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 CFR1.17(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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 March 3rd, 2026 has been entered and made of record.
Response to Amendment
This is in response to Applicant’s Arguments/Remarks filed on January 29th, 2026, which has been entered and made of record.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks filed January 29th, 2026 with respect to the previous rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made within the rejection presented below. Based on these facts, THIS ACTION IS MADE NON-FINAL.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-7, 11-12, 15-22, 26-27 and 30 are pending. Claim(s) 1 and 16 were amended. No claims were canceled. No new claim(s) were added. Claims 1-7, 11-12, 15-22, 26-27 and 30 are considered below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 16-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable by Zhou (US 20200162655 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, representative of Claim 16, Zhou teaches a method of processing one or more images, comprising:
obtaining, at an imaging device, a first image of an environment from an image sensor of the imaging device ([0028] At step 301, an output image outputted by a depth sensor may be acquired according to current exposure parameters. In some embodiments, the depth sensor may output data from which a grayscale image may be formed. In some other embodiments, the depth sensor may output data from which a depth image may be formed);
extracting features from the first image ([0030] At step 302, a depth image corresponding to the output image may be obtained when the output image is a grayscale image, [0033]: a depth sensor may be a monocular camera. In such a scenario, the processor may acquire two consecutive grayscale images outputted by the monocular camera and determine a depth image based on the two consecutive grayscale images);
determining a region of interest of the first image using a depth of the features extracted from the first image, wherein the features are associated with the environment ([0037]: determine a first target region of the target object in the output image according to the depth image. The first target region is the region occupied by the target object in the output image. Hence, the region of the target object in the output image may be determined);
determining a representative luma value associated with the first image based on image data in the region of interest of the first image ([0043]: at step 304, a first exposure parameter may be determined based on the brightness of the image of the target object, [0025]: after the image of the target object is identified in the output image, the brightness information on the image of the target object may be obtained);
determining one or more exposure control parameters based on the representative luma value ([0043]: at step 304, a first exposure parameter may be determined based on the brightness of the image of the target object); and
obtaining, at the imaging device, a second image captured based on the one or more exposure control parameters ([0043]: The first exposure parameter may be used for controlling the next automatic exposure).
Regarding Claim 2, representative of Claim 17, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1. In addition, Zhou teaches wherein the one or more exposure control parameters include at least one of an exposure duration or a gain setting ([0072] In some embodiments, the exposure parameter may include at least one of an exposure time, an exposure gain, or an aperture value).
Regarding Claim 3, representative of Claim 18, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1. In addition, Zhou teaches wherein determining the one or more exposure control parameters based on the representative luma value comprises ([0043]: at step 304, a first exposure parameter may be determined based on the brightness of the image of the target object):
determining at least one of an exposure duration or a gain setting for the second image based on the representative luma value ([0043]: at step 304, a first exposure parameter may be determined based on the brightness of the image of the target object, [0072] In some embodiments, the exposure parameter may include at least one of an exposure time, an exposure gain, or an aperture value).
Regarding Claim 4, representative of Claim 19, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1. In addition, Zhou teaches wherein determining the representative luma value based on the image data in the region of interest comprises:
determining the representative luma value associated with the first image based only on the image data in the region of interest ([0043]: at step 304, a first exposure parameter may be determined based on the brightness of the image of the target object).
Regarding Claim 5, representative of Claim 20, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1. In addition, Zhou teaches wherein the representative luma value is an average luma of the image data in the region of interest ([0051] Specifically, after the image of the target object is determined, the average brightness of the target object may be determined, and the first exposure parameter may be determined according to the average brightness).
Regarding Claim 6, representative of Claim 21, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1. In addition, Zhou teaches wherein determining the representative luma value based on the image data in the region of interest comprises:
determining the representative luma value associated with the first image based on scaling an average luma of the image data in the region of interest ([0051] Specifically, after the image of the target object is determined, the average brightness of the target object may be determined, and the first exposure parameter may be determined according to the average brightness, [0052]: a difference value between the average brightness and preset brightness may be determined. The first exposure parameter may be determined according to the difference value when the difference value is greater than or equal to a preset brightness threshold value).
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.
Claim(s) 15 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou (US 20200162655 A1) in view of Horesh (US 11145076 B1).
Regarding Claim 15, representative of Claim 30, Zhou teaches the method of claim 1. However, Zeng
does not explicitly teach the remaining limitations of Claim 15. Horesh teaches further comprising:
tracking, at the imaging device, a position of the imaging device in the environment based on a location
of the features in the second image ([0054]: the exposure parameter adjustment can result in an
acquired image with better image information in the high weight regions compared to low weighted
regions and overall better information for the specific application (e.g., SLAM)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of
the present invention to have modified Zhou to include the teachings of Horesh by including a further
step of tracking. Doing so would improve tracking using a secondary image by improving the exposure of
the image used.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 11-12, 22, and 26-27 remain 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANICE VAZ whose telephone number is (703)756-4685. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Bella can be reached at (571) 272-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JANICE E. VAZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2667
/MATTHEW C BELLA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2667