DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the remarks filed 12/29/2025. Claims 1 – 18 and 21 are pending and have
been examined. Claims 19 and 20 have been cancelled.
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 filed 12/29/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant states in regards to Claim 1, references, even if properly combined, do not teach or suggest “excluding detected faces that do not correspond to the locations of participants”. As stated in Non-Final dated 09/30/2025, Dao teaches this limitation (see Dao Paragraph [0063], People 114a-114d can therefore be framed by the video conference endpoint 100 (displayed), and person 116 can be excluded, and Figures 4 and 5 in which the participants are identified then located, and if they are not located within the special boundary of the location of the other participants, they are excluded from being displayed on the video conference interface). To expand, Dao teaches capturing an image within a meeting room of participants, if the location of the participant is outside of the spatial boundary, they are not included to be framed by the video conference endpoint (see Paragraph [0063]). When interpreting under BRI, Dao does teach this limitation and therefore the rejection of claim 1 under 35 USC § 103 remains.
Applicant additionally states “Dao does not exclude detected faces within the claims “image of a meeting area” that do not correspond to the locations of participants as claimed”. As stated above, Dao does teach excluding faces that do not correspond to the locations of participants, and, indeed, Dao teaches this being determined from an image/video of a conference room (see Figure 3). However, in Non-Final Rejection, it is stated firstly that Kamstrup teaches receiving information from a secondary sensor to identify locations of participants in the meeting area (see Kamstrup Abstract, The device comprises a depth sensor configured for measuring the distance to each of the in-room participants, Paragraph [0004], The device comprises a depth sensor configured for measuring the distance to each of the in-room participants, and Paragraph [0062], In some embodiments, the processing unit is configured to: [0063] determining a distance A to each of the in-room participants thereby obtaining an actual position (x1,y1,z1) of each in-room participant; [0064] determining a distance B between the in-room participants; [0065] determining a relative location of the in-room participants based on the determined distance A and distance B). When interpreting under BRI, Kamstrup in view of Dao does teach this limitation and therefore the rejection of claim 1 under 35 USC § 103 remains.
Finally, the Applicant states “ Dao has no secondary sensor and thus cannot satisfy the claim’s requirement that the location information be retrieved from a sensor”. As stated in Non-Final Rejection, Kamstrup teaches this limitation: receiving information from a secondary sensor to identify locations of participants in the meeting area (see Kamstrup Abstract, The device comprises a depth sensor configured for measuring the distance to each of the in-room participants, Paragraph [0004], The device comprises a depth sensor configured for measuring the distance to each of the in-room participants, and Paragraph [0062], In some embodiments, the processing unit is configured to: [0063] determining a distance A to each of the in-room participants thereby obtaining an actual position (x1,y1,z1) of each in-room participant; [0064] determining a distance B between the in-room participants; [0065] determining a relative location of the in-room participants based on the determined distance A and distance B). Dao teaches then correlating the detected faces with their respective locations, and generating a set of images of the participants that excludes faces that do not correspond to the locations of participants. As stated in the Non-Final Rejection, the motivation to combine these two references to teach Claim 1 is as follows: “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 a video conference method of receiving an image of a meeting area and detecting faces using facial recognition and identifying locations of participants using a sensor (as taught in Kamstrup), with relating a detected participant’s face with their location and excluding participants from video conference display that do not correspond to locations of the participants (as taught in Dao), the motivation being to provide a method that addresses security concerns or false renderings of participants (such as a reflection, or unwanted individual) in video conferences, by excluding display of a participant that does not pass requirements (see Dao Paragraph [0004]).” Kamstrup is used to teach the collection of data, while Dao analyzes the data and creates an output.
According to the above responses and when interpreting under BRI, Kamstrup in view of Dao does teach the limitations of claim 1 and therefore the rejection of claim 1 under 35 USC § 103 remains. Independent claim 12 includes similar elements to claim 1 and additionally remains rejected. Dependent claims 2 – 11 and 13 - 18 additionally remain rejected.
Response to Amendment
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claims 1 – 7, and 12 – 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamstrup (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0214522) in view of Dao et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0214520, hereinafter “Dao”).
Regarding Claim 1, Kamstrup teaches
A computer implemented method (see Kamstrup Paragraph [0047], method) comprising:
receiving an image of a meeting area from a first camera during an electronic conference call (see Kamstrup Figure 9, in which in method 900 (performed in a video conference device (Paragraph [0191])), comprises, in the processing unit: obtaining (904) the captured images by the image sensor of a meeting area (Figure 2A));
detecting multiple faces in the image using a facial recognition model (see Kamstrup Paragraph [0004], The processing unit is configured to performing an image processing of the captured images from the image sensor to virtually identify each of the in-room participants, and Paragraph [0034], The virtual identification may comprise face recognition of the in-room participants);
receiving information from a secondary sensor to identify locations of participants in the meeting area (see Kamstrup Abstract, The device comprises a depth sensor configured for measuring the distance to each of the in-room participants, Paragraph [0004], The device comprises a depth sensor configured for measuring the distance to each of the in-room participants, and Paragraph [0062], In some embodiments, the processing unit is configured to: [0063] determining a distance A to each of the in-room participants thereby obtaining an actual position (x1,y1,z1) of each in-room participant; [0064] determining a distance B between the in-room participants; [0065] determining a relative location of the in-room participants based on the determined distance A and distance B);
Kamstrup does not expressively teach
correlating the detected faces with the locations of participants; and
generating a set of images of the participants that excludes detected faces that do not correspond to the locations of participants.
However, Dao teaches
correlating the detected faces with the locations of participants (see Dao Paragraph [0052], The estimation of a person's position or location in the field of view is, in some examples, performed in four steps: (i) estimate a distance from the person's face to the camera, and Figure 2, when people are identified within the field of view, then the position of the participant is determined, in order to know who is within the boundary to then be displayed on the video conference, therefore the faces are correlated with their respective location); and
generating a set of images of the participants that excludes detected faces that do not correspond to the locations of participants (see Dao Paragraph [0063], People 114a-114d can therefore be framed by the video conference endpoint 100 (displayed), and person 116 can be excluded, and Figures 4 and 5 in which the participants are identified then located, and if they are not located within the special boundary of the location of the other participants, they are excluded from being displayed on the video conference interface).
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 a video conference method of receiving an image of a meeting area and detecting faces using facial recognition and identifying locations of participants using a sensor (as taught in Kamstrup), with relating a detected participant’s face with their location and excluding participants from video conference display that do not correspond to locations of the participants (as taught in Dao), the motivation being to provide a method that addresses security concerns or false renderings of participants (such as a reflection, or unwanted individual) in video conferences, by excluding display of a participant that does not pass requirements (see Dao Paragraph [0004]).
Regarding Claim 2, Kamstrup in view of Dao teaches
The method of claim 1 wherein the secondary sensor comprises a distance sensor and wherein the information corresponds to depth measurements the participants (see Kamstrup Abstract, The device comprises a depth sensor configured for measuring the distance to each of the in-room participants, Paragraph [0004], The device comprises a depth sensor configured for measuring the distance to each of the in-room participants, and Paragraph [0062], In some embodiments, the processing unit is configured to: [0063] determining a distance A to each of the in-room participants thereby obtaining an actual position (x1,y1,z1) of each in-room participant; [0064] determining a distance B between the in-room participants; [0065] determining a relative location of the in-room participants based on the determined distance A and distance B).
Regarding Claim 3, Kamstrup in view of Dao teaches
The method of claim 2 wherein the depth measurements are of the faces of the participants (see Dao Paragraph [0052], The estimation of a person's position or location in the field of view is, in some examples, performed in four steps: (i) estimate a distance from the person's face to the camera).
Regarding Claim 4, Kamstrup in view of Dao teaches
The method of claim 3 wherein detected faces having constant or linear depth are excluded from the set of images (see Dao Paragraph [0053], It is also possible to estimate the person's position using a variation of (e). The distance between pairs of facial landmarks varies within 10% across the population. Some examples of these distances include the distance between the eyes, between one eye and the tip of the nose, between one eye and the mouth, between the top of the forehead and chin, and the entire width of the face. On a captured image, these landmarks are projected into the camera focal plane and therefore the distances between landmarks on the captured image depends on the camera view angle of the face. When a person turns their face to the side relative to the camera view, most of the above distances are shortened. Some are not however, including (for example) face length or distance from one visible eye to the mouth. Similarly, when a person looks up, their projected face length on the image is shortened but the face breadth and eye distances remain the same. If a person rotates their face but keeps their face frontal to the camera, the distance between the landmark distances such as eye distance remains the same. Assuming the distance between the landmarks is smaller than the distance from the face to the camera, the camera image formation allows formulae to be derived which relate the distance between the two landmarks in the real world and their distance on the image in pixel units, in which facial landmarks provided different depth information across the face, therefore not constant and located. If the depth was constant, the user would not be located thus not being displayed on the video conference interface).
Regarding Claim 5, Kamstrup in view of Dao teaches
The method of claim 2 wherein the distance sensor comprises a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor (see Kamstrup Paragraph [0076], A time-of-flight (ToF) sensor or camera is a range imaging camera system employing time-of-flight techniques to resolve distance between the camera and the subject for each point of the image, by measuring the round trip time of an artificial light signal provided by a laser or an LED, Paragraph [0077], Time-of-flight is a measurement of how long it takes a particle, wave, or object to travel a certain distance. In the case of a ToF sensor/camera, it uses light to measure distance, and Paragraph [0078], A type of time-of-flight sensor uses a form of LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) known as scannerless LIDAR. It's a remote sensing method that fires an infrared light pulse to measure distance).
Regarding Claim 6, Kamstrup in view of Dao teaches
The method of claim 2 wherein the distance sensor comprises a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor (see Kamstrup Paragraph [0006], The solution uses a combination of hardware products comprising an image sensor, e.g. a camera, and a depth sensor, e.g. a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor and Paragraph [0013], Further, with implementation of a depth sensor, e.g. a time of flight (ToF) sensor, and the image sensor, it is possible to determine the exact seating distance of the participants from the device to the meeting room background/walls as well as between the participants).
Regarding Claim 7, Kamstrup in view of Dao teaches
The method of claim 1 and further comprising transmitting the identified images to a remote participant device (see Dao Paragraph [0061], Once all people have had their positions estimated and the determination made as to whether to frame them or not, ‘Y’, the method moves to step 218 and the or each cropped region is extracted containing one or more of the people in the framing list. These cropped regions are then used to generate one or more single video streams, each video stream containing a respective crop region, or a composite video stream which contains a plurality of crop regions. These are transmitted in step 220, Paragraph [0005], generating one or more video signals, which include one or more cropped regions corresponding to one or more persons determined to be within the spatial boundary, for transmission to a receiver, and Paragraph [0014], The method may further comprise transmitting the or each video signal to a receiver. The receiver may be a second video conference endpoint connected to the first video conference endpoint via a computer network).
Regarding Claims 12 – 15 and 17, they are rejected similarly as Claims 1 – 4 and 7, respectively. The machine-readable storage device having instructions for execution by a processor of a machine to cause the processor to perform operations to perform a method can be found in Dao (Paragraph [0049], The endpoint includes a processor 2, which is connected to volatile memory 4 and non-volatile memory 6. Either or both or volatile memory 4 and non-volatile memory 6 contain machine executable instructions which, when executed on the processor, cause it to perform the method).
Regarding Claim 16, it is rejected as a combination of Claims 5 – 6. The machine-readable storage device having instructions for execution by a processor of a machine to cause the processor to perform operations to perform a method can be found in Dao (Paragraph [0049], The endpoint includes a processor 2, which is connected to volatile memory 4 and non-volatile memory 6. Either or both or volatile memory 4 and non-volatile memory 6 contain machine executable instructions which, when executed on the processor, cause it to perform the method).
Claims 8 - 11 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamstrup (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0214522) in view of Dao et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0214520, hereinafter “Dao”) and Matsui et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0421379, hereinafter “Matsui”).
Regarding Claim 8, Kamstrup in view of Dao teaches all the limitations of claim 1, but does not expressively teach
The method of claim 1 wherein the secondary sensor comprises an infrared sensor and wherein the information corresponds to heat measurements of the participant.
However, Matsui teaches
The method of claim 1 wherein the secondary sensor comprises an infrared sensor and wherein the information corresponds to heat measurements of the participant (see Matsui Paragraph [0069], when the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the face area of the user Us1 (detect the face) from the image captured by the camera 120, and can confirm that the image capture target with the detected face area is a person using the heat [measurement] detected by the thermal sensor 110, the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the person).
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 a video conference method of receiving an image of a meeting area and detecting faces using facial recognition and identifying locations of participants using a sensor, relating a detected participant’s face with their location and excluding participants from video conference display that do not correspond to locations of the participants (as taught in Kamstrup in view of Dao), with an infrared sensor that collects heat measurements of a user’s face (as taught in Matsui), the motivation being to provide a method that addresses security concerns or false renderings of participants (such as a reflection, or unwanted individual) in video conferences, by using heat measurements of a user from an infrared sensor to identify them (see Matsui Paragraph [0083]).
Regarding Claim 9, Kamstrup in view of Dao and Matsui teaches
The method of claim 8 wherein heat measurements are of the faces of the participants (see Matsui Paragraph [0069], when the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the face area of the user Us1 (detect the face) from the image captured by the camera 120, and can confirm that the image capture target with the detected face area is a person using the heat [measurement] detected by the thermal sensor 110, the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the person).
Regarding Claim 10, Kamstrup in view of Dao and Matsui teaches
The method of claim 9 wherein detected faces having constant or linear heat measurements are excluded from the set of images (see Matsui Paragraph [0069], when the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the face area of the user Us1 (detect the face) from the image captured by the camera 120, and can confirm that the image capture target with the detected face area is a person using the heat [measurement] detected by the thermal sensor 110, the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the person and Paragraph [0083], The CPU then proceeds to step 410 to determine whether the thermal sensor 110 detects heat from the user (e.g., heat within a predetermined temperature range appropriate for determining that the user is human) and whether the camera 120 detects (recognizes) the user's face, therefore if the heat does not fall into the predetermined range and is determined to not be human (linear or constant), the face would not be recognized/authenticated, and therefore would be excluded on the video conference interface of Kamstrup in view of Dao).
Regarding Claim 11, Kamstrup in view of Dao and Matsui teaches
The method of claim 9 wherein detected faces having heat measurements not representative of a person are excluded from the set of images (see Matsui Paragraph [0069], when the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the face area of the user Us1 (detect the face) from the image captured by the camera 120, and can confirm that the image capture target with the detected face area is a person using the heat [measurement] detected by the thermal sensor 110, the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the person and Paragraph [0083], The CPU then proceeds to step 410 to determine whether the thermal sensor 110 detects heat from the user (e.g., heat within a predetermined temperature range appropriate for determining that the user is human) and whether the camera 120 detects (recognizes) the user's face, therefore if the heat does not fall into the predetermined range and is determined to not be human, the face would not be recognized/authenticated, and therefore would be excluded on the video conference interface of Kamstrup in view of Dao).
Regarding Claim 18, it is rejected similarly as Claim 8. The machine-readable storage device having instructions for execution by a processor of a machine to cause the processor to perform operations to perform a method can be found in Dao (Paragraph [0049], The endpoint includes a processor 2, which is connected to volatile memory 4 and non-volatile memory 6. Either or both or volatile memory 4 and non-volatile memory 6 contain machine executable instructions which, when executed on the processor, cause it to perform the method).
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamstrup (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0214522) in view of Matsui et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0421379, hereinafter “Matsui”), Dao et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0214520, hereinafter “Dao”), and Scalisi et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0164300, hereinafter “Scalisi”).
Regarding Claim 21, Kamstrup teaches
A device (see Kamstrup Abstract, device) comprising:
a camera configured to capture an image of a meeting area during an electronic conference call (see Kamstrup Figure 9, in which in method 900 (performed in a video conference device (Paragraph [0191])), comprises, in the processing unit: obtaining (904) the captured images by the image sensor of a meeting area (Figure 2A));
detecting multiple faces in the image using a facial recognition model (see Kamstrup Paragraph [0004], The processing unit is configured to performing an image processing of the captured images from the image sensor to virtually identify each of the in-room participants, and Paragraph [0034], The virtual identification may comprise face recognition of the in-room participants);
Kamstrup does not expressively teach
an infrared sensor configured to obtain heat measurements of faces of participants in the meeting area;
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor and storing a program executable by the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving information from the infrared sensor to identify locations of participants in the meeting area based on the heat measurements; and
correlating the detected faces with the locations of participants to verify physical presence; and
verifying the participants for inclusion in a gallery view by excluding detected faces that do not correspond to the locations of participants, including detected faces having constant or linear heat measurements and detected faces having heat measurements not representative of a person.
However, Matsui teaches
an infrared sensor configured to obtain heat measurements of faces of participants in the meeting area (see Matsui Paragraph [0069], when the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the face area of the user Us1 (detect the face) from the image captured by the camera 120, and can confirm that the image capture target with the detected face area is a person using the heat [measurement] detected by the thermal sensor 110, the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the person);
including detected faces having constant or linear heat measurements and detected faces having heat measurements not representative of a person (see Matsui Paragraph [0069], when the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the face area of the user Us1 (detect the face) from the image captured by the camera 120, and can confirm that the image capture target with the detected face area is a person using the heat [measurement] detected by the thermal sensor 110, the face authentication terminal 100 can detect the person and Paragraph [0083], The CPU then proceeds to step 410 to determine whether the thermal sensor 110 detects heat from the user (e.g., heat within a predetermined temperature range appropriate for determining that the user is human) and whether the camera 120 detects (recognizes) the user's face, therefore if the heat does not fall into the predetermined range and is determined to not be human, the face would not be recognized/authenticated, and therefore would be excluded).
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 a video conference method of receiving an image of a meeting area and detecting faces using facial recognition (as taught in Kamstrup), with an infrared sensor that collects heat measurements of a user’s face to authenticate the user (as taught in Matsui), the motivation being to provide a method that addresses security concerns or false renderings of participants (such as a reflection, or unwanted individual) in video conferences, by using heat measurements of a user from an infrared sensor to identify them (see Matsui Paragraph [0083]).
Kamstrup in view of Matsui does not expressively teach
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor and storing a program executable by the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving information from the infrared sensor to identify locations of participants in the meeting area based on the heat measurements; and
correlating the detected faces with the locations of participants to verify physical presence; and
verifying the participants for inclusion in a gallery view by excluding detected faces that do not correspond to the locations of participants,
However, Dao teaches
a processor (see Dao Paragraph [0049], processor 2); and
a memory coupled to the processor and storing a program executable by the processor to perform operations (see Dao Paragraph [0049], FIG. 1 shows a video conference endpoint 100. The endpoint includes a processor 2, which is connected to volatile memory 4 and non-volatile memory 6. Either or both or volatile memory 4 and non-volatile memory 6 contain machine executable instructions which, when executed on the processor, cause it to perform the method) comprising:
correlating the detected faces with the locations of participants to verify physical presence (see Dao Paragraph [0052], The estimation of a person's position or location in the field of view is, in some examples, performed in four steps: (i) estimate a distance from the person's face to the camera, and Figure 2, when people are identified within the field of view, then the position of the participant is determined, in order to know who is within the boundary to then be displayed on the video conference, therefore the faces are correlated with their respective location); and
verifying the participants for inclusion in a gallery view by excluding detected faces that do not correspond to the locations of participants (see Dao Paragraph [0063], People 114a-114d can therefore be framed by the video conference endpoint 100 (displayed), and person 116 can be excluded, and Figures 4 and 5 in which the participants are identified then located, and if they are not located within the special boundary of the location of the other participants, they are excluded from being displayed on the video conference interface and Paragraph [0013], Generating the one or more video signals may include: determining, from the estimated position(s), that at least one of the one or more persons is within the spatial boundary; and framing the one or more persons who are determined to be within the spatial boundary to produce respective cropped regions. Generating the one or more video signals may include: framing the one or more persons within the field of view of the camera to produce one or more cropped regions; determining, from the estimated position(s), which of the one or more people are within the spatial boundary; and generating the one or more video signals based only on the cropped regions corresponding to the one or more persons within the spatial boundary),
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 a video conference method of receiving an image of a meeting area and detecting faces using facial recognition (as taught in Kamstrup), with an infrared sensor that collects heat measurements of a user’s face to authenticate the user (as taught in Matsui), the motivation being to provide a method that addresses security concerns or false renderings of participants (such as a reflection, or unwanted individual) in video conferences, by using heat measurements of a user from an infrared sensor to identify them (see Matsui Paragraph [0083]).
It would have been further obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of a video conference method of receiving an image of a meeting area and detecting faces using facial recognition and an infrared sensor that collects heat measurements of a user’s face to authenticate the user (as taught in Kamstrup in view of Matsui), with relating a detected participant’s face with their location and excluding participants from video conference display that do not correspond to locations of the participants (as taught in Dao), the motivation being to provide a method that addresses security concerns or false renderings of participants (such as a reflection, or unwanted individual) in video conferences, by excluding display of a participant that does not pass requirements (see Dao Paragraph [0004]).
Kamstrup in view of Matsui and Dao does not expressively teach
receiving information from the infrared sensor to identify locations of participants in the meeting area based on the heat measurements;
However, Scalisi teaches
receiving information from the infrared sensor to identify locations of participants in the area based on the heat measurements (see Scalisi Paragraph [0066], Artificial intelligence provided locally (not shown) or via a cloud service through the network 500 may use information gathered via the at least one sensor 406 and/or the at least one infrared sensor 410 to determine, for instance, locations of people detected via heat signatures);
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 a video conference method of receiving an image of a meeting area and detecting faces using facial recognition (as taught in Kamstrup), with an infrared sensor that collects heat measurements of a user’s face to authenticate the user (as taught in Matsui), the motivation being to provide a method that addresses security concerns or false renderings of participants (such as a reflection, or unwanted individual) in video conferences, by using heat measurements of a user from an infrared sensor to identify them (see Matsui Paragraph [0083]).
It would have been further obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of a video conference method of receiving an image of a meeting area and detecting faces using facial recognition and an infrared sensor that collects heat measurements of a user’s face to authenticate the user (as taught in Kamstrup in view of Matsui), with relating a detected participant’s face with their location and excluding participants from video conference display that do not correspond to locations of the participants (as taught in Dao), the motivation being to provide a method that addresses security concerns or false renderings of participants (such as a reflection, or unwanted individual) in video conferences, by excluding display of a participant that does not pass requirements (see Dao Paragraph [0004]).
It would have been even further obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of a video conference method of receiving an image of a meeting area and detecting faces using facial recognition and an infrared sensor that collects heat measurements of a user’s face to authenticate the user, and relating a detected participant’s face with their location and excluding participants from video conference display that do not correspond to locations of the participants (as taught in Kamstrup in view of Matsui and Dao), with using infrared sensor(s) to determine a location of a person (as taught in Scalisi), the motivation being to implement a sensor that detects objects and/or temperatures in order to identify a person on camera (see Scalisi Paragraph [0066]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to PTO-892, Notice of References Cited for a listing of analogous art.
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 CARISSA A JONES whose telephone number is (703)756-1677. The examiner can normally be reached Telework M-F 6:30 AM - 4:00 PM CT.
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/CARISSA A JONES/Examiner, Art Unit 2691
/DUC NGUYEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2691