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 .
Response to filed Amendments
Applicant’s Amendments/Remarks filed on 09/02/2026 have been received and made of record.
Claims 1, 8, 14, 19, and 20 have been amended.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7-12, 14-23 are currently pending.
Please refer to the action below.
Examiner Notes
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. However, the claimed subject matter, not the specification, is the measure of the invention.
Response to Remarks/Arguments
Claims 21-23 are currently allowed. Applicants’ arguments of 09/02/2026, corresponding to pages 10-18 and the newly cited claims amendments pertaining to the outstanding 103 rejection claims of Mahadik in view of Mizukura, or that Piponi in view of Mizukura further in view of Chou, have been considered, but they are moot in light of the new ground of rejections. Please refer to the action below.
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, 7-8, 14, and 19-20 is/are further rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obvious Piponi et al. (US 2020/0177806, previously cited), in view of in view of Kato et al. (JP 2008/136644, A1).
Regarding claim 1, Piponi teaches an information processing device (para. 0020 and Figs. 1-2 and 4-5 comprising a realtime surgical system 100 further comprising said at least device with a circuitry device 107 to process the acquired intraoperative images of the robot assisted surgery process), comprising:
circuitry (the at least device 107 of Figs. 1 and par. 0020 includes a controller comprising said circuitry) configured to:
acquire an input image, wherein the input image is an intraoperative image (acquiring further in at least para. 0020 and Figs. 1-2 acquired intraoperative images during the robot assisted surgery which image includes as cited detected smoke data item);
generate a first smoke-removed image obtained by one of removal of the smoke from the input image or reduction of the smoke from the input image, in a smoke removal process (generating further in at least Figs. 1-2 and 4-5 which are further supported by at least para. 0039-0041 and 0049 a smoke removal process configured for generating first smoke-removed image obtained by one of removal of the smoke from the input image or reduction of the smoke from the input image);
generate a first output image based on the first smoke-removed image,
Piponi is silent regarding the above lined-out items such as superimpose, on the first smoke-removed image, information about the one of the removal of the smoke from the input image or the reduction of the smoke from the input image; and generate a first output image based on the first smoke-removed image, and the superimposed information on the first smoke-removed image.
Kato teaches at least in Figs. 15 and 18-22 a smoke reduction/removal process of an image and the displaying of superimposed information 81 on an input image data having numerical value 57, displayed superimposed information 81 presence and absence thereof further indicating information about the one of the removal amount of the smoke from the input image or the reduction of the smoke from the input image, wherein the information of at least Fig. 15, 17, 19 relates to at least one of a presence of execution of the smoke removal process, or a degree of the removal of the smoke, Kato further generates output images of at least in Figs. 19-21 based in a case of a first smoke-reduced image of Fig. 17, and the superimposed information 81 on said first smoke-removed image. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Piponi in view of Kato to include wherein superimpose, on the first smoke-removed image, information about the one of the removal of the smoke from the input image or the reduction of the smoke from the input image, wherein the information relates to at least one of a presence of execution of the smoke removal process, a degree of the removal of the smoke, or an intensity of the smoke removal process; and said generate first output image based on the first smoke-removed image, and the superimposed information on the first smoke-removed image, as discussed above, where Kato’s configuration of performing smoke image reduction process and superimposing on an input image superimposed smoke information data further compliments the displayed smoke removal intraoperative image process of Piponi, in such a way that the systems and methods of Piponi when combined with the combination configuration of Kato would advantageously enable said systems and methods to display on the input intraoperative image the superimposed smoke information data further indicating a presence and absence amount of the superimposed smoke information occluding said input image which further presence and/or absence according to one skill in the art may delineate necessary information so that the surgeon may be made aware such that when added or combined the surgery of Piponi may be performed more safely and reliably according to further understood known methods to yield predictable results since known work in one field of endeavor may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one based on design incentives or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art as said combination is thus the adaptation of an old idea or invention using newer technology that is either commonly available and understood in the art thereby a variation on already known art (See MPEP 2143, KSR Exemplary Rationale F).
Regarding claim 3 (according to claim 1), Piponi further teaches wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine, based on an operation status of an electronic device and a type of the electronic device, that the input image includes the smoke, the electronic device is connected to the information processing device, and the electronic device is one of an electric scalpel or an ultrasonic clotting/incising device (the electronic device 105 of further para. 0017-0018 and Figs. 1 further comprises one of an electric scalpel or an ultrasonic clotting/incising device where the system of further para. 0019-0020 and 0049 may further determine based on an operation status of said electric scalpel or an ultrasonic clotting/incising device 105, that the input image of further Figs. 1 and 4 includes the smoke, said scalpel device 105 or the like is further connected to said information processing device 100/107).
Regarding claim 7 (according to claim 1), Piponi further teaches wherein further comprising a memory configured to store a second output image (memory 115 of para. 0024 may store one or more second output images),
wherein the circuitry is further configured to estimate deterioration of the input image based on the second output image and the input image (the system further adapted in at least para. 0024 to estimate deterioration of the input image based on the second output image and the input image); and
the generation of the first smoke-removed image is based on the estimated deterioration (as implied further in para. 0024).
Regarding claim 8 (according to claim 7), Piponi further teaches wherein the circuitry is further configured to: execute the smoke removal process to remove the smoke from the input image (the system of at least Figs. 5 and 11-12 further executes based on at least detected presence of smoke in the acquired images a smoke enhancement/removal process to remove the smoke from the input image).
Regarding claim 14 (according to claim 1), Piponi further teaches wherein the circuitry is further configured to generate a parameter used in the smoke removal process based on the first generation amount of the smoke (estimating and generating further in at least Fig. 5 a parameter used in the smoke removal process based on the first generation amount of the smoke); and the parameter includes at least one of: one of a timing of start or end of the smoke removal process, an intensity of the smoke removal process, or a target region of the smoke removal process (an illustrated at least parameter 461 of at least Fig. 4 includes at least one of: an intensity of the smoke removal process, or a target region of the smoke removal process).
Regarding claim 19, Piponi teaches a generation method (para. 0020 and Figs. 1-2 and 4-5 comprising a realtime surgical system 100 further comprising said method with a circuitry device 107 to process the acquired intraoperative images of the robot assisted surgery process), comprising:
acquiring an input image, wherein the input image is an intraoperative image (acquiring further in at least para. 0020 and Figs. 1-2 acquired intraoperative images during the robot assisted surgery which image includes as cited detected smoke data item);
generating, a smoke-removed image obtained by one of removal of the smoke from the input image or reduction of the smoke from the input image in a smoke removal process (generating further in at least Figs. 1-2 and 4-5 which are further supported by at least para. 0039-0041 and 0049 a smoke removal process configured for generating first smoke-removed image obtained by one of removal of the smoke from the input image or reduction of the smoke from the input image);
; and
generating a first output image based on the first smoke-removed image,
Piponi is silent regarding the above lined-out items such as superimpose, on the first smoke-removed image, information about the one of the removal of the smoke from the input image or the reduction of the smoke from the input image; and generate a first output image based on the first smoke-removed image, and the superimposed information on the first smoke-removed image.
Kato teaches at least in Figs. 15 and 18-22 a smoke reduction/removal process of an image and the displaying of superimposed information 81 on an input image data having numerical value 57, displayed superimposed information 81 presence and absence thereof further indicating information about the one of the removal amount of the smoke from the input image or the reduction of the smoke from the input image, wherein the information of at least Fig. 15, 17, 19 relates to at least one of a presence of execution of the smoke removal process, or a degree of the removal of the smoke, Kato further generates output images of at least in Figs. 19-21 based in a case of a first smoke-reduced image of Fig. 17, and the superimposed information 81 on said first smoke-removed image. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Piponi in view of Kato to include wherein superimpose, on the first smoke-removed image, information about the one of the removal of the smoke from the input image or the reduction of the smoke from the input image, wherein the information relates to at least one of a presence of execution of the smoke removal process, a degree of the removal of the smoke, or an intensity of the smoke removal process; and said generate first output image based on the first smoke-removed image, and the superimposed information on the first smoke-removed image, as discussed above, where Kato’s configuration of performing smoke image reduction process and superimposing on an input image superimposed smoke information data further compliments the displayed smoke removal intraoperative image process of Piponi, in such a way that the systems and methods of Piponi when combined with the combination configuration of Kato would advantageously enable said systems and methods to display on the input intraoperative image the superimposed smoke information data further indicating a presence and absence amount of the superimposed smoke information occluding said input image which further presence and/or absence according to one skill in the art may delineate necessary information so that the surgeon may be made aware such that when added or combined the surgery of Piponi may be performed more safely and reliably according to further understood known methods to yield predictable results since known work in one field of endeavor may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one based on design incentives or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art as said combination is thus the adaptation of an old idea or invention using newer technology that is either commonly available and understood in the art thereby a variation on already known art (See MPEP 2143, KSR Exemplary Rationale F).
Regarding claim 20, Piponi teaches at least in para. 0022 a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon, computer executable instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to execute operations, the operations comprising:
acquiring an input image, wherein the input image is an intraoperative image (acquiring further in at least para. 0020 and Figs. 1-2 acquired intraoperative images during the robot assisted surgery which image includes as cited detected smoke data item);
generating, a smoke-removed image obtained by one of removal of the smoke from the input image or reduction of the smoke from the input image in a smoke removal process (generating further in at least Figs. 1-2 and 4-5 which are further supported by at least para. 0039-0041 and 0049 a smoke removal process configured for generating first smoke-removed image obtained by one of removal of the smoke from the input image or reduction of the smoke from the input image);
generating a first output image based on the first smoke-removed image,
Piponi is silent regarding the above lined-out items such as superimpose, on the first smoke-removed image, information about the one of the removal of the smoke from the input image or the reduction of the smoke from the input image; and generate a first output image based on the first smoke-removed image, and the superimposed information on the first smoke-removed image.
Kato teaches at least in Figs. 15 and 18-22 a smoke reduction/removal process of an image and the displaying of superimposed information 81 on an input image data having numerical value 57, displayed superimposed information 81 presence and absence thereof further indicating information about the one of the removal amount of the smoke from the input image or the reduction of the smoke from the input image, wherein the information of at least Fig. 15, 17, 19 relates to at least one of a presence of execution of the smoke removal process, or a degree of the removal of the smoke, Kato further generates output images of at least in Figs. 19-21 based in a case of a first smoke-reduced image of Fig. 17, and the superimposed information 81 on said first smoke-removed image. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Piponi in view of Kato to include wherein superimposing, on the first smoke-removed image, information about the one of the removal of the smoke from the input image or the reduction of the smoke from the input image, wherein the information relates to at least one of a presence of execution of the smoke removal process, a degree of the removal of the smoke, or an intensity of the smoke removal process; and said generating first output image based on the first smoke-removed image, and the superimposed information on the first smoke-removed image, as discussed above, where Kato’s configuration of performing smoke image reduction process and superimposing on an input image superimposed smoke information data further compliments the displayed smoke removal intraoperative image process of Piponi, in such a way that the systems and methods of Piponi when combined with the combination configuration of Kato would advantageously enable said systems and methods to display on the input intraoperative image the superimposed smoke information data further indicating a presence and absence amount of the superimposed smoke information occluding said input image which further presence and/or absence according to one skill in the art may delineate necessary information so that the surgeon may be made aware such that when added or combined the surgery of Piponi may be performed more safely and reliably according to further understood known methods to yield predictable results since known work in one field of endeavor may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one based on design incentives or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art as said combination is thus the adaptation of an old idea or invention using newer technology that is either commonly available and understood in the art thereby a variation on already known art (See MPEP 2143, KSR Exemplary Rationale F).
Claim 5 is/are further rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obvious Piponi in view of Kato, and further in view of Chou et al. (US 2016/0239967, A1).
Regarding claim 5 (according to claim 1), Piponi in view of Kato are silent regarding wherein the circuitry is further configured to: determine that the input image further includes mist; and determine a ratio of the smoke to the mist, based on the input image.
Chou teaches at least in Figs. 1 an acquired/input image comprising an intraoperative degraded image with at least one or more generated parameter region 414 including a detected smoke region of further para. 0060-0062, the input image may further include as noted further in at least para. 0004, 0037 and 0060-0062 detected smoke and in a case mist formation regions, generated parameter regions and image blocks may further include an estimated smoke region ratio which may be obviously applicable to a ratio of the smoke to the mist, based on the input image. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Piponi in view of Kato, and further in view of Chou to include wherein determine that said input image further includes mist; and determine a ratio of said smoke to the mist, based on the input image, as discussed above, as Piponi in view of Kato, and further in view of Chou are in the same of endeavor of performing image enhancement such as detecting and estimating an amount of a degrading medium detected in the input images, Chou compliments the intraoperative image smoke removal process of Piponi in view of Kato with a complimented smoke and mist image formation detection and removal process which when added to the system of Piponi in view of Kato further improves and optimize at least surgical site and/or image visibility to more successfully completes the surgical procedure according to further known methods to yield predictable results since known work in one field of endeavor may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one based on design incentives or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art as said combination is thus the adaptation of an old idea or invention using newer technology that is either commonly available and understood in the art thereby a variation on already known art (See MPEP 2143, KSR Exemplary Rationale F).
Claims Standings
Claims 21-23 are allowed. Claims 9-12, 15-18 objected over the prior arts of record to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, and if all outstanding rejections are overcome.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCELLUS AUGUSTIN whose telephone number is (571)270-3384. The examiner can normally be reached 9 AM- 5 PM.
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, BENNY TIEU can be reached on 571-272-7490. 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.
/MARCELLUS J AUGUSTIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682 09/17/2026
Prosecution Insights