DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on page 9-10 with respect to rejections under 102 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that “Zhao thus clusters per-block colors across the training set, not per-garment main features into groups associated with primary features shared across garments” and “Zhao discloses no display, no user-facing presentation”. The argument is not persuasive because “not per-garment main features into groups associated with primary features” is not in the claim. Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). Also Zhao teaches many code book with images, including what is shown in the figures, therefore “Zhao discloses no display, no user-facing presentation” is also not persuasive.
Applicant's arguments filed on page 10-11 with respect to rejections of claims 1, 11, 17 under 103 are similarly not persuasive as shown above.
Rejections to claims 10 and 16 are withdrawn after further consideration.
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-6, 11-12, 13, 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhao ( CN 103955952)
Regarding claim 1. Zhao teaches a method of providing statistics information, the method comprising:
Extracting, for each of garments, a respective main feature of a category ([0030], extracting clothing image ) by analyzing stored information on the garments, the respective main feature representing a predominant feature of the category in the garment([0032], obtaining the main colour of foreground image);
assigning the main features of the garments to groups, each of the groups associated with a primary feature of the category that is shared across garments in each of the groups( [0034], a plurality of main colours according to percentage to obtain foreground image, setting a percentage threshold value T, when a certain color occupying percentage of the whole image pixel number is more than percent threshold T, it is considered that the color as a main color);
processing information on the garments according to the groups to generate statistics information on primary features([0037], main colour of all partial blocks all clothing image clustering, obtaining K clustering, namely codebook; [0039], counting out the number of partial blocks of each cluster, and encoding of the garment image ) ; and
presenting, on a display, the generated statistics information including visual identifications of the primary features ([0038], the clothes image is encoded according to the codebook).
Regarding claim 2, Zhao teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the garments for extracting the main features according to one or more criteria from stored garments( [0029], orderly selecting clothing image).
Regarding claim 4, Zhao teaches the method of claim 1, wherein assigning the main features of the garments comprises:
determining a reference value( [0034], percent threshold T) for each of the groups, the reference value indicating a standard([0034], that the color as a main color of the foreground image) or common feature;
determining similarity of the main features and reference values of the groups( [0035], the foreground image is divided into several partial blocks and calculating primary colors belonging to each of the partial blocks of the colour of the partial blocks are averaged to obtain the average value of the foreground image of each primary color are compared) ; and
assigning the main features to the groups according to the determined similarity ( [0035], when the difference is greater than the set value, it is considered that the local block has no corresponding main colour, marked as zero value; if the difference is less than the set value, the main colour difference value is the smallest as the main colour of the partial blocks).
Regarding claim 5, Zhao teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the generated statistics information comprises ratios of the primary features occupied in the garments ( [0025], retrieval accurate ratio between influencing feature).
Regarding claim 6, Zhao teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the category is one of colors([0037], main colour of all partial blocks all clothing image) , textures of fabric, garment styles, or glyphs on the garments.
Claims 11-12, 13, 17-18 recite the medium and device for the method in claims 1-2, 4-6. Since Zhao teaches medium and device ( [0002] , computer), those claims are also rejected.
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, 7-10, 14-16, 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haitani ( US20150379000).
Regarding claim 3, Zhao teaches the method of claim 2.
Zhao teaches wherein the one or more criteria comprises at least one of time periods of designing the garments, identifications of designers of the garments, and keywords.
However, Haitani teaches comprises at least one of time periods of designing the garments, identifications of designers of the garments, and keywords ( [0023], the various color data providers 130 are associated with a particular community of people such as artists, designers, photographers, cinematographers, fashion experts, critics, or the like).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Zhao and Haitani, by associate colors in Haitani with designer as taught by Haitani therefore designer can be used as a selection criteria for colors, with motivation to “generate visualizations associated with color palettes identified from keyword searches” ( Haitani, Abstract)
Regarding claim 7, Zhao teaches the method of claim 1.
Zhao does not expressly teach further comprising, responsive to receiving selection of one of the primary features, presenting statistics information on main features assigned to a group corresponding to the selected primary feature.
However Haintani teaches responsive to receiving selection of one of the primary features, presenting statistics information on main features assigned to a group corresponding to the selected primary feature( [0047], When the selected affiliated color is added to the palette, a new list of affiliated colors can be generated based at least in part on the colors in the palette).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Zhao and Haitani, by selecting new list of colors in Zhao following the teaching of Haintani, with motivation to “generate visualizations associated with color palettes identified from keyword searches” ( Haitani, Abstract)
Regarding claim 8, Zhao in teaches the method of claim 7, wherein the presented statistics information on the main features includes ratios of at least a subset of the main features assigned to the group(Haintani, [0047], a new list of affiliated colors can be generated based at least in part on the colors in the palette).
Regarding claim 9, Zhao teaches the method of claim 1.
Zhao does not expressly teach further comprising presenting mood keywords corresponding to the primary features.
However Haitani teaches presenting mood keywords corresponding to the primary features( [0047], mood and/or setting colors or images including certain colors may be surfaced and/or presented to a user based on affiliated colors or color palettes).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Zhao and Haitani, by associate colors in Haitani with mood as taught by Haitani, with motivation to “generate visualizations associated with color palettes identified from keyword searches” ( Haitani, Abstract).
Regarding claim 10, Zhao in view of Haintani teaches the method of claim 9, further comprising: storing mapping between features of the category and the mood keywords; and determining the mood keywords to be presented according to the stored mapping ( Haintani, 206 in Fig. 2).
Claims 14-15, 19-20 recite the medium and device for the method in claims 3, 7-9. Since Zhao teaches medium and device ( [0002] , computer), those claims are also rejected.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 16 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
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 JIANGENG SUN whose telephone number is (571)272-3712. The examiner can normally be reached 8am to 5pm, EST, M-F.
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JIANGENG SUN
Examiner
Art Unit 2661
/Jiangeng Sun/Examiner, Art Unit 2671