DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments filed on 11 May 2026 have been entered. Claims 1, 5-7, 9, 13, 14, 17 and 21-23 have been amended, claims 2-4, 8, 10-12, 15, 16, 18-20 and 24 have been canceled, and claims 25-30 have been added. Claims 1, 5-7, 9, 13, 14, 17, 21-23 and 25-30 are still pending in this application, with claims 1, 9 and 17 being independent.
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5-7, 9, 13, 14, 17, 21-23, 26, 28 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAMAHIRO (JP 2020077420 A), referred herein as YAMAHIRO (from IDS) in view of Roach et al. (US 9672510 B2), referred herein as Roach.
Regarding Claims 1, 9 and 17, YAMAHIRO in view of Roach an image processing system, method and non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising at least one memory configured to store instructions; at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations (YAMAHIRO Abst: a portable terminal, an identity verification server, an identity verification system and a program; FIG. 1; Roach col 5, ln37-40: Systems and methods are provided for real-time evaluation of high quality preview images of a document prior to capturing a final image of the document on a mobile device.), the operations comprising:
controlling a display to display a first guide on the display (YAMAHIRO [0018] The guide image is an auxiliary image showing the arrangement range, and serves as a guide for obtaining an image in which the identity verification document and the user's face are arranged at the positions as instructed);
analyzing an image in a video captured by a camera while displaying the first guide on the display (YAMAHIRO Abst: A portable terminal 1 with a camera 23 is such that identity verification of a user at the start of a service can be performed by the portable terminal 1 alone carried by the user; [0042] The control unit 10 analyzes the personal identification image and identifies the personal identification document; [0085] Examples of document position guide images for various shooting directions and positions are document position guide image 361 shown in Figure 16(A) to document position guide image 364 shown in Figure 16(D));
detecting, by analyzing the image, an angle of a document, and a position of the document in the image (YAMAHIRO [0043] a document position area 81b in which the identity verification document is placed; [0079] The document position area
351a indicates the shooting direction from an oblique angle so that the facial photograph on the identity verification document can be confirmed and the thickness of the long side of the identity verification document can be confirmed);
YAMAHIRO does not but Roach teaches
in response to determining that the angle of the document in the image satisfies a predetermined angle condition and the position of the document in the image satisfies a predetermined position condition (Roach col 12, ln 12-21: A parameter value is determined for each measured parameter, such as angle of the mobile device, image size (or document size within the image), lighting, focus, etc. Further details regarding the parameters and the hardware and/or software used to measure those parameters are described further below. In step S206, the measured values of the parameters are compared with their respective threshold values (or single group threshold value) and a determination is made as to whether the parameters meet the thresholds; col 16, ln 1-10: FIG. 4B illustrates the display screen 402 of the mobile device when the document 406 is too far away from the camera. Thus, the bounding box 404 is colored in red and the written instruction 410 “too far away” is written up at the top. FIG. 4C illustrates an out-of-focus document 406, which provides the specific written instruction 410 “Out of Focus” to the user so that the user will pay more attention to focusing when taking a picture of the document. FIG. 4D illustrates an image of the driver's license 406 that is taken from an angle of orientation (“tilt”) that is significantly greater than desired, thus causing distortion and skew in the images and making the driver's license very difficult to read),
YAMAHIRO in view of Roach
acquiring, as one of a plurality of images for personal identification the image in the video (YAMAHIRO [0077] In S340 of FIG. 14, the control unit 310 (identity confirmation image processing unit 313) of the mobile terminal 301 activates the out-camera 23b and causes the touch panel display 25 to display a through image of the out-camera 23b. Further, the control unit 310 outputs a document position guide image 350 in which the front side of the identity verification document is in the shooting direction, as shown in FIG. 15A, to the touch panel display 25); 361 of YAMAHIRO teaches the first guide, and
in a case where at least one image among the plurality of images for personal identification remains to be acquired, continuing to analyze the image in the video while displaying a second guide on the display, the second guide being displayed based on predetermined guide information associated with a posture regarding the document (Roach col 12, ln41-45: In step S210, one or more images of the document are then captured by the camera and stored on the mobile device. In one embodiment, a plurality of images is captured in a short period of time to ensure that at least one of the images is of high quality; col 12, ln 57-60: In step S212, the captured images may be processed at the mobile device to perform image quality analysis (IQA) and determine if the captured images are of sufficient image quality to be used for the financial transaction requested by the user; col 15, ln17-23: in FIGS. 4A-4H, a user may be provided with a bounding box 404 in the form of a semi-transparent outline of a quadrilateral shape (such as a rectangle) on the display screen 402 of the mobile device to guide the user to make sure the document is fully contained in the display screen during the mobile image capture process). The bounding box 404 of Roach teaches the second guide.
Roach discloses a real-time evaluation of high-quality preview images of a document prior to capturing a final image of the document on a mobile device. Roach is analogous to the present patent application.
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified YAMAHIRO to incorporate the teachings of Roach, and apply the View Angle IQA (an IQA threshold) and parameters that should be measured and the values of the thresholds required to capture an image into the identity verification processing.
Doing so would automate the process of capturing images of documents with mobile devices and verifying that the quality of the image is sufficient processing.
Regarding Claims 5, 13 and 21, YAMAHIRO in view of Roach teaches the image processing system according to claims 1, 9 and 17, respectively, and further teaches wherein the operations comprise controlling a display position of the first guide and a display position of the second guide within a range narrower than an angle view of the camera (YAMAHIRO [0079] The document position area 351a indicates the photographing direction from an oblique direction so that the face photograph of the personal identification document can be confirmed and the thickness of the long side of the personal identification document can be confirmed. Therefore, the document position area 351a is shown as a trapezoid with a long base; [0082] The control unit 310, for example, confirms that the identity verification document is within the document position area 350a and that the identity verification image can be acquired in a predetermined size, and that the acquired identity verification image is the identity verification document. Confirm that there is (for example, the front of the driver's license 3). The control unit 310 performs this confirmation on all the acquired personal identification images; Roach col 15, ln 36-44: the bounding box 404 may appear red, indicating that the document does not fit and that the auto-capture process cannot capture an image. The written instruction 410 above the bounding box simply states “Too Close,” indicating to the user that the camera is too close to the driver's license and should be ported The color of the bounding box 404 may vary dynamically as the user alters the camera or the document so that the document fits within the bounding box).
Regarding Claims 6, 14 and 22, YAMAHIRO in view of Roach teaches the image processing system according to claims 1, 9 and 17, respectively, and further teaches wherein the operations comprise changing a display position of the first guide and a display position of the second guide along a height direction of a display area for displaying the video (YAMAHIRO [0080] the document position area 351a may not be indicated by a frame line, but may be indicated by lines indicating the positions of the two long sides of the personal identification document. The document position area 351a may be used to confirm the thickness of the short side of the personal identification document; Roach col 15, ln 23-26: The bounding box 404 is generally designed to help the user align their mobile device over the document 406 to-be captured so that the document fits within the boundaries 408 of the bounding box).
Regarding Claims 7 and 23, YAMAHIRO in view of Roach teaches the image processing system according to claims 1 and 17, respectively, and further teaches wherein the operations comprise changing a display position of the first guide and a display position of the second guide along a width direction of a display area for displaying the video (YAMAHIRO [0080] the document position area 351a may not be indicated by a frame line, but may be indicated by lines indicating the positions of the two long sides of the personal identification document. The document position area 351a may be used to confirm the thickness of the short side of the personal identification document; Roach col 15, ln 23-26: The bounding box 404 is generally designed to help the user align their mobile device over the document 406 to-be captured so that the document fits within the boundaries 408 of the bounding box).
Regarding Claims 26, 28 and 30, YAMAHIRO in view of Roach teaches the image processing system according to claims 1 and 17, respectively, and further teaches wherein the posture regarding the document includes a front surface of the document, or a side surface of the document or a back surface of the document (YAMAHIRO [0040] in the case of a driver's license 3, it is necessary to photograph both the front and back; [0041] the control unit 10 may also acquire an image from a direction that shows the thickness of the card, which is the side of the identity verification document, as part of the identity verification image).
Claim(s) 25, 27 and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAMAHIRO (JP 2020077420 A), referred herein as YAMAHIRO (from IDS) in view of Roach et al. (US 9672510 B2), referred herein as Roach and Maguire et al. (US 20210121155 A1), referred herein as Maguire.
Regarding Claims 625, 27 and 29, YAMAHIRO in view of Roach teaches the image processing system according to claims 1, 9 and 17, respectively, but does not teach the claimed limitation herein. However Maguire teaches wherein displaying the second guide comprises causing a movement amount of a display position of the first guide between a first position before changing a display position and a second position after the changing of the display position to be equal to or more than a predetermined first threshold value and to be equal to or less than a second threshold value larger than the predetermined first threshold value (Maguire [0048] the external sensor 24 may include the display 206 to indicate the suggested movements of the tracheal tube 26 and/or illuminate a light indicator of the output device 86 to coordinate with the suggested movements or movement parameter 176 (e.g., red for outside a first threshold, yellow for within the first and outside a second threshold, green for within the second threshold), and
the second guide is the first guide displayed after the changing ( Roach col 15, ln 40-49: The color of the bounding box 404 may vary dynamically as the user alters the camera or the document so that the document fits within the bounding box. When the document 406 is properly framed within the bounding box 404, the bounding box 404 may turn green to indicate that one or more of the parameters have been satisfied. Other visual or auditory aides may be provided to aid the user in aligning the camera on the mobile device with the document).
Maguire discloses a position monitoring system. Maguire is analogous to the present patent application.
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified YAMAHIRO to incorporate the teachings of Maguire, and apply the plurality of thresholds of movement amount into the identity verification processing.
Doing so would instruct the display to present an indication of the position of the distal portion based on feedback from the detector in the image processing system.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 11 May 2026 with respect to 103 rejections on claim(s) 1, 9 and 17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Samantha (Yuehan) Wang whose telephone number is (571)270-5011. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm.
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/Samantha (YUEHAN) WANG/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2617
Prosecution Insights