Ex Parte DE AGUIAR et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Jun 24, 2016

12974293 (P.T.A.B. Jun. 24, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
12/974,293 12/21/2010 EDILSON DE AGUIAR
77754 7590 06/28/2016
DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC
c/o Patterson & Sheridan, LLP
24 Greenway Plaza
Suite 1600
Houston, TX 77046-2472
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
DISN/0039 (045585) 3439
EXAMINER
HILL, SCHILLER D
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2614
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
06/28/2016 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
P AIR_eOfficeAction@pattersonsheridan.com
PSDocketing@pattersonsheridan.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte EDILSON DE AGUIAR, LEONID SIGAL,
ADRIEN TREUILLE, and JESSICA K. HODGINS 1
Appeal2014-005264
Application 12/974,293
Technology Center 2600
Before CAROLYN D. THOMAS, JASON V. MORGAN, and
SHARON PENICK, Administrative Patent Judges.
MORGAN, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Introduction
This is an appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner's final
rejection of claims 1-27. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We REVERSE.
Invention
Appellants disclose a method for generating a cloth behavior model
that includes generating a low-dimensional representation of cloth and the
1 Appellants identify Disney Enterprises, Inc., as the real party in interest.
App. Br. 3.
Appeal2014-005264
Application 12/974,293
outer surface of an object (such as the body of an animated character). Spec.
iTiT 6, 29.
Exemplary Claim
Claim 1, reproduced below with key limitations emphasized, is
rnustrative:
1. A method for generating a cloth behavior model,
compnsmg:
generating a first low-dimensional representation,
wherein the first low-dimensional representation models a cloth
in contact with an object;
generating a second low-dimensional representation,
wherein the second low-dimensional representation models a
surface of the object in a linear cloth space, wherein the
surface contacts the cloth;
generating, as the cloth behavior model and on the basis
of the first and second low-dimensional representations, a
dynamical model of the cloth in the linear cloth space, wherein
the cloth behavior model comprises:
a conditional kinematic model configured to
represent motions of the cloth without a dynamic
component,
a latent linear dynamical system model to model
dynamic behavior of the cloth in contact with the object,
and
a residual dynamics model; and
storing the resulting cloth behavior model for use
in animating the cloth in contact with the object.
Rejections
The Examiner rejects claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20,
22, 23, and 26 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Frederic
Cordier and Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann, A Data-driven Approach for Real-
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Appeal2014-005264
Application 12/974,293
Time Clothes Simulation, Proc. 12th Pacific Conf. on Comp. Graphs. and
Apps., Seoul, Korea., 257----66 (2004) ("Cordier") and Doug L. James and
Kayvon Fatahalian, Precomputing Interactive Dynamic Deformable Scenes,
ACM Trans. Graph. Vol. 22, Iss. 3, 879-87 (2003) ("James"). Final Act. 2-
8.
The Examiner rejects claims 3, 7, 12, 16, 21, and 25 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Cordier, James, and Gary Welch and
Gary Bishop, An Introduction to the Kalman Filter, Tech. Rep't, U. ofN.
Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC (1997) ("Welch"). Final Act. 8-
12.
The Examiner rejects claims 6, 15, and 24 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over Cordier, James, and Seungwoo Oh et al., Semantics
over Geometry: Garmented Body Model Generation for Real-time
Simulation, Workshop towards Semantic Virt. Envs., Villars, Switzerland
(March 2005) ("Oh"). Final Act. 12-13.
The Examiner rejects claims 9, 18, and 27 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over Cordier, James, and Anguelov (US 2008/0180448
A 1; July 31, 2008). Final Act. 14--16.
ISSUE
Do the Examiner's findings show the combination of Cordier and
James teaches or suggests "generating a second low-dimensional
representation, wherein the second low-dimensional representation models a
surface of the object in a linear cloth space, wherein the surface contacts the
cloth," as recited in claim 1?
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Appeal2014-005264
Application 12/974,293
ANALYSIS
In rejecting claim 1, the Examiner finds Cordier's use of skeleton-
driven movement to drive a coarse representation of a cloth mesh teaches or
suggests generating a second low-dimensional representation, wherein the
second low-dimensional representation models a surface of the object in a
linear cloth space, wherein the surface contacts the cloth. Final Act. 3
(citing Cordier 1, 3); Ans. 19-20 (citing Cordier 4, 6).
Appellants contend the Examiner erred because the Skeleton-Driven
Deformation (SDD) model is "described as being a model that is in a 'linear
cloth space' .... [That is], the 'SSD' provides a nonlinear 3D graphics
object collided with cloth." App. Br. 10 (emphasis added); see also Reply
Br. 2-3.
We agree with Appellants that the Examiner's findings do not show
Cordier teaches or suggest the disputed recitation. In particular, the
Examiner relies on teachings in Cordier that relate to the representation of a
cloth mesh, rather than to the representation of a surface of an object in
contact with a cloth. See Final Act. 3. Specifically, the Examiner relies on
the generation of a coarse mesh. This is illustrated as part of Cordier's
workflow, illustrated in Cordier's Figure 2, reproduced below.
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Appeal2014-005264
Application 12/974,293
••••••••Data ----Process
Figure 2. Workflow of our approach.
Cordier' s Figure 2 illustrates the workflow of a cloth animation
simulator that includes a coarse mesh structure interacting, through a data-
driven mass-spring system and collision detector, with a skeleton animation
and cloth-to-joint relation collision hulls to produce a coarse mesh geometry.
This coarse mesh geometry is modified with a wrinkle shape interpolator to
produce a fine mesh geometry. "The coarse mesh is used to deduce the
gross behavior of the cloth in a data-driven manner." Cordier 4. Thus, the
coarse mesh teachings relate to the simulated cloth, not to the surface of the
object in contact with the cloth. The Examiner does not present findings or
explanation showing it would have been obvious to apply the teachings and
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Appeal2014-005264
Application 12/974,293
suggestions of Cordier, as they relate to the simulated cloth, to the surface of
an object in contact with the simulated cloth.
The Examiner does not rely on James to teach or suggest the disputed
recitation. Therefore, we agree with Appellants that the Examiner's findings
do not show the combination of Cordier and James teaches or suggests
"generating a second low-dimensional representation, wherein the second
low-dimensional representation models a surface of the object in a linear
cloth space, wherein the surface contacts the cloth," as recited in claim 1.
Accordingly, we do not sustain the Examiner's 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
rejection ofclaim 1, and claims 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23,
and 26, which contain similar recitations. The Examiner's findings do not
show Welch, Oh, or Anguelov cure the noted deficiency of Cordier and
James. Therefore, we also do not sustain the Examiner's 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
rejections of claims 3, 6, 7, 9, 12, 15, 16, 18, 21, 24, 25, and27.
DECISION
We reverse the Examiner's decision rejecting claims 1-27.
REVERSED
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