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, see REMARKS, filed 04/10/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-5 under 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Boghossian.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Boghossian et al. (US2013/0208124).
To claim 1, Boghossian teach a tracking system for a moving body, comprising:
a memory device in which video data acquired by at least two cameras is stored; and a processor configured to perform data processing based on each video data acquired by the at least two cameras (Fig. 3), wherein, in the data processing, the processor is configured to:
generate a graph consisting of at least two nodes and at least one edge indicating a relationship between the at least two nodes (Figs. 13, paragraph 0111, displaying network topology; Figs. 15-18, paragraphs 0053, 0119, camera nodes N1-N12 as displayed are connected to an IP network and/or connected via direct connection to the control centre); and
stores the generated graph in the memory device,
wherein, in the generated graph, a node representing a single camera included in the at least two cameras, and a node representing a tracking identification number assigned to a moving body reflected in the image data acquired by the single camera are connected via at least one edge (paragraphs 0027, 0053, 0100, display connections between camera locations; paragraphs 0071, 0073, 0075-0077, 0079-0080, 0083, camera ID, object ID),
wherein the tracking identification number includes a common tracking identification number assigned to the same moving object reflected in the image data acquired by the single camera (Fig. 9, paragraphs 0083, analyze to see if the same object ID is present),
wherein, in the generated graph, nodes representing respective single cameras are connected via at least one edge representing a relationship between the at least two single cameras if there is a relationship between the at least two single cameras (Figs. 13, 15-18, paragraph 0122-0123),
wherein, in the generated graph, nodes representing the at least two common tracking identification numbers are connected via at least one edge representing that the at least two moving bodies reflected in each video data captured by the at least two single cameras are the same moving object if the nodes representing the at least two common tracking identification numbers are recognized to be the same moving object (paragraph 0014, track plural objects in said first and second view fields; paragraphs 0075, 0081, 0135, identify the cases where such tracklets represent the same individual seen from two or more cameras with overlapped view fields, identify tracks for different camera view fields as being the same object based on the three-dimensional geometry).
To claim 2, Boghossian teach claim 1.
Boghossian teach wherein, in the generated graph, a node representing the common tracking identification number and a node representing additional information about the same moving object to which the common tracking identification number is assigned are connected via at least one edge (Figs. 8-9, 15-18, paragraphs 0080-0095, 0103, 0109, 0135),
wherein, the additional information includes at least one of an image of the same moving object to which the common tracking identification number has been assigned, an appearance feature of the same moving object, an action of the same moving object, and a face image of a person if the same moving object is a person (paragraphs 0009, 0017, 0023, 0026, 0074, 0079, 0083, 0085, 0107-0109, tracking appearance feature of moving object).
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) 3-4, 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boghossian et al. (US2013/0208124) in view of Zhang et al. (US11774983).
To claim 3, Boghossian teach claim 1.
Boghossian teach wherein, in the processing to generate the graph, the processor is configured to: determine whether the at least two moving bodies are the same moving object based on each feature quantity of the at least two moving bodies; and when it is determined that the at least two moving bodies are the same moving object, link the common tracking identification number assigned to each of these moving bodies, when the common tracking identification numbers respectively assigned to the at least two moving bodies are linked, in the generated graph, the nodes representing the common tracking identification number are connected via the at least one edge indicating that the at least two moving bodies are the same object (obvious in paragraphs 0075-0079, 0083, 0087, 0109-0111, 0115, 0134-0135, tracking an object through the network together with establishing confidence value for candidate tracks amongst other things, reassign object ID, link tracklet to object).
In furthering said obviousness, Zhang teach tracking in images based on quantity of matched features (column 36 lines 1-7), which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate into the method of Boghossian, in order to implement tracking.
To claim 4, Boghossian teach claim 1.
Boghossian teach wherein, in the processing to generate the graph, the processor is configured to: verify the determination based on each feature quantity of the at least two moving bodies; and when it is determined that there is a discrepancy in the determination, the nodes representing the common tracking identification numbers assigned to the at least two moving bodies are disconnected from each other (obvious in paragraphs 0075-0079, 0087, 0109, 0115, tracking an object through the network together with establishing confidence value for candidate tracks amongst other things, two objects coming together and then separating in the view field, reassign object ID).
In furthering said obviousness, Zhang teach tracking in images based on quantity of matched features (column 36 lines 1-7), which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate into the method of Boghossian, in order to implement tracking.
To claim 8, Boghossian and Zhang teach claim 4.
Boghossian teach wherein the processor is configured to verify the determination further based on a positional relationship of the at least two cameras and a movement direction of the moving body predicted based on an interval time associated with the common tracking identification numbers (obvious in paragraphs 0075, 0095, 0134, tracks direction and speed of object, appropriate statistical distribution is applied to provide a spread of transition times between exit and entry zones based upon the speed of the object corresponding to the tracklet, multi camera tracking may be carried out continuously as a background function such that objects are tagged and tracked without a user first tagging an object, wherein movement prediction is also well-known practice in the art, which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate, hence Official Notice is taken).
To claim 9, Boghossian teach claim 1.
Boghossian teach wherein the common tracking identification number includes a combination of an interval time (timestamp) and representative data of a re-identification feature quantity extracted from an image sequence within the interval time (Figs. 7, 14; paragraphs 0077, 0119, video image data elements provide camera identity, timestamp, object ID, appearance, location, size, class, velocity, and tracking confidence values; paragraphs 0075, 0107-0108, comparing the shape and speed of the object against template data to determine object match and tracking confidence, wherein re-identification feature quantity extraction would be obviously involved in determining confidence).
In furthering said obviousness, Zhang teach tracking in images based on quantity of matched features (column 36 lines 1-7), which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate into the method of Boghossian, in order to implement tracking.
Claim(s) 5, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boghossian et al. (US2013/0208124).
To claim 5, Boghossian teach claim 1.
Boghossian teach wherein the processor is further configured to perform tracking processing of a tracking target by referring to the generated graph with a query as its input, wherein, the query includes at least one of a date and time, a location, an image of the tracking target, and a face image of a person if the tracking target is a person (paragraph 0066, multi camera tracker module receives such query requests and sends the reply to user interface with all the bounding boxes which are then overlayed in the video window view to allow the user to tag an object/person; paragraphs 0080-0082, tracklet info may obviously be applicable to tracking query).
To claim 10, Boghossian teach claim 1.Boghossian teach wherein the generated graph is stored in a graph database formed in the memory device (generated graph would be obviously stored in either RAM or ROM, which can be considered as a graph database).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boghossian et al. (US2013/0208124) in view of Liu et al. (US2021/0223922).
To claim 6, Boghossian teach claim 1.
Boghossian teach wherein the at least one edge representing a relationship between the at least two single cameras indicates that installation positions of the at least two single cameras are proximate to each other (obvious in Fig. 1, paragraphs 0051, 0106, 0111).
In furthering said obviousness, Liu teach indicating on display a relationship between the at least two single cameras indicates that installation positions of the at least two single cameras are proximate to each other (Fig. 7, paragraphs 0005, 0048-0051), which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate into the method of Boghossian, in order to indicate cameras in proximity.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boghossian et al. (US2013/0208124) in view of Park (US2009/0262206).
To claim 7, Boghossian teach claim 1.
Boghossian teach wherein the at least one edge representing a relationship between the at least two single cameras indicates that imaging ranges of the at least two single cameras at least partially overlap (obvious in Fig. 1, paragraphs 0051, 0106, 0111).
In furthering said obviousness, Park teach indicating on display a relationship between the at least two single cameras indicates that imaging ranges of the at least two single cameras at least partially overlap (Fig. 6D, paragraphs 0081; Figs. 5A-B, paragraphs 0067-0074), which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate into the method of Boghossian, in order to indicate camera view overlapping.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHIYU LU whose telephone number is (571)272-2837. The examiner can normally be reached Weekdays: 8:30AM - 5:00PM.
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ZHIYU . LU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2669
/ZHIYU LU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2665 June 17, 2026
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