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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/03/2024 has been made record of and considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 6-7 and 19-20 are objected to because of the following informalities: the claims recite “a first distance from a point associated with the skin tone to the first mean squared error value,” while the specification clarifies that the “MSE value” is represented by a node [0042]. To reduce ambiguity, the Examiner respectfully suggests a fix such as… “a first distance from a point associated with the skin tone to a node representing the first mean squared error value and a second distance from the point associated with the skin tone to a node representing the second mean squared error value.” Claims 4, 12, and 17 may be similarly adjusted. Appropriate correction/clarification is required.
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “based on red/blue levels on the skin tone,” which is believed to be a typo. The Examiner respectfully suggests: “red/blue levels of the skin tone.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 8 and 14 recite the limitation "the light skin tones" in “in response to determining that the skin tone is in a first zone of the zones in the color domain, tuning the image using an image quality setting associated with the light skin tones prior to displaying the image, wherein the first zone is associated with light skin tones”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The Examiner respectfully suggests rearranging the claim to overcome the issue, for example:
“in response to determining that the skin tone is in a first zone of the zones in the color domain, wherein the first zone is associated with light skin tones, tuning the image using an image quality setting associated with the light skin tones prior to displaying the image
Appropriate correction is required.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3, 8-11, and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Korichi (US 2012/0300050 A1), in further view of Zunjarrao (US 2021/0097654 A1).
Consider claims 1, 8, and 14, Korichi discloses an information handling system/method, comprising:
[Claim 14: A non-transitory computer-readable medium to store instructions that are executable to perform operations comprising (FIG. 1, ¶112):]
a processor (FIG. 1, ¶112); and
a memory storing instructions that when executed cause the processor to perform operations (FIG. 1, ¶112) including:
categorizing samples of skin tones (¶43; “the latter is characterized in that said method is reproduced on various zones of skin or integuments of the same individual, in particular on various skin zones of the face.”) in a color domain into zones (FIG. 3; ¶32-33; “d) the tone of the skin or integuments is characterized on the basis of the combination of the value characteristic of the colour of the skin or integuments and of the Luminosity value L*; ¶100; “Vertical axis or as ordinate the luminosity L* thus showing a classification into dark skin, intermediate skin and fair skin;”; ¶105; “two groups of women graded into a group with skin of very fair to fair complexion, denoted C, and into a group with skin of medium to fair complexion F…”);
in response to detecting a user's face in an image by a camera (¶48, 53; “said image capture zone corresponds to any cutaneous zone representative of the face, of the body or of the integuments”; ¶143; “the latter is characterized in that said method is reproduced on various zones of skin or integuments of the same individual, in particular on various skin zones of the face.”), predicting a skin tone of the user's face in the image that includes determining whether the skin tone is in one of the zones in the color domain (¶33; “d) the tone of the skin or integuments is characterized on the basis of the combination of the value characteristic of the colour of the skin or integuments and of the Luminosity value L*”; FIG. 3, ¶100; “with as abscissa or as horizontal axis the value of A and as Vertical axis or as ordinate the luminosity L* thus showing a classification into dark skin, intermediate skin and fair skin”); and
in response to determining that the skin tone is in a first zone of the zones in the color domain (FIG. 3, ¶100-105; “when the angle lies between 41 and 55°, the skin is fair; when the angle is greater than 55°, the skin is very fair”)…
Korichi fails to explicitly disclose:
in response to detecting a facial image by a camera, predicting a skin tone of the facial image that includes determining whether the skin tone is in one of the zones in the color domain; and
in response to determining that the skin tone is in a first zone of the zones in the color domain, tuning the facial image using an image quality setting associated with the light skin tones prior to displaying the facial image, wherein the first zone is associated with light skin tones.
In related art, Zunjarrao discloses:
[Claim 14: A non-transitory computer-readable medium to store instructions that are executable
to perform operations comprising (Zunjarrao ¶38-39):]
in response to detecting a facial image by a camera (Zunjarrao FIG. 2 #204, Is Face Detected?), predicting a skin tone of the facial image that includes determining whether the skin tone is in one of the zones in the color domain (Zunjarrao ¶28; “If a face is detected , an operation 206 determines if the face has a light skin tone (F < L1) or dark skin tone. Here F is the light level of the face”); and
in response to determining that the skin tone is in a first zone of the zones in the color domain (Zunjarrao ¶31; “FIG. 5 illustrates example operations 500 when a light skin tone face is detected in an image”), tuning the facial image using an image quality setting associated with the light skin tones prior to displaying the facial image, wherein the first zone is associated with light skin tones (Zunjarrao ¶26; “selects one of the AIGBCE curve from the AIGBCE database 140 based on the comparison of the face tone to the face tone threshold. The AIGBCE selector 104 uses the selected AIGBCE curve to enhance the image collected from the image capture module 106 … enhanced image module 126 may … display it on a screen of the device 102”; ¶33; “FIG. 6 illustrates the tone curves 600 to be applied when a light skin tone face is detected in an image. Specifically, FIG. 6 illustrates a light skin tone low lux tone curve 602, a light skin tone mid lux tone curve 604, a light skin tone high lux tone curve 606, and a light skin tone high contrast curve 608”;).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the tuning of an image quality setting based on a determined zone of Zunjarrao into the skin tone categorization of Korichi to yield the predictable result of adjusting a facial image using a quality setting associated with a particular skin tone zone. As stated by Zunjarrao, “If the face has light skin tone, at 222 light skin tone curves are applied to the image as presented by a graph 500. If the face has dark skin tone (F >= L1) , at 232 dark skin tone curves are applied to the image as presented by a graph 700 (Zunjarrao FIG. 2, ¶28).” Further, “The enhanced image module 126 may either store the enhanced image for future use or display it on a screen of the device 102 (Zunjarrao ¶26).”
Consider claims 2, 9, and 15, Korichi, as modified by Zunjarrao, discloses the claimed invention wherein the determining whether the skin tone is in one of the zones is based on a gray level of the skin tone (Korichi FIG. 3, ¶32-33, ¶100-105; Zunjarrao FIG. 3, ¶24, 25, ¶100).
Consider claims 3, 11, and 16, Zunjarrao, as modified by YY, discloses the claimed invention wherein the zones further include a second zone and a third zone, and wherein the second zone is associated with medium skin tones, and wherein the third zone is associated with dark skin tones (Korichi FIG. 3 Fair, Intermediate, Dark, ¶100).
Consider claim 10, Korichi, as modified by Zunjarrao, discloses the claimed invention wherein the determining whether the skin tone is in one of the zones is further based on red/blue levels on the skin tone (Korichi FIG. 3, ¶33, 99-100).
Claims 4-5, 12-13, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Korichi, in view of Zunjarrao, as applied to claims 1-3, 8-11, and 14-16 above, and further in view of Liu (‘Skin-pigmentation-disorder detection algorithm based on projective coordinates’), further in view of Gintsburg (US 2024/0273858 A1).
Consider claims 4, 12, and 17, while disclosing zone-based statistics used to construct skin tone calibration curves (Zunjarrao ¶34, 59, 75), Korichi, as modified by Zunjarrao, fails to specifically disclose if the skin tone is in the second zone, then calculating a coefficient based on a first mean squared error value of the second zone and a second mean squared error value of the third zone.
Korichi further discloses that the method “is reproduced on various zones of skin or integuments of the same individual, in particular on various skin zones of the face (Zunjarrao ¶43).”
In related art, Liu discloses calculating a coefficient based on a mean squared error value of a second or third zone (Liu 2.3.2 Pigmentation Quantification; “The degree of pigmentation can be computed using the mean square error (MSE) on the normal skin. Paper defines a “normal block” as a block without significant hemoglobin/melanin pigmentation and a “pigment block” as a block with significant pigmentation from hemoglobin or melanin… This MSE measures the difference between normal skin and pigment skin. It can also be used to check the progress of cosmetic pigmentation.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the mean square error of Liu into the “appropriate calculation means” of Korichi, as modified by Zunjarrao, to “obtain at least one graphical or statistical value and/or at least one value characteristic of the grey levels for each plane, corresponding to a value characterizing the colour of the skin (Korichi ¶57).” Korichi further states, “on an image zone representative of the tone to be observed and on at least one part of this zone, the calculation means carry out a parametrization of at least one parameter chosen from among the mean grey level of the image, the aggregate area of the grey levels, and the variance or their combinations (Korichi ¶59).”
In related art, Gintsburg discloses calculating a coefficient based on a statistic value of the second zone and a statistic value of the third zone (Gintsburg ¶105-106; ¶109-111; dominant bin and adjacent bin, weighted mean).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the coefficient calculation of Gintsburg into the face-based skin tone detection and adjustment methods of Korichi, as modified by Zunjarrao, to perform skin pixel processing based on image statistics, particularly regarding adjacent zones, such as process 900 of Gintsburg (¶105-115). An adjustment may shift the value to one zone or another based on distance (Gintsburg ¶114). The combination of Korichi, Zunjarrao, Liu, and Gintsburg predictably yields if the skin tone is in the second (adjacent) zone, then calculating a coefficient based on a first mean squared error value of the second (adjacent) zone and a second mean squared error value of the third (dominant) zone.
Consider claims 5, 13, and 18, Korichi, as modified by Zunjarrao, Liu, and Gintsburg, discloses the claimed invention wherein the coefficient is used to adjust a value of the image quality setting before the tuning of the facial image (Gintsburg ¶105-115; process 900; Zunjarrao ¶34-35; Korichi ¶75).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 and 19-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten (1) in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims and (2) to overcome other applicable objections/rejections.
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Gao (‘Quality-guided Skin Tone Enhancement for Portrait Photography’).
Krishnapriya (‘Analysis of manual and automated skin tone assignments’).
Celebi (‘Color Quantization of Dermoscopy Images Using the K-Means Clustering Algorithm’).
US 2009/0160945 A1 (IDS) discloses systems and methods for enhancing image quality of a web camera image.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ASHLEY HYTREK whose telephone number is (703)756-4562. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:00.
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/ASHLEY HYTREK/ Examiner, Art Unit 2665
/Stephen R Koziol/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2665