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 .
This action is responsive to the following communication: an amendment filed on 10/28/2025.
Claims 1-16 are currently pending and presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to prior art claims rejection filed on 10/28/2025 have been fully considered, however, the remarks are moot, because the arguments do not apply to the combination of the references being used in the current rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
1. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, 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.
2.Claims 1, 3, 4, 12,13, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kishine et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2022/0078359 A1), in view of Takeda et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2021/0082122 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kishine et al. discloses a polarization imaging device (Para 73; The imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment is an imaging apparatus that captures a multispectral image of four bands. Fig. 9 ) including:
an image sensor that includes a sensor region ( Para 91-92; image sensor 100; Fig. 6; pixels of the image sensor ) , wherein the sensor region is evenly divided into a first sub-sensor region, a second sub-sensor region, a third sub-sensor region, and a fourth sub-sensor region (Figs.6, 7; Para 92; The image sensor 100 has a plurality of types of the pixels P1, P2, P3, and P4 on a light-receiving surface thereof. The pixels P1 to P4 are regularly arranged at a certain pitch along a horizontal direction (x-axis direction) and a vertical direction (y-axis direction). Para 95; polarization filter element array layer 120),
the first sub-sensor region is adjacent to the second sub-sensor region, the second sub-sensor region is adjacent to the third sub-sensor region, and the third sub-sensor region is adjacent to the fourth sub-sensor region ( Figs.6, 7; Para 92; The image sensor 100 has a plurality of types of the pixels P1, P2, P3, and P4 on a light-receiving surface thereof. The pixels P1 to P4 are regularly arranged at a certain pitch along a horizontal direction (x-axis direction) and a vertical direction (y-axis direction); wherein p1 is adjacent to p2, p2 is adjacent to p4 and p4 is adjacent to p3);
and a mask configured to evenly superimpose each of the first sub-sensor region, the second sub-sensor region, the third sub-sensor region, and the fourth sub-sensor region, wherein the mask includes a first sub-mask region that has a first polarization direction, a second sub-mask region that has a second polarization direction, a third sub-mask region that has a third polarization direction, and a fourth sub-mask region that has a fourth polarization direction (Para 100; Fig. 9; Para 100; the first pixel P1 and the fourth pixel P4 in the pixel block comprise the first polarization filter element 122A, and the second pixel P2 and the third pixel P3 comprise the second polarization filter element 122B.) , and each of the first sub-mask region, the second sub-mask region, the third sub-mask region, and the fourth sub-mask evenly superimposes the first sub-sensor region, the second sub-sensor egion, the third sub-sensor region, and the fourth sub-sensor region, respectively (Figs. 7, 9; Para 95-98; The image sensor 100 includes a pixel array layer 110, a polarization filter element array layer 120, a spectral filter element array layer 130, and a micro lens array layer 140. The layers are disposed in the order of the pixel array layer 110, the polarization filter element array layer 120, the spectral filter element array layer 130, and the micro lens array layer 140 from an image plane side to an object side. Wherein the pixel array layer 110 and polarization filter element array layer 120 are superimposed).
However, Kishine et al. does not disclose the filter is a binary mask.
Takeda et al. discloses the filter is a binary mask (Para 25; the mask value for a pixel of the intermediate mask image may be either a “0” or “1”. ).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize binary mask as disclosed in Takeda et al. for the polarization filter as disclosed in Kishine et al. in order to offer improved spatial resolution in image while allowing different polarization sates without the need for mechanical rotation to make the system more compact.
Regarding claim 3, Kishine et al. discloses a polarization imaging device (Para 73; The imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment is an imaging apparatus that captures a multispectral image of four bands. Fig. 9 ) including:
an image sensor ( Para 91-92; image sensor 100) that includes a plurality of sub-sensor regions ( Figs.7, 7, 9; Para 92; The image sensor 100 has a plurality of types of the pixels P1, P2, P3, and P4 on a light-receiving surface thereof. The pixels P1 to P4 are regularly arranged at a certain pitch along a horizontal direction (x-axis direction) and a vertical direction (y-axis direction). Para 95; polarization filter element array layer 120); and
a mask configured to superimposed the plurality of sub-sensor regions wherein the mask includes a plurality of sub-mask regions that has different polarization directions for each of a plurality of blocks (Fig. 6,7,9; Para 95-98; The image sensor 100 includes a pixel array layer 110, a polarization filter element array layer 120, a spectral filter element array layer 130, and a micro lens array layer 140. The layers are disposed in the order of the pixel array layer 110, the polarization filter element array layer 120, the spectral filter element array layer 130, and the micro lens array layer 140 from an image plane side to an object side. Wherein the pixel array layer 110 and polarization filter element array layer 120 are superimposed ; Para 100; Fig. 9; Para 100; the first pixel P1 and the fourth pixel P4 in the pixel block comprise the first polarization filter element 122A, and the second pixel P2 and the third pixel P3 comprise the second polarization filter element 122B ) , and
each of the plurality of sub-mask regions corresponds to the plurality of sub-sensor regions ( Fig. 6,7,9; Para 95-98; The image sensor 100 includes a pixel array layer 110, a polarization filter element array layer 120, a spectral filter element array layer 130, and a micro lens array layer 140. The layers are disposed in the order of the pixel array layer 110, the polarization filter element array layer 120, the spectral filter element array layer 130, and the micro lens array layer 140 from an image plane side to an object side. Wherein the pixel array layer 110 and polarization filter element array layer 120 are superimposed).
Takeda et al. discloses the filter is a binary mask (Para 25; the mask value for a pixel of the intermediate mask image may be either a “0” or “1”. ).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize binary mask as disclosed in Takeda et al. for the polarization filter as disclosed in Kishine et al. in order to offer improved spatial resolution in image while allowing different polarization sates without the need for mechanical rotation to make the system more compact.
Regarding claim 4, Kishine et al. discloses a polarization imaging device (Para 73; The imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment is an imaging apparatus that captures a multispectral image of four bands. Fig. 9 ) including:
an image sensor (Para 91-92; image sensor 100 ) that includes a sensor region ( Figs. 6,7; pixels of the image sensor) , wherein the sensor region is evenly divided into a first sub-sensor region and a second sub-sensor region (Figs.7, 7, 9; Para 92; The image sensor 100 has a plurality of types of the pixels P1, P2, P3, and P4 on a light-receiving surface thereof. The pixels P1 to P4 are regularly arranged at a certain pitch along a horizontal direction (x-axis direction) and a vertical direction (y-axis direction). Para 95; polarization filter element array layer 120 ) ; and
a mask configured to superimpose the first sub-sensor region and the second sub-sensor region, wherein the mask includes a first sub-mask region that has a first polarization direction, a second sub-mask region that has a second polarization direction, and a third sub-mask region that has the first polarization direction ( Fig. 9; Para 95-100; in the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment, the first pixel P1 and the fourth pixel P4 in the pixel block comprise the first polarization filter element 122A, and the second pixel P2 and the third pixel P3 comprise the second polarization filter element 122B. wherein the fourth pixel P4 has the same polarization as the first pixel P1 ) , and
the second sub-mask region evenly superimposed each of the first sub-sensor region and the second sub-sensor region ( Fig. 6,7,9; Para 95-98; The image sensor 100 includes a pixel array layer 110, a polarization filter element array layer 120, a spectral filter element array layer 130, and a micro lens array layer 140. The layers are disposed in the order of the pixel array layer 110, the polarization filter element array layer 120, the spectral filter element array layer 130, and the micro lens array layer 140 from an image plane side to an object side. Wherein the pixel array layer 110 and polarization filter element array layer 120 are superimposed).
However, Kishine et al. does not disclose the filter is a binary mask.
Takeda et al. discloses the filter is a binary mask (Para 25; the mask value for a pixel of the intermediate mask image may be either a “0” or “1”. ).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize binary mask as disclosed in Takeda et al. for the polarization filter as disclosed in Kishine et al. in order to offer improved spatial resolution in image while allowing different polarization sates without the need for mechanical rotation to make the system more compact.
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Kishine et al. and Takeda et al. teaches The polarization imaging device according to claim 1, wherein a specific pattern of the binary mask includes a plurality of types of color filters ( Kishine et al.; sing a polarization color filter plate having three light transmission regions having different polarization characteristics and color characteristics (wavelength selectivity) ) .
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Kishine et al. and Takeda et al. teaches The polarization imaging device according to claim 1, including a plurality of binary masks, wherein the plurality of binary masks includes the binary mask (Kihine et al.; Figs. 7, 9; Para 95-98; multiple filters) (Takeda et al.; Para 25; the mask value for a pixel of the intermediate mask image may be either a “0” or “1”.).
Regarding claim 14, the subject matter disclosed in claim 14 is similar to the subject matter disclosed in claim 1; therefore, claim 14 is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 1.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kishine et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2022/0078359 A1), in view of Takeda et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2021/0082122 A1), and further in view of Kadambi et al. ( US Pub. No.: US 2021/0356572 A1).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Kishine and Takeda et al. . does not teach wherein a difference between each of the first polarization direction, the second polarization direction, the third polarization direction, and the fourth polarization direction is 45 degrees.
Kadambi et al. discloses wherein a difference between each of the first polarization direction, the second polarization direction, the third polarization direction, and the fourth polarization direction is 45 degrees (Para 54; Fig. 1A; The electro-optic modulator may be configured to transmit light of different linear polarizations when capturing different frames, e.g., so that the camera captures images with the entirety of the polarization mask set to, sequentially, to different linear polarizer angles (e.g., sequentially set to: 0 degrees; 45 degrees; 90 degrees; or 135 degrees)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize polarization filters with different angles as disclosed in Kadambi et al. for the device disclosed in the combination of Kishine and Takeda et al. in order to enhance color saturation and improve image contrast and clarity to provide image with better quality.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kishine et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2022/0078359 A1), in view of Takeda et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2021/0082122 A1) and further in view of DeWeert et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2015/0139560 A1).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Kishine et al. and Takeda et al. does not teach wherein a specific pattern of the binary mask is a pattern of one of a uniformly redundant arrays (URA) mask or a modified uniformly redundant arrays (MURA) mask.
Deweert discloses the predetermined pattern of the binary mask is a pattern of a uniformly redundant arrays (URA) mask or a modified uniformly redundant arrays (MURA) mask ( Para 46 ; modified uniformly redundant array (MURA) mask ) ( please note that the strike through limitation is not being considered due to alterative wording “or”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize modified uniformly redundant array (MURA) mask as disclosed in Deweert for the filter as disclosed in the combination of Kishine et al. and Takeda et al. to reduce noise and improve image quality with higher resolution.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kishine et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2022/0078359 A1), in view of Takeda et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2021/0082122 A1) and further in view of DeWeert et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2015/0139560 A1) and Sugano (US Pub. No.: US 2015/0145987 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Kishine et al. does not disclose the specific patter includes a plurality of light transmitting materials and a plurality of light non-transmitting materials , and the plurality of light transmitting materials and the plurality of light non-transmitting materials are in a two-dimensional lattice.
Sugano discloses the specific patter includes a plurality of light transmitting materials and a plurality of light non-transmitting materials , and the plurality of light transmitting materials and the plurality of light non-transmitting materials are in a two-dimensional lattice (Para 8, 33; two-dimensional image data; A transmission section for the light and a non-transmission section for the light are denoted as 1 and 0, respectively, and hence the pattern of the projected light is subjected to the binary coding. This pattern image is captured with a camera).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize masks with both light transmitting materials and non-light transmitting materials as disclosed in Sugano for the device disclosed in Kishine et al. to perform coded masking to provide images with high dynamic range and high image resolution.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kishine et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2022/0078359 A1), in view of Takeda et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2021/0082122 A1) and further in view of Fukuta et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2011/0043623 A1).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Kishine and Takeda et al. does not teach the polarization imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the image sensor is a line sensor or an area sensor.
Fukuta et al. discloses the image sensor is a line sensor or an area sensor (Para 103; The imaging element 113 is an area image sensor which is a solid-state imaging element such as a CCD image sensor or a CMOS image sensor.).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize CCD or CMOS image sensor as disclosed in Fukuta et al. for the device disclosed in the combination of Kishine and Takeda et al. in order to produce high quality images with excellent color details.
Claims 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kishine et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2022/0078359 A1), in view of Takeda et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2021/0082122 A1) and further in view of Fukuta et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2011/0043623 A1) and McEldowney (US Pub. No.: US 20210084206 A1).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Kishine et al., Takeda et al. and Fukuta et al. does not teach the polarization imaging device of claim 10, wherein the image sensor is a monochromatic sensor.
McEldowney discloses wherein the image sensor is a monochromatic sensor (Para 30; the polarized image sensors may be near infrared (“NIR”) polarized image sensors
configured to capture monochromatic images of the object from different (e.g., slightly different) perspectives).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a monochromatic sensor as disclosed in McEldowney for the combination of Kishine et al., Takeda et al. and Fukuta et al. in order to offer higher output resolution and to easily apply computer vision algorithms for AI based inferencing for image analysis or object tracking.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5,6, 7 are 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.
Regarding claim 5, prior art on record Kishine et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2022/0078359 A1) discloses a processing unit (Para 113-114; The analog signal processing unit 200A takes in an analog pixel signal output from each pixel of the image sensor 100, performs predetermined signal processing (for example, sampling two correlation pile processing, amplification processing, and the like), converts the processed pixel signal into a digital signal, and outputs the converted digital signal.),wherein the image sensor is further configured to:
detect light from a scene through a filter (Para 75; The imaging optical system 10 includes a bandpass filter unit 16 and a polarization filter unit 18 in a vicinity of a pupil thereof. In addition, the imaging optical system 10 includes a focus adjustment mechanism (not shown)); and operate an image of the scene based on the detected light, the processing unit is configured to: acquire observation data based on the detected light from the scene (Para 113-114; The analog signal processing unit 200A takes in an analog pixel signal output from each pixel of the image sensor 100, performs predetermined signal processing (for example, sampling two correlation pile processing, amplification processing, and the like), converts the processed pixel signal into a digital signal, and outputs the converted digital signal.) .
However, the prior art does not disclose reconstruct the image of the scene based on the observation data, basic pattern information associated with the binary mask, and polarization filter information associated with a light transmitting material that constitutes the binary mask.
Claims 6, 7 are objected to as being dependent from claim 5.
Claim 15,16 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: regarding claim 15, prior art on record Kishine et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2022/0078359 A1) discloses an image processing system ( Para 72; imaging apparatus), including an acquisition unit configured to acquire observation data from an image sensor that detects light, from a scene , that passed through a filter ( Para 75; The imaging optical system 10 includes a bandpass filter unit 16 and a polarization filter unit 18 in a vicinity of a pupil thereof. In addition, the imaging optical system 10 includes a focus adjustment mechanism (not shown)) , wherein
the observation data being based on the light from the scene (Para 113-114; The analog signal processing unit 200A takes in an analog pixel signal output from each pixel of the image sensor 100, performs predetermined signal processing (for example, sampling two correlation pile processing, amplification processing, and the like), converts the processed pixel signal into a digital signal, and outputs the converted digital signal. The image generation unit 200B performs predetermined signal processing on the pixel signal after being converted into the digital signal to generate an image signal of each of the wavelength ranges λ11, λ12, λ21, and λ22.); a plurality of types of polarization filters that selectively controls a polarization direction in which the light is transmitted, and the filter includes a first sub-mask region that has a first polarization direction, a second sub-mask region that has a second polarization direction, a third-sub-mask region that has a third polarization direction, and a fourth sub-mask region that has a fourth polarization direction ( Para 100; Fig. 9; Para 100; the first pixel P1 and the fourth pixel P4 in the pixel block comprise the first polarization filter element 122A, and the second pixel P2 and the third pixel P3 comprise the second polarization filter element 122B) .
Prior art on record (Takeda et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2021/0082122 A1).
) discloses a binary mask includes a specific pattern to be superimposed on the image sensor (Para 25; the mask value for a pixel of the intermediate mask image may be either a “0” or “1”) .
Prior art on record Sugano (US Pub. No.: US 2015/0145987 A1) discloses the specific pattern of the binary mask includes a light non- transmitting material and a light transmitting material (Para 8, 33; two-dimensional image data; A transmission section for the light and a non-transmission section for the light are denoted as 1 and 0, respectively, and hence the pattern of the projected light is subjected to the binary coding. This pattern image is captured with a camera).
However, the prior art does not disclose a processing unit configured to : reconstruct the observation data; and generate a captured image of the scene based on the reconstructed observation data.
Regarding claim 16, the subject matter disclosed in claim 16 is similar to the subject matter disclosed in claim 15; therefore, claim 16 is allowed for the same reasons as set forth in claim 15.
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 XI WANG whose telephone number is 469-295-9155. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday -Friday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sinh Tran can be reached on 571-272-7564. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/XI WANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637