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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Amendment
Applicant previously filed claims 1-19 and 21. Claims 17 has been cancelled. Claims 16 and 18 have been amended. Accordingly, claims 1-16,18-19 and 21 are pending in the current application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/25/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues regarding the 112 (b) rejection of claim 10, that the statutory category of claim 10 is definite and not indefinite. However, examiner respectfully disagrees. Claim 10 is a method claim, and also recites structural limitations regarding an apparatus. Such Improper mixing of statutory categories renders the claim indefinite, and the rejection is maintained. MPEP Section 2173.05(p) Section II states: A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph. See In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 1318, 97 USPQ2d 1737, 1748-49 (Fed. Cir. 2011). In Katz, a claim directed to “[a] system with an interface means for providing automated voice messages…to certain of said individual callers, wherein said certain of said individual callers digitally enter data” was determined to be indefinite because the italicized claim limitation is not directed to the system, but rather to actions of the individual callers, which creates confusion as to when direct infringement occurs. Katz, 639 F.3d at 1318, 97 USPQ2d at 1749 (citing IPXL Holdings v. Amazon.com, Inc., 430 F.3d 1377, 1384, 77 USPQ2d 1140, 1145 (Fed. Cir. 2005), in which a system claim that recited “an input means” and required a user to use the input means was found to be indefinite because it was unclear “whether infringement … occurs when one creates a system that allows the user [to use the input means], or whether infringement occurs when the user actually uses the input means.”); Ex parteLyell, 17 USPQ2d 1548 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1990) (claim directed to an automatic transmission workstand and the method of using it held ambiguous and properly rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph).
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., specifically cited differences between virtual viewpoint image of Sun et al. and the claimed multi-viewpoint image) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). 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).
Applicant essentially argues that Sun et al. fails to teach “controlling the light-emitting sub-pixels to emit light according to assigned pixel gray values, so that the display device displays a multi-viewpoint image corresponding to the source image”. However, examiner respectfully disagrees. In Paragraph 60, Sun et al. teaches “In some implementations, the depth image adopts a 8-bit grayscale value to represent a distance between a pixel of the image and a reference viewpoint corresponding to the original image, that is, the distance between the pixel and the reference viewpoint corresponding to zero parallax, where the grayscale value is a depth value in the depth image, and the smaller the depth value, the farther it is from the reference viewpoint, accordingly, the larger the depth value, the closer it is to the reference viewpoint, that is, a pixel grayscale value of 255 represents that the pixel is closest to the reference viewpoint, and a pixel grayscale value of 0 represents that the pixel is farthest from the reference viewpoint, but the depth value and the distance value are not the same, and can be converted into each other through a corresponding algorithm.” In Paragraph 132 Sun et al. teaches “the electronic apparatus may be a display for displaying an image, the displayed image includes: the original image, the depth image, the virtual viewpoint image, and the fused image generated by performing image fusion and three-dimensional scene reconstruction on the original image and the virtual viewpoint image according to the reference viewpoint and the virtual viewpoint, and the like.” The display of a three-dimensional scene reconstruction generated by image fusion is clearly and unambiguously describing the display of a multi-viewpoint image which corresponds to the source image. These limitations is interpreted to teach the claim limitations as filed.
Applicant's arguments fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references.
In light of the above remarks, the claims are rejected as before.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 10 is rejected as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 10 is drawn to a driving method, but also claims that the display device comprises an image splitting device and a display panel, and at least one grating unit. These additional structural elements are inconsistent with the statutory category of the claim being a method, and therefore render the claim indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph. See In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 1318, 97 USPQ2d 1737, 1748-49 (Fed. Cir. 2011). In Katz, a claim directed to “[a] system with an interface means for providing automated voice messages…to certain of said individual callers, wherein said certain of said individual callers digitally enter data” was determined to be indefinite because the italicized claim limitation is not directed to the system, but rather to actions of the individual callers, which creates confusion as to when direct infringement occurs. Katz, 639 F.3d at 1318, 97 USPQ2d at 1749 (citing IPXL Holdings v. Amazon.com, Inc., 430 F.3d 1377, 1384, 77 USPQ2d 1140, 1145 (Fed. Cir. 2005), in which a system claim that recited “an input means” and required a user to use the input means was found to be indefinite because it was unclear “whether infringement … occurs when one creates a system that allows the user [to use the input means], or whether infringement occurs when the user actually uses the input means.”); Ex parteLyell, 17 USPQ2d 1548 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1990) (claim directed to an automatic transmission workstand and the method of using it held ambiguous and properly rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph). Applicant is required to amend to correct.
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) 1-16, 18-19 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sun et al. (US 20230162338 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Sun et al. teaches a driving method for a display device (Paragraph 110; Paragraph 132), comprising:
inputting a source image, wherein the source image comprises depth information (Paragraphs 57-60; Paragraph 61, “the depth image may be calculated by software based on rendering of the original image, or may be directly captured by an image capture device with a depth image capturing and generating function, such as a depth camera, where the reference viewpoint corresponds to the image capture device that is used as a reference or is at a reference position during the capture” Paragraphs 62-73);
searching in the source image by utilizing the depth information to determine first image pixel points matched with light-emitting sub-pixels of the display device (Paragraphs 62-73; Paragraph 110);
assigning pixel gray values of the first image pixel points to the light-emitting sub-pixels of the display device (Paragraphs 60-73); and
controlling the light-emitting sub-pixels to emit light according to assigned pixel gray values, so that the display device displays a multi-viewpoint image corresponding to the source image (Paragraphs 60-73; Paragraph 132).
Regarding Claim 2, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 1, wherein the step of searching in the source image by utilizing the depth information to determine first image pixel points matched with light-emitting sub-pixels of the display device comprises: searching in the source image according to viewpoint numbers of the light-emitting sub-pixels and the depth information to determine the first image pixel point matched with each of the light-emitting sub-pixels; wherein the viewpoint numbers are preset according to a quantity of viewpoints to be rendered, pixel coordinates of the light-emitting sub-pixels, and apparatus parameters of the display device (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraph 132).
Regarding Claim 3, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 2, wherein the step of searching in the source image according to viewpoint numbers of the light-emitting sub-pixels and the depth information to determine the first image pixel point matched with each of the light-emitting sub-pixels comprises: obtaining a parallax of second image pixel points corresponding to current light-emitting sub-pixels in the source image according to the viewpoint numbers of the current light-emitting sub-pixels; wherein the pixel coordinates of the current light-emitting sub-pixels and pixel coordinates of the second image pixel points are mapped on a one-to-one basis; and searching in a preset parallax range in the source image according to the parallax of the second image pixel points to determine first image pixel points matched with the current light-emitting sub-pixels (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraph 81; Paragraph 91; Paragraph 99; Paragraphs 104-107).
Regarding Claim 4, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 3, wherein the step of obtaining a parallax of second image pixel points corresponding to current light-emitting sub-pixels in the source image according to the viewpoint numbers of the current light-emitting sub-pixels comprises: obtaining an actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points according to depth information of the second image pixel points; and obtaining the parallax of the second image pixel points according to the viewpoint numbers of the current light-emitting sub-pixels and the actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraph 81; Paragraph 91; Paragraph 99; Paragraphs 104-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 5, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 4, wherein the depth information comprises a depth image; wherein image pixel points in the depth image and depth image pixel points in the source image are mapped on a one-to-one basis; and pixel gray values of the depth image pixel points mapped by the second image pixel points in the depth image are used for representing depth information of the second image pixel points; and the step of obtaining an actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points according to depth information of the second image pixel points comprises: obtaining the actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points according to the pixel gray values of the depth image pixel points mapped by the second image pixel points in the depth image in a linear conversion manner and/or non-linear conversion manner (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraph 81; Paragraph 91; Paragraph 99; Paragraphs 104-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 6, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 4, wherein the step of obtaining the parallax of the second image pixel points according to the viewpoint numbers of the current light-emitting sub-pixels and the actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points comprises: obtaining a baseline width according to the quantity of the viewpoints to be rendered and the viewpoint numbers of the current light-emitting sub-pixels; obtaining the parallax of the second image pixel points according to the baseline width, a shooting focal length of the source image, and a distance parameter difference value between the second image pixel points and a zero parallax plane; wherein the distance parameter difference value between the second image pixel points and the zero parallax plane is obtained according to the actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points and an actual distance of the zero parallax plane (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraph 81; Paragraph 91; Paragraph 99; Paragraphs 104-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 7, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 3, wherein the step of searching in a preset parallax range in the source image according to the parallax of the second image pixel points to determine first image pixel points matched with the current light-emitting sub-pixels comprises: traversing and searching the first image pixel points in the source image in the preset parallax range based on the second image pixel points; wherein in the case where a parallax position of current image pixel points satisfies a preset parallax condition, it is determined that the current image pixel points are the first image pixel points; wherein the preset parallax range comprises: traversing a position range of a preset quantity of image pixel points along an image pixel line where the second image pixel points are located based on a position of the second image pixel points (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraph 81; Paragraphs 88-91; Paragraph 99; Paragraphs 104-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 8, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 7, wherein the preset parallax condition comprises: a sum of a pixel coordinate difference between the current image pixel points and the second image pixel points and the parallax of the second image pixel points being less than 1; and wherein the pixel coordinate difference between the current image pixel points and the second image pixel points comprises: a difference between a column pixel coordinate of the current image pixel points and a column pixel coordinate of the second image pixel points (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraphs 75-81; Paragraphs 88-94; Paragraphs 96-99; Paragraphs 100-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 9, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises: after traversing and searching all the image pixel points in the preset parallax range, under the condition that there is no image pixel point satisfying the preset parallax condition, determining that the current light-emitting sub-pixels are voids; after determining that the current light-emitting sub-pixels are voids, obtaining a pixel gray value of an image pixel point with a minimum depth in the preset parallax range based on the second image pixel points; and assigning the pixel gray value of the image pixel point with the minimum depth to the current light-emitting sub-pixels (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraphs 75-81; Paragraphs 88-94; Paragraphs 96-99; Paragraphs 100-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 10, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 2, wherein the display device comprises: an image splitting device and a display panel; the image splitting device comprises at least one grating unit, wherein light-emitting sub-pixels corresponding to same positions of different grating units have same viewpoint numbers; and the apparatus parameters of the display device comprise: a length of the light-emitting sub-pixels, a width of the light-emitting sub-pixels, a fitting angle of the image splitting device, a width of the grating unit, and a pixel resolution of the display panel (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraphs 75-81; Paragraphs 88-94; Paragraphs 96-99; Paragraphs 100-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 11, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 10, wherein before the step of searching in the source image by utilizing the depth information to determine first image pixel points matched with light-emitting sub-pixels of the display device, the method further comprises: obtaining a quantity of viewpoint sub-pixels of each light-emitting sub-pixel line according to the width of the grating unit of the image splitting device, the length of the light-emitting sub-pixels, and the fitting angle of the image splitting device; obtaining an offset quantity of two adjacent lines of light-emitting sub-pixels according to the length of the light-emitting sub-pixels, the width of the light-emitting sub-pixels, and the fitting angle of the image splitting device; and obtaining the viewpoint number of any one of the light-emitting sub-pixels in the display device according to the quantity of the viewpoint sub-pixels of each light-emitting sub-pixel line, and the offset quantity of the two adjacent lines of the light-emitting sub-pixels (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraphs 75-81; Paragraphs 88-94; Paragraphs 96-99; Paragraphs 100-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 12, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 11, wherein the step of obtaining the viewpoint number of any one of the light-emitting sub-pixels in the display device according to the quantity of the viewpoint sub-pixels of each light-emitting sub-pixel line, and the offset quantity of the two adjacent lines of the light-emitting sub-pixels comprises: obtaining a quantity of viewpoints corresponding to a horizontal unit light-emitting sub-pixel length according to the quantity of the viewpoint sub-pixels of each light-emitting sub-pixel line, and the quantity of the viewpoints to be rendered; obtaining a quantity of viewpoints corresponding to a longitudinal unit light-emitting sub-pixel length according to the offset quantity of the two adjacent lines of the light-emitting sub-pixels, and the quantity of the viewpoints corresponding to the horizontal unit light-emitting sub-pixel length; determining a viewpoint number to which a first light-emitting sub-pixel of each line belongs according to a first calculated viewpoint number of the light-emitting sub-pixel and a horizontal resolution of the display panel; and obtaining a viewpoint number of any one of the light-emitting sub-pixels in the display device according to the viewpoint number to which the first light-emitting sub-pixel of each line belongs, and a longitudinal resolution of the display panel (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraphs 75-81; Paragraphs 88-94; Paragraphs 96-99; Paragraphs 100-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 13, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 1, wherein before the step of searching in the source image by utilizing the depth information to determine first image pixel points matched with light-emitting sub-pixels of the display device, the method further comprises: obtaining an original image; and initializing the original image to enable a horizontal resolution and/or longitudinal pixel resolution of the original image to be consistent with that of the display device to obtain the source image (Paragraphs 57-73; Paragraphs 75-81; Paragraphs 88-94; Paragraphs 96-99; Paragraphs 100-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 14, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 3, wherein a calculation formula of the parallax of the second image pixel points is as follows:
PNG
media_image1.png
58
414
media_image1.png
Greyscale
wherein Vi,j is the viewpoint numbers of the current light-emitting sub-pixels, V is the quantity of the viewpoints to be rendered, Dis(i,j) is the parallax of the second image pixel points, Z(i,j) is the actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points, F is the shooting focal length of the source image, B is the baseline width, and Zzero is a zero parallax distance; wherein the zero parallax distance is a distance between the zero parallax plane and a shooting lens, and the zero parallax plane refers to a plane coinciding with a naked-eye 3D screen after a three-dimensional scene is reconstructed (Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 15, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 5, wherein a calculation formula for obtaining the actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points according to the pixel gray values of the depth image pixel points mapped by the second image pixel points in the depth image in a linear conversion manner is as follows:
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media_image2.png
52
284
media_image2.png
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wherein Zfar is a farthest actual shooting distance, Znear is a nearest actual shooting distance, and D(i,j) is a pixel gray value of the second image pixel points corresponding to the current light-emitting sub-pixels in the source image on the depth image, and Z(i,j) is the actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points corresponding to the current light-emitting sub-pixels in the source image; wherein the nearest actual shooting distance is a distance between the shooting lens and a position on a target object nearest the shooting lens, and the farthest actual shooting distance is a distance between the shooting lens and a position on the target object farthest from the shooting lens (Paragraphs 108-120).
Regarding Claim 16, Sun et al. teaches the driving method for the display device according to claim 5, wherein a calculation formula for obtaining the actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points according to the pixel gray values of the depth image pixel points mapped by the second image pixel points in the depth image in a non-linear conversion manner is as follows:
PNG
media_image3.png
82
302
media_image3.png
Greyscale
wherein Zfar is a farthest actual shooting distance, Znear is a nearest actual shooting distance, D(i,j) is a pixel gray value of the second image pixel points corresponding to the current light-emitting sub-pixels in the source image on the depth image, and Z(i,j) is the actual shooting distance of the second image pixel points corresponding to the current light-emitting sub-pixels in the source image; wherein the nearest actual shooting distance is the distance between the shooting lens and the position on the target object nearest the shooting lens, and the farthest actual shooting distance is the distance between the shooting lens and the position on the target object farthest from the shooting lens (Paragraphs 100-107; Paragraphs 108-120).
Claims 18-19 are drawn to the apparatus, computing and processing apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium corresponding to the method of using apparatus as claimed above in claim 1. These claims have limitations that are substantially similar and are rejected as discussed above. Sun et al. further teaches a driving device for a display device; a display unit configured to control the light-emitting sub-pixels to emit light; a display apparatus, comprising a display device and the driving device for the display device; and a computing and processing apparatus; a memory, wherein a computer-readable code is stored in the memory; one or more processors, wherein when the computer-readable code is executed by the one or more processors, the computing and processing apparatus executes the driving method for the display (Paragraph 126-134).
Regarding claim 21, claim 21 claims a product by process claim limitation where the product is the computer-readable code and the process is the method steps to generate the computer-readable code. MPEP §2113 recites “Product-by-Process claims are not limited to the manipulations of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps”. Thus, the scope of the claim is the storage medium storing the computer-readable code (with the structure implied by the method steps). The structure includes the information and samples manipulated by the steps.
“To be given patentable weight, the printed matter and associated product must be in a functional relationship. A functional relationship can be found where the printed matter performs some function with respect to the product to which it is associated”. MPEP §2111.05(I)(A). When a claimed “computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists. MPEP §2111.05(III).
The memory storing the claimed computer-readable code in claim 21 merely services as a support for the storage of the code and provides no functional relationship between the stored code and storage medium. Therefore the computer-readable code, whose scope is implied by the method steps, is non-functional descriptive material and given no patentable weight. MPEP §2111.05(III). Thus, the claim scope is just a storage medium storing data and is anticipated by Wang which recites a storage medium storing a computer-readable code.
Sun et al. discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the computer-readable medium stores a computer-readable code (Paragraph 126-134).
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 FARHAN MAHMUD whose telephone number is (571)272-7712. The examiner can normally be reached 10-7.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Ustaris can be reached at 5712727383. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FARHAN MAHMUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483
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