Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/15/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
6. Claim(s) 1-3, 8-12, and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Machine English Translation of QU (CN 111093023 A) previously cited by the examiner, hereinafter “QU” in view of Tang et al. (US 2015/0350546) hereinafter “Tang”.
As per claim 1, QU discloses a video shooting method, comprising:
determining a category of an object, from a plurality of categories, before shooting a video of the object (page 4, lines 17-21, when the video shooting in the configuration page, displaying a plurality of shooting subject identification, the user can according to the current shot content, selecting one of the shooting subject identification); and
determining, based on the category of the object, a target camera motion mode from a plurality of camera motion modes for shooting the video of the object (page 4 line 17- page 6 line 18 teach establishing different shooting functions, by switching shooting parameters according to the selected shooting subject identification, when shooting video by the user), wherein the plurality of camera motion modes comprises pushing, pulling, panning, translocating, rising, falling (page 5 lines 21-25 and page 7 lines 1-2)…and surrounding (e.g., switching shooting direction, as taught in page 5 lines 6-7), and each category corresponding to a different target camera motion mode among the plurality of camera motion modes (page 4 line 17- page 6 line 18 teach establishing different shooting functions, by switching shooting parameters according to the selected shooting subject identification);
generating a control instruction corresponding to the target camera motion mode (page 5 lines 16-20, displaying an indication arrow right, to suggest the user moves the camera to the right, switching the shooting direction, obtaining next shooting scene); and
controlling a video shooting device, in response to the control instruction, to move and capture a video of the object according to the target camera motion mode (page 5 lines 16-20, displaying an indication arrow right, to suggest the user moves the camera to the right, switching the shooting direction, obtaining next shooting scene).
However, QU does not explicitly disclose following as part of the plurality of camera motion modes.
In the same field of endeavor, Tang discloses following as a camera motion mode (paragraphs 0045-0046 and 0088, If the category of the object is the preset category, then in step 205, a camera of the terminal device will focus on the object, and controls a focus process, a camera in the terminal device can automatically follow the object and focus on the object, which makes the focus process more automated and less time consuming).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would have been motivated to combine the elements taught by QU, with those of Tang, because both references are drawn to the same field of endeavor, because indeed both references are related to camera motion mode determination based on object or subject information, and because such a combination represents a mere combination of prior art elements, according to known methods, to yield a predictable result. This rationale applies to all combination of QU and Tang used in this Office Action unless otherwise noted.
As per claim 2, QU discloses wherein the determining of the category of the object before shooting the video of the object comprises: determining the category of the object based on an object setting instruction input by a user (page 4, lines 17-23, when the video shooting in the configuration page, displaying a plurality of shooting subject identification, the user can according to the current shot content, selecting one of the shooting subject identification…wherein, in the above scenario, the first input comprises the user clicks the setting button 1 of the gesture action and click target shooting gesture action identification of topics).
As per claim 3, Tang disclose wherein the determining of the category of the object before shooting the video of the object comprises: obtaining an image comprising the object; and identifying the image to determine the category of the object (paragraph 0042).
As per claim 8, QU and Tang disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the controlling of the video shooting device, in response to the control instruction, to move and capture a video of the object according to the target camera motion mode (QU, page 5 lines 16-20, displaying an indication arrow right, to suggest the user moves the camera to the right, switching the shooting direction, obtaining next shooting scene) comprises: generating a control instruction based on a camera motion parameter of the target camera motion mode; and controlling the video shooting device (QU, page 5 lines 16-20, displaying an indication arrow right, to suggest the user moves the camera to the right, switching the shooting direction, obtaining next shooting scene) and a carrying mechanism according to the control instruction (Tang, paragraph 0062, when focusing on an object, a camera lens of the terminal device can be controlled to rotate relative to the terminal device, or the terminal device can be controlled to move relative to the object, for example the terminal device is installed on a slide rail and the terminal device's movement on the slide rail is controlled, as taught in paragraph 0030).
As per claim 9, QU and Tang disclose the method according to claim 8, wherein the camera motion parameter comprises at least one of a camera motion direction parameter, a camera motion speed parameter, or a camera motion duration parameter (page 5 lines 4-15 of QU; paragraphs 0084-0085 of Tang).
As per claim 10, Tang discloses wherein the controlling of the video shooting device and the carrying mechanism according to the control instruction comprises: adjusting at least one of a shooting direction or a shooting position of the video shooting device (paragraphs 0084-0085) by automatically controlling the carrying mechanism for carrying the video shooting device according to the control instruction (paragraph 0030, The step of focusing may include turning the camera lens of the terminal device, and also may include controlling the movement of the terminal device relative to the object, for example the terminal device is installed on a slide rail and the terminal device's movement on the slide rail is controlled; see also paragraph 0032, the camera of the terminal device can automatically follow the object and focus on the object when the object on the shooting screen is moving, so that the focus process maybe more automated and less time consuming); and controlling the video shooting device to shoot the video of the object during the adjusting (Fig. 3; paragraph 0037).
As per claim 11, arguments analogous to those applied for claim 8 are applicable for claim 11.
As per claim 12, Tang discloses wherein the carrying mechanism comprises at least one of a motion mechanism or a rotating mechanism, the motion mechanism is configured to drive the video shooting device to move (paragraph 0030), and the rotating mechanism is configured to drive the video shooting device to rotate.
As per claim 15, QU discloses wherein the controlling of the video shooting device, in response to the control instruction, to move and capture a video of the object according to the target camera motion mode (page 5 lines 16-20, displaying an indication arrow right, to suggest the user moves the camera to the right, switching the shooting direction, obtaining next shooting scene) comprises: sending a prompt of the target camera motion mode to a user to allow the user to shoot the video of the object with the target camera motion mode according to the prompt (page 5 lines 11-15, prompting the user to switch shooting direction, to different shooting scenes in the video recording, so as to reach the effect of shooting scene change in the video).
As per claim 16, QU discloses wherein the controlling of the video shooting device, in response to the control instruction, to move and capture a video of the object according to the target camera motion mode (page 5 lines 16-20, displaying an indication arrow right, to suggest the user moves the camera to the right, switching the shooting direction, obtaining next shooting scene) comprises: wherein the shooting of the video of the object with the target camera motion mode comprises: performing, in a process of video shooting of the shooting object, shooting control according to shooting control parameters corresponding to the target camera motion mode, so as to achieve shooting control corresponding to the target camera motion mode (page 5 lines 11-20 when the indication switching shooting direction, the electronic device can according to the target shooting subject, combined current picture information and the shooting time of the video shooting preview interface, prompting the user to switch shooting direction, to different shooting scenes in the video recording, so as to reach the effect of shooting scene change in the video…displaying an indication arrow right, to suggest the user moves the camera to the right, switching the shooting direction, obtaining next shooting scene).
As per claim 17, QU discloses performing image processing on video frames of the video of the object with image processing parameters corresponding to the target camera motion mode, so as to achieve image processing corresponding to the target camera motion mode (age 8 lines 24-29).
As per claim 18, QU discloses entering an object shooting mode according to a mode setting instruction input by a user, wherein the object shooting mode is configured to determine a camera motion mode according to the category of the object (page 4 lines 13-35).
As per claim 19, arguments analogous to those applied for claim 1 are applicable for claim 19; in addition, QU teaches using at least one memory storing a set of instructions and at least one processor for executing said set of instructions (page 15 lines 21-27).
As per claim 20, arguments analogous to those applied for claims 8 and 19 are applicable for claim 20.
7. Claim(s) 4-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Machine English Translation of QU (CN 111093023 A) in view of Tang et al. (US 2015/0350546) in further view of TENG et al. (US 2023/0247293) hereinafter “TENG”.
As per claim 4, QU and Tang disclose the method according to claim 1; wherein the determining based on the category of the object, of the target camera motion mode for shooting the video of the object comprises automatically determining, based on the category of the object…the target camera motion mode for shooting the video of the object (QU, page 5 lines 5-29; see also paragraphs 0004 and 0042 of Tang).
However, QU or Tang do not explicitly disclose that the determination is based on a correspondence between the category of the object and the target camera motion mode.
In the same field of endeavor, TENG discloses that the determination is based on a correspondence between the category of the object and the target camera motion mode (see table 2 and paragraph 0235).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would have been motivated to combine the elements taught by QU and Tang, with those of TENG, because all references are drawn to the same field of endeavor, because indeed all references are related to camera motion mode determination based on object or subject information, and because such a combination represents a mere combination of prior art elements, according to known methods, to yield a predictable result. This rationale applies to all combination of QU, Tang, and TENG used in this Office Action unless otherwise noted.
As per claim 5, arguments analogous to those applied for claim 4 are applicable for claim 5.
As per claim 6, TENG disclose wherein the correspondence comprises at least one of a preset correspondence between the category of the object and the target camera motion mode (see table 2), or a correspondence generated based on obtained video between the category of the object and the target lens motion mode.
As per claim 7, arguments analogous to those applied for claim 4 are applicable for claim 7.
8. Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Machine English Translation of QU (CN 111093023 A) in view of Tang et al. (US 2015/0350546) in further view of LIANG et al. (US 2020/0137292) hereinafter “LIANG”.
As per claim 13, QU and Tang disclose the method according to claim 12, wherein the motion mechanism comprises a slider rail or a body of a movable vehicle (see paragraph 0030 of Tang); however, QU or Tang do not explicitly disclose wherein the rotating mechanism comprises a gimbal, and the gimbal is fixedly or detachably installed on the video shooting device.
In the same field of endeavor, LIANG discloses wherein the rotating mechanism comprises a gimbal, and the gimbal is fixedly or detachably installed on the video shooting device (FIG. 1).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would have been motivated to combine the elements taught by the combination of QU and Tang, with those of LIANG, because all references are drawn to the same field of endeavor, because indeed all references are related to adjusting shooting direction or shooting position based on control instruction, and because such a combination represents a mere combination of prior art elements, according to known methods, to yield a predictable result.
As per claim 14, Tang discloses wherein the motion mechanism comprises a slide rail or a body of a vehicle, and the video shooting device is installed on the slide rail or is installed on the body of the vehicle via the gimbal (paragraph 0030).
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 MOHAMMED JEBARI whose telephone number is (571)270-7945. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 09:00am-06:00pm.
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/MOHAMMED JEBARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2482
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