Ex Parte Lin

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Oct 18, 2012

11100663 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 18, 2012)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________

BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
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Ex parte I-JONG LIN
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Appeal 2009-012968
Application 11/100,663
Technology Center 2100
____________

Before JOSEPH L. DIXON, MARC S. HOFF, and CARLA M. KRIVAK,
Administrative Patent Judges.

KRIVAK, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a final rejection of
claims 1-31. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We reverse.

Appeal 2009-012968
Application 11/100,663

2
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellant’s claimed invention is directed to a method and system for
capturing and presenting interactions with image based media (Abstract).
Independent claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative.
1. A method, comprising:

capturing images of a person’s interactions with images
presented on a display;

segmenting the person’s interactions from the presented images
in the captured images; and

generating a multimedia data object comprising a presentation
media object containing digital representations of the presented
images, an image presence media object containing the segmented
interactions of the person, and at least one link synchronizing the
presentation media object and the image presence media object.

REFERENCES and REJECTIONS
The Examiner rejected claims 1, 2, 5-11, 13, 14, 17-19, 21, 22, 25-27,
and 29-31 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) based upon the teachings of Guy (US
Patent No. 5,833,468).1
The Examiner rejected claims 3, 4, 12, 15, 16, 20, 23, 24, and 28
under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) based upon the teachings of Guy in view of Baker
(US Patent No. 5,686,957).

1 It appears the Examiner inadvertently did not include claims 21 and 31 in
the rejection heading (Ans. 4), but did include them in the body of the
Answer (Ans. 9).
Appeal 2009-012968
Application 11/100,663

3
ANALYSIS
Appellant contests the Examiner’s findings that Guy teaches all the
limitations of Appellant’s claimed invention (Ans. 4-5; App. Br. 4).2
Particularly, Appellant asserts Guy does not teach the capturing and
segmenting steps of claim 1 (App. Br. 5-6; Reply Br. 3-4). We agree.
Specifically, we agree with Appellant that Guy discloses chalkboard
information separate and discrete from captured video images of an
instructor and/or the instructor’s instructional material during a lecture (App.
Br. 5). As Appellant asserts, Guy does not teach “capturing images of a
person’s interactions with images presented on a display,” as Guy shows in
Figure 4, the screen interface has separate sections: an instructor
presentation section, a chalkboard section (which contains no images), and a
typing/bulletin board section (App. Br. 8; Reply Br. 3). We also agree the
chalkboard information of Guy is not segmented from presented images in
captured video frames as claimed, but rather, is segmented from the
presentation data in a television signal. That is, the television signal does not
constitute captured images; rather, only video frames that are encoded in the
television signals are captured (see App. Br. 6, 8-9; Reply Br. 3-4, 7).
Thus, we conclude Guy does not teach all the limitations of
Appellant’s claim 1, independent claims 14 and 22, which include
substantially the same limitations, and claims 2, 5-11, 13, 17-19, 21, 25-27,
and 29-31 that depend therefrom. These claims, are therefore, not anticipated
by Guy.

2 The Supplemental Appeal Brief filed March 20, 2009, is referenced
throughout this opinion.
Appeal 2009-012968
Application 11/100,663

4
Claims 3, 4, 12, 15, 16, 20, 23, 24, and 28, depend from claims 1, 14,
and 22. As Baker does not cure the deficiencies of Guy, these claims are also
not obvious over the combination of Guy and Baker.

DECISION
The Examiner’s decision rejecting claims 1, 2, 5-11, 13, 14, 17-19, 21,
22, 25-27, and 29-31 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) is reversed.
The Examiner’s decision rejecting claims 3, 4, 12, 15, 16, 20, 23, 24,
and 28 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) is reversed.

REVERSED

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