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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-8 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.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 5, filed 3/17/2026 with respect to claim objection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection of claims 1, 2, 5, 7 and 8 has been withdrawn. Applicant amendments have overcome the rejection.
Applicant’s arguments, see page 6, filed 3/17/2026 with respect to 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 1-8 has been withdrawn. Applicant amendments have overcome the rejection
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 1-8 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Re claim 1 The examiner notes that he specification does not disclose “transform, based on relative distance between the first location information and the second location information and further based on one or more predetermined conditions for recognizing a predetermined shape as a target, the first character and the second character into a third shape representing the target” This appears to relate to paragraphs 43-45 of the specification. Note the specification recites “the shape recognition unit 122 evaluates relationship between detected characters of a character string, and recognizes a shape of a target including the character string”. The examiner notes that this is different than “transform, based on relative distance between the first location information and the second location information and further based on one or more predetermined conditions for recognizing a predetermined shape as a target, the first character and the second character into a third shape representing the target”. The examiner is unable to find support of a transformation.
Claim 2-6 depend from claim 1.
Claim 7 and 8 contain similar undisclosed features as claim 1.
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) 1-3 7 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan US 2012/0269398 in view of Kim KR 102115792 B1.
Re claim 1
Fan US 2012/0269398 discloses A recognition device comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor being configured to (see paragraph 27-30 note that the invention may be implemented with a computer running software on a memory): acquire a image acquired in an environment in which a vehicle travels (see paragraph 41);
detect, by the at least one processor on a pixel-by-pixel basis, a first character and a second character of a predetermined character string from the image ( see paragraph 48 “Next, as indicated at block 430, a black run with respect to the binarized image can be analyzed and classified. Following processing of the operation depicted at block 430 one or more objects (connected components) can be generated based on the run classification, as shown at block 440” note that objects are detected see paragraph 46 note that the object may be a character see also paragraph 13 “A "run" can be defined as a set of one-dimensionally (e.g., horizontally) connected pixels of similar color”) and create a first shape comprising a rendered region of the first character and a second shape comprising another rendered region of the second character, wherein the first shape comprises first location information, and the second shape comprises second location information (see paragraph 53 and 34 note that the note that various objects are determined which are connected components which define the character shape the see figure example figure 6 and 7 note that for example the objects in picture 640 the determined binary objects correspond to the shapes of the letters, note that two of the letters or numbers could correspond to the first and second shape See paragraph 54 note that the location/position of the objects is subsequently used);
locate the license plate, based on relative distance between the first location information and the second location information and further based on one or more predetermined conditions for recognizing a predetermined shape as a target the first character and the second character (see paragraph 64 note that the objects i.e character are spatially clustered based on uniformity and linearity [corresponding to the conditions] based on distance with respect to the position of the characters see paragraph 47 and 56 note that the edges of the license plate are determined located for the plate image see also figure 4); and create, based on the detected first character, the detected second character, a set of characters of the target with accuracy (see paragraph 47 note that the located license plate is used to perform OCR to determine the characters).
Fan does not expressly disclose location the license plate by Transformation of the first shape into a third shape representing the target or a time-series image. Kim KR 102115792 B1 discloses location the license plate by Transformation of the first shape into a third shape representing the target (see paragraph 66 “In order to convert vehicle images input in various environments (weather conditions, etc.) into binary images in which the strokes of the characters are well preserved, the present invention uses a DoG filter.Using a DoG filter, precise edge information is extracted and the edges are connected to generate a binary image with well-preserved character strokes.Four consecutive digits can be detected from a binary image, and the license plate area can be roughly estimated using the location information.” Note that knowledge of the character shapes is used to extract the area i.e. shape of the license plate) and a times series image (See paragraph 14 note that the image may be video data) The motivation to combine is “If distortion occurs in the license plate area, many of the unique geometric features of the license plate may be lost, but regularity remains in the size and position of the four consecutively arranged large numbers. Therefore, we propose a bottom-up license plate algorithm that first finds four consecutive large numbers, estimates the license plate area, and extracts and recognizes individual characters” (see paragraph 66). The examiner notes that this is similar to the specification where position of characters are used to determine the shape of the license plate. One of ordinary skill in the art could have easily used the techniques of Kim to modify the teachings of Fan to locate the license plate by extracting its area. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim and Fan to reach the aforementioned advantage.
Re claim 2 Fan discloses obtain the image by capturing the image by an in-vehicle camera( see paragraph 43 “The image capturing unit 315 can be operated as a hand-held device and/or a vehicle-mounted device” note that the capture unit may be mounted in the vehicle), and recognize a shape of the target by identifying a region in an image in which the target is drawn with at least one of a license plate or a sign set as the target (see abstract note that the target may be a license plate).
Re claim 3 Fan discloses evaluate positional relationship for relationship between the characters (see abstract note that the linearity of the clustered object may be evaluated).
Re claim 7
Fan US 2012/0269398 discloses A recognition method for causing a computer to execute processing (see paragraph 27-30 note that the invention may be implemented with a computer running software on a memory): acquiring a image acquired in an environment in which a vehicle travels (see paragraph 41);
detecting, by the at least one processor on a pixel-by-pixel basis, a first character and a second character of a predetermined character string from the image (see paragraph 48 “Next, as indicated at block 430, a black run with respect to the binarized image can be analyzed and classified. Following processing of the operation depicted at block 430 one or more objects (connected components) can be generated based on the run classification, as shown at block 440” note that objects are detected see paragraph 46 note that the object may be a character ) and create a first shape comprising a rendered region of the first character and a second shape comprising another rendered region of the second character, wherein the first shape comprises first location information, and the second shape comprises second location information (see paragraph 53 and 34 note that the note that various objects are determined which are connected components which define the character shape the see figure example figure 6 and 7 note that for example the objects in picture 640 the determined binary objects correspond to the shapes of the letters, note that two of the letters and numbers could correspond to the first and second shape See paragraph 54 note that the location of the objects is subsequently used);
locating the license plate, based on relative distance between the first location information and the second location information and further based on one or more predetermined conditions for recognizing a predetermined shape as a target the first character and the second character (see paragraph 64 note that the objects are spatially clustered based on uniformity and linearity based on distance see paragraph 47 note that the edges of the license plate are determined located the plate image i.e. plate shape); and creating, based on the detected first character, the detected second character, a set of characters of the target with accuracy (see paragraph 47 note that the located license plate is used to perform OCR to determine the characters).
Fan does not expressly disclose location of the license plate by Transformation of the first shape into a third shape representing the target or a time-series image. Kim KR 102115792 B1 discloses location the license plate by Transformation of the first shape into a third shape representing the target (see paragraph 66 “In order to convert vehicle images input in various environments (weather conditions, etc.) into binary images in which the strokes of the characters are well preserved, the present invention uses a DoG filter.Using a DoG filter, precise edge information is extracted and the edges are connected to generate a binary image with well-preserved character strokes.Four consecutive digits can be detected from a binary image, and the license plate area can be roughly estimated using the location information.” Note that the character shapes is used to extract the license palte area i.e. shape of the license plate ) and a times series image (See paragraph 14 note that the image may be video data) The motivation to combine is “If distortion occurs in the license plate area, many of the unique geometric features of the license plate may be lost, but regularity remains in the size and position of the four consecutively arranged large numbers. Therefore, we propose a bottom-up license plate algorithm that first finds four consecutive large numbers, estimates the license plate area, and extracts and recognizes individual characters” (see paragraph 66). One of ordinary skill in the art could have easily used the techniques of Kim to modify the teachings of Fan to locate the license plate by extracting its area. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim and Fan to reach the aforementioned advantage.
Re claim 8
Fan US 2012/0269398 discloses A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing a recognition program for causing a computer to execute processing, the processing comprising (see paragraph 27-30 note that the invention may be implemented with a computer running software on a memory): acquiring a image acquired in an environment in which a vehicle travels (see paragraph 41);
detecting, by the at least one processor on a pixel-by-pixel basis, a first character and a second character of a predetermined character string from the image (see paragraph 48 “Next, as indicated at block 430, a black run with respect to the binarized image can be analyzed and classified. Following processing of the operation depicted at block 430 one or more objects (connected components) can be generated based on the run classification, as shown at block 440” note that objects are detected see paragraph 46 note that the object may be a character ) and create a first shape comprising a rendered region of the first character and a second shape comprising another rendered region of the second character, wherein the first shape comprises first location information, and the second shape comprises second location information (see paragraph 53 and 34 note that the note that various objects are determined which are connected components which define the character shape the see figure example figure 6 and 7 note that for example the objects in picture 640 the determined binary objects correspond to the shapes of the letters, note that two of the letters and numbers could correspond to the first and second shape See paragraph 54 note that the location of the objects is subsequently used);
locating the license plate, based on relative distance between the first location information and the second location information and further based on one or more predetermined conditions for recognizing a predetermined shape as a target the first character and the second character (see paragraph 64 note that the objects are spatially clustered based on uniformity and linearity based on distance see paragraph 47 note that the edges of the license plate are determined located the plate image i.e. plate shape); and creating, based on the detected first character, the detected second character, a set of characters of the target with accuracy (see paragraph 47 note that the located license plate is used to perform OCR to determine the characters).
Fan does not expressly disclose location of the license plate by Transformation of the first shape into a third shape representing the target or a time-series image. Kim KR 102115792 B1 discloses location the license plate by Transformation of the first shape into a third shape representing the target (see paragraph 66 “In order to convert vehicle images input in various environments (weather conditions, etc.) into binary images in which the strokes of the characters are well preserved, the present invention uses a DoG filter.Using a DoG filter, precise edge information is extracted and the edges are connected to generate a binary image with well-preserved character strokes. Four consecutive digits can be detected from a binary image, and the license plate area can be roughly estimated using the location information.” Note that the character shapes is used to extract the license plate area i.e. shape of the license plate ) and a times series image (See paragraph 14 note that the image may be video data) The motivation to combine is “If distortion occurs in the license plate area, many of the unique geometric features of the license plate may be lost, but regularity remains in the size and position of the four consecutively arranged large numbers. Therefore, we propose a bottom-up license plate algorithm that first finds four consecutive large numbers, estimates the license plate area, and extracts and recognizes individual characters” (see paragraph 66). One of ordinary skill in the art could have easily used the techniques of Kim to modify the teachings of Fan to locate the license plate by extracting its area. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kim and Fan to reach the aforementioned advantage.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan US 2012/0269398 and Kim KR 102115792 B1 in view of Wan US 2014/0111542.
Re claim 4 Fan discloses all of the elements of claim 1 Fan does not expressly disclose determine whether fonts of respective characters of the character string are same, and evaluate positional relationship between fonts determined to be same. Wan discloses determine whether fonts of respective characters of the character string are same, and evaluate positional relationship between fonts determined to be same (see paragraph 30 “detecting the presence of text for text markers that are aligned relative to a single imaginary straight line, with substantially equal spacing between individual characters and substantially equal spacing between groups of characters, and with the substantially the same font” note that text which as equal spacing and the same font is detected). The motivation to combine “The OCR engine 32 of the platform 10 detects non-cursive script, and the text to be detected generally conforms to a particular typeface. (see paragraph 105). That is that signs typically contain the same typeface (i.e. font). One or ordinary skill in the art could have easily applied the principles of detecting text with equal spacing and the same font as likely to be attributed to a sign to the invention of fan. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ferguson and Wan to reach the aforementioned advantage.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan US 2012/0269398 and Kim KR 102115792 B1 in view of Wilbert US 2017/0270384.
Fan and Kim disclose all the elements of claim 1. Fan and Kim do not expressly disclose detect a detection rectangle representing a range of a character defined by coordinates of each of the characters and evaluate relationship between a pixel of a character and a pixel other than a character in the detection rectangle.
Wilbert discloses detect a detection rectangle representing a range of a character defined by coordinates of each of the characters (see paragraph 140 note that a rectangle is fit around each character) and evaluate relationship between a pixel of a character and a pixel other than a character in the detection rectangle (see section 141 note that a slope is determined between the character D and object 2125). The motivation to combine is “When the process 500 determines that at least object image exists within the frame, the process 500 assigns (at 520) a score based on the detected object image. The score may be based on the likelihood that at least one of the object images is a license plate image” One of ordinary skill in the art could have easily modified the techniques of Fan to include bounding boxes of Wilbert to assist in locating license plates as described in Wilbert. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wilbert Fan and Kim to reach the aforementioned advantage.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan US 2012/0269398 and Kim KR 102115792 B1 in view of Popov US 2020/0293794.
Re claim 6 Fan and Kim discloses all the elements of claim 1. They does not expressly disclose detect characters of the character string using a model learned in advance to detect a character of a specific font. Popov discloses detect characters of the character string using a model learned in advance to detect a character of a specific font (see paragraph 38 note that the character recognition model is trained on a plurality of fonts.) The motivation to combine is “the character recognition unit 208 takes into account the lighting and visibility conditions while performing character recognition” see paragraph 38. One of ordinary skill in the art could have easily used the character recognition model of Popov to perform the character recognition of Fan and Kim to reach the aforementioned advantage. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Fan and Kim and Popov to reach the aforementioned advantage.
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 SEAN T MOTSINGER whose telephone number is (571)270-1237. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chineyere Wills-Burns can be reached at (571) 272-9752. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SEAN T MOTSINGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2673
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