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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 23 April 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1 and 6 have been newly amended, though the examiner notes that claim 6 is listed as being “Previously Presented” rather than “Currently Amended.” The examiner recognizes this as a minor error, and claim 6 is recognized as having been properly amended, in spite of the incorrect claim status identifier.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 and 6 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwata (US 20210165202 A1), hereafter Iwata, in view of Takeda (US 20200070281 A1), hereafter Takeda, and further in view of Makoto (JP2020190652A), hereafter Makoto.
Regarding claim 1, Iwata teaches a system including a camera with an autofocus lens, the system being configured to set a plurality of programs for using the camera, the system comprising:
A user interface (0135, Although observation result 242 is stored in memory 124 in the above-described embodiment, observation result 242 may be represented on a display unit such as a monitor and observation result 242 may be deleted in response to an input indicating that a user has checked the representation.); and
A storage unit configured to store a focus value which is set in each of the plurality of programs (0061, Storage unit 224 stores, as an image capturing condition 240, identification information 44 and camera information 42 in memory 124 in association with each other. Camera information 42 includes observation area information 422 and focus position 424. Storage unit 224 stores, as camera information 42, observation area information 422 and focus position 424 in memory 124 in association with each other, focus position 424 being for focusing microscope camera 140 on observation area 16 indicated by observation area information 422.),
Wherein the user interface is configured to execute, during execution of each of the plurality of programs, a first capture mode and a second capture mode, wherein in the first capture mode, image capturing is performed using an autofocus function of the autofocus lens, and in the second capture mode, image capturing is performed using the focus values stored in the storage unit, without using the autofocus function (0084-0085, in S106, controller 120 sets the number of observation area 16 at 1, in step S110, controller 120 performs an autofocus process, the autofocus process refers to a processing of focusing microscope camera 140 on observation area 16 located within the image-capturing field of view of microscope camera 140 using the existing autofocus technique, and thus focus position 424 is obtained, 0090-0093, in S122, the controller 120 obtains focus position 424 corresponding to identification information 44 obtained from memory 124 in S102, in S124, controller 120 sets the number of observation area 16 at 1, in S126, controller 120 positions observation area 16 having the set number within the image-capturing field of view, in S128, controller 120 changes the focal point of microscope camera 140 such that the focal point of microscope camera 140 is brought into focus position 424 corresponding to the set number).
Iwata fails to explicitly teach, however, wherein the user interface is configured to set a focus position of the autofocus lens in each of the plurality of programs.
Takeda, however, in an analogous field of endeavor, does teach wherein the user interface is configured to set a focus position of the autofocus lens in each of the plurality of programs (0094, Fig. 24 shows the GUI 300 in a state in which the tab 314 is selected, the setting menus of the tab 314 includes a setting box 531 for performing operation setting including focus position).
Iwata and Takeda are analogous because they are in a similar field of endeavor, e.g., imaging systems. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention, with a reasonable expectation of success, to have included the user interface of Takeda in order to provide a means of interacting with the imaging system. The motivation to combine is to allow a user to better control and monitor the imaging process.
The combination of Iwata and Takeda, however, fails to explicitly teach wherein the system is a robot system, and wherein the system includes a robot configured to perform an operation based on a capturing result of the camera.
Makoto, however, in an analogous field of endeavor, does teach wherein the system is a robot system, and wherein the system includes a robot configured to perform an operation based on a capturing result of the camera (0033, the imaging device 100 is fixed to a robot arm 130, when the robot arm 130 moves, the imaging range of the imaging device 100 is changed, furthermore, the robot arm 130 can grasp a workpiece 150, which is the object to be photographed, using a robot hand at the tip of the arm).
Iwata, Takeda, and Makoto are analogous because they are in a similar field of endeavor, e.g., imaging systems. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention, with a reasonable expectation of success, to have made the system a robot system as in Makoto in order to provide a robotic system that has reduced image capture lag. The motivation to combine is to streamline the imaging process by reducing image capture lag (see at least 0004 of Iwata).
Claim 6 is similar in scope to claim 1, and is similarly rejected.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Iwata, Takeda, and Makoto teaches the robot system according to claim 1, and Iwata further teaches wherein, in the first capture mode and the second capture mode, a relative positional relationship between the camera and an object to be imaged by the camera is the same (0084-0085, in S106, controller 120 sets the number of observation area 16 at 1, in step S110, controller 120 performs an autofocus process, the autofocus process refers to a processing of focusing microscope camera 140 on observation area 16 located within the image-capturing field of view of microscope camera 140 using the existing autofocus technique, and thus focus position 424 is obtained, 0090-0093, in S122, the controller 120 obtains focus position 424 corresponding to identification information 44 obtained from memory 124 in S102, in S124, controller 120 sets the number of observation area 16 at 1, in S126, controller 120 positions observation area 16 having the set number within the image-capturing field of view, in S128, controller 120 changes the focal point of microscope camera 140 such that the focal point of microscope camera 140 is brought into focus position 424 corresponding to the set number, Examiner's note: the positions of each "observation area" would be the same in both the autofocus focus detection step, as well as when the stored focus value is used, since the same observation area is being photographed each time, see also [0095] of Iwata).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Iwata, Takeda, and Makoto teaches the robot system according to claim 2, and Iwata further teaches wherein the focus value stored in the storage unit is a focus value obtained by using the autofocus function in the first capture mode, or a focus value acquired by correcting the focus value obtained by using the autofocus function, by using the user interface (0084-0085, in S106, controller 120 sets the number of observation area 16 at 1, in step S110, controller 120 performs an autofocus process, the autofocus process refers to a processing of focusing microscope camera 140 on observation area 16 located within the image-capturing field of view of microscope camera 140 using the existing autofocus technique, and thus focus position 424 is obtained).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Iwata, Takeda, and Makoto teaches the robot system according to claim 2, and Iwata further teaches wherein the first capture mode is executed when the robot is taught, and the second capture mode is executed when the robot is used at a production site (0095, the processing in S106 to S120 is the processing performed when the image capturing process is performed on culture plate 10 for the first time, processing in S122 to S136 is the processing performed when the image capturing process has already been performed on culture plate 10, Examiner's note: the examiner is interpreting the first image capturing process S106-S120 as the "training," and the second image capturing process S122 to S136 as the "production," since the focus positions stored in the first image capturing process are used for subsequent image capture of the culture plate 10 after culturing).
Claim 7 is similar in scope to claim 4, and is similarly rejected.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Iwata, Takeda, and Makoto teaches the robot system of claim 1, and Iwata further teaches wherein each of the plurality of programs is prepared for different workpieces or different capturing regions of the same workpiece (0040, fifty six observation areas 16 are formed on plate shaped member 12, 0095, The processing in S106 to S120 is the processing performed when the image capturing process is performed on culture plate 10 for the first time, and is the processing of concurrently performing generation of image capturing condition 240 and image capturing of each observation area 16. In contrast, the processing in S122 to S136 is the processing performed when the image capturing process has already been performed on culture plate 10, and is the processing performed when image capturing of observation area 16 is performed for the second and subsequent times. In the processing in S122 to S136, an image of each observation area 16 is captured using image capturing condition 240 generated by performing the processing in S106 to S120, Examiner's note: the examiner is interpreting each of the observation areas of the culture plate as being different regions, i.e., observation areas, of the same workpiece, i.e., the same culture plate).
Conclusion
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/BLAKE A WOOD/Examiner, Art Unit 3658
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