DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/12/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see p.13-16, filed 12/10/2025, with respect to the rejections of Claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered but are moot because Applicant’s amendments of the independent claims has altered the scope of the claims, and therefore, necessitated new grounds of rejection which are presented below.
Applicant’s arguments, see p.10-13, filed 12/10/2025, with respect to the rejections of Claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered, but are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the claims are directed to a specific improvement to computer functionality and thus not directed to an abstract idea. Additionally, Applicant argues that claimed features are not directed to mental processes and are not directed to merely any form of binning because they are specifically directed to a method described in the application as being linked with multiple benefits. Examiner understands that claims directed to a judicial exception require further analysis to determine eligibility versus claims that are not directed to a judicial exception by way of their improvements to the functioning of a computer. In Enfish, the claims were directed to a self-referential table for a computer database, thus not being directed to a judicial exception by way of their improvements to the functioning of a computer. However, in the present application, the claims are not directed towards the functioning of a computer, as in Enfish, or any other technology. Rather, the claims are directed towards broadly claimed operations upon an image without any reference to computer technology, and as such, are distinguished from the claims in Enfish by being directed to a judicial exception. If there were computer elements recited, the claim still does not recite eligible subject matter in that the required elements necessary to realize the disclosed improvement to the technical field are not recited per MPEP 2106.04(d)(1). While Applicant contends that there are claimed elements "linked with multiple benefits," nonetheless, what MPEP 2106.04(d)(1) requires for a finding of subject matter eligibility via practical application is that the claim includes the components or steps of the invention that provide the improvement described in the specification - all of the necessary components, not just that there are some elements present in the claim "linked" with the stated benefits/improvements to the technological field. Due to Claim 1 not reciting any computer elements, per MPEP 2106.05(a), the judicial exception alone cannot provide the improvement, and that the improvement can be provided by one or more additional elements. Therefore, as the claim presently does not recite any additional elements, then the claim cannot be interpreted as setting forth the required elements to realize the improvement to the technical field, and be said to claim a practical application. Claims 10 and 19 recite computer elements, but the claims do not recite the full set of claim elements necessary to realize the improvement to the technical field per MPEP 2106.04(d)(1). Therefore, nothing in the above-described claim elements preclude the steps from practically being performed in the mind or on a piece of paper. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonably interpretation covers performance of the limitation in the mind or through mathematical calculations, but for the recitation of a generic apparatus or computer components, such as a processor, a computer program, and a computer-readable medium storing instructions, then it falls within the "mental processes", which include concepts performed in the human mind, including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion, or mathematical calculations groupings of the abstract idea. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea. Additionally, the claims do not include any additional steps that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception for integration of the abstract idea into practical application. Mere instructions to apply an exception using generic computer components, such as a processor, a computer program, or computer-readable media storing instructions, cannot provide an inventive concept. The claims are not patent eligible.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
Use of the word “means” (or “step for”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim element is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph). The presumption that 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) is invoked is rebutted when the function is recited with sufficient structure, material, or acts within the claim itself to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step for”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim element is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph). The presumption that 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) is not invoked is rebutted when the claim element recites function but fails to recite sufficiently definite structure, material or acts to perform that function.
Claim elements in this application that use the word “means” (or “step for”) are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Similarly, claim elements that do not use the word “means” (or “step for”) are presumed not to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
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. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitations are: “a means for processing” relevant to Claims 19-20.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more, and the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter as follows. The claims recite segmenting an image into a plurality of bins having different dimensions based on characteristics of the image, the characteristics of the image comprising a different between objects in the image, a first bin having a number of pixels associated with a region of the image, a second bin having a number of pixels associated with a second region of the image wherein the first bin has more than twice the number of pixels of the second bin, and processing the bins based on their dimensions to form a respective pixel subarray.
Step 1:
With regard to Step 1, the instant claims are directed to a method, which is among the statutory categories of invention.
Step 2A – Prong 1:
With regard to Step 2A – Prong 1, for example in Claim 1, the limitations of “segmenting a first pre-image frame into a first plurality of bins; determining first dimensions and second dimensions for the first plurality of bins based on one or more characteristics of the first pre-image frame, such that the first plurality of bins comprises: a first bin having first dimensions based on a first characteristic of the first pre-image frame; and a second bin having second dimensions, based on a second characteristic of the first pre-image frame, the second dimensions being different from the first dimensions; wherein: the one or more characteristics of the first pre-image frame comprise a difference between objects represented in the first pre-image frame; the first bin comprises N pixels associated with a first region of the first pre-image frame, N being an integer greater than one; the second bin comprises M pixels associated with a second region of the first pre-image frame, the second region being different from the first region; and N is greater than 2 M; and processing, based on the first dimensions and the second dimensions, one or more bins of the first plurality of bins to form one or more first pixel subarrays", as drafted only involves mental processes, such as segmenting the image into bins, determining dimensions of the bins based on a characteristic of the image, determining a bin having a greater number of pixels associated with a region than another bin associated with a different region, or grouping the bins based on the dimensions to form a subarray. That is, nothing in the above-described claim elements preclude the steps from practically being performed in the mind or on a piece of paper. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonably interpretation covers performance of the limitation in the mind or through mathematical calculations, but for the recitation of a generic apparatus components, such as a processor, then it falls within the "mental processes", which include concepts performed in the human mind, including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion, or mathematical calculations groupings of the abstract idea. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
Step 2A – Prong 2:
The 2019 PEG defines the phrase “integration into a practical application” to require an additional element or a combination of additional elements in the claim to apply, rely on, or use the judicial exception. In the instant case, the additional elements in the claims do not apply, rely on, or use the judicial exception.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claim does not recite any additional elements to prove significantly more than the judicial exception. The other additional recited element in certain other claims is just a processor and a computer-readable storage medium, which are generic computer components. Accordingly, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it is a field-of-use limitation that does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Therefore, the claim as a whole, recites an abstract idea.
Step 2B:
Because the claim fails under Step 2A, the claims are further evaluated under Step 2B. The claim herein does not include additional steps that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because as discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into practical application, the additional elements/steps amount to no more than insignificant extra-solution activities. Mere instructions to apply an exception using generic apparatus component, such as a processor, cannot provide an inventive concept. The claim is not patent eligible. It should be noted that a similar analysis may be performed with respect to independent Claims 10 and 19.
Further, with regard to dependent Claims 2-9, 11-18, and 20 viewed individually, these additional steps are under their broadest reasonable interpretation, cover performance of the limitation in the mind and do not provide meaningful limitations to transform the abstract idea into a patent eligible application of the abstract idea such that the claims limitations amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. For example, a third bin having greater horizontal and vertical dimension than a first bin as recited in Claim 6 or using a weighted Chebyshev distance as recited in Claim 7 are only examples of arbitrary image processing steps or specifications and do not amount to significantly more to consider as inventive steps. Accordingly, Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3, 10, 12 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Achrenius et al. (US 20210398349 A1) in view of Powers et al. (US 10339716 B1), Laganakos et al. (US 20210168348 A1), Wicks et al. (US 20190318709 A1), Karppanen (US 10242119 B1), and Acharya et al. (US 20220044350 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Achrenius teaches "A method, comprising: segmenting a first pre-image frame into a first plurality of bins"; (Achrenius, Para. 14, teaches segmenting an image frame into bins).
However, Achrenius does not explicitly teach "determining first dimensions and second dimensions for the first plurality of bins based on one or more characteristics of the first pre-image frame, such that the first plurality of bins comprises: a first bin having first dimensions based on a first characteristic of the first pre-image frame; and a second bin having second dimensions, based on a second characteristic of the first pre-image frame, the second dimensions being different from the first dimensions; wherein: the one or more characteristics of the first pre-image frame comprise a difference between objects represented in the first pre-image frame; the first bin comprises N pixels associated with a first region of the first pre-image frame, N being an integer greater than one; the second bin comprises M pixels associated with a second region of the first pre-image frame, the second region being different from the first region; and N is greater than 2 M; and processing, based on the first dimensions and the second dimensions, one or more bins of the first plurality of bins to form one or more first pixel subarrays".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Powers teaches "determining first dimensions and second dimensions for the first plurality of bins based on one or more characteristics of the first pre-image frame, such that the first plurality of bins comprises: a first bin having first dimensions based on a first characteristic of the first pre-image frame"; (Powers, Col. 6 lines 10-26 and Claim 11, teaches the size of a voxel block varying based on the distance from the current pose of the mobile device with sizes varying from 1x1x1 to 16x16x16 wherein blocks of the second size corresponding to a surface in the physical environment at a distance greater than a threshold from the first pose and voxel blocks of the first size corresponding to a second surface at a distance less than the threshold from the first pose, i.e., determine first and second dimensions for a plurality of bins based on characteristics of the pre-image frame being the surface of the environment and the measured distance such that a first bin has first dimensions based on a first characteristic);
"and a second bin having second dimensions, based on a second characteristic of the first pre-image frame, the second dimensions being different from the first dimensions"; (Powers, Col. 6 lines 10-26 and Claim 11, teaches the size of a voxel block varying based on the distance from the current pose of the mobile device with sizes varying from 1x1x1 to 16x16x16 wherein blocks of the second size corresponding to a surface in the physical environment at a distance greater than a threshold from the first pose and voxel blocks of the first size corresponding to a second surface at a distance less than the threshold from the first pose, i.e., a second bin or block has second dimensions based on a second characteristic being the second surface or distance wherein the second dimensions are different from the first dimensions).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius by including a determination of first and second dimensions for a plurality of bins based on characteristics of the image taught by Powers. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it improves virtual representations with limited resources (Powers, Abstract, teaches the motivation of combination to be to improve operations of virtual representations with limited resources).
However, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers does not explicitly teach “wherein: the one or more characteristics of the first pre-image frame comprise a difference between objects represented in the first pre-image frame; the first bin comprises N pixels associated with a first region of the first pre-image frame, N being an integer greater than one; the second bin comprises M pixels associated with a second region of the first pre-image frame, the second region being different from the first region; and N is greater than 2 M; and processing, based on the first dimensions and the second dimensions, one or more bins of the first plurality of bins to form one or more first pixel subarrays".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Laganakos teaches "wherein: the one or more characteristics of the first pre-image frame comprise a difference between objects represented in the first pre-image frame"; (Laganakos, Claim 1, teaches obtaining a frame of image data wherein a distance of one or more further objects in the frame of image data is estimated based on a difference between the sharpness characteristic of the initial object and a sharpness characteristic of each of the further objects, i.e., one or more characteristics of the image frame comprise a difference between objects represented in the image frame being the difference between sharpness characteristics and a difference in distance between the objects).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius and Powers by including the characteristic comprising a difference between objects in the frame taught by Laganakos. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it improves efficiency and reduces cost (Laganakos, Para. 4, teaches the motivation of combination to be to improve the efficiency and reducing the cost of gathering the information).
However, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers and Laganakos does not explicitly teach “the first bin comprises N pixels associated with a first region of the first pre-image frame, N being an integer greater than one; the second bin comprises M pixels associated with a second region of the first pre-image frame, the second region being different from the first region; and N is greater than 2 M; and processing, based on the first dimensions and the second dimensions, one or more bins of the first plurality of bins to form one or more first pixel subarrays".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Wicks teaches "the first bin comprises N pixels associated with a first region of the first pre-image frame, N being an integer greater than one"; (Wicks, FIG. 2 [207] and Abstract and Para. 27, teaches rendering regions of frames wherein graphics content is generated by assigning a first region of the graphics content to a first tile and determining a first set of samples for each pixel of multiple pixels associated with the first region, i.e., a first bin or tile comprises a number N of pixels associated with a first region of the frame wherein N is more than one);
"the second bin comprises M pixels associated with a second region of the first pre-image frame, the second region being different from the first region"; (Wicks, FIG. 2 [207] and Abstract and Para. 27, teaches rendering regions of frames wherein graphics content is generated by assigning a second region of the graphics content to a second tile and determining a second set of samples for each pixel of multiple pixels associated with the second region, i.e., a second bin or tile comprises a number M of pixels associated with a second region of the frame wherein the second region is different from the first region).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius, Powers, and Laganakos by including the first bin comprising a number of pixels associated with a first region of the image wherein N is greater than one and wherein a second bin comprises a number of pixels associated with a different second region taught by Wicks. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it improves the quality of the region (Wicks, Para. 34, teaches the motivation of combination to be to improve the quality of the region or to improve processing efficiency).
However, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, and Wicks does not explicitly teach “and N is greater than 2 M; and processing, based on the first dimensions and the second dimensions, one or more bins of the first plurality of bins to form one or more first pixel subarrays".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Karppanen teaches "and N is greater than 2 M"; (Karppanen, FIG. 2 and Col. 3 lines 26-67, teaches splitting a large tile area into small tile areas of different shapes and sizes of 10x20 pixels, 20x20, pixels, and 50x200 pixels, i.e., a small tile or bin comprises more than two times the number of pixels as another small tile or bin).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius, Powers, Laganakos, and Wicks by including the first bin having greater than twice the number of pixels as a second bin taught by Karppanen. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it creates efficient processing (Karppanen, Col. 3 lines 26-67, teaches the motivation of combination to be to create efficient processing of a web page).
However, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, and Karppanen does not explicitly teach "and processing, based on the first dimensions and the second dimensions, one or more bins of the first plurality of bins to form one or more first pixel subarrays".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Acharya teaches "and processing, based on the first dimensions and the second dimensions, one or more bins of the first plurality of bins to form one or more first pixel subarrays"; (Acharya, Para. 37, teaches coarse level binning divides the screen into regions and only operates on that part of the screen wherein each region has fewer primitives than the screen as a whole and wherein the pipeline first coarse bins a screen into large bins then bins them into smaller pixel bins, i.e., form pixel subarray being the divided regions based on the first and second dimensions of the bins having a first and second size).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius, Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, and Karppanen by including the processing of the bins to form associated regions as a pixel subarray based on the dimensions of the bins. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it improves the user experience and allows the GPU to adapt to the conditions (Acharya, Para. 7, teaches the motivation of combination to be to improve user experience by adapting the GPU to a given condition).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date.
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya teaches " The method of claim 1, wherein: the first dimensions comprise: a horizontal dimension greater than a horizontal dimension of the second dimensions, and a vertical dimension greater than a vertical dimension of the second dimensions"; (Acharya, Para.12, teaches a first coarse bin being able to be divided into a 64x64 array of second fine bins wherein the second bin would have to have a significantly lesser horizontal and vertical dimensions).
"the first bin has a center at a first distance from a center of the first pre-image frame"; (Powers, Col. 4 lines 40-41 and Claim 11, teaches a block with a second size having a distance greater than a threshold from a first pose wherein the first pose represents the projective center in the frame, i.e., a first bin with a distance from a center of the first image frame being greater than a threshold);
"the second bin has a center at a second distance, less than the first distance, from the center of the first pre-image frame"; (Powers, Col. 4 lines 40-41, Col. 7 lines 54-64, and Claim 11, teaches a block with a first size having a distance less than a threshold from a first pose wherein the first pose represents the projective center in the frame and wherein the first size block is smaller than the second sized block, i.e., a second bin with a distance from a center of the first image frame being less than a threshold indicating a distance less than the first distance that is greater than a threshold);
"and the one or more characteristics of the first pre-image frame comprise the distance from the center of the first pre-image frame"; (Powers, Col. 4 lines 40-41 and Col. 6 lines 10-26 and Claim 11, teaches the size of a voxel block varying based on the distance from the current pose of the mobile device with sizes varying from 1x1x1 to 16x16x16 wherein the pose represents the projective center of the depth points in the frame wherein blocks of the second size corresponding to a surface in the physical environment at a distance greater than a threshold from the first pose and voxel blocks of the first size corresponding to a second surface at a distance less than the threshold from the first pose, i.e., determine first and second dimensions for a plurality of bins based on characteristics of the pre-image frame being the surface of the environment and the measured distance being distance from the center of the frame).
The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya references presented in the rejection of Claim 1, applies to claim 3. Thus, the method recited in Claim 3 is met by Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya.
Claim 10 recites a system with elements corresponding to the steps recited in Claim 1. Therefore, the recited elements of this claim are mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding steps in its corresponding method claim. Additionally, the rationale and motivation to combine the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya references, presented in rejection of Claim 1, apply to this claim. Finally, the combination of the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya references disclose a processor and a memory that stores instructions to execute the aforementioned method (for example, see Achrenius, Paragraph 21).
Claim 12 recites a system with elements corresponding to the steps recited in Claim 3. Therefore, the recited elements of this claim are mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding steps in its corresponding method claim. Additionally, the rationale and motivation to combine the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya references, presented in rejection of Claim 1, apply to this claim. Finally, the combination of the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya references disclose a processor and a memory that stores instructions to execute the aforementioned method (for example, see Achrenius, Paragraph 21).
Claim 19 recites a system with elements corresponding to the steps recited in Claim 1. Therefore, the recited elements of this claim are mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding steps in its corresponding method claim. Additionally, the rationale and motivation to combine the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya references, presented in rejection of Claim 1, apply to this claim. Finally, the combination of the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya references disclose a processor, i.e., a means for processing, and a memory that stores instructions to execute the aforementioned method (for example, see Achrenius, Paragraph 21).
Claims 2 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Du et al. (US 20120140992 A1, hereinafter Du).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya further teaches "
"and processing each of the second plurality of bins to form one or more second pixel subarrays"; (Acharya, Para. 37, teaches coarse level binning divides the screen into regions and only operates on that part of the screen wherein each region has fewer primitives than the screen as a whole and wherein the pipeline first coarse bins a screen into large bins then bins them into smaller pixel bins, i.e., form a second pixel subarray being the divided regions of the screen space).
The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya references presented in the rejection of Claim 1, applies to claim 2.
However, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya does not explicitly teach "The method of claim 1, further comprising: segmenting a second pre-image frame into a second plurality of bins; wherein the segmenting of the second pre-image frame is different from the segmenting of the first pre-image frame".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Du teaches "The method of claim 1, further comprising: segmenting a second pre-image frame into a second plurality of bins"; (Du, Claims 5 and 12, teach segmenting a second image into a second plurality of bins).
"wherein the segmenting of the second pre-image frame is different from the segmenting of the first pre-image frame"; (Du, Claims 5 and 12, teach that the segmentation of the second image is angularly offset from the first image segmentation to include different features).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya by including the second plurality of bins with differing segmentation taught by Du. It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the second plurality of bins of Du with the processing of bins to form a respective pixel subarray of Acharya. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it provides a method more tolerant of segmentation error (Du, Paras. 6-7, teach the motivation of combination to be to provide a more robust identification method that is tolerant of segmentation error).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date.
Claim 11 recites a system with elements corresponding to the steps recited in Claim 2. Therefore, the recited elements of this claim are mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding steps in its corresponding method claim. Additionally, the rationale and motivation to combine the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Du references, presented in rejection of Claim 2, apply to this claim. Finally, the combination of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Du references disclose a processor and a memory that stores instructions to execute the aforementioned method (for example, see Achrenius, Paragraph 21).
Claims 4 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Wu; Yue et al. (US 20230351638 A1, hereinafter Wu; Yue).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya do not explicitly teach "The method of claim 3, wherein each bin of the first plurality of bins has a center at a distance, from the center of the first pre-image frame, greater than a threshold distance, and has dimensions comprising: a horizontal dimension greater than a horizontal dimension of the second dimensions, and a vertical dimension greater than a vertical dimension of the second dimensions".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Wu; Yue teaches "The method of claim 3, wherein each bin of the first plurality of bins has a center at a distance, from the center of the first pre-image frame, greater than a threshold distance, and has dimensions comprising: a horizontal dimension greater than a horizontal dimension of the second dimensions, and a vertical dimension greater than a vertical dimension of the second dimensions"; (Wu; Yue, Para. 57 and Claim 12, teach a plurality of blocks in which the disparity distance between the block to the center of the image is measured and compared to a threshold distance as well as a threshold to disparity distance ratio wherein the first block is larger than a second block, i.e., a first horizontal and vertical dimension is greater than a second horizontal and vertical dimension).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya by including the threshold center distance of a plurality of bins that are greater in size than the second bins taught by Wu; Yue. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it provides reliable and precise distances for recognizing given pixels (Wu; Yue, Para. 7, teaches the motivation of combination to be to provide reliable and precise information regarding disparity distance on the road or path to recognize hazard pixels).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date.
Claim 13 recites a system with elements corresponding to the steps recited in Claim 4. Therefore, the recited elements of this claim are mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding steps in its corresponding method claim. Additionally, the rationale and motivation to combine the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Wu; Yue references, presented in rejection of Claim 4, apply to this claim. Finally, the combination of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Wu; Yue references disclose a processor and a memory that stores instructions to execute the aforementioned method (for example, see Achrenius, Paragraph 21).
Claims 5 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Min et al. (US 20210192699 A1, hereinafter Min).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya do not explicitly teach "The method of claim 3, wherein the first plurality of bins further comprises a third bin having third dimensions different from the first dimensions and different from the second dimensions".
In an analogous field of art, Min teaches "The method of claim 3, wherein the first plurality of bins further comprises a third bin having third dimensions different from the first dimensions and different from the second dimensions"; (Min, Para. 100, teaches a third block, i.e., a third bin, which has a third size that comprises different dimensions than the first and second blocks).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya by including the third bin with differing dimensions taught by Min. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it allows for different modifications by varying sizes of blocks (Min, Para. 103, teaches the motivation of combination to be to modify representative brightness values through the non-uniformity of area by the varying sized blocks).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date.
Claim 14 recites a system with elements corresponding to the steps recited in Claim 5. Therefore, the recited elements of this claim are mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding steps in its corresponding method claim. Additionally, the rationale and motivation to combine the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Min references, presented in rejection of Claim 5, apply to this claim. Finally, the combination of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Min references disclose a processor and a memory that stores instructions to execute the aforementioned method (for example, see Achrenius, Paragraph 21).
Claims 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Achrenius in view of Powers, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, Min, Nellutla et al. (US 20190220411 A1, hereinafter Nellutla), and Han et al. (US 20220360722 A1, hereinafter Han).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Min does not explicitly teach "The method of claim 5, wherein: the third dimensions comprise: a horizontal dimension greater than a horizontal dimension of the first dimensions, and a vertical dimension greater than a vertical dimension of the first dimensions; and the third bin has a center at a third distance, greater than the first distance, from the center of the first pre-image frame".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Nellutla teaches "The method of claim 5, wherein: the third dimensions comprise: a horizontal dimension greater than a horizontal dimension of the first dimensions, and a vertical dimension greater than a vertical dimension of the first dimensions"; (Nellutla, Para. 93, teaches a third bin having a second horizontal and second vertical dimension wherein the second horizontal and vertical dimensions are greater than the first horizontal and vertical dimensions).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Min by including the differing sized dimensions of a third bin taught by Nellutla. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to combine the differing sized dimensions of a third bin of Nellutla with the third center image distance that is greater than a first distance of Han. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it improves efficiency and memory utilization (Nellutla, Para. 4, teaches the motivation of combination to be to provide a more efficient method to partition frames and improve the utilization of local memory of the GPU).
However, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, Min, and Nellutla does not explicitly teach "and the third bin has a center at a third distance, greater than the first distance, from the center of the first pre-image frame".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Han teaches "and the third bin has a center at a third distance, greater than the first distance, from the center of the first pre-image frame"; (Han, Paras. 101-103, teach a third block, i.e., third bin, which has a distance to the center of the first image wherein the first block may be arranged so the distance to the image is the shortest, i.e., third bin distance is greater than first bin distance).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, Min, and Nellutla by including the third bin having a distance greater than a first distance to the center of the image frame taught by Han. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it lowers computational load (Han, Para. 86, teaches the motivation of combination to be to calculate the center less often resulting in lower computational load).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date.
Claim 15 recites a system with elements corresponding to the steps recited in Claim 6. Therefore, the recited elements of this claim are mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding steps in its corresponding method claim. Additionally, the rationale and motivation to combine the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, Min, Nellutla, and Han references, presented in rejection of Claim 6, apply to this claim. Finally, the combination of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, Min, Nellutla, and Han references disclose a processor and a memory that stores instructions to execute the aforementioned method (for example, see Achrenius, Paragraph 21).
Claims 7 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Agarwal et al. (US 20230326224 A1, hereinafter Agarwal).
Regarding claim 7 the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya do not explicitly teach "The method of claim 3, wherein the first distance is a weighted Chebyshev distance".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Agarwal teaches "The method of claim 3, wherein the first distance is a weighted Chebyshev distance"; (Agarwal, Para. 64, teaches measuring a distance between centroids by using the Chebyshev distance which is weighted).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya by including the Chebyshev distance that has weight taught by Agarwal. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it enables the measurement of distance between any node (Agarwal, Para. 64, teaches the motivation of combination to be to allow for every node to connect to any other node by an edge and to be able to measure their distances).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date.
Claim 16 recites a system with elements corresponding to the steps recited in Claim 7. Therefore, the recited elements of this claim are mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding steps in its corresponding method claim. Additionally, the rationale and motivation to combine the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Agarwal references, presented in rejection of Claim 7, apply to this claim. Finally, the combination of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Agarwal references disclose a processor and a memory that stores instructions to execute the aforementioned method (for example, see Achrenius, Paragraph 21).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, Du, Yamashita et al. (US 20130266213 A1, hereinafter Yamashita), and Wu (US 20140119653 A1, hereinafter Wu).
Regarding claim 20, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya further teaches "
"and processing each of the second plurality of bins to form one or more second pixel subarrays"; (Acharya, Para. 37, teaches coarse level binning divides the screen into regions and only operates on that part of the screen wherein each region has fewer primitives than the screen as a whole and wherein the pipeline first coarse bins a screen into large bins then bins them into smaller pixel bins, i.e., form a second pixel subarray being the divided regions of the screen space).
The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya references presented in the rejection of Claim 1, applies to claim 20.
However, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, and Acharya does not explicitly teach "The system of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises segmenting a second pre-image frame into a second plurality of bins; wherein: the first bin comprises a pixel having a first pair of coordinates in the first pre- image frame; and a third bin, of the second plurality of bins, has second dimensions different from the first dimensions and comprises a pixel having coordinates equal to the first pair of coordinates in the second pre-image frame”.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Du teaches “The system of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises segmenting a second pre-image frame into a second plurality of bins"; (Du, Claims 5 and 12, teach segmenting a second image into a second plurality of bins).
The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Du references presented in the rejection of Claim 2, applies to claim 20.
However, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Du does not explicitly teach "wherein: the first bin comprises a pixel having a first pair of coordinates in the first pre- image frame; and a third bin, of the second plurality of bins, has second dimensions different from the first dimensions and comprises a pixel having coordinates equal to the first pair of coordinates in the second pre-image frame".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Yamashita "wherein: the first bin comprises a pixel having a first pair of coordinates in the first pre- image frame"; (Yamashita, Para. 103, teaches a first block, i.e., the first bin, including a target pixel which has a pair of coordinates in the first image).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, and Du by including the pixel coordinates in the first bin taught by Yamashita. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it allows for the comparison between pixel values that correspond between images (Yamashita, Para. 103, teaches the motivation of combination to be to evaluate and compare the pixels and their values that correspond between images).
However, the combination of references of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, Du, and Yamashita does not explicitly teach "and a third bin, of the second plurality of bins, has second dimensions different from the first dimensions and comprises a pixel having coordinates equal to the first pair of coordinates in the second pre-image frame".
In an analogous field of endeavor, Wu teaches "and a third bin, of the second plurality of bins, has second dimensions different from the first dimensions and comprises a pixel having coordinates equal to the first pair of coordinates in the second pre-image frame"; (Wu, Para. 9, teaches a third block, i.e., a third bin, wherein a pixel coordinate value for the third block is equal to the pixel coordinate value in the second image).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the invention of Achrenius in view of Powers, Laganakos, Wicks, Karppanen, Acharya, Du, and Yamashita wherein the bins have different dimensions by including the third bin that has pixel coordinates which are equal to the pixel coordinates in the second image taught by Wu. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine the references since it decreases the computational cost (Wu, Paras. 6-7, teach the motivation of combination to be to decrease computational cost of monitoring systems).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 and objected 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 the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 was overcome. The following is the examiner’s stated reason for indication of allowable subject matter: none of the cited prior art references, alone or in combination, provides a motivation to teach the ordered combination of limitations recited in claims 8-9. Regarding claim 8, the combination of references does not explicitly define the relationship between bins as a given amount of vertices multiplied by a factor specifically below 1.5. Regarding claim 9, the combination of references does not explicitly define a bin as comprising 20 percent of the pixels of a first image as well as containing no vertices. Claims 17-18 are system claims with steps corresponding to the method claims 8-9 respectively, and therefore, Claims 17-18 contain the aforementioned allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
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/ANDREW S BUDISALICH/Examiner, Art Unit 2662
/AMANDEEP SAINI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2662