Ex Parte Grim et alDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardFeb 23, 201612393436 (P.T.A.B. Feb. 23, 2016) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE 12/393,436 0212612009 79980 7590 02/25/2016 Keohane & D'Alessandro 1881 Western Avenue Suite 180 Albany, NY 12203 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR Clifton E. Grim III 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. END920080350US 1 1740 EXAMINER TRYDER, GREGORY J ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2617 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 02/25/2016 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): drubbone@kdiplaw.com Docket@Kdiplaw.com lcronk@kdiplaw.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte CLIFTON E. GRIM, III, REX E. MARZKE, MARK B. STEVENS, GARY A. WARD, and JOHN D. WILSON Appeal2013-010937 Application 12/393,436 Technology Center 2600 Before THU A. DANG, ERIC S. FRAHM, and SCOTT B. HOW ARD, Administrative Patent Judges. FRAHM, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Introduction Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a Final Rejection of claims 1-22. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b ). We affirm. Exemplary Claim Exemplary independent claim 1 under appeal, with emphases added, reads as follows: 1. A method for rendering a three dimensional (3-D) time helix in a virtual universe, the method comprising: Appeal2013-010937 Application 12/393,436 generating a 3-D time helix in a virtual universe; populating the 3-D time helix with a set of data objects, the 3-D time helix comprising a plurality of rotations each defining an equal time increment of a date range corresponding to the set of data objects, wherein adjusting a compression of the 3-D time helix adjusts the time increment defined by each of the plurality of rotations; and rendering the 3-D time helix with at least one of the set of data objects to a user of the virtual universe. The Examiner's Rejections (1) The Examiner rejected claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, and 22 as being unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) over Sciammarella et al. (US 7,581,195 B2; issued Aug. 25, 2009) ("Sciammarella") and Hicks (Martin Hicks, A Helix Metaphor for Customer Behaviour Visualisation, Fifth International Conference on Information TT• 1• ,• 1""11.l""llo l""IH'"\/l""ll.AA-1"1.'- T""'I• 1 .l,,..... 1£'\. .l Al 1A1 VISuanzauon, LL-D5 ~LUUlJJ. tCopy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation