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
In response to the restriction requirement mailed on December 30, 2025, the applicant has submitted a response filed on February 25, 2026 electing Invention I, corresponding to claims 1-13 and 26 without traverse.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1 and 26 are rejected on the ground of non-statutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 11 and 8 respectively of U.S. Patent No. 12,039,768 (representative claims are described in the table shown below). With regard to independent application claim 1, the claim element performing a skin assessment of the anonymized (analyzing) facial image is a species of the reference claim element obtaining an anonymized facial image which is a genus, and the corresponding reference specification describes a tangible embodiment that falls within the boundary of the claim element that includes a skin assessment of the anonymized (analyzing) facial image (see col. 10, line 62 – col. 11, line 16). Therefore, the reference claim anticipates performing a skin assessment of the anonymized (analyzing) facial image. With regard to independent application claim 26, the claim element creating an encoded crop and generating a photo-realistic skin pattern related to the facial image based on the encoded crop is a species of the reference claim element generating the photo-realistic skin patterns which is a genus, and the corresponding reference specification describes a tangible embodiment that falls within the boundary of the claim element that includes creating an encoded crop and generating a photo-realistic skin pattern related to the facial image based on the encoded crop (See col. 14, lines 47-56). Therefore, the reference claim anticipates creating an encoded crop and generating a photo-realistic skin pattern related to the facial image based on the encoded crop.
See:
In re Vogel (CCPA 1970): "It may not describe any physical thing and indeed may encompass physical things not yet dreamed of. How can it be obvious or not obvious to modify a legal boundary? The disclosure, however, sets forth at least one tangible embodiment within the claim, and it is less difficult and more meaningful to judge whether that thing has been modified in an obvious manner. It must be noted that this use of the disclosure is not in contravention of the cases forbidding its use as prior art, nor is it applying the patent as a reference under 35 U.S.C. §103, since only the disclosure of the invention claimed in the patent may be examined."
MPEP 804 II.B.2.(a): "For example, assume that the claim in a reference patent is directed to a genus of compounds, and the application being examined is directed to a species within the reference patent genus. If the reference patent includes a disclosure of several species within the scope of the reference genus claim, that portion of the disclosure should be analyzed to determine whether the reference patent claim, as properly construed in light of that disclosure, anticipates or renders obvious the claim in the application being examined. Because that portion of the disclosure of the reference patent is an embodiment of the reference patent claim, it may be helpful in determining obvious variations of the reference patent claim."
US Application No. 18/743,093
US Patent No. 12,039,768
Claim 1. A method for analyzing a facial image, the method comprising:
Claim 11. A computer-implemented method for anonymizing a facial image, the method comprising:
obtaining a facial image;
detecting one or more sets of facial keypoints in the facial image;
standardizing the facial image;
creating an anonymized facial image by removing (emphasis added) one or more areas comprising pixels related to non-skin information in the facial image and filling the one or more areas with a generated photo-realistic skin pattern, such that the anonymized facial image includes skin pixels from the facial image and the generated photo-realistic skin pattern in place of the non-skin information;
preparing a masked facial image by separating one or more areas comprising skin-pixels and one or more areas comprising pixels related to non-skin information, the masked facial image including the skin-pixels without (emphasis added) the pixels related to the non-skin information; generating a synthetic image comprising photo-realistic skin patterns; and obtaining an anonymized facial image by concatenating the masked facial image with the generated photo-realistic skin patterns to fill the separated one or more areas comprising pixels related to non-skin information with the generated photo-realistic skin patterns; wherein the concatenating comprises combining the masked facial image with the synthetic image by one or more computational methods for filling one or more areas on the masked facial image comprising pixels related to non-skin information with generated photo-realistic skin patterns from the synthetic image.
performing a skin assessment of the anonymized facial image; and
wherein performing the skin assessment includes determining skin analytics data based on the anonymized facial image.
US Application No. 18/743,093
US Patent No. 12,039,768
Claim 26. A method for analyzing a facial image, the method comprising:
Claim 8. A computer-implemented method for anonymizing a facial image, the method comprising:
obtaining a facial image;
detecting one or more sets of facial keypoints in the facial image;
separating one or more areas comprising pixels related to non-skin information from one or more areas comprising skin pixels in the facial image;
preparing a masked facial image by separating one or more areas comprising skin-pixels and one or more areas comprising pixels related to non-skin information, the masked facial image including the skin-pixels without the pixels related to the non-skin information;
the masked facial image including the skin-pixels without the pixels related to the non-skin information; generating a synthetic image comprising photo-realistic skin patterns;
generating a synthetic image comprising photo-realistic skin patterns;
compressing at least a portion of the areas comprising skin pixels into a representation in a latent space to create an encoded crop; generating a photo-realistic skin pattern related to the facial image based on the encoded crop;
wherein generating the photo-realistic skin patterns comprises performing skin image compression to a latent space representation by one or more neural networks or by dimension reduction computational methods; and
creating an anonymized facial image by filling the one or more areas comprising pixels related to non-skin information with the generated photo-realistic skin pattern, such that the anonymized facial image includes skin pixels from the facial image and the generated photo-realistic skin pattern in place of the non-skin information.
obtaining an anonymized facial image by concatenating the masked facial image with the generated photo-realistic skin patterns to fill the separated one or more areas comprising pixels related to non-skin information with the generated photo-realistic skin patterns.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if applicant overcomes the rejection under obviousness double patenting by way of an amendment or filing a Terminal Disclaimer.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Patent No. 8,218,862 (See for example, col. 3, lines 25-56; and Figs. 1 and 3 and the associated text); and US Application Publication Numbers: 2022/0148243 (See for example, paragraph 0038), and 2008/0212894 (See for example, paragraphs 0043-0044); a publication to Lee, et al. (Privacy-Protection Drone Patrol System based on Face Anonymization).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL G MARIAM whose telephone number is (571)272-7394. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:00 EST.
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, ANDREW MOYER can be reached at (571)272-9523. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL G MARIAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2675
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