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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to amendment filed 3/16/2026.
Status of Claims
Applicant amended the claims in the filed amendment, and canceled claims 4,15, and added new claim 21. Claims 1-3,5-14,16-21 remain pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 3/16/26, have been fully considered and are persuasive. The previous 112b rejections are withdrawn. The previous 102 rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made based on Kobashikawa in view of He.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claims 1-3,5,8-10,12,13-14,16,19,21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kobashikawa et al (US Publication 20040082831) in view of He et al (US Publication 20230329962).
In reference to claim 1, Kobashikawa teaches a method, the method comprising:
establishing, by a server system, an association between a first user device of a host user and second user devices of a plurality of participant users in an online session related to sex toy control, (see at least ¶s 43,63-65, which teaches establishing via a server an online interactive session between multiple users and their computer devices where the computers establish connections between each of the users and their respective M/F toy devices)
establishing, in response to the plurality of participant users giving control of the respective sex toys to the host user via respective second applications, a first control connection between the first user device of the host user and the respective sex toys of the plurality of participant users; (see at least ¶s 46,66,68, which teaches establishing a control connection via the i-conn Internet connection, and via downloaded programs, the connection grants control of the respective sex toys)
generating, in response to a first control input provided by the host user via a first application on the first user device, by the server system, at least one first control command based on the first control input, wherein the first control input includes at least one of gesture, voice, or text input by the host user; (see at least ¶s 60,64, which teaches generating a control command based on a toy device event, and via gesture and audio via remote control inputs)
broadcasting, by the server system through the first control connection, the at least one first control command to second user devices of the plurality of participant users, whereby the second user devices of the plurality of participant users relay the at least one control command to the respective sex toys with which they are communicably connected, thereby causing the respective sex toys to synchronously provide sexual stimulation to the plurality of participant users according to the at least one first control command; (see at least ¶s 56,64,74, which teaches transmitting commands over the session and toy connections to other users for relaying the commands to each of the toy devices causing the toys to provide synchronous sexual stimulation; and see at least ¶ 76 for broadcasting the interactions)
establishing, in response to the host user giving control of a host sex toy communicably connected with the first user device to a participant user of the plurality of participant users, by the server system, a second control connection between the second user device of the participant user and the host sex toy; (see at least ¶s 46,63,65, which teaches establishing mutual control connections via the server, between the different users)
in response to a second control input provided by the participant user via the second application on the second user device, generating, by the server system, at least one second control command based on the second control input; (see at least ¶s 60,64, which teaches generating mutual control commands between the users) and
transmitting, by the server system through the second control connection, the at least one second control command to the first user device of the host user, whereby the first user devices relay the at least one second control command to the host sex toy, thereby causing the host sex toy to provide sexual stimulation to the host user according to the at least one second control command (see at least ¶s 60,64, which teaches transmitting the mutual control commands through the connection to cause synchronous stimulation between the users).
Kobashikawa fails to explicitly teach wherein the second user devices are communicably connected with respective sex toys of the plurality of participant users; and establishing, in response to the plurality of participant users giving control of the respective sex toys to the host user via respective second applications on the second user devices, by the server system.; and generating, in response to a first control input provided by the host user via a first application on the first user device, by the server system, at least one first control command based on the first control input, wherein the first control input includes at least one of gesture, voice, or text input by the host user through the first application on the first user device. However, He teaches establishing a session between multiple viewers and a model host device with a toy/stimulation device via a live streaming platform for establishing communication between the viewers and host devices. Each of the host and viewer devices have respective browser applications for interacting with each other. Furthermore, He teaches multi user rewards for the host transmitting control commands to multiple viewer devices. (see He, at least ¶ 29,53,65,77,78 & Figs 12,13) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kobashikawa based on the teachings of He for the purpose of facilitating content sharing and conversational interactions between users during a live session.
In reference to claim 2, Kobashikawa teaches creating the online session to allow the users to interact and initiate sex toy events (see at least ¶s 68,74).
In reference to claims 3, He teaches interactive online entertainment for a plurality of users (see He, at least Abstract), and discloses enabling chat features for users that joined the online session, for real time communication, and also discloses privacy settings for the chat sessions (see He, at least ¶s 3,31,59). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kobashikawa based on the teachings of He in accordance to the rationale given for claim 1 above.
In reference to claim 5, Kobashikawa teaches private session between a host and participant, group sessions with a number of participants, and public sessions with many participants (see at least ¶s 66,74).
In reference to claim 8, Kobashikawa teaches predefined terms for the online sessions (see at least ¶ 64).
In reference to claim 9, Kobashikawa teaches a user controlling the toys of the other users, and the control lasts for a predetermined term, and terminating the control after the expiration of the term (see at least ¶s 64,78).
In reference to claim 10, Kobashikawa teaches generating control commands based on verbal commands (see at least ¶ 79).
In reference to claim 21, Kobashikawa teaches the host device responding to the vibration output of the customer devices, verifying customer identity, and the server facilitating connection between the host and customer devices based on the verification (see at least ¶s 64,68,69).
Claims 12-14,16,19 are slight variations of the rejected claims 1-3,5,8-10,21 above, and are therefore rejected based on the same rationale.
Claims 6,7,17,18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kobashikawa et al (US Publication 20040082831) in view of Wilson et al (US Publication 20150281372).
In reference to claim 6, Kobashikawa fails to explicitly teach wherein the server system is configured to distribute a temporary session identity to each of the participants that join the online session room during an online session of the online session room. However, Wilson teaches user groups in online collaboration sessions (see Wilson, at least Abstract), and discloses a temporary session identifier that is distributed to the users for joining the collaboration session (see Wilson, at least ¶s 35-36). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kobashikawa based on the teachings of Wilson for the purpose of facilitating collaboration sessions for specified groups of users.
In reference to claim 7, Wilson teaches generating a QR code for the collaboration session, where the QR code is published and shared by the host with the users, further where the users join the collaboration session via scanning the QR code, and where the session enables interactive collaborative communication between the users (see Wilson, at least ¶s 19,30,33, 39,41). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kobashikawa based on the teachings of Wilson in accordance to the rationale given for claim 6 above.
Claims 17,18 are slight variations of the rejected claims 6,7 above, and are therefore rejected based on the same rationale.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kobashikawa et al (US Publication 20040082831) in view of Ou-Yang et al (US Publication 20190392838).
In reference to claim 11, Kobashikawa fails to explicitly teach converting, by the server system, the audio input into a text format; and generating, by the server system, the control command based on the text format of the audio input. However, Ou-Yang teaches enhancing voice assistant commands toa remote device (see Ou-Yang, at least Abstract), and discloses converting audio input command into a text format, where the text command is based on the audio (see Ou-Yang, at least ¶ 10). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kobashikawa based on the teachings of Ou-Yang for the purpose of facilitating voice assisted commands for users.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
For any subsequent response that contains new/amended claims, Applicant is required to cite its corresponding support in the specification. (See MPEP chapter 2163.03 section (I.) and chapter 2163.04 section (I.) and chapter 2163.06) Applicant may not introduce any new matter to the claims or to the specification.
In formulating a response/amendment, Applicant is encouraged to take into consideration the prior art made of record but not relied upon, as it is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See previous Form 892.
Contact & Status
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMY M OSMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4008. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9AM-5PM.
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, Ario Etienne can be reached at 571-272-4001. 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.
/Ramy M Osman/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2457
April 13, 2026
Prosecution Insights