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 Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 12/15/2025 overcomes the following objection(s) and/or rejection(s):
Amends claims 1 and 17, claims 1-7 and 10-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-7 and 10-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Regarding claims 1 and corresponding claim 17: claim 1 and corresponding claim 17 state "a selection process to select an image corresponding to a designated member from among the plurality of images in accordance with a designated criterion which is designated for at least one of priorities for information items included in the defect information, image quality of a captured image, a type of a member, and an identification number of a member." It is not clear to the examiner the scope of the limitation, to the examiner, the designated criteria could be "priorities of information items included in the defect information" or "image quality of a captured image" or "a type of member" or "an identification number of a member," or, the limitation could be interpreted as one of all four of these items is required as the designated criterion. The limitation "in accordance with a designated criterion which is designated for at least one of priorities for information items included in the defect information" is confusing and should be amended for clarity. The examiner has interpreted the limitation to require "or," or one of, each of the four listed designated criterion in this office action.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 and 10-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter in independent claim 1, the combination including primary reference Shloosh et al fails to teach the limitations of:
An image processing apparatus comprising:
a processor;
and a memory storing a plurality of images obtained by capturing images of a building and a three-dimensional model of the building in which members constituting the building are specified,
the plurality of images and the members being stored in association with each other, wherein the processor is configured to perform:
an extraction process to extract defect information of the building on the basis of the plurality of images;
a selection process to select an image corresponding to a designated member from among the plurality of images in accordance with a designated criterion which is designated for at least one of priorities for information items included in the defect information, image quality of a captured image, a type of a member, and an identification number of a member;
an output process to output the designated member, the selected image, and the defect information in association with each other;
an image arrangement process to arrange the selected image in an area designated as an image area in a document file having a designated format;
And an information input process to input the defect information to an area designated as an information area in the document file,
wherein the processor is configured to specify the members using a learning machine configured by machine learning in which the members constituting a three-dimensional model are given as correct labels.
As is stated in Para 41 of Shloosh et al: "Surveys data processing based on the images of the bridge and forming a point cloud that corresponds to the bridge based on these images are then carried out as preliminary step for the construction of a 3D model of the bridge according to the object-oriented approach (810). The construction of the 3D model of the bridge (820) comprises the major steps of importing the point cloud, and constructing 3D objects that correspond to a selected collection of points in the point cloud on the one hand and a defined object of the bridge on the other hand, where that object corresponds to a defined part of the bridge." While Shloosh et al discusses a selecting an image corresponding to a location of a 3D model of a bridge for an association output process, Shloosh et al does not specify a selection criterion of either "priorities for information items included in the defect information, image quality of a captured image, a type of a member, and an identification number of a member".
The examiner would also like to reference Averianov et al (US 20180012394 A1) which teaches a selection criteria of an image quality (see Paragraph 7) but does not teach a "designated member" that is an image captured of a building - and therefore does not output the designated member, selected image, and defect information in association with each other.
Therefore, no prior art alone or in combination teaches the limitations of independent claim 1 and corresponding claim 17. Claims 2-7, 10-16, and 18-20 are objected to as allowable based on dependency.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACK PETER KRAYNAK whose telephone number is (703)756-1713. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 AM - 5 PM.
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/JACK PETER KRAYNAK/Examiner, Art Unit 2668
/UTPAL D SHAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2668