DETAILED ACTION
1. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant s communication received on 12/14/2025 for application number 18/539,761. The Office herby acknowledges receipt of the following and placed of record in file: Specification, Drawings, Abstract, Oath/Declaration, and claims.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . 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 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.
Priority
3. Acknowledgment is made of applicant s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/14/2023 is in accordance with provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claim(s) 1-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et al., [US Pub. No.: 2023/0308627 A1] in view of Takao et al., [US Pub. No.: 2022/0400208 A1].
Re. Claim 1, Ito et al., [US Pub. No.: 2023/0308627 A1] discloses:
An image pickup apparatus [Image pickup apparatus |0004] attachable to, detachable [The lens apparatus 200 is detachably attachable to the camera main body 110 |0062] from, and communicable with a stereoscopic lens apparatus that includes two optical systems arranged in parallel [two optical systems arranged parallelly to each other |0037], a focusing unit configured to perform focusing that integrally moves the two optical systems [focus positions of the right-eye optical system 201R and the left-eye optical system 201L can be simultaneously adjusted |0040], and a focus difference adjustment unit configured to perform focus difference adjustment for adjusting a focus difference between the two optical systems by independently moving one optical system of the two optical systems [the first focus adjusting unit 400 and the second focus adjusting unit 500 can be operated independently of each other.| 0072-0073, 0102], the image pickup apparatus comprising: a memory storing instructions [Fig.10, 116 memory unit];
Ito does not distinctly disclose:
and a processor configured to execute the instructions to: detect an attachment of the stereoscopic lens apparatus to the image pickup apparatus,
and provide a notification prompting a user to perform the focus difference adjustment with the stereoscopic lens apparatus attached to the image pickup apparatus.
In the same field endeavor Takao et al., [US Pub. No.: 2022/0400208 A1] discloses:
and a processor configured to execute the instructions to: detect an attachment of the stereoscopic lens apparatus to the image pickup apparatus [The mount unit is constituted by a lens mount unit 304 and a camera mount unit 305. When the binocular lens unit 300 is mounted to the camera 100, the communication terminal 124 of the camera 100 is electrically connected to a communication terminal 306 of the binocular lens unit 300. This enables the system control unit 218 of the camera 100 and the lens system control circuit 303 of the binocular lens unit 300 to communicate with each other. |0092], and provide a notification prompting a user to perform the focus difference adjustment with the stereoscopic lens apparatus attached to the image pickup apparatus [a display may be made to prompt the user to drive the focus ring to adjust the focus distances of the right eye optical system 301R and left eye optical system 301L simultaneously. |0228],
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ito with Takao to notify a user to adjust focus difference for stereoscopic image capturing.
Furthermore the combination of Ito and Takao does not distinctly disclose:
wherein the focus difference adjustment is adjustment of a shift in a focus state that occurs between the two optical systems, and is performed by focusing one of the two optical systems.
In the same field of endeavor Lee [US Pub. No.: 2010/0231691 A1] discloses:
,wherein the focus difference adjustment is adjustment of a shift in a focus state that occurs between the two optical systems, and is performed by focusing one of the two optical systems [a critical parallax computing unit configured to adjust the focus of a stereoscopic camera to an object and determine the far point of an image, the focus of which has been adjusted to the object, so that a maximum critical parallax is computed based on a far point limit parallax of a medium-size stereoscopic display on condition that the separation between the lenses in the stereoscopic camera is set to an arbitrary value. Wherein the critical parallax computing unit is equivalent to focus difference adjustment based on applicants remarks page 9 | Claim 25].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ito and Takao with Lee to have a camera separation computing unit configured to compute the separation between the lenses based on the computed critical parallax and drive the lens separation adjustment unit in response to the computed separation.
Re. Claim 2, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al. meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to provide the notification in response to receiving from the stereoscopic lens apparatus information indicating that the focus difference adjustment can be performed in the stereoscopic lens apparatus [display is made to prompt user to adjust focus difference |0228].
Re. Claim 3, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al. meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to provide the notification in a case where information indicating that the focus difference adjustment has not been performed in a combination of the stereoscopic lens apparatus and the image pickup apparatus is received from the stereoscopic lens apparatus [display is made to prompt user that no adjustment has been made to the focus difference |0228].
Re. Claim 4, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Ito et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to provide the notification in a case where information indicating that an externa force is applied to the stereoscopic lens apparatus is received from the stereoscopic lens apparatus [N represents a vertical resistance force occurring between the right-eye optical system 201R or the left-eye optical system 201L and the lens top base 300. |0086].
Re. Claim 5, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to provide, as the notification, a notification prompting the user to direct the stereoscopic lens apparatus toward an object [The user can view an image displayed in an internal electronic viewfinder (EVF) 217 (described later) through the eyepiece part 116. The eye proximity sensing unit 118 is a sensor that senses whether an object is near the eyepiece part 116. |0043, 0066-0067, 0155].
Re. Claim 6, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an operation unit operated by a user who instructs the focus difference adjustment, wherein the processor is configured to transmit to the stereoscopic lens apparatus an instruction to perform the focus difference adjustment in response to an operation of the operation unit [a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory having instructions that, when executed by the processor, performs operations etc…. |0005, 0039, 0052, 0064, 0184].
Re. Claim 7, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: store in the memory information on the focus difference adjustment in a case where the processor has received from the stereoscopic lens apparatus the information on the focus difference adjustment that has been performed in a combination of the stereoscopic lens apparatus and the image pickup apparatus [the memory having instructions that, when executed by the processor, performs operations as: an obtaining unit configured to obtain, based on a defocus amount obtained using the signal pair, a focus distance of a lens unit that is mounted to the apparatus |0005, 0242, Claim 1], and transmit to the stereoscopic lens apparatus the information on the focus difference adjustment stored in the memory in a case where the stereoscopic lens apparatus in the combination is again attached to the image pickup apparatus [the lens type information is included in lens information transmitted from the lens unit to the camera 100 when the camera 100 is turned on, when the lens unit is replaced, or the like. |0005,0184, 0242, Claim 1].
Re. Claim 8, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in a case where information on the focus difference adjustment that has been performed in a combination of the stereoscopic lens apparatus and the image pickup apparatus is stored in the stereoscopic lens apparatus [the optical axis position (Lx, Ly), which is stored in advance in the image capture apparatus in association with the identification information of the lens unit, may be obtained through reference based on the identification information of the mounted lens unit. |0146], when the stereoscopic lens apparatus in the combination is attached to the image pickup apparatus [The lens unit 200 and the camera 100 are electrically connected through the communication terminals 206 and 124, and the lens system control circuit 205 and a system control unit 218 included in the camera 100 can therefore communicate with each other |0052], the processor is configured to instruct the stereoscopic lens apparatus to perform the focus difference adjustment based on the stored information on the focus difference adjustment [The lens system control circuit 205 includes a CPU, ROM, and RAM, for example, and controls operations of the various units of the lens unit 200 by loading a program which is stored in the ROM into the RAM and executing the program using the CPU.|0052].
Re. Claim 9, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to acquire information about a positional difference between the two optical systems caused by the focus difference adjustment of the stereoscopic lens apparatus [The system control unit 218 determines what type of operation (touch operation) has been made on the touch panel 109 based on the communicated information. With respect to a touch-move, the movement direction of the finger or pen moving on the touch panel 109 can be determined based on changes in the positional coordinates, for each of a vertical component and a horizontal component on the touch panel 109 |0082, 0158-0159, 0274],
and provides the notification in a case where the focusing can be performed using the information about the positional difference [a display may be made to prompt the user to drive the focus ring to adjust the focus distances of the right eye optical system 301R and left eye optical system 301L simultaneously. |0082, 0228].
Re. Claim 10, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to: store in the memory the information about the positional difference between the two optical systems in a case where the processor has received from the stereoscopic lens apparatus the information about the positional difference acquired by the focus difference adjustment that has been performed in a combination of the stereoscopic lens apparatus and the image pickup apparatus [the optical axis position (Lx, Ly), which is stored in advance in the image capture apparatus in association with the identification information of the lens unit, may be obtained through reference based on the identification information of the mounted lens unit. |0146],
and transmit to the stereoscopic lens apparatus the information about the positional difference stored in the memory in a case where the stereoscopic lens apparatus in the combination is again attached to the image pickup apparatus [the lens type information is included in lens information transmitted from the lens unit to the camera 100 when the camera 100 is turned on, when the lens unit is replaced, or the like. |0005,0184, 0242, Claim 1].
Re. Claim 11, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 9, wherein in a case where the information about the positional difference between the two optical systems acquired by the focus difference adjustment that has been performed in a combination of the stereoscopic lens apparatus and the image pickup apparatus is stored in the stereoscopic lens apparatus [the optical axis position (Lx, Ly), which is stored in advance in the image capture apparatus in association with the identification information of the lens unit, may be obtained through reference based on the identification information of the mounted lens unit. |0146], when the stereoscopic lens apparatus in the combination is attached to the image pickup apparatus [the lens type information is included in lens information transmitted from the lens unit to the camera 100 when the camera 100 is turned on, when the lens unit is replaced, or the like. |0005,0184, 0242, Claim 1],
the processor is configured to instruct the stereoscopic lens apparatus to perform the focusing using the stored information about the positional difference [The lens system control circuit 205 includes a CPU, ROM, and RAM, for example, and controls operations of the various units of the lens unit 200 by loading a program which is stored in the ROM into the RAM and executing the program using the CPU.|0052].
Re. Claim 12, Ito discloses:
A stereoscopic lens apparatus attachable to, detachable from, and communicable [The lens apparatus 200 is detachably attachable to the camera main body 110 |0062] with an image pickup apparatus [Image pickup apparatus |0004], the stereoscopic lens apparatus comprising: two optical systems arranged in parallel [two optical systems arranged parallelly to each other |0037];
a focusing unit configured to perform focusing that integrally moves the two optical systems [focus positions of the right-eye optical system 201R and the left-eye optical system 201L can be simultaneously adjusted |0040];
a focus difference adjustment unit configured to perform focus difference adjustment for adjusting a focus difference between the two optical systems by independently moving one optical system of the two optical systems [the first focus adjusting unit 400 and the second focus adjusting unit 500 can be operated independently of each other.| 0072-0073, 0102];
a memory storing instructions [Fig.10, 116 memory unit];
Ito does not disclose:
and a processor configured to execute the instructions to: detect an attachment of the stereoscopic lens apparatus to the image pickup apparatus. and transmit to the image pickup apparatus information indicating that the focus difference adjustment can be performed in a case where the stereoscopic lens apparatus is attached to the image pickup apparatus capable of providing a notification prompting a user to perform the focus difference adjustment.
In the same field endeavor Takao discloses:
and a processor configured to execute the instructions to: detect an attachment of the stereoscopic lens apparatus to the image pickup apparatus [The mount unit is constituted by a lens mount unit 304 and a camera mount unit 305. When the binocular lens unit 300 is mounted to the camera 100, the communication terminal 124 of the camera 100 is electrically connected to a communication terminal 306 of the binocular lens unit 300. This enables the system control unit 218 of the camera 100 and the lens system control circuit 303 of the binocular lens unit 300 to communicate with each other. |0092], and transmit to the image pickup apparatus information [the lens type information is included in lens information transmitted from the lens unit to the camera 100 when the camera 100 is turned on, when the lens unit is replaced, or the like. |0005,0184, 0242, Claim 1] indicating that the focus difference adjustment can be performed in a case where the stereoscopic lens apparatus is attached to the image pickup apparatus capable of providing a notification prompting a user to perform the focus difference adjustment [a display may be made to prompt the user to drive the focus ring to adjust the focus distances of the right eye optical system 301R and left eye optical system 301L simultaneously. |0228].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ito with Takao to notify a user to adjust focus difference for stereoscopic image capturing.
Furthermore the combination of Ito and Takao does not distinctly disclose:
wherein the focus difference adjustment is adjustment of a shift in a focus state that occurs between the two optical systems, and is performed by focusing one of the two optical systems.
In the same field of endeavor Lee [US Pub. No.: 2010/0231691 A1] discloses:
,wherein the focus difference adjustment is adjustment of a shift in a focus state that occurs between the two optical systems, and is performed by focusing one of the two optical systems [a critical parallax computing unit configured to adjust the focus of a stereoscopic camera to an object and determine the far point of an image, the focus of which has been adjusted to the object, so that a maximum critical parallax is computed based on a far point limit parallax of a medium-size stereoscopic display on condition that the separation between the lenses in the stereoscopic camera is set to an arbitrary value. Wherein the critical parallax computing unit is equivalent to focus difference adjustment based on applicants remarks page 9 | Claim 25].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ito and Takao with Lee to have a camera separation computing unit configured to compute the separation between the lenses based on the computed critical parallax and drive the lens separation adjustment unit in response to the computed separation.
Re. Claim 13, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al. meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The stereoscopic lens apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to transmit information indicating whether or not the focus difference adjustment has been performed to the image pickup apparatus that provides the notification in a case where the focus difference adjustment has not been performed in a combination on the stereoscopic lens apparatus and the image pickup apparatus [display is made to prompt user that no adjustment has been made to the focus difference |0228].
Re. Claim 14, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Ito et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The stereoscopic lens apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising an external force detector configured to detect that an external force is applied to the stereoscopic lens apparatus, wherein the processor is configured to transmit information indicating that it is detected that the external force is applied to the stereoscopic lens apparatus to the image pickup apparatus which provides the notification in a case where the external force is applied to the stereoscopic lens apparatus [N represents a vertical resistance force occurring between the right-eye optical system 201R or the left-eye optical system 201L and the lens top base 300. |0086]..
Re. Claim 15, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The stereoscopic lens apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to perform the focus difference adjustment according to receiving an instruction to perform the focus difference adjustment from the image pickup apparatus [a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory having instructions that, when executed by the processor, performs operations etc…. |0005, 0039, 0052, 0064, 0184].
Re. Claim 16, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The stereoscopic lens apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to: transmit to the image pickup apparatus information on the focus difference adjustment that has been performed in a combination of the stereoscopic lens apparatus [the optical axis position (Lx, Ly), which is stored in advance in the image capture apparatus in association with the identification information of the lens unit, may be obtained through reference based on the identification information of the mounted lens unit. |0146] and the image pickup apparatus [Image pickup apparatus |0004], and perform the focus difference adjustment based on the information on the focus difference adjustment in a case where the stored information on the focus difference adjustment is received from the image pickup apparatus in the combination [The lens system control circuit 205 includes a CPU, ROM, and RAM, for example, and controls operations of the various units of the lens unit 200 by loading a program which is stored in the ROM into the RAM and executing the program using the CPU.|0052].
Re. Claim 17, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The stereoscopic lens apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the memory stores information on the focus difference adjustment that has been performed in a combination of the stereoscopic lens apparatus [the memory having instructions that, when executed by the processor, performs operations as: an obtaining unit configured to obtain, based on a defocus amount obtained using the signal pair, a focus distance of a lens unit that is mounted to the apparatus |0005, 0242, Claim 1] and the image pickup apparatus [Image pickup apparatus |0004], and wherein the processor is configured to perform the focus difference adjustment based on the stored information on the focus difference adjustment in a case where the stereoscopic lens apparatus is attached to the image pickup apparatus in the combination [the optical axis position (Lx, Ly), which is stored in advance in the image capture apparatus in association with the identification information of the lens unit, may be obtained through reference based on the identification information of the mounted lens unit. |0146].
Re. Claim 18, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Ito et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The stereoscopic lens apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising two driving units configured to drive the two optical systems independently from each other, and to perform the focusing that integrally moves the two optical systems and the focus difference adjustment that independently moves one optical system of the two optical systems [the first focus adjusting unit 400 and the second focus adjusting unit 500 can be operated independently of each other.| 0072-0073, 0102].
Re. Claim 19, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The stereoscopic lens apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the processor is configured to acquire information about a positional difference between the two optical systems caused by the focus difference adjustment [The lens system control circuit 205 includes a CPU, ROM, and RAM, for example, and controls operations of the various units of the lens unit 200 by loading a program which is stored in the ROM into the RAM and executing the program using the CPU.|0052], and controls the two driving units using the information about the positional difference during the focusing [an AF drive circuit that drives the focus lenses of the right eye optical system 301R and the left eye optical system 301L in tandem, and at least one AF drive circuit that drives the focus lens of at least one of the right eye optical system 301R and the left eye optical system 301L independently, can be provided.|0088].
Re. Claim 20, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The stereoscopic lens apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the processor is configured to: transmit to the image pickup apparatus the information about the positional difference between the two optical systems acquired by the focus difference adjustment that has been performed in a combination of the stereoscopic lens apparatus and the image pickup apparatus [the lens type information is included in lens information transmitted from the lens unit to the camera 100 when the camera 100 is turned on, when the lens unit is replaced, or the like. |0005,0184, 0242, Claim 1], and control the two driving units using the information about the positional difference during the focusing in a case where the information about the positional difference stored in the image pickup apparatus is received from the image pickup apparatus in the combination [an AF drive circuit that drives the focus lenses of the right eye optical system 301R and the left eye optical system 301L in tandem, and at least one AF drive circuit that drives the focus lens of at least one of the right eye optical system 301R and the left eye optical system 301L independently, can be provided.|0088].
Re. Claim 21, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Takao et al., meets claim limitations, as follows:
The stereoscopic lens apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the memory stores the information about a positional difference between the two optical systems acquired by the focus difference adjustment that has been performed in a combination of the stereoscopic lens apparatus and the image pickup apparatus [the memory having instructions that, when executed by the processor, performs operations as: an obtaining unit configured to obtain, based on a defocus amount obtained using the signal pair, a focus distance of a lens unit that is mounted to the apparatus |0005, 0242, Claim 1],
wherein the processor is configured to controls the two driving units using the stored information about the positional difference during the focusing in a case where the stereoscopic lens apparatus is attached to the image pickup apparatus in the combination [an AF drive circuit that drives the focus lenses of the right eye optical system 301R and the left eye optical system 301L in tandem, and at least one AF drive circuit that drives the focus lens of at least one of the right eye optical system 301R and the left eye optical system 301L independently, can be provided.|0088].
Re. Claim 22, Ito discloses:
A control method of an image pickup apparatus [Image pickup apparatus |0004] attachable to, detachable [The lens apparatus 200 is detachably attachable to the camera main body 110 |0062] from, and communicable with a stereoscopic lens apparatus including two optical systems arranged in parallel [two optical systems arranged parallelly to each other |0037], a focusing unit configured to perform focusing that integrally moves the two optical systems [focus positions of the right-eye optical system 201R and the left-eye optical system 201L can be simultaneously adjusted |0040], and a focus difference adjustment unit configured to perform focus difference adjustment for adjusting a focus difference between the two optical systems by independently moving one optical system of the two optical systems [the first focus adjusting unit 400 and the second focus adjusting unit 500 can be operated independently of each other.| 0072-0073, 0102],
Ito does not distinctly disclose:
the control method comprising the steps of: detecting an attachment of the stereoscopic lens apparatus to the image pickup apparatus;
and providing a notification prompting a user to perform the focus difference adjustment with the stereoscopic lens apparatus attached to the image pickup apparatus.
In the same field endeavor Takao et al., [US Pub. No.: 2022/0400208 A1] discloses:
the control method comprising the steps of: detecting an attachment of the stereoscopic lens apparatus to the image pickup apparatus [The mount unit is constituted by a lens mount unit 304 and a camera mount unit 305. When the binocular lens unit 300 is mounted to the camera 100, the communication terminal 124 of the camera 100 is electrically connected to a communication terminal 306 of the binocular lens unit 300. This enables the system control unit 218 of the camera 100 and the lens system control circuit 303 of the binocular lens unit 300 to communicate with each other. |0092];
and providing a notification prompting a user to perform the focus difference adjustment with the stereoscopic lens apparatus attached to the image pickup apparatus [a display may be made to prompt the user to drive the focus ring to adjust the focus distances of the right eye optical system 301R and left eye optical system 301L simultaneously. |0228].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ito with Takao to notify a user to adjust focus difference for stereoscopic image capturing.
Furthermore the combination of Ito and Takao does not distinctly disclose:
wherein the focus difference adjustment is adjustment of a shift in a focus state that occurs between the two optical systems, and is performed by focusing one of the two optical systems.
In the same field of endeavor Lee [US Pub. No.: 2010/0231691 A1] discloses:
,wherein the focus difference adjustment is adjustment of a shift in a focus state that occurs between the two optical systems, and is performed by focusing one of the two optical systems [a critical parallax computing unit configured to adjust the focus of a stereoscopic camera to an object and determine the far point of an image, the focus of which has been adjusted to the object, so that a maximum critical parallax is computed based on a far point limit parallax of a medium-size stereoscopic display on condition that the separation between the lenses in the stereoscopic camera is set to an arbitrary value. Wherein the critical parallax computing unit is equivalent to focus difference adjustment based on applicants remarks page 9 | Claim 25].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ito and Takao with Lee to have a camera separation computing unit configured to compute the separation between the lenses based on the computed critical parallax and drive the lens separation adjustment unit in response to the computed separation.
Re. Claim 23, Ito discloses:
A control method of a stereoscopic lens apparatus including two optical systems arranged in parallel and attachable to, detachable [The lens apparatus 200 is detachably attachable to the camera main body 110 |0062] from, and communicable with an image pickup apparatus [Image pickup apparatus |0004], the stereoscopic lens apparatus including a focusing unit configured to perform focusing that integrally moves the two optical systems [focus positions of the right-eye optical system 201R and the left-eye optical system 201L can be simultaneously adjusted |0040], and a focus difference adjustment unit configured to perform focus difference adjustment for adjusting a focus difference between the two optical systems by independently moving one optical system of the two optical systems [the first focus adjusting unit 400 and the second focus adjusting unit 500 can be operated independently of each other.| 0072-0073, 0102],
In the same field endeavor Takao discloses:
the control method comprising the steps of: detecting an attachment of the stereoscopic lens apparatus to the image pickup apparatus [The mount unit is constituted by a lens mount unit 304 and a camera mount unit 305. When the binocular lens unit 300 is mounted to the camera 100, the communication terminal 124 of the camera 100 is electrically connected to a communication terminal 306 of the binocular lens unit 300. This enables the system control unit 218 of the camera 100 and the lens system control circuit 303 of the binocular lens unit 300 to communicate with each other. |0092], and transmit to the image pickup apparatus information [the lens type information is included in lens information transmitted from the lens unit to the camera 100 when the camera 100 is turned on, when the lens unit is replaced, or the like. |0005,0184, 0242, Claim 1];
and transmitting to the image pickup apparatus information indicating that the focus difference adjustment can be performed in a case where the stereoscopic lens apparatus is attached to the image pickup apparatus capable of providing a notification prompting a user to perform the focus difference adjustment [a display may be made to prompt the user to drive the focus ring to adjust the focus distances of the right eye optical system 301R and left eye optical system 301L simultaneously. |0228].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ito with Takao to notify a user to adjust focus difference for stereoscopic image capturing.
Furthermore the combination of Ito and Takao does not distinctly disclose:
wherein the focus difference adjustment is adjustment of a shift in a focus state that occurs between the two optical systems, and is performed by focusing one of the two optical systems.
In the same field of endeavor Lee [US Pub. No.: 2010/0231691 A1] discloses:
,wherein the focus difference adjustment is adjustment of a shift in a focus state that occurs between the two optical systems, and is performed by focusing one of the two optical systems [a critical parallax computing unit configured to adjust the focus of a stereoscopic camera to an object and determine the far point of an image, the focus of which has been adjusted to the object, so that a maximum critical parallax is computed based on a far point limit parallax of a medium-size stereoscopic display on condition that the separation between the lenses in the stereoscopic camera is set to an arbitrary value. Wherein the critical parallax computing unit is equivalent to focus difference adjustment based on applicants remarks page 9 | Claim 25].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ito and Takao with Lee to have a camera separation computing unit configured to compute the separation between the lenses based on the computed critical parallax and drive the lens separation adjustment unit in response to the computed separation.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 26-27 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
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 HOWARD D BROWN JR whose telephone number is (571)272-4371. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30AM - 5:00PM EST.
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HOWARD D. BROWN JR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2488
/HOWARD D BROWN JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2488
Prosecution Insights