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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/20/2026 has been entered.
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) 1-8, 10-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) in view of Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431).
Regarding Claim 1, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses a method for operating at least one camera (adjust camera focal length, Abstract, p. 3) based at least in part on a position of a tracked subject (the distance and angle between the camera and another device that the conference participant is wearing, Abstract, p. 3-4) in a camera view of the at least one camera (focus on the conference participant, Abstract—i.e., in the field of view), the method comprising:
determining positions (distance between the laptop and the user is estimated using UWB depth sensing, p. 4; distance and angle between the video-conferencing device and each candidate device is computed, p. 6) of one or more candidate subjects (UWB devices that can be candidates for pairing, p. 6) in the camera view of the at least one camera (human users 304 in the raw image scene captured with the camera 302, p. 7) based on receiving … the one or more candidate subjects (each discovered candidate device, p. 6) …,
identifying a particular subject [] (performing UWB-to-image target assignment… to assign users to the locations within the scene, p. 7) of the received subject [] (each discovered candidate device, p. 6; detected locations of human users in the raw image, p. 7) that matches a tracked subject [] (use the user interface (UI) of the video conferencing application to choose the person(s) of interest on whom the camera should focus 312, p. 7) …;
and responsive to the identifying (UWB-to-image target assignment, p. 6; choose the persons of interest, p. 7) and the determining (the distance and angle between the camera and another device that the conference participant is wearing, Abstract, p. 3-4; distance and angle between the video-conferencing device and each candidate device is computed, p. 6), adjusting camera operation of the at least one camera (adjust the camera focus, control the lens parameters and change the focal length, p. 8, Abstract) based on the determined position (the distance and angle between the camera and another device that the conference participant is wearing, Abstract, p. 3-4; distance and angle between the video-conferencing device and each candidate device is computed, p. 6; sub-meter accuracy provided by UWB 314, p. 8) of a particular positioning tag of the positioning tags (performing UWB-to-image target assignment… to assign users to the locations within the scene, p. 7; the person(s) of interest on whom the camera should focus 312, p. 7) corresponding to the particular subject identifier (assign users to the locations within the scene, p. 7, the person(s) of interest on whom the camera should focus 312, p. 7) relative to the at least one camera (the distance and angle between the camera and another device that the conference participant is wearing, Abstract, p. 3-4; distance and angle between the video-conferencing device and each candidate device is computed, p. 6).
Shin does not disclose, but Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431) teaches receiving (UWB device 230 configured to transmit to the UWB device 224 [0039]; i.e., UWB device 224 receives) subject identifiers (personal identification number, pin, or unique user identifier [0039]) … from positioning tags (UWB device 230 [0039]), each positioning tag storing a subject identifier (identification data that distinctively corresponds to the device and associated with the user 240 that possess the device 230, such as a personal identification number, pin, or unique user identifier [0039]) of a candidate subject (UWB device 230 configured to transmit identification data that distinctively corresponds to the device and associated with the user 240 that possess the device 230, such as a personal identification number (PIN) or unique user identifier, to the UWB device 224 of the user ID device 22 [0039]) of the one or more candidate subjects (any UWB equipped person, inferred [0039]) and transmitting the subject identifier (identification data from UWB device 230 is received by UWB device 224 [0039]) of the candidate subject (user 240 equipped with UWB device 230 [0038]);
identifying a particular subject identifier (determining whether the received PIN from the UWB device 230 matches a defined PIN [0039]) of the received subject identifiers (identification data from UWB device 230 is received by UWB device 224 [0039]) that matches a tracked subject identifier of the tracked subject (matches a defined PIN [0039]; analyze movement and trajectory of the user 240 [0041]; tracking location, position, movement [0042]) stored in a database (information storage 810, memory 808, Fig. 8, [0095]-[0096]).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to use the trajectory tracker and user IDs of Kuehner to track the persons near the camera of Shin because it enables personalized services to be performed, such as settings, configurations, or activations, that improve upon the camera focusing of Shin by enabling additional features to be implemented based on individual user profiles.
Regarding Claim 2, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 1, wherein determining the positions of the one or more candidate subjects (each discovered candidate device, p. 6) comprises determining the positions based at least in part on a response received from the positioning tags (distance via handshake protocol based on round trip time for UWB impulse signal, p. 5) associated with the one or more candidate subjects (each discovered candidate device, p. 6).
Regarding Claim 3, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 2, wherein determining the positions comprises:
determining, for each positioning tag, an angle of arrival of the response (round trip time, Fig. 2, p. 5-6) …;
and determining, for each positioning tag (user 1, user 2, Fig. 4), the position based at least in part on the angle of arrival (estimate angle based on phase, p. 6).
Shin does not disclose, but Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431) teaches response including the subject identifier transmitted by the positioning tag (UWB device 230 configured to transmit identification data that distinctively corresponds to the device (and associated with the user 240 that possess the device 230) such as a personal identification number (PIN) or unique user identifier, to the UWB device 224 of the user ID device 22 [0039]).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to use the trajectory tracker and user IDs of Kuehner to track the persons near the camera of Shin because it enables personalized services to be performed, such as settings, configurations, or activations, that improve upon the camera focusing of Shin by enabling additional features to be implemented based on individual user profiles.
Regarding Claim 4, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 3, wherein the response is received via an antenna array (multiple antennas, p. 6) and wherein determining the angle of arrival (angle between camera device receiving the reply, p. 6) comprises measuring a phase difference across antennas of the antenna array (phases of the signal received at each antenna, p. 6) of the received response and calculating the angle of arrival from the measured phase difference (estimate the angle between devices based on the phase deviations, p. 6).
Regarding Claim 5, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 2, wherein determining the positions comprises:
broadcasting a request (impulse signal 206, Fig. 2) at a first time (t0, Fig. 2);
receiving, from each positioning tag (each discovered candidate device, p. 6) at a respective second time (t3, Fig. 2), the response (return signal 208, Fig. 2) …;
determining, for each positioning tag (each discovered candidate device, p. 6), a time of flight between the first time and the respective second time (round trip time, Fig. 2);
calculating, for each positioning tag, a distance based at least in part on the time of flight (distance = half * (speed of light times (round trip time – reply time)), p. 6);
and determining, for each positioning tag, the position based at least in part on the distance (position is based on distance and angle therefore position is based on distance, p. 5-6).
Shin does not disclose, but Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431) teaches response that includes a respective subject identifier of the received subject identifiers (UWB device 230 configured to transmit identification data that distinctively corresponds to the device (and associated with the user 240 that possess the device 230) such as a personal identification number (PIN) or unique user identifier, to the UWB device 224 of the user ID device 22 [0039]).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to use the trajectory tracker and user IDs of Kuehner to track the persons near the camera of Shin because it enables personalized services to be performed, such as settings, configurations, or activations, that improve upon the camera focusing of Shin by enabling additional features to be implemented based on individual user profiles.
Regarding Claim 6, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 5, wherein broadcasting the request includes broadcasting the request via ultra-wideband communication channels and wherein receiving the subject identifiers includes receiving … via the UWB communication channels (UWB handshake protocol, Fig. 2).
Shin does not disclose, but Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431) teaches receiving the subject identifiers via the UWB communication channels (UWB device 230 configured to transmit identification data that distinctively corresponds to the device (and associated with the user 240 that possess the device 230) such as a personal identification number (PIN) or unique user identifier, to the UWB device 224 of the user ID device 22 [0039]).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to use the trajectory tracker and user IDs of Kuehner to track the persons near the camera of Shin because it enables personalized services to be performed, such as settings, configurations, or activations, that improve upon the camera focusing of Shin by enabling additional features to be implemented based on individual user profiles.
Regarding Claim 7, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 5, wherein broadcasting the request includes broadcasting the request via ultra-wideband communication channels (UWB handshake protocol, Fig. 2).
Shin does not disclose, but Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431) teaches wherein receiving the subject identifiers includes receiving the subject identifiers (transmit identification data that distinctively corresponds to the device (and associated with the user 240 that possess the device 230) such as a personal identification number (PIN) or unique user identifier [0039]) via Wi-Fi communication channels or Bluetooth communication channels (communications via any of a number of communication protocols such as, for example, WiFi, Bluetooth [0085]).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to use the trajectory tracker and user IDs of Kuehner to track the persons near the camera of Shin because it enables personalized services to be performed, such as settings, configurations, or activations, that improve upon the camera focusing of Shin by enabling additional features to be implemented based on individual user profiles.
Regarding Claim 8, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the camera operation comprises adjusting, based at least in part on one or more camera rules, a focus of the at least one camera or modifying a field of view of the at least one camera (focus on the conference participant, Abstract).
Regarding Claim 10, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses a computing system, the computing system comprising: one or more hardware processors (computer, Fig. 4).
The remainder of Claim 10 is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 11, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 2.
Regarding Claim 12, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 3.
Regarding Claim 13, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 4.
Regarding Claim 14, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 5.
Regarding Claim 15, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses one or more tangible processor-readable storage media embodied with instructions for executing on one or more processors and circuits of a computing device a process for operating at least one camera (computer, Fig. 4).
The remainder of Claim 15 is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 16, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 2.
Regarding Claim 17, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 3.
Regarding Claim 18, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 6.
Regarding Claim 19, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 8.
Claim(s) 9 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) in view of Bakken (US 2024/0007136 A1) and Nguyen (NPL “Range-focused Fusion of camera-IMU-UWB for accurate and drift-reduced localization, IEEEE 2021).
Regarding Claim 9, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 1.
Shin does not disclose, but Nguyen (NPL “Range-focused Fusion of camera-IMU-UWB for accurate and drift-reduced localization, IEEEE 2021) teaches wherein determining the position further comprises adjusting the position with respect to one or more specific components of the at least one camera (UWB residuals in the cost function of predicted change between two key frames, Section IV.C).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to supplement the tracking of Shin with the pose correction of Nguyen because Nguyen teaches that incorporating the UWB ranging into localization uses the UWB data more efficiently and reduces drift in long-term trajectories, (Abstract), improving object tracking.
Regarding Claim 20, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 9.
Claim(s) 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) in view of Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431) and Ullah (US 2013/0128755).
Regarding Claim 21, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 1.
Shin does not disclose, but Ullah (US PG Publication 2013/0128755) teaches wherein the positioning tag (Presence Beaconing Station PBS: A station that has presence beaconing capabilities, usually an end-user device [0088]) corresponding to each candidate subject (usually an end-user device [0088]) stores a device identifier (Device-Specific Identifier [0083]) that identifies the positioning tag (unique identifier used to identify the PBS—end-user device [0083]), wherein the device identifier is different from (device-specific identifier and application-specific user hash are different) the subject identifier (Application-specific user hash, to identify the user [0080]).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to supplement the UWB discovery process of Shin with the presence framework of Ullah because Ullah teaches that using a multi-layer framework for identification protects the user’s identity and ensures that privacy is maintained when the user uses the network [0129].
Regarding Claim 22, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 2.
Shin does not disclose, but Ullah (US PG Publication 2013/0128755) teaches the response including a device identifier identifying the positioning tag (machine-to-machine layer interface uses the Device Specific Interface to uniquely identify each presence enabled device [0131]) and the subject identifier (application partners are sent the ASUH to identify the user [0132]).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to supplement the UWB discovery process of Shin with the presence framework of Ullah because Ullah teaches that using a multi-layer framework for identification protects the user’s identity and ensures that privacy is maintained when the user uses the network [0129].
Claim(s) 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) in view of Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431) and Aonuma (US 2011/0063108 A1).
Regarding Claim 23, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 1.
Shin does not disclose, but Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431) teaches further comprising: retrieving the tracked subject identifier from a storage device (matches a defined PIN [0039]).
Shin does not disclose, but Aonuma (US 2011/0063108 A1) teaches the tracked subject identifier being an employee identifier and the tracked subject being an employee (an employee ID that uniquely identifies a particular employee).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to implement Shin, as modified with the trajectory and user tracking of Kuehner, with employee IDs because Shin’s technology works the same on employees as it does on other people.
Claim(s) 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) in view of Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431) and Kamiyama (JP 2015193324 A).
Regarding Claim 24, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 1.
Shin does not disclose, but Kamiyama (JP 2015193324 A) teaches wherein, when the tracked subject is occluded in the camera view, the tracked subject is trackable based on the particular subject identifier matching the tracked subject identifier (if the tracking target 12 is equipped with a tag and the tracking target is lost, after the tracking target is lost, it can be confirmed that the tracking target is the same tracking target as that before losing sight by identifying the tag ID [0090]).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to supplement the camera control of Shin using the tag ID, as in Kamyyama, because the video conferencing of Shin can be used by persons moving around their home, and directing the camera to stay focused on the speaker provides convenience to the conference participants so that they can free their hands to do other things while still having the camera focused on them.
Claim(s) 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) in view of Kuehner (US PG Publication 2023/0339431).
Regarding Claim 25, Shin (NPL “Camera focus adjustment using depth estimated via ultra-wideband handshake,” Technical Disclosure commons, 2022) discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting operation is performed at a first time (adjust the camera focus, control the lens parameters and change the focal length, p. 8, Abstract), and further comprising: performing the identifying operation again at a second time after the first time; and performing, responsive to performing the identifying operation again at the second time, the adjusting operation (one of ordinary skill in the art can deduce that Shin is capable of being operated twice: it can be repeated; performing a disclosed method a second time does not impart patentability).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s remarks filed 1/20/2026 have been considered but are not persuasive.
Applicant attacks each reference individually where the rejection is based on the combination of references, then concludes that neither of Shin nor Kuehner teaches “responsive to the identifying and determining, adjusting a camera operation…,” Remarks 12-13. Applicant argues that Shin does not disclose “(1) identifying a subject identifier received from a tag as matching a tracked subject identifier,” Remarks at 11, and Shin does not disclose, “waiting for an identifier to be received and matched to a tracked identifier to trigger camera operations,” Remarks at 14. As the office action does not purport that Shin teaches these, these arguments are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Kuehner does not adjust camera operations. Remarks at 12. As the office action does not purport that Keuhner teaches this, this argument is not persuasive.
Applicant also argues that Shin does not disclose two preconditions for camera operation, “both the identifying (1) step and a determining step in which position data of the tag was obtained.” Remarks at 11. This argument is based on Applicant’s strawman argument that Shin does not disclose identifying the subject identifier from the tag. As the office action does not purport that Shin alone teaches this feature, this argument is not persuasive.
The office action modifies Shin by replacing the method of identifying the subjects of Shin with the subject identifiers from the positioning tags of Kuehner. Thus, Applicant’s only relevant argument is that one or ordinary skill in the art would not be motivated to combine the references (Remarks at 13)—and this is not persuasive. Applicant argues that one of ordinary skill in the art would not be motivated to modify the camera of Shin with the vehicle access system of Kuehner, but this is not persuasive because Applicant overlooks—intentionally, that both Shin and Kuehner are using UWB tags to determine the positions of users. The motivation to attach the user IDs Kuehner to the positioning tags of Shin is that doing so enables user profiling and customization, which is a known endeavor in the art and provides an improved experience users of the system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US-11503358-B1
US-11961410-B1
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/SHADAN E HAGHANI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2485