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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/01/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 4-14 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(c) as being in improper form because a multiple dependent claim. See MPEP § 608.01(n). For the purposes of advancing prosecution, the examiner will interpret claims 4-7 and 13 to dependent on claim 1 and claims 8-12 to depend on claim 7.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: processing unit in claim 1 and 4.
Indicator unit in claim 7,8 and 10.
The specification appears to disclose the corresponding structure of the processing unit in ¶[0053] and ¶[0054] as a general purpose processor and the algorithms it performs. Also, the specification discloses the structure of the indicator unit in ¶[0017] to be a graphical display or screen, a lighting system, for example an LED or LEDs, or an audio source.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 6-8, 11 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greene US PG-Pub(US 20180061158 A1) in view of Chan et al US PG-Pub(US 20170374280 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Greene teaches a database enrolment system for enrolling an unauthorised person in a database of authorised persons(0040] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a home automation host system 200 that manages identification and classification of users), wherein the system comprises: a camera for imaging a field of view([0041] discloses receiving a video stream from one or more video cameras and the cameras may be scattered throughout and/or outside a home being monitored.), a processing unit(This unit is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C 112(f) and the corresponding structure of the processing unit was disclosed in ¶[0053] of the instant application’s specification to be a processor. The prior art discloses in ¶[0091] a computer system in which a processor performs one or more procedures of the methods described in the prior art.) in communication with the database of authorised persons and comprising a face recognition subsystem (¶[0041]” Facial recognition engine 210 may analyze persons detected in the video feed to determine if one or more faces are recognized based on a match with visual identifying information stored in user database 220.”, ¶[0041] discloses a facial recognition engine able to compare face images received from a video feed and comparing the images to a database of images.), wherein the database contains information relating to the faces of authorised persons (¶[0041] discloses performing facial recognition of people captured and comparing them to known faces in a user database.), wherein the processing unit(This unit is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C 112(f) and the corresponding structure of the processing unit was disclosed in ¶[0053] of the instant application’s specification to be a processor. The prior art discloses in ¶[0091] a computer system in which a processor performs one or more procedures of the methods described in the prior art.) is configured to perform an enrolment routine for enrolling an unauthorised person in the database ([0043] “User database 220 may also store at least temporary entries for unknown persons. When facial recognition engine 210 is unable to identify a person based on previous entries in user database 220, database record creation engine 215 may create a record for the unknown person., [0043] discloses creating a record for the unknown person in the database.), wherein the enrolment routine comprises: detecting an initialisation scene(¶[0051], “In FIGS. 3A through 4B, a home 301 is illustrated in the form of a floor plan with illustrated windows, doors, and rooms. Locations of video cameras 330 (330-1, 330-2) are illustrated. Video camera 330-1 has a field of view 331. Video camera 330-2 is a field of view 332”, ¶[0051] discloses a camera system capturing a field of view of people who enter the scene.), wherein detecting the initialisation scene includes: using the face recognition subsystem to detect the face of an authorised person in the field of view and to detect the face of an unauthorised person in the field of view([0063] “At block 615, the home automation host may perform facial recognition on the video stream. In response to motion being detected, the home automation device may determine if one or more persons are present and, if so, attempt to perform facial recognition on the one or more persons present. At block 620, by accessing the user database and retrieving visual identification data, and authorized user may be identified in the video stream on which facial recognition was performed at block 615. At block 625, an unknown person may be identified in the video stream. The unknown person may be identified as unknown based on no match being present within authorized user within the user database or the unknown person matching a record within the user database that is associated with an unknown person (e.g., the unknown person has been subject to facial recognition at the home before).” ¶[0063] discloses performing facial recognition to determine an authorized user and a potentially unknown person), wherein the face of the authorised person is detected on a first side of the face of the unauthorised person in the field of view (¶[0051], “Referring to embodiment 300A of FIG. 3A, proximity monitor 225 may determine, based on a video feed from video camera 330-1, that unknown person 320 is in physical proximity to authorized user 310 based on both of the persons being within the field of view of video camera 330-1 at the same time.”, as seen in figure 3A, the video camera 330-1 captures the face of the authorized person and unknown person at a position in the field of view of the camera.); detecting a subsequent confirmation scene, wherein detecting the subsequent confirmation scene includes: using the face recognition subsystem to detect the face of the authorised person and the face of the unauthorised person in the field of view, ([0054] “While FIGS. 3A and 3B are focused on physical proximity and FIGS. 4A and 4B are focused on temporal proximity, it should be understood that embodiments may use a combination of these two forms of proximity to provide an unknown person with a provisional level of authorization. For example, unknown person 320 may be required to be detected to be in physical proximity for at least a threshold duration of time and/or appear in video feeds for at least a second duration of time within a threshold period of time of authorized user 310.”, ¶[0054] discloses the confirmation scene is detected in a predetermined period of time of the authorized user and unknown person have to be in the video feed data obtained by the camera system in order to detect the identity of the individuals in the video.)and when the initialisation scene and the confirmation scene are detected, transmitting enrolment information relating to the face of the unauthorised person to the database for enrolment as an authorised person. ([0064] “At block 630, assuming that the unknown person has not been subject to facial recognition at the home by the home automation host before, a new record may be created in the user database for the unknown person. Initially, this record may specify that the unknown person has no authorization level. Specifically how the unknown person is treated may be based on user preferences and rules defined and enforced at the home automation host for how a person without any authorization should be monitored and otherwise treated in and around the home. For example, the unknown person not having any authorization level may result in one or more notifications being sent to one or more authorized users about the presence of the unknown person, an alarm of a security system being sounded, and/or other home automation devices being managed based on the presence of the unknown person by the home automation host.”. ¶[0064] discloses enrolling the unknown person into the database and ¶[0065]-¶[0066] disclose if the unknown person is captured in the video feeds within proximity of the authorized user than authorization levels may be granted for the unknown individual).
Greene does not explicitly teach wherein the face of the authorised person is detected on a second side of the face of the unauthorised person in the field of view
Chan teaches wherein the face of the authorised person is detected on a second side of the face of the unauthorised person in the field of view (¶[0022], “a user may use an image capture device 104 to capture self-pictures including one or more subjects with the captured images including ideal or preferred images of the subjects that are captured. Further, users may use the image capture device 104 to prompt the user or other subjects to change position, angle, or take other action in response to an instruction from the image capture device 104 (or from a remote resource 102”, ¶[0022] discloses that during a recapturing of the image the subjects are prompted to swap/switch positions thus inherently the faces of the subjects in the image would on different sides when the image is recaptured.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Greene with Chan in order to capture a second image of individuals with their positions swapped. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Greene in this manner in order to identify a subject in a live capture and improve matching between the live image capture and the reference set. (Chan, ¶[0004])
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of claim 1, where Greene further teaches wherein the enrolment routine comprises transmitting the enrolment information to the database if the initialisation scene and the confirmation scene are detected within a predetermined enrolment time limit. (¶[0054], “unknown person 320 may be required to be detected to be in physical proximity for at least a threshold duration of time and/or appear in video feeds for at least a second duration of time within a threshold period of time of authorized user 310”, ¶[0054] discloses the unknown person and authorized user have to be detected in the same physical proximity for a certain predetermined time limit and in ¶[0057] “If the authorized user knows the unknown person, edit option 505 may be used by the authorized user to provide information about the unknown person, such as a name, email address, phone number, or any other relevant biographic data. Information provided by the authorized user via edit option 505 may be transmitted to the home automation host and stored in user database 220 in association with a record of the unknown person.”, discloses if the user knows the unknown person an enrolment process is done to add them to the database.)
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of any preceding claim, where Greene further teaches wherein the processing unit(This unit is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C 112(f) and the corresponding structure of the processing unit was disclosed in ¶[0053] of the instant application’s specification to be a processor. The prior art discloses in ¶[0091] a computer system in which a processor performs one or more procedures of the methods described in the prior art.) is configured to detect and track the authorised person and the unauthorised person in the field of view between the initialisation scene and the confirmation scene. (¶[0051] discloses a multi camera system that can detect the movement of unknown person in proximity with the authorized user in the field of view of the cameras.)
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of any preceding claim, where Greene further teaches wherein the facial recognition subsystem is configured to detect false faces in the field of view. (¶[0043], “When facial recognition engine 210 is unable to identify a person based on previous entries in user database 220, database record creation engine 215 may create a record for the unknown person. The newly created record may include an image or more than one image captured of the unknown person's face extracted from the video feed using facial recognition engine 210.”, ¶[0043] discloses performing facial recognition based on the video feed from the cameras and determining if the faces match an entry in the database or they are false/unknown faces and a new entry is created.)
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of any preceding claim, where Greene further teaches further comprising an indicator unit(This unit is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C 112(f) and the corresponding structure of the indicator unit was disclosed in ¶[0017] of the instant application’s specification to be a graphical display or screen, a lighting system, for example an LED or LEDs, or an audio source. The prior art discloses in ¶[0021], a display device that receives information to display on the display device’s screen to the user.) configured to indicate commands and/or a current status of the database enrolment system to the authorised person or the unauthorised person. (¶[0055], discloses a user interface in which a user can see when an unknown person is detected and the current authorization level of the unknown person. ¶[0056]-¶[0057] discloses allowing the authorized user to add information pertaining to the unknown person)
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of claim 7, where Chan further teaches wherein the enrolment routine comprises using the indicator unit to indicate when the initialisation scene is detected and instruct the authorised person and unauthorised person to swap places. (¶[0022], “users may use the image capture device 104 to prompt the user or other subjects to change position, angle, or take other action in response to an instruction from the image capture device 104 (or from a remote resource 102).” ¶[0022] discloses that during a recapturing of the image the subjects are prompted to swap/switch positions.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Greene with Chan in order to capture a second image of individuals with their positions swapped. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Greene in this manner in order to identify a subject in a live capture and improve matching between the live image capture and the reference set. (Chan, ¶[0004])
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of any of claims 7 to 10, where Greene further teaches wherein the enrolment routine comprises requesting confirmation of the enrolment from a user when the confirmation scene is detected. (¶[0056], “User interface 501 may include a user input section 502 to set or modify the authorization level of the unknown person.”, ¶[0056] discloses allowing a user to set and modify authorization levels of an unknown individual.
[0057] “If the authorized user knows the unknown person, edit option 505 may be used by the authorized user to provide information about the unknown person, such as a name, email address, phone number, or any other relevant biographic data. Information provided by the authorized user via edit option 505 may be transmitted to the home automation host and stored in user database 220 in association with a record of the unknown person.”, ¶[0057] further discloses allowing a user to input information related to the unknown person and storing the information in the user database.)
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of any preceding claim, where Greene further teaches wherein the enrolment routine comprises: determining if the authorised person is an administrator permitted to enrol unauthorised persons in the database (¶[0063], “At block 620, by accessing the user database and retrieving visual identification data, and authorized user may be identified in the video stream on which facial recognition was performed at block 615”, ¶[0063] discloses determining if the person in the video stream is an authorized user by using facial recognition. ), and transmitting the enrolment information to the database if the authorised person is determined to be an administrator. ([0063] discloses performing facial recognition by accessing a database and determining if the detected person matches an authorized user. ¶[0057] discloses the authorized user can transmit enrollment information by editing and updating a record for an unknown person in the database.)
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of claim 13, where Greene further teaches wherein: the database comprises information relating to the faces of at least one administrator who is/are authorised persons permitted to enrol unauthorised persons in the database([0061], “At block 605, a database of users may be stored. Referring to FIG. 2, this database may be user database 220. User database 220 may include an entry for each authorized user and, as identified, entries for unknown persons. This user database may be updated as authorization levels are changed and/or are automatically granted and revoked.”, ¶[0061] discloses the database has information of faces of authorized users who can enroll and update entries of unknown users as disclosed in ¶[0057] ); and the enrolment routine comprises: classifying the face of the authorised person as an administrator by comparing the face of the authorised person to the information in the database. ([0063] “At block 615, the home automation host may perform facial recognition on the video stream. In response to motion being detected, the home automation device may determine if one or more persons are present and, if so, attempt to perform facial recognition on the one or more persons present. At block 620, by accessing the user database and retrieving visual identification data, and authorized user may be identified in the video stream on which facial recognition was performed at block 615.”, ¶[0063] discloses performing facial recognition to determine if the person in the image is an authorized user by querying a database.)
Regarding Claim 15, Greene teaches a computer implemented method of enrolling an unauthorised person in a database of authorised persons using an enrolment routine([0040] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a home automation host system 200 that manages identification and classification of users), wherein the enrolment routine comprises: receiving an image of a field of view from a camera([0041] discloses receiving a video stream from one or more video cameras and the cameras may be scattered throughout and/or outside a home being monitored.),detecting an initialisation scene(¶[0051], “In FIGS. 3A through 4B, a home 301 is illustrated in the form of a floor plan with illustrated windows, doors, and rooms. Locations of video cameras 330 (330-1, 330-2) are illustrated. Video camera 330-1 has a field of view 331. Video camera 330-2 is a field of view 332”, ¶[0051] discloses a camera system capturing a field of view of people who enter the scene.), wherein detecting the initialisation scene includes: using a face recognition subroutine to detect the face of an authorised person and the face of an unauthorised person in the field of view(¶[0041]” Facial recognition engine 210 may analyze persons detected in the video feed to determine if one or more faces are recognized based on a match with visual identifying information stored in user database 220.”, ¶[0041] discloses a facial recognition engine able to compare face images received from a video feed and comparing the images to a database of images.), wherein the face of the authorised person is positioned in the field of view on a first side of the face of the unauthorised person (¶[0051], “Referring to embodiment 300A of FIG. 3A, proximity monitor 225 may determine, based on a video feed from video camera 330-1, that unknown person 320 is in physical proximity to authorized user 310 based on both of the persons being within the field of view of video camera 330-1 at the same time.”, as seen in figure 3A, the video camera 330-1 captures the face of the authorized person and unknown person at a position in the field of view of the camera.); detecting a subsequent confirmation scene, wherein detecting the subsequent confirmation scene includes: using the face recognition subsystem to detect the face of the authorised person and the face of the unauthorised person in the field of view, ([0054] “While FIGS. 3A and 3B are focused on physical proximity and FIGS. 4A and 4B are focused on temporal proximity, it should be understood that embodiments may use a combination of these two forms of proximity to provide an unknown person with a provisional level of authorization. For example, unknown person 320 may be required to be detected to be in physical proximity for at least a threshold duration of time and/or appear in video feeds for at least a second duration of time within a threshold period of time of authorized user 310.”, ¶[0054] discloses the confirmation scene is detected in a predetermined period of time of the authorized user and unknown person have to be in the video feed data in order to detect the identity of the individuals in the video.)and when the initialisation scene and the confirmation scene are detected, transmitting enrolment information relating to the face of the unauthorised person to the database for enrolment as an authorised person. ([0064] “At block 630, assuming that the unknown person has not been subject to facial recognition at the home by the home automation host before, a new record may be created in the user database for the unknown person. Initially, this record may specify that the unknown person has no authorization level. Specifically how the unknown person is treated may be based on user preferences and rules defined and enforced at the home automation host for how a person without any authorization should be monitored and otherwise treated in and around the home. For example, the unknown person not having any authorization level may result in one or more notifications being sent to one or more authorized users about the presence of the unknown person, an alarm of a security system being sounded, and/or other home automation devices being managed based on the presence of the unknown person by the home automation host.”. ¶[0064] discloses enrolling the unknown person into the database and ¶[0065]-¶[0066] disclose if the unknown person is captured in the video feeds within proximity of the authorized user than authorization levels may be granted for the unknown individual).
Greene does not explicitly teach wherein the face of the authorised person is positioned in the field of view on a second side of the face of the unauthorised person;
Chan teaches wherein the face of the authorised person is positioned in the field of view on a second side of the face of the unauthorised person; (¶[0022], “a user may use an image capture device 104 to capture self-pictures including one or more subjects with the captured images including ideal or preferred images of the subjects that are captured. Further, users may use the image capture device 104 to prompt the user or other subjects to change position, angle, or take other action in response to an instruction from the image capture device 104 (or from a remote resource 102”, ¶[0022] discloses that during a recapturing of the image the subjects are prompted to swap/switch positions thus inherently the faces of the subjects in the image would on different sides when the image is recaptured.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Greene with Chan in order to capture a second image of individuals with their positions swapped. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Greene in this manner in order to identify a subject in a live capture and improve matching between the live image capture and the reference set. (Chan, ¶[0004])
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greene US PG-Pub(US 20180061158 A1) in view of Chan et al US PG-Pub(US 20170374280 A1) in view of Genner et al. US Patent(US 11967173 B1).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of claims 1 or 2, they do not explicitly teach wherein the enrolment routine comprises detecting an abort scene, wherein detecting the abort scene includes: using the face recognition subsystem to detect a third face in the field of view, and when the abort scene is detected, restarting the enrolment routine.
Genner teaches wherein the enrolment routine comprises detecting an abort scene, wherein detecting the abort scene includes: using the face recognition subsystem to detect a third face in the field of view, and when the abort scene is detected, restarting the enrolment routine. (Col 18, Lines 13-24, “the analysis module 103 determines if one or more image factors fail to satisfy one or more image factor thresholds. In response to determining an enrollment image fails to satisfy one or more image factor thresholds, the analysis module 103 can suspend the process 200 or cause the image application 113 to instruct the subject to capture a new enrollment image (e.g., and the instruction may include guidance for providing a suitable enrollment image, such as guidance for improving lighting, alignment, including a face, removing a face covering, etc.). In at least one embodiment, the analysis module 103 analyzes an enrollment image and generates data for use in subsequent steps of the process 200 (or other processes described herein”, as disclosed in Col 18, Lines 13-24, the prior art determines if the enrollment image fails to satisfy a condition and a new face image is captured of the user and used to restart the enrollment process.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Greene and Chan with Genner in order to determine if the enrollment does not succeed and capture a new face image to restart the process. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Greene and Chan in this manner in order for biometric representation, verification, and identification. (Genner, Col 1, Lines 17-18)
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greene US PG-Pub(US 20180061158 A1) in view of Chan et al US PG-Pub(US 20170374280 A1) in view of Casado et al. US Patent(US 12056956 B2).
Regarding Claim 5, while Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of any preceding claim, they do not explicitly teach wherein the enrolment routine comprises: detecting a surplus face in the initialisation scene or in the confirmation scene, and when the surplus face is detected, restarting the enrolment routine.
Casado teaches wherein the enrolment routine comprises: detecting a surplus face in the initialisation scene or in the confirmation scene, and when the surplus face is detected, restarting the enrolment routine (Col 31, Lines 3-14, “if the message does not identify any images as usable to create biometric data, or in some implementations if the message does not identify enough images, then method 1000 may proceed to block 1014. At block 1014, the system may provide instructions to capture better image(s). These instructions may be generated on the cloud, e.g., by enrollment engine 132, and/or may be generated on the client device. These instructions may be generated based on various factors, such as the detection, e.g., by enrollment engine 132, of noise in the image(s), such as multiple people's faces, bad lighting, excessive movement, etc.”, Col 31, Lines 3-14, disclose alerting the user in the case the enrollment process needs to be restarted based on noise in the image such as too many faces of people were detected.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Greene and Chan with Casado in order to restart the enrollment based on detecting too many faces in the image. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Greene and Chan in this manner in order to improve security processes in automated assistants by way of enrollment with automated assistant. (Casado, Col 2, Lines 3-5)
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greene US PG-Pub(US 20180061158 A1) in view of Chan et al US PG-Pub(US 20170374280 A1) in view of Tseng et al. US PG-Pub(US 20200089937 A1).
Regarding Claim 9, while the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of claims 7 or 8, they do not explicitly teach wherein the enrolment routine comprises using the indicator unit to indicate when the enrolment routine has entered a failure mode wherein the subsequent confirmation scene is not detected.
Tseng teaches wherein the enrolment routine comprises using the indicator unit to indicate when the enrolment routine has entered a failure mode wherein the subsequent confirmation scene is not detected ( ¶[0027], ”the processor 120 can determine, by using a higher similarity threshold, whether the face information in the image matches the real-time registration information. If the face recognition is successful, it indicates that the processor 120 recognizes, from the real-time registration information, the face in the corresponding image. On the contrary, if the face recognition fails, it indicates that the processor 120 does not recognize, from the real-time registration information, the face in the corresponding image”, ¶[0027] discloses receiving real-time registration information pertaining to a face image of a individual and displaying to the user if the registration fails based on an inability to detect the face of the individual.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Greene and Chan with Tseng in order to indicate a failure in the case enrollment fails. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Greene and Chan in this manner in order to provide a face recognition method so that content of a video stream can be used as a recognition basis to improve an accuracy rate of face recognition. (Tseng, ¶[0005)
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greene US PG-Pub(US 20180061158 A1) in view of Chan et al US PG-Pub(US 20170374280 A1) in view of Rebien et al. US PG-Pub(US 20210127071 A1).
Regarding Claim 10, while the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of claim 7, they do not explicitly disclose wherein the indicator unit includes a screen configured to display the field of view of the camera, wherein faces in the field of view which are detected by the face recognition subsystem are displayed on the screen inside a box.
Rebein teaches wherein the indicator unit includes a screen configured to display the field of view of the camera, wherein faces in the field of view which are detected by the face recognition subsystem are displayed on the screen inside a box. (¶[0051] “Referring now to FIG. 8, a user interface page 300 (of the application 144) is shown after the server system 108 has completed a search for a person 308 (corresponding to the person 272 of FIG. 3). The page 300 concurrently displays image frame 306 of the selected surveillance video recording the user used to commence the search bordering a right edge of the page 300; immediately to the left of the image frame 306, image search results 406 selected from the collection of surveillance video recordings by the server system 108 as potentially corresponding to the person 308 (shown in within bounding box 310 within the image frame 306); and, immediately to the left of the image search results 406 and bordering a left edge of the page 300, a face thumbnail 402 and a body thumbnail 404 of the person 308.”, ¶[0051] discloses displaying to the user image frames of an individual captured by the camera system in which the face image of the individual is displayed to the user inside a box as further seen in Figure 8. Element 402.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Greene and Chan with Rebein in order to display to the user a bounding box capturing the face image of an individual. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Greene and Chan in this manner in order to detect and recognize a predefined gesture being made by an object appearing in analyzable video. (Rebein, ¶[0013])
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greene US PG-Pub(US 20180061158 A1) in view of Chan et al US PG-Pub(US 20170374280 A1) in view of Kalous US PG-Pub(US 20200285726 A1).
Regarding Claim 12, while the combination of Greene and Chan teach the database enrolment system of claim 11, where Greene teaches further comprising a user interface configured to receive user commands(¶[0055], discloses a user interface in which a user can see when an unknown person is detected and the current authorization level of the unknown person. ¶[0056]-¶[0057] discloses allowing the authorized user to add information pertaining to the unknown person)
Greene and Chan do not explicitly disclose wherein the enrolment routine comprises: requesting confirmation of enrolment by requesting the authorised person to enter a password into the user interface, and transmitting the enrolment information to the database when the password has been entered.
Kalous teaches wherein the enrolment routine comprises: requesting confirmation of enrolment by requesting the authorised person to enter a password into the user interface, and transmitting the enrolment information to the database when the password has been entered. (¶[0077], “the server 106 may require a user to provide an authorization password (e.g., through an interface of the user device 104) in order to authorize the user device 104 to receive the encrypted package.” ¶[0077] discloses prompting a user to enter a password through a user interface. ¶[0093], “The user device 104 requests permission from the server 106 to enroll the new user (302). Specifically, the user device 104 establishes a connection with the server 106 and sends a request to the server 106 for permission to enroll a new user”, ¶[0093] discloses enrolling a user once the server gives permission to enroll the user based on security privileges.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention as taught by Greene and Chan with Kalous in order to prompt a user to enter a password before enrolling any users. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to modify Greene and Chan in this manner in order to verify the user has access to make changes. (Kalous, ¶[0002])
Conclusion
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/HAN HOANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2661
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