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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I (Claims 1-8,20,22) in the reply filed on 05/27/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)). Although the Applicant provides a general statement with regards to undue burden, Applicant fails to provide distinct and specific reasoning in view of distinctness of the groups provided in the previous office action.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 1-4,20,22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KUWABARA (US 2018/0007216) in view of CHANG et al (US 2023/0370507).
Regarding claim 1, KUWABARA discloses an information processing apparatus 100 controlling a non-head-mounted first display device 111 and a head-mounted second display device 13 (abstract), the information processing apparatus comprising: one or more memories storing instructions 120 (Figure 1); and one or more processors 130 executing the instructions to: obtain stop information (paragraph 47-48, 61-63, 83-86); and determine, in response to the stop information being obtained, a display content on a real screen in the first display device in a case where the display on the virtual screen in the second display device is stopped (paragraph 47-48, 63-66, 83-86; When the issuing of the event information or the performing of the handwriting drawing is ended, the control unit 12 determines whether or not to end the image sharing with the information processing device 100 (STEP S21). In a case where the image sharing is not ended (No in STEP S21), the control unit 12 returns the process to STEP S3. In a case where the image sharing is ended (Yes in STEP S21), the control unit 12 ends the transmission control processing. In this way, the information processing device 100 can reduce the operational burden in the switching operation between the handwriting mode and the operation mode). However, KUWABARA does not expressly disclose obtain stop information on a display on a virtual screen in the second display device. In a similar field of endeavor, CHANG discloses obtain stop information on a display on a virtual screen in the second display device (paragraph 270-272, 274, 297; a set of one or more inputs corresponding to a request to end real-time communication for the shared-content session, a set of one or more inputs corresponding to a request to end the shared-content session, and/or a set of one or more inputs corresponding to a request to transition the shared-content session from the fourth mode to the first mode; paragraph 274 - a head-mounted augmented reality and/or extended reality device). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify KUWABARA to include the teachings of CHANG, since such a modification would provide control selection via a viewed graphical user interface.
Regarding claim 2, see the rejections of the parent claim concerning the subject matter this claim is dependent upon. The combination of KUWABARA and CHANG further discloses wherein the second display device is a device displaying a mixed real image in which the virtual screen is superimposed on an image obtained by capturing real space (KUWABARA – paragraph 28, 29, 32; The display unit 111 is realized by, for example, a liquid crystal display as a display device; CHANG – paragraph 274; a head-mounted augmented reality and/or extended reality device).
Regarding claim 3, see the rejections of the parent claim concerning the subject matter this claim is dependent upon. KUWABARA further discloses wherein in a case where the stop information is obtained, it is determined that a content displayed on the virtual screen is not included in the display content on the real screen in the first display device (paragraph 47-48, 61-63; In a case where the image sharing is ended, the second transmission control unit 134 ends the transmission control processing).
Regarding claim 4, see the rejections of the parent claim concerning the subject matter this claim is dependent upon. KUWABARA further discloses wherein in a case where the stop information is obtained, a user interface for causing a user to select whether to include, in the display content on the real screen, a content displayed on the virtual screen is displayed on the real screen, and whether to include, in the display content on the real screen, the content displayed on the virtual screen is determined based on a user input via the user interface (paragraph 28, 29, paragraph 47-48, 63-66, 83-86; The operation unit 14 is an input device that receives various operations from the worker who is the user of the terminal device 10. The operation unit 14 is realized by, for example, a touch panel or the like as the input device).
Regarding claim 20, KUWABARA discloses a method for controlling an information processing apparatus controlling a non- head-mounted first display device and a head-mounted second display device (abstract), the method comprising the steps of: obtaining stop information (paragraph 47-48, 61-63, 83-86); and determining, in response to the stop information being obtained, a display content on a real screen in the first display device in a case where the display on the virtual screen in the second display device is stopped (paragraph 47-48, 61-63, 83-86). However, KUWABARA does not expressly disclose obtain stop information on a display on a virtual screen in the second display device. In a similar field of endeavor, CHANG discloses obtain stop information on a display on a virtual screen in the second display device (paragraph 270-272, 274, 297; a set of one or more inputs corresponding to a request to end real-time communication for the shared-content session, a set of one or more inputs corresponding to a request to end the shared-content session, and/or a set of one or more inputs corresponding to a request to transition the shared-content session from the fourth mode to the first mode; paragraph 274 - a head-mounted augmented reality and/or extended reality device). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify KUWABARA to include the teachings of CHANG, since such a modification would provide control selection via a viewed graphical user interface.
Regarding claim 22, KUWABARA discloses a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to perform a method for controlling an information processing apparatus controlling a non-head-mounted first display device and a head-mounted second display device (abstract), the method comprising the steps of: obtaining stop information (paragraph 47-48, 61-63, 83-86); and determining, in response to the stop information being obtained, a display content on a real screen in the first display device in a case where the display on the virtual screen in the second display device is stopped (paragraph 47-48, 61-63, 83-86). However, KUWABARA does not expressly disclose obtain stop information on a display on a virtual screen in the second display device. In a similar field of endeavor, CHANG discloses obtain stop information on a display on a virtual screen in the second display device (paragraph 270-272, 274, 297; a set of one or more inputs corresponding to a request to end real-time communication for the shared-content session, a set of one or more inputs corresponding to a request to end the shared-content session, and/or a set of one or more inputs corresponding to a request to transition the shared-content session from the fourth mode to the first mode; paragraph 274 - a head-mounted augmented reality and/or extended reality device). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify KUWABARA to include the teachings of CHANG, since such a modification would provide control selection via a viewed graphical user interface.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 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.
Regarding claim 5 and dependents, Prior Art fails to disclose wherein in a case where the stop information is obtained, in a case where it is determined that a content displayed on the virtual screen is not included in the display content on the real screen, the real screen is edited so that the content displayed on the virtual screen cannot be seen.
DONAHUE et al (US 2021/0097208) disclose edited so that the content displayed on the virtual screen cannot be seen (Figure 11, 12; paragraph 111-119), however, DONAHUE fails to discloses wherein the editing is based on content displayed on the virtual screen not included in the display content on the real screen during obtaining of stop information.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARIEL A BALAOING whose telephone number is (571)272-7317. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-4AM M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Eason can be reached at (571) 270-7230. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ARIEL A BALAOING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624
Prosecution Insights