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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed October 29, 2025, have been noted; however, these arguments are moot in view of a new grounds of rejection discussed below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 2, 3 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Katagawa (US 2016/0360136 A1, referred to herein as “Katagawa”).
Regarding claim 2, Katagawa discloses: An imaging apparatus comprising:
an imaging element including a plurality of pixels (Katagawa: Fig. 1, paragraphs [0023] – [0024], disclosing an imaging element including pixel units that receive incident light), the plurality of pixels including a first pixel configured to output a first signal generated based on a first condition (Katagaw: paragraph [0027], disclosing that pixel units—e.g., including a first pixel unit—receive input light and output an analog signal obtained by photoelectric conversion; paragraphs [0029] and [0031], disclosing generation of pixel signals based on various conditions—e.g., including a first condition—such as effective pixels, optical black pixels, focus detection, and color filters associated with a Bayer array) and a second pixel configured to output a second signal generated based on a second condition (Katagawa: paragraph [0027], disclosing that pixel units—e.g., including a second pixel unit—receive input light and output an analog signal obtained by photoelectric conversion; paragraphs [0029] and [0031], disclosing generation of pixel signals based on various conditions—e.g., including a second condition—such as effective pixels, optical black pixels, focus detection, and color filters associated with a Bayer array), the imaging element being configured to output image data based on the first signal and the second signal (Katagawa: paragraph [0027], disclosing that an image is output from a photoelectric conversion unit that is an added signal obtained from the pixel units); and
a processing unit configured to perform compression processing on first image data output from the imaging element by using the first condition and the second condition (Katagawa: paragraph [0028], disclosing that image data is processed by first and second compression units; paragraphs [0029] and [0031], disclosing that the compression units may process data obtained for different conditions, such as effective pixels, optical black pixels, focus detection, and color filters associated with a Bayer array; paragraph [0030], disclosing that the compression units generates encoded data).
Regarding claim 3, Katagawa discloses: The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processing unit performs the compression processing on the first image data by using the first condition, the second condition and second image data output from the imaging element prior to the first image data (Katagawa: paragraph [0037], disclosing schemes where one compression unit performs a compression process while another compression unit does not; paragraph [0040], disclosing switching of output compression unit data—e.g., suggesting a second image data output from the imaging element prior to a first image data).
Regarding claim 17, Katagawa discloses: A moving image compression apparatus comprising:
a communication unit configured to receive image data from an imaging element (Katagawa: Fig. 1, paragraph [0023], disclosing an image pickup apparatus and associated image processing unit that receives image data from an imaging element) including a plurality of pixels (Katagawa: Fig. 1, paragraphs [0023] – [0024], disclosing that the imaging element includes pixel units that receive incident light), the plurality of pixels including a first pixel configured to output a first signal generated based on a first condition (Katagaw: paragraph [0027], disclosing that pixel units—e.g., including a first pixel unit—receive input light and output an analog signal obtained by photoelectric conversion; paragraphs [0029] and [0031], disclosing generation of pixel signals based on various conditions—e.g., including a first condition—such as effective pixels, optical black pixels, focus detection, and color filters associated with a Bayer array) and a second pixel configured to output a second signal generated based on a second condition (Katagawa: paragraph [0027], disclosing that pixel units—e.g., including a second pixel unit—receive input light and output an analog signal obtained by photoelectric conversion; paragraphs [0029] and [0031], disclosing generation of pixel signals based on various conditions—e.g., including a second condition—such as effective pixels, optical black pixels, focus detection, and color filters associated with a Bayer array); and
a processing unit configured to perform compression processing on the image data received from the imaging element by using the first condition and the second condition (Katagawa: paragraph [0028], disclosing that image data is processed by first and second compression units; paragraphs [0029] and [0031], disclosing that the compression units may process data obtained for different conditions, such as effective pixels, optical black pixels, focus detection, and color filters associated with a Bayer array; paragraph [0030], disclosing that the compression units generates encoded data).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Katagawa, either alone or in combination with other prior art of record, does not teach, suggest, or disclose where the processing unit performs block matching on the first image data and the second image data by using the first condition and the second condition in the compression processing.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 Christopher Braniff whose telephone number is (571)270-5009. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7AM to 4PM.
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CHRISTOPHER T. BRANIFF
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2484
/CHRISTOPHER BRANIFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2484