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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3 June 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shibahara (US 2017/0111565 A1) in view of DeAngelis (US 2009/0141138 A1), and further in view of Yamagishi (US 2022/0322157 A1).
Claim 1, Shibahara teaches an information processing system comprising:
a plurality of terminal devices including a first terminal device (terminal device 110A; paragraph 0071) and a second terminal device (terminal device 110B; paragraph 0071 )including:
a wireless communicator that performs communication through a fifth-generation mobile communication system (fifth generation 5G; paragraph 0262), a sensor including a camera (photographing unit 114; paragraph 0102);
a global navigation satellite system receiver that receives a signal from a global navigation satellite system (position of the camera can be acquired with a GPS sensor in the camera; paragraph 0204), and
a clocking part (clock 121) that receives, as clocking information, a signal from a global navigation satellite system (GPS timepiece is used as clock; paragraph 0113);
a hardware processor (server 120; paragraph 0071 and Fig. 1) that performs communication with the first terminal device and the second terminal through the fifth-generation mobile communication system (fifth generation 5G; paragraph 0262) to receive first data from the first terminal device and second data from the second terminal device (terminal processor 115 of each terminal sends photographed images to server 120; paragraph 0079); and
a data processor that associates the first data with the second data (server image processor 124 acquires photographed image from each of terminal devices 110A and 110B and generates a third image; paragraph 0086), in a case where a communication delay (delay time is determined; paragraph 0091-0092) between each of the plurality of terminal devices and the hardware processor is not more than a predetermined time (if there is no delay between the terminal device 110c and server 120, no adjustment to clock 111a of terminal device is made and the time for image timestamps is identical to the time of clock 111a of the terminal device; see paragraph 0091 and 0057), such that the first data is data at a time identical to a time of the second data (terminal devices 110A and 110B perform the photographing at the same time; paragraph 0085),
but Shibahara is silent regarding wherein the clocking part receives the clocking information from the signal from the global navigation satellite system receiver.
DeAngelis teaches wherein a camera comprises a clocking part (clock in camera control 654; paragraph 0062) receives clocking information from the signal from the global navigation satellite system receiver (GPS time data is inherently encoded in each GPS message sent from a GPS satellite. Synchronization of a clock in camera control 654 of camera 618 can be accomplished using its own GPS receiver; paragraph 0062).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used the teaching of DeAngelis with that of Shibahara in order to ensure accurate timekeeping even when a network connection to an external device is unstable.
Shibahara in view of DeAngelis is silent regarding wherein the fifth-generation mobile communication system is a private or local fifth-generation mobile communication system including a base station, and
the hardware processor and the plurality of terminal devices are connected to the base station.
Yamagishi teaches a plurality of terminal devices 100 connected through a fifth-generation mobile communication system (local 5G private network; paragraph 0109) wherein the fifth-generation mobile communication system is a private or local fifth-generation mobile communication system including a base station (“base station device 200 may be an entity included in a local cellular network (for example, local 5G);” paragraph 0109), and
the hardware processor and the plurality of terminal devices are connected to the base station (terminals 100 and a server 300 is connected to each base station via a 5G network; paragraph 0120 and Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used the teaching of Yamagishi with that of the cited prior art in order to reduce risk of quality degradation and to improve resource utilization efficiency (see paragraph 0126 of Yamagishi).
Claim 2, Shibahara further teaches wherein the data processor selects the first terminal device and the second terminal device from among the plurality of terminal devices (processing apparatus 3x101 selects a camera; paragraph 0209), based on positional information regarding each of the plurality of terminal devices obtained from the global navigation satellite system (selection is based on position of a camera, coordinates may be identified by GPS; paragraph 0209, 0262), such that the first data is associated with the second data (see time stamp of images and combining first and second images from respective first and second terminal devices 110A, 110B; paragraph 0079, 0086).
Claim 3, Shibahara further teaches wherein each of the first data and the second data includes image data shot by the camera (still or moving image is photographed; paragraph 0095, 0086).
Claim 4, Shibahara further teaches wherein the clocking unit part updates the clocking information within the predetermined time (every time a clock time based on the reference is updated, the first terminal device may photograph a subject displaying the updated clock time; paragraph 0054, 0057).
Claim 5, Shibahara further teaches wherein each of the first data and the second data includes image data (still or moving image is photographed; paragraph 0095), and the predetermined time is less than a time for one frame (accuracy of one-hundredth second while an imaging frame rate can be 30 or 60 fps; see paragraph 0057, 0164).
Claim 11, Shibahara further teaches wherein each of the first data and the second data includes image data shot by the camera (still or moving image is photographed; paragraph 0095).
Claim 12, Shibahara further teaches wherein the clocking part updates the clocking information within the predetermined time (every time a clock time based on the reference is updated, the first terminal device may photograph a subject displaying the updated clock time; paragraph 0054, 0057).
Claim 13, Shibahara further teaches wherein each of the first data and the second data includes image data, and the predetermined time is less than a time for one frame (accuracy of one-hundredth second while an imaging frame rate can be 30 or 60 fps; see paragraph 0057, 0164).
Claim 14, Shibahara further teaches wherein the clocking part updates the clocking information within the predetermined time (every time a clock time based on the reference is updated, the first terminal device may photograph a subject displaying the updated clock time; paragraph 0054, 0057).
Claim 15, Shibahara further teaches wherein each of the first data and the second data includes image data, and the predetermined time is less than a time for one frame (accuracy of one-hundredth second while an imaging frame rate can be 30 or 60 fps; see paragraph 0057, 0164).
Claim 16, Shibahara further teaches wherein each of the first data and the second data includes image data, and the predetermined time is less than a time for one frame (accuracy of one-hundredth second while an imaging frame rate can be 30 or 60 fps; see paragraph 0057, 0164).
Claims 6-10 and 17-20 are analyzed and rejected as claims requiring a non-transitory recording medium storing a computer readable information processing program (see paragraph 0013 of Shibahara) for causing a computer to execute the functions of the system of claims 1-5 and 11-14, respectively.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHIAWEI A CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1707. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 12:00pm - 9:00pm EST.
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/CHIAWEI CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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