DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-22, in the reply filed on 11/3/25 is acknowledged.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Canon (WO 2019/240257).
Regarding claims 1 and 21, Canon discloses an ophthalmic observation apparatus for processing an image of a subject's eye ([0018], [0019]; figure 17), comprising a moving image receiving unit (400, [0057]) configured to receive a first moving image of the subject's eye ([0019]; figure 17), an image processor (400; [0033], [0058]) configured to create a plurality of processed images (Im1720, Im1730, Im1740, lm1750; [0208]; figure 17) by applying first image processing (via a high quality engine [0208]) using a plurality of different values of a predetermined image parameter to a still image included in the first moving image (Im1710; [0208]; figure 17), and a display controller (405; [0058]) configured to display the plurality of processed images (Im1720, Im1730, Im1740, Im1 1750; [0208]; figure 17) on a first display device (20; [0057]; figure 17).
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.
Claims 2-15 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Canon (WO 2019/240257), as applied to claim 1, in view of Ciudad et al. (US 2012/0076471).
Regarding claim 2, Canon further discloses an instruction receiving circuit ([0208]) configured to receive an instruction for selecting at least one processed image from among the plurality of processed images displayed on the first display. Canon discloses all the claimed limitations except that wherein the image processor applies second image processing to a second moving image, the second image processing being image processing based on at least one value of the image parameter corresponding to the at least one processed image, and the second moving image being an image generated by the moving image generator after selection of the at least one processed image is performed using the instruction receiving circuit, and the display controller displays the second moving image to which the second image processing has been applied on a second display. Within the same field of endeavor, Ciudad ([0019], [0035], [0043], figure 4) discloses the teaching that wherein the image processor applies second image processing to a second moving image, the second image processing being image processing based on at least one value of the image parameter corresponding to the at least one processed image, and the second moving image being an image generated by the moving image generator after selection of the at least one processed image is performed using the instruction receiving circuit. In addition, the display controller displays the second moving image to which the second image processing has been applied on a second display is merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to display two different images simultaneously, thereby arriving at the subject-matter without an inventive step. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply Ciudad’s teaching for the purpose of applying second image processing to a second moving image.
Regarding claim 3, Canon further discloses wherein the image processor applies image processing to the second moving image as the second image processing if one processed image of the plurality of processed images is selected using the instruction receiving circuit, the image processing being performed using one value of the image parameter corresponding to the one processed image ([0043]).
Regarding claim 4, Canon in view of Ciudad discloses all the claimed limitations except wherein the image processor applies image processing to the second moving image as the second image processing if two or more processed images of the plurality of processed images are selected using the instruction receiving circuit, the image processing being performed using one value of the image parameter corresponding to one processed image of the two or more processed images. However, the disclosed features are merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to select an appropriate image parameter. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for design purpose.
Regarding claim 5, Canon in view of Ciudad discloses all the claimed limitations except wherein if two or more processed images of the plurality of processed images are selected using the instruction receiving circuit, the image processor determines one value based on two or more values of the image parameter respectively corresponding to the two or more processed images, and applies image processing using the one value to the second moving image as the second image processing. However, the disclosed features are merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to select an appropriate image parameter. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for design purpose.
Regarding claim 6, Ciudad further discloses a recording circuit configured to record the one value of the image parameter used in the second image processing ([0043])
Regarding claim 7, Canon in view of Ciudad discloses all the claimed limitations except for an identifier receiving circuit configured to receive an identifier of a user, wherein the recording circuit records the one value of the image parameter in association with the identifier received by the identifier receiving circuit. However, the additional technical feature is merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to receive an identifier of a user. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for the purpose of receiving an identifier of a user.
Regarding claim 8, Canon further discloses an attribute information acquiring circuit configured to acquire attribute information that indicates an attribute of medical practice for the subject's eye, wherein the recording circuit records the one value of the image parameter in association with the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquiring circuit ([0056], [0059]).
Regarding claim 9, Canon in view of Ciudad discloses all the claimed limitations except for a selecting processor configured to select at least one value from among values of the image parameter recorded by the recording circuit in the past, wherein the image processor applies image processing based on the at least one value selected by the selecting processor to a third moving image generated by the moving image generator. However, the disclosed features are merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to select an appropriate image parameter. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for design purpose.
Regarding claim 10, Canon in view of Ciudad discloses all the claimed limitations except wherein the recording circuit records a photographing condition applied to generation of the second moving image, in association with the one value of the image parameter, and the selecting processor further selects a photographing condition that is associated with the at least one value selected by the selecting processor, the ophthalmic observation apparatus further comprising a determining processor configured to determine a value of the image parameter based on the photographing condition and the at least one value both selected by the selecting processor, wherein the image processor applies image processing using the value of the image parameter determined by the determining processor to the third moving image. However, the disclosed features are merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to select an appropriate image parameter. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for design purpose.
Regarding claim 11, Canon in view of Ciudad discloses all the claimed limitations except for. However, the additional technical features the additional technical features mainly referring to applying the image processing to a partial image are merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to improve an image display of a region-of-interest of an image. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for the purpose of improving an image display of a region-of-interest of an image.
Regarding claim 12, Canon in view of Ciudad discloses all the claimed limitations except wherein the image processor includes a first partial image identifying processor configured to identify the partial image by applying segmentation for identifying an image of a predetermined site of the subject's eye to the still image included in the first moving image. However, the additional technical features the additional technical features mainly referring to applying the image processing to a partial image are merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to improve an image display of a region-of-interest of an image. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for the purpose of improving an image display of a region-of-interest of an image.
Regarding claim 13, Canon in view of Ciudad discloses all the claimed limitations except wherein the first partial image identifying processor applies the segmentation to the second moving image to sequentially identify a plurality of partial images of a plurality of still images included in the second moving image, and the image processor applies the second image processing sequentially to the plurality of partial images identified from the plurality of still images included in the second moving image. However, the additional technical features the additional technical features mainly referring to applying the image processing to a partial image are merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to improve an image display of a region-of-interest of an image. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for the purpose of improving an image display of a region-of-interest of an image.
Regarding claim 14, Canon in view of Ciudad discloses all the claimed limitations except wherein the display controller displays the first moving image or a still image included in the first moving image on the first display or the second display, the ophthalmic observation apparatus further comprising a graphical user interface to designate a partial region in the first moving image displayed or a partial region in the still image included in the first moving image, wherein the image processor determines the partial image based on the partial region designated using the graphical user interface.. However, the additional technical features the additional technical features mainly referring to applying the image processing to a partial image are merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to improve an image display of a region-of-interest of an image. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for the purpose of improving an image display of a region-of-interest of an image.
Regarding claim 15, Canon in view of Ciudad discloses all the claimed limitations except wherein the image processor includes a second partial image identifying processor configured to sequentially identify a plurality of partial images, each corresponding to the partial region, of a plurality of still images included in the second moving image, and the image processor applies the second image processing sequentially to the plurality of partial images identified from the plurality of still images included in the second moving image. However, the additional technical features the additional technical features mainly referring to applying the image processing to a partial image are merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to improve an image display of a region-of-interest of an image. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for the purpose of improving an image display of a region-of-interest of an image.
Claims 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Canon (WO 2019/240257), as applied to claim 1.
Regarding claim 16, Canon further discloses wherein the display controller aligns and displays two or more processed images of the plurality of processed images or thumbnails of the two or more processed images on the first display (figure 17; claim 16).
Regarding claim 17, Canon further discloses wherein the display controller displays two or more processed images of the plurality of processed images or thumbnails o the two or more processed images one-by-one on the first display (figure 17; claim 17).
Regarding claim 18, Canon discloses all the claimed limitations except. However, the feature of a monitoring processor or an abnormality detecting processor is merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to change the display state of images in accordance with the movement or an abnormality detection of the subject's eye. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for the purpose of changing the display state of images.
Regarding claim 19, Canon discloses all the claimed limitations except for an abnormality detecting processor configured to detect an abnormality of the subject's eye, wherein the display controller changes a display state of the plurality of processed images based on output from the abnormality detecting processor. However, the feature of a monitoring processor or an abnormality detecting processor is merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to change the display state of images in accordance with the movement or an abnormality detection of the subject's eye. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for the purpose of changing the display state of images.
Regarding claim 20, Canon discloses all the claimed limitations except wherein the image parameter includes one or more of a color tone parameter, a brightness parameter, a contrast parameter, a gain parameter, a gamma parameter, a color temperature parameter, a white balance parameter, an RGB balance parameter, a gray balance parameter, an edge enhancement parameter, a shadow enhancement parameter, a sharpening parameter, and a high dynamic range parameter. However, the feature of a specific image parameter is merely one of several straightforward possibilities which the skilled person would select, depending on the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill, in order to improve eye diagnostic. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement this feature for the purpose of improving eye diagnostic.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACK DINH whose telephone number is (571)272-2327. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am-5pm.
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/JACK DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 6/27/26
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