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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On pages 7-8, Applicant argues that,
“Claims 1, 10, and 19 have been amended to recite that each central portion contains common image elements selected according to an image stabilization operation that selects the central portions based on tracking of movement of the common image elements relative to a view area of the narrow-angle camera that selects the central portions based on tracking of movement of the common image elements relative to a view area of the narrow-angle camera. Pulli does not teach these features.
Pages 4-5 of the Office Action map the recited central portion in the first image to portion 1516 in Pulli. Per paragraph [0182], portion 1516 is a user-selected rectangular box. Claims 1, 10, and 19 now recite that the central portion is selected based on tracking of movement of the common image elements. This is different than what is taught in Pulli. Specifically, the portion 1516 in Pulli is selected by a user and is not selected based on tracking of movement of the common image elements. For at least these reasons, Pulli does not teach or suggest the above features of claims 1, 10, and 19.
…”
(original emphases)
In response, Examiner respectfully disagrees and submits that, although the portion 1516 is selected by the user, the portion is still being tracked across multiple frames, e.g. from the portion shown in Fig. 14 to a new position as shown in Fig. 15, and as the portion moves in additional image capture time periods as described in [0217] (due to camera movement as described at least in [0153]), the portion is identified in a similar manner shown in Fig. 15. Such identification of corresponding position of the portion when it moves is tracking.
As such, Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 6-7, 9-13, 15-16, and 18-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Pulli et al. (US 2017/0099439 A1 – hereinafter Pulli).
Regarding claim 1, Pulli discloses a method for generating video, the method comprising: obtaining a plurality of source frames that include a plurality of wide-angle source frames taken with a wide-angle camera and a plurality of narrow-angle source frames taken with a narrow-angle camera (Fig. 12; [0179] – obtaining images from a camera module G and/or images from a camera module F having a wider field of view and images from a camera having a narrow field of view comprising camera modules A, B, C, D, and E); identifying a plurality of central portions of the narrow-angle source frames and a plurality of peripheral portions of the plurality of wide-angle source frames based on image stabilization ([0183]-[0184]; [0190]; Figs. 14-16 – identifying central regions of the first image captured during first image capture time period and the second image captured during second image capture time period, the central portion in the first image corresponds to portion 1516 of Fig. 14, the central portion in the second image corresponds to the portion 1516 within FOV 1618 of Fig. 15, and at least two peripheral portions MP1 and MP2 captured by either camera module F or camera module G in different capturing periods as shown in Fig. 16), wherein each central portion comprises a sub-portion of a source frame from the narrow-angle camera and each peripheral portion includes image content for an area within a field of view of the narrow angle camera ([0182]-[0184]; Figs. 14-16 – each central portion comprises a central portion of the frames captured by the narrow-angle camera and each peripheral portion includes image content for an area within a field of view of the narrow angle camera A); and combining the plurality of central portions and the plurality of peripheral portions to generate a plurality of resulting frames of an output video ([0064]; [0190] – combining the portions from each image, wherein the portions comprise the central portions of frames captured by the narrow-angle camera during in the first and second image capture time periods and peripheral portions MP1 and MP2 captured by either camera module F or camera module G in different capturing periods according to a result of ranking as further described in at least [0234] to generate an output video).
Regarding claim 2, Pulli also discloses the plurality of source frames comprise frames taken a consecutive, periodic time points ([0014]-[0015]).
Regarding claim 3, Pulli also discloses identifying the plurality of central portions based on image stabilization comprises identifying portions of the source frames to minimize apparent motion of content ([0184] – identifying the portions to minimize the effect of the motion of the camera modules).
Regarding claim 4, Pulli also discloses the identifying the plurality of central portions based on the image stabilization comprises minimizing a loss function ([0011]; [0187]-[0189] – minimizing a loss function defined as an amount of information loss in portions interested by the user).
Regarding claim 5, Pulli also discloses the central portions are taken from the narrow-angle camera and the peripheral portions are taken from the wide-angle camera ([0206]; Figs. 19-21 – the peripheral portions 2208 are taken from a camera module F or a camera module G having a wider field of view and the central portions are taken a camera having a narrow field of view, one of camera module A).
Regarding claim 6, Pulli also discloses identifying the plurality of peripheral portions comprises identifying areas around the central portions in the plurality of wide-angle frames (Fig. 6 – identifying areas MP1 and MP 2 captured by camera module F or G as shown in the table).
Regarding claim 7, Pulli also discloses combining the plurality of central portions and the plurality of peripheral portions comprises surrounding the plurality of central ([0190]; Fig. 16).
Regarding claim 9, Pulli also discloses performing one or more of encoding, storing, and transmitting the output video ([0064] – performing storing and transmitting, i.e. transmitting the output video to another device for further processing and/or sent for storage, e.g., in external memory, an external device or in a network).
Claim 10 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 1 in view of Pulli also disclosing a system for generating video (Fig. 1), the system comprising: a wide-angle camera and a narrow-angle camera (Fig. 1; [0179] – a narrow-angle camera comprising camera modules A-E and a wide-angle camera comprising camera module G); and a processor ([0075]; Fig. 1 – processor 110) configured to perform the recited steps ([0075] – also see discussion of claim 1).
Claim 11 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 2 above.
Claim 12 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 3 above.
Claim 13 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 4 above.
Claim 14 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 5 above.
Claim 15 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 6 above.
Claim 16 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 7 above.
Claim 18 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 9 above.
Claim 19 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 1 above in view of Pulli also disclosing a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the recited operations ([0075]; Fig. 1 – memory 108 storing software modules and/or routines which include instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to control the camera device 100 to implement one, more or all of the methods described herein).
Claim 20 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 2 above.
Claim 21 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 3 above.
Claim 22 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 4 above.
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.
Claims 8 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pulli as applied to claims 1-4, 6-7, 9-13, 15-16, and 18-22 above, and further in view of Li et al. (US 2023/0098437 A1 – hereinafter Li).
Regarding claim 8, see the teachings of Pulli as discussed in claim 1 above. However, Pulli does not disclose combining the plurality of central portions and the plurality of peripheral portions comprises upscaling the plurality of peripheral portions.
Li discloses combining a plurality of central portions and a plurality of peripheral portions comprises upscaling the plurality of peripheral portions (Fig. 3; [0050]-[0051]).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings of Li into the method taught by Pulli to provide data consistency before processing, facilitating the combining process.
Claim 17 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 8 above.
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 HUNG Q DANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1116. The examiner can normally be reached IFT.
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/HUNG Q DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2484
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