inada: Fig. 9 b-d and Para 117-118, comparing MIDI control signal input together with the audio signal with reference to the correspondence table).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses a haptic device comprising: a receiver configured to receive a haptic control signal from the haptic control signal providing apparatus of claim 1 (Inada: para 107, the motors are always driven and the massage effects are obtained when the bias units 31 add the signals having the constant value without the audio signal. When the bias units 31 and the gain adjusting units 30 are used together, 30% of the motor speed is set by bias and the remaining 70% is assumed to be a maximum width of variation in the audio signal by gain adjustment, thus adjusting variation in percentage within 70%. This percentage is illustrative. By such an operation, bias component and gain-adjustment component are well balanced and, thereby, continuous massage or massage with musical variation is selected to be mainly used);
a haptic pattern data extractor configured to extract the haptic pattern data from the received haptic control signal (Inada: Fig. 3, Fig. 6, control device 13, 29 and para 99, the control device 13 controls operations of three types of motors 5a, 10, and 11; and para 102, the audio signal extracted by the selected filter to form a power sufficient to drive the motor and see also para 107);
an actuator configured to generate the haptic operation (Inada: Fig.3, Fig. 6, motors 5a, 10, 11 and para 121, a D.C. voltage corresponding to the voltage of the control signal is applied to the D.C. motor, which rotates at a speed according to the D.C. voltage); and
an actuator controller configured to generate an actuator control signal for controlling an operation of the actuator based on the extracted haptic pattern data (Inada: Fig. 3, Fig. 6, control device 13, 29 and para 99, the control device 13 controls operations of three types of motors 5a, 10, and 11;) based on the haptic pattern data (para 102, the audio signal extracted by the selected filter to form a power sufficient to drive the motor and see also para 107).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the haptic device of claim 8, wherein the haptic pattern data extractor is configured to restore the haptic pattern data based on at least one of a signal amplitude characteristic, a signal direction characteristic, and a signal state characteristic of the haptic control signal (Inada: par 118, the volume data and time data of the MIDI signal correspond to voltage i.e. amplitude and time of the control signal and para 121).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses a haptic device comprising: an actuator controller configured to receive a haptic control signal from the haptic control signal providing apparatus of claim 1, to extract haptic pattern data from the received haptic control signal, and to generate an actuator control signal for controlling an operation of an actuator (Inada: Fig. 3, Fig. 6, control device 13, 29 and para 99, the control device 13 controls operations of three types of motors 5a, 10, and 11; ) based on the haptic pattern data (Inada: para 102, the audio signal extracted by the selected filter to form a power sufficient to drive the motor and see also para 107); and an actuator configured to generate a haptic stimulus based on the generated actuator control signal (Inada: Fig.3, Fig. 6, motors 5a, 10, 11 and para 121, a D.C. voltage corresponding to the voltage of the control signal is applied to the D.C. motor, which rotates at a speed according to the D.C. voltage).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the haptic device of claim 11, wherein the actuator controller comprises: a direct current (DC) to DC (DC-DC) converter configured to apply DC power to a circuit (Inada: Fig. 6 and para 100, D.C motor and para 106, the gain-adjusting units 30 are each comprised of a circuit that increases or decreases an amplitude of the audio signal output from the corresponding waveform converter 18. The bias units 31 are each comprised of a circuit that adds or removes a signal having a constant value and para 121, a D.C. voltage corresponding to the voltage of the control signal is applied to the D.C. motor, which rotates at a speed according to the D.C. voltage and para 107); and a control circuit configured to generate an actuator control signal based on the haptic pattern data (Inada: Fig. 3, Fig. 6, control device 13, 29 and para 99, the control device 13 controls operations of three types of motors 5a, 10, and 11 and para 102, the audio signal extracted by the selected filter to form a power sufficient to drive the motor and see also para 107), wherein the actuator is configured to generate the haptic stimulus based on the control signal (Inada: Fig.3, Fig. 6, motors 5a, 10, 11 and para 121, a D.C. voltage corresponding to the voltage of the control signal is applied to the D.C. motor, which rotates at a speed according to the D.C. voltage).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the haptic device of claim 12, wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the control signal based on a bridge circuit (Inada: Fig. 5(b)).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the haptic device of claim 12, wherein the actuator controller further comprises: an adjuster configured to adjust an intensity of the generated control signal (Inada: Fig. Fig. 6, gain adjusting unit 30 and amplifier 15).
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the haptic device of claim 14, wherein the actuator controller is configured to generate an actuator control signal that adjusts a form of the control signal by adjusting an amplitude (Inada: para 107, When the bias units 31 and the gain adjusting units 30 are used together, 30% of the motor speed is set by bias and the remaining 70% is assumed to be a maximum width of variation in the audio signal by gain adjustment, thus adjusting variation in percentage within 70%. This percentage is illustrative. By such an operation, bias component and gain-adjustment component are well balanced and, thereby, continuous massage or massage with musical variation is selected to be mainly used) and a phase of the control signal (Inada: para 158, a control signal may be generated so that on-and-off timing of the motor corresponds to the positive and negative values of the demodulated signal pulse).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inada in view of Cruz-Hernandez further in view of Cha et al. (Cha: US 2018/0151036).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the input signal comprises an audio signal but does not explicitly disclose the input signal comprising a predetermined special effect signal.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of haptic devices. Cha teaches a method for producing haptic signal (title) and further teaches a haptic pattern data determiner (940) configured to determine haptic pattern data based on input signal comprising a predetermined special effect signal (acoustic event detection 912) in addition to the audio signal (911) (Fig. 9A, 911, 912 and 940 and para 151, the haptic information generating unit 940 may generate haptic attribute information based on the second audio signal analyzed through the analysis unit 911 and the detection unit 912. And para 146, The detection unit 912 may detect a time section according to a preset pattern or frequency feature from the second audio signal to transmit information about the corresponding section to the haptic information generating unit 940. And para 93, the haptic information generating unit 440 may determine a type (e.g., a sound when the window of a vehicle is opened during driving, a breeze, a sound generated according to high-speed movement, a skiing sound, a sound generated when the user boards a ship, or the like) of the wind noise, based on the acoustic feature (spectral characteristic, cepstral characteristic, sound pressure level (SPL), periodicity, or the like) of the wind noise. The haptic information generating unit 440 may determine the attribute (e.g., haptic pattern) of the haptic event based on a type of the wind noise.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to determine haptic pattern data from a predetermined special effect signal as taught by Cha in order to allow the user to feel the sense of presence (Cha; para 11).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inada and Cruz-Hernandez further in view of Sumioka (US 2016/0329836 A1).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez teaches the haptic device of claim 14, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the adjuster is configured to adjust the intensity of the control signal by adjusting a turns ratio of a coil connected to the actuator through a switch.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of haptics devices. Sumioka teaches a vibrating-element driving circuit including a transformer and a coil as elements for stepping up a voltage (abstract) and further teaches wherein the adjuster is configured to adjust the intensity of the control signal by adjusting a turns ratio of a coil connected to the actuator through a switch (para 6, step-up ratio thereof can be freely adjusted by a turn ratio between a primary winding coil and a secondary winding coil of the transformer.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide an adjuster as taught by Sumioka in order to provide a large driving voltage required by the vibrating element (Sumioka: para 6).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inada and Cruz-Hernandez further in view of Moriyasu (6,027,463).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez teaches the haptic device of claim 14, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the adjuster is configured to adjust the intensity of the control signal through a variable resistor.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of haptics devices. Moriyasu teaches a system to customize the vibrator mood to be modified in tune with user’s mood and rhythm of the music (abstract) and further teaches configured to adjust the intensity of the control signal through a variable resistor (Col. 4 lines 65-Col. 5 lines 7: The signal level is controlled by means such as variable resistor potentiometers or Automatic Gain Control (AGC). The input processor can also contain certain functions such as noise filters, bass or treble boosting circuits. AGC can be accomplished by various well-known methods, such as the use of variable resistive elements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a variable resistor as taught by Moriyasu as a known implementation in the base process of adjusting the gain with the predictable result of outputting the adjusted signal level.
Claims 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inada in view of Cruz-Hernandez and Cha further in view of Chang et al. (Chang: US 2013/0262634).
Regarding Claim 18, the combination of Inada, Cruz-Hernandez and Cha discloses the haptic device of claim 7, but does not explicitly disclose wherein a predetermined special effect is stored in a database in advance, and the predetermined special effect includes at least one of a raining effect and a gunshot effect.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of haptic devices. Chang teaches a situation command system to selectively output a special effect (abstract) and the special effect is a haptic effect (para 51 and para 54, vibration) and wherein the haptic pattern data determiner is configured to extract haptic pattern data corresponding to the predetermined special effect signal from haptic pattern data stored in a database in advance (para 43 and para 50, The recognition system 240 in the server 200 determines whether content of the file satisfies the customized at least one trigger condition stored in the storage system 210. For example, the customized at least one trigger condition is when a predetermined word "lonely" appears in the music video, a predetermined pronunciation "travel" is sung by the user, a predetermined graphic "the sun" appears in the music video, or a predetermined action "jumping" is performed by the user. The matching approach may be an exact match and/or a partial match. and para 51, the server 200 outputs the customized at least one special effect in the storage system 210 to the multimedia apparatus 100. For example, the customized at least one special effect is a special visual effect of "glittering", a special audio effect of "applause" or a special touch effect of "vibration". And para 48, in FIG. 3, steps denoted with a numeric "1", e.g., Step (d1), Step (e1) and Step (f1) indicate that the predetermined at least one special effect and the predetermined at least one trigger condition are utilized. ) and wherein a predetermined special effect is stored in a database in advance, and the predetermined special effect includes at least one of a raining effect (Chang; Para 53, a corresponding special effect is only generated when at least two conditions are satisfied. For example, the plurality of conditions is the word "rain" is sung at a tone "of over 400 Hz". The at least one special effect may also be a plurality of special effects. For example, when a user sound volume exceeds 90 decibels, special effects of a shaking image on the monitor and a vibrated microphone are simultaneously presented and para 54, The at least one special effect corresponds to the at least one trigger condition for a corresponding effect. For example, when a music video is played based on a user song request, an image of "raindrops falling" appears on the monitor as the word "rain" appears in the music video) and a gunshot effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Chang in order to result in more realistic simulation for enhanced entertainment (Chang: para 55).
The combination does not explicitly disclose the predetermined special effect includes a gunshot effect. Chang teaches situation simulation command system for an entertainment activity (par 002) for games (par 56) and determining current user-desired stimulations to correspondingly output a desired special effect (Par 46). One of the ordinary skill in the art understand that a user may desire any special effect such as gun shot, explosion for the entertainment purpose such as games.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a gun shot effect in order to output user desired stimulation for entertainment (Chang: Par 2 and Par 46).
Regarding Claim 19, the combination of Inada, Cruz-Hernandez and Cha discloses the haptic device of claim 7, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the haptic pattern data determiner is configured to extract the determined haptic pattern data from haptic pattern data stored in a database in advance.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of haptic devices. Chang teaches a situation command system to selectively output a special effect (abstract) and the special effect is a haptic effect (para 51 and para 54, vibration) and wherein the haptic pattern data determiner is configured to extract haptic pattern data corresponding to the predetermined special effect signal from haptic pattern data stored in a database in advance (para 43 and para 50, The recognition system 240 in the server 200 determines whether content of the file satisfies the customized at least one trigger condition stored in the storage system 210. For example, the customized at least one trigger condition is when a predetermined word "lonely" appears in the music video, a predetermined pronunciation "travel" is sung by the user, a predetermined graphic "the sun" appears in the music video, or a predetermined action "jumping" is performed by the user. The matching approach may be an exact match and/or a partial match. and para 51, the server 200 outputs the customized at least one special effect in the storage system 210 to the multimedia apparatus 100. For example, the customized at least one special effect is a special visual effect of "glittering", a special audio effect of "applause" or a special touch effect of "vibration". And para 48, in FIG. 3, steps denoted with a numeric "1", e.g., Step (d1), Step (e1) and Step (f1) indicate that the predetermined at least one special effect and the predetermined at least one trigger condition are utilized. ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Chang in order to result in more realistic simulation for enhanced entertainment (Chang: para 55).
Claims 5 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inada in view of Cruz-Hernandez further in view of Choe et al. (Choe: US 8,369,887 B2).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the apparatus of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose a visualization data generator configured to generate visualization data corresponding to the haptic pattern data, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the visualization data to the haptic device.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of haptics devices. Choe teaches a device that generates a haptic effect (abstract) a visualization data generator (fig. 1, control 18) configured to generate visualization data corresponding to the haptic pattern data (Fig. 4 and Col. 9 lines 10-25: If the haptic-effect signal is generated, the controller 180 may visualize (e.g., generate) a haptic-effect pattern as an image (S15) and display the visualized image on a screen of the mobile terminal while generating the haptic effect), wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the visualization data to the haptic device (Fig. 1, controller 180 sends signals to output unit 150 which includes display and haptic modules).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a visualization data generator as taught by Choe in order to visualize various information regarding a haptic effect generated in response to a haptic-effect signal such as the intensity, pattern, frequency, moving direction and/or moving speed of the haptic effect and thus to help a user easily identify the haptic effect with his or her sense of vision, rather than with his or her sense of touch (Choe: Col. 18 lines 14-20).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Inada and Cruz-Hernandez discloses the haptic device of claim 8, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the receiver is further configured to receive visualization data corresponding to the haptic pattern data from the haptic control signal providing apparatus, and the haptic device further comprises: a visualization data display configured to display characteristic information of the haptic pattern data based on the received visualization data.
However, the preceding limitation is known in the art of haptics devices. Choe teaches a device that generates a haptic effect (abstract) and further teaches a visualization data generator (fig. 1, control 18) configured to generate visualization data corresponding to the haptic pattern data and wherein the receiver is further configured to receive visualization data corresponding to the haptic pattern data from the haptic control signal providing apparatus, and the haptic device further comprises: a visualization data display configured to display characteristic information of the haptic pattern data based on the received visualization data (Fig. 4 and Col. 9 lines 10-25: If the haptic-effect signal is generated, the controller 180 may visualize (e.g., generate) a haptic-effect pattern as an image (S15) and display the visualized image on a screen of the mobile terminal while generating the haptic effect), wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the visualization data to the haptic device (Fig. 1, controller 180 sends signals to output unit 150 which includes display and haptic modules).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a visualization data generator as taught by Choe in order to visualize various information regarding a haptic effect generated in response to a haptic-effect signal such as the intensity, pattern, frequency, moving direction and/or moving speed of the haptic effect and thus to help a user easily identify the haptic effect with his or her sense of vision, rather than with his or her sense of touch (Choe: Col. 18 lines 14-20).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Prior arts cited for the record but not used in Office Action, are listed in attached PTO-892.
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nay Tun whose telephone number is (571)270-7939. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thurs from 9:00-5:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's Supervisor, Steven Lim can be reached on (571) 270-1210. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/Nay Tun/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688
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