Ex Parte Osaki

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Mar 10, 2016

11715990 (P.T.A.B. Mar. 10, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
111715,990 0310912007
9629 7590 03/14/2016
MORGAN LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP (WA)
1111 PENNSYLVANIA A VENUE NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20004
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Mitsuharu Osaki
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.
060326-5107 6229
EXAMINER
ADAMS, EILEEN M
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2481
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
03/14/2016 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):
patents@morganlewis.com
karen.catalano@morganlewis.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte MITSUHARU OSAKI
Appeal2014-005576
Application 11/715,9901
Technology Center 2400
Before ROBERT E. NAPPI, NORMAN H. BEAMER, and
STACY B. MARGOLIES, Administrative Patent Judges.
MARGOLIES, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
This appeal arises under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner's
Final Office Action rejecting claims 5-8. No other claims are pending. We
have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b ).
We reverse.
1 According to Appellant, the real party in interest is Funai Electric
Company, Ltd. App. Br. 2.
Appeal2014-005576
Application 11/715,990
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is directed to providing time search capability for an
optical disc. See Abstract.
Claim 5 is illustrative of the subject matter on appeal and is
reproduced below:
5. An optical apparatus that reproduces data recorded on an
optical disc which is a +VR (Video Recording) formatted DVD or that
records/reproduces data on the optical disc, comprising:
an optical pickup that reads, from the optical disc, data
including a VOBS (Video Object Set) on the +VR formatted
DVD and a VOBU address map indicating a relationship
between a VOBU number and an address thereof; and
a system controller that performs a time search on the
optical disc based on the inputted search time,
wherein the system controller includes:
a cell number search unit that sums up, sequentially from
a first cell, playback times of a plurality of cells that constitute
the VOBS on the +VR formatted DVD, and that searches a cell
that includes the search time as a target cell;
a first VOBU position finding unit that obtains a position
of a first VOBU of the target cell in the VOBU address map
based on the VOBU number of the first VOBU;
a playback time calculation unit that calculates a
playback time per VOBU from a difference between elapsed
times within cell of the first VOBU and a next VOBU;
a target VOBU position calculation unit that calculates a
position of a target VOBU in the VOBU address map based on
the position of the first VOBU in the VOBU address map, the
search time, a playback time leading to the first VOBU, and the
playback time per VOBU;
a time difference determination unit that determines
whether the difference between the search time and a total of
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Appeal2014-005576
Application 11/715,990
the playback time leading to the target cell and the elapsed time
of the target VOBU within cell is within a predetermined
duration;
a target VOBU obtaining unit that obtains a finally
targeted VOBU in the time search by using the search
information of the target VOBU when a difference between the
search time and the total of the playback time leading to the
target cell and the elapsed time of the target VOBU within cell
is determined to be within the predetermined duration; and
a playback setting unit that sets a predetermined duration
to the playback time per VOBU so as to correct the playback
time per VOBU which is calculated by the playback time
calculation unit when the difference between the search time
and the total of the playback time leading to the target cell and
the elapsed time of the target VOBU within cell is determined
not to be within the predetermined duration, and that makes the
target VOBU position calculation unit calculate again a position
in the VOBU address map of the target VOBU.
REFERENCES AND REJECTION
The Examiner rejected claims 5-8 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
obvious in view of Hong (US 2006/0153536 Al; July 13, 2006) and Fukuchi
(US 2003/0210623 Al; Nov. 13, 2003). Final Act. 5-22.
ISSUE
The pivotal issue is whether the Examiner erred in finding that
Fukuchi discloses "a playback setting unit that sets a predetermined duration
to the playback time per VOBU so as to correct the playback time per
VOBU which is calculated by the playback time calculation unit when the
difference between the search time and the total of the playback time leading
to the target cell and the elapsed time of the target VOBU within cell is
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Appeal2014-005576
Application 11/715,990
determined not to be within the predetermined duration," as recited in
independent claim 5 and similarly recited in independent claims 6-8.
ANALYSIS
Appellant argues that Fukuchi does not disclose the "playback time
setting unit" of claims 5 and 6 or the "playback time setting means" of
claims 7 and 8. See App. Br. 11-14. Specifically, Appellant argues that
Fukuchi's time difference information (TM_DIFF) "can only indicate a time
difference within a previously set limited range." Id. at 13. Appellant
maintains that Fukuchi "is completely silent" about when the time entry
point is not at a "position within the time difference indicated by the time
difference information"-i.e., it is completely silent about "when the
difference ... is determined not to be within the predetermined duration," as
required by the claims. Id. at 13. Thus, according to Appellant, Fukuchi
does not disclose setting a predetermined duration to the playback time per
VOBU so as to correct the playback time per VOBU when the time
difference is not within the predetermined duration, thereby recalculating the
position of the target VOBU. See id. at 14.
The Examiner responds that Fukuchi discloses settling the access
point of playback time entry from the middle of a given VOBU, such that
the time entry point serves as a special playback start point or time search
point. See Ans. 21-22. The Examiner also finds that the time entry point
may be at a position within the time difference indicated by the time
difference information. See id. at 22.
Appellant persuades us that the Examiner erred. Fukuchi discloses
that "upon starting playback from the middle of a given VOBU, that access
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Appeal2014-005576
Application 11/715,990
point must be settled." Fukuchi i-f 88. Fukuchi discloses that the access
point is defined as a time entry point, and that time entry point "serves as a
special playback start point (or time search point) indicated by the time map
information TMAPI." Id. Fukuchi thus discloses playback of a DVD in
which the time search point is different from the beginning position of a
given VOBU. The Examiner, however, does not cite evidence showing that
Fukuchi discloses reaching that time search point in the manner claimed.
See Ans. 10-12, 21-23. Specifically, the Examiner does not show that
Fukuchi discloses or teaches a playback setting unit that "sets a
predetermined duration to the playback time per VOBU so as to correct the
playback time per VOBU which is calculated by the playback time
calculation unit when the difference between the search time and the total of
the playback time leading to the target cell and the elapsed time of the target
VOBU within cell is determined not to be within the predetermined
duration," as required by each of the pending claims. See Ans. 10-12,
21-23; see also Advisory Act. 4--5 and Final Act. 12-13. Accordingly, we
do not sustain the Examiner's rejection of the pending claims.
DECISION
We reverse the Examiner's rejection of claims 5-8.
REVERSED
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