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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1, 6, 11-16 in the reply filed on 05/20/2026 is acknowledged.
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)(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, 6, 12-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ikeda (US2023/0316648).
To claim 1, Ikeda teach a method of estimating at least one dimension of an object, said object represented by a point cloud relating to a scene comprising said object (abstract, Fig. 1), said estimating comprising:
taking into account a distance, of at least one point of a plurality of points of said point cloud, from a center of said point cloud in at least one direction (paragraphs 0010, 0071, a cuboid containing the object may be used as a three-dimensional bounding box and a center of the cuboid may be used as an origin).
To claim 15, Ikeda teach a recording medium readable by a computer on which there is recorded a computer program comprising instructions to execute the steps of a method of estimating at least one dimension of an object, said object represented by a point cloud relating to a scene comprising said object (as explained in response to claim 1 above).
To claim 16, Ikeda teach a device to estimate at least one dimension of an object, said object represented by a point cloud relating to a scene comprising said object (as explained in response to claim 1 above).
To claim 6, Ikeda teach claim 1.
Ikeda teach wherein a coordinate of said center of the point cloud in a dimension is obtained as being a median of coordinates of the plurality of points of the point cloud in said dimension (paragraphs 0038, 0043, 0046, 0055, initial reference coordinate system with the center of the cuboid as the origin).
To claim 12, Ikeda teach claim 1.
Ikeda teach wherein the dimension of the object is estimated in three directions corresponding to a width, depth and height of said object, the three estimated directions defining a box bounding said object (paragraph 0010).
To claim 13, Ikeda teach claim 12.
Ikeda teach further comprising a rotation over at least two angles of said point cloud about said centre (paragraphs 0048-0057, rotate with an angular period), said dimension being estimated for the at least two angles (paragraphs 0052, 0067, XYZ orientations), and the method comprising the selecting of the estimated dimension giving the bounding box having the smallest volume, from among said estimated dimensions for said at least two angles (paragraphs 0065-0070).
To claim 14, Ikeda teach claim 13.
Ikeda teach wherein said at least two angles of rotation are obtained by incrementing values of the angles by a constant pitch (paragraphs 0048-0053, angular period).
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) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ikeda (US2023/0316648).
To claim 11, Ikeda teach claim 1.
Ikeda teach wherein: the estimated dimension is compared with a value function of a measurement noise (S310 of Fig. 5); and when said estimated value is lower than said value function of said measurement noise, the estimated dimension is equal to twice a distance between the point the furthest distant from the center and said center (paragraphs 0073-0074, distance between the outermost intersection point and the origin Po is defined as r; S311 of Fig. 5; paragraphs 0082-0084, since distance is estimated from initial origin/center, estimated dimension would obviously be twice of r).
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephen R Koziol can be reached at (408) 918-7630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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ZHIYU . LU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2669
/ZHIYU LU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2665 June 1, 2026
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