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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I in the reply filed on 2/18/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 5-8 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 2/18/2026.
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 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by SAKAMOTO (US PG Pub 2025/0107258, hereinafter Sakamoto).
Regarding claim 1, figure 10A of Sakamoto discloses an image sensing device comprising: first to fourth pixel groups (52) arranged in a (2×2) matrix including two rows and two columns (see note below), wherein each of the first to fourth pixel groups includes 1) at least one of a red pixel including a red color filter configured to transmit light corresponding to a red color, a green pixel including a green color filter configured to transmit light corresponding to a green color, or a blue pixel including a blue color filter configured to transmit light corresponding to a blue color (figure 8A shows pixels and color filters of red (R), green (G) and blue (B)), and 2) at least one cyan pixel including a cyan color filter (C) configured to transmit light corresponding to the green color and the blue color.
Note: The pixel group shown in figure 10A is one among an array of pixel groups (see figure 3). Thus, the pixel group shown in figure 10A would part of a 2x2 matrix of pixel groups among the entire array.
Regarding claim 2, figure 10A of Sakamoto discloses the first pixel group and the fourth pixel group are arranged in a direction diagonal to each other; and
the second pixel group and the third pixel group are disposed in a direction diagonal to each other.
Regarding claim 3, figure 10A of Sakamoto discloses the first pixel group includes one red pixel and three cyan pixels;
the fourth pixel group includes one blue pixel and three cyan pixels; and
each of the second pixel group and the third pixel group includes one green pixel and three cyan pixels.
Regarding claim 4, figure 10A of Sakamoto discloses each of the red pixel, the green pixel, and the blue pixel is disposed in a same position with respect to the three cyan pixels in a corresponding pixel group.
Regarding claim 10, figure 10A of Sakamoto discloses an image sensing device configured to have a pixel array that includes red pixels configured to generate first image data in response to receiving light corresponding to a red color, green pixels configured to generate second image data in response to receiving light corresponding to a green color, blue pixels configured to generate third image data in response to receiving light corresponding to a blue color, and cyan pixels configured to generate fourth image data in response to receiving light corresponding to the blue color and the green color (¶ 102); and
an image signal processor (ISP)(34) configured to generate RGB image data by interpolating raw image data including the first image data, the second image data , the third image data , and the fourth image data (¶ 68, 167),
wherein the pixel array includes a plurality of pixel groups, each of which includes 1) at least one of the red pixel, the green pixel, or the blue pixel, and 2) at least one cyan pixel.
Note: The pixel group shown in figure 10A is one among an array of pixel groups (see figure 3). Thus, the pixel group shown in figure 10A would part of a 2x2 matrix of pixel groups among the entire array.
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 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakamoto.
Regarding claim 9, Sakamoto does not explicitly disclose a difference between a wavelength of red light and a width of the cyan pixel is smaller than a difference between a wavelength of green or blue light and the width of the cyan pixel.
However, it would have been obvious to form the pixel colors to have wavelength properties within the claimed ranges, since it has been held by the Federal circuit that, where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device. (In Gardner v. TEC Systems, Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YU-HSI DAVID SUN whose telephone number is (571)270-5773. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8am-4pm ET.
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/YU-HSI D SUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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