DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the Amendments and Remarks received 10/03/2025 in which claims 2, 3, 11, 14, and 15 are cancelled, claims 1, 4, 12, 13, and 16 are amended, and no claims are added as new claims.
Response to Arguments
Examiner notes Applicant did not underline a portion of the amendment dated 10/03/2025. Specifically, there is a clause/feature after the underlining of claims 1, 12, and 13 which should have also been underlined.
On pages 8–9 of the Remarks, Applicant contends the distinguishing feature of the present application is that a human decides when to take another picture. Human activity, particularly the mental process of making a decision on the quality of the picture taken is a mental process, i.e. an abstract idea, and is not-patentable. MPEP 2106.04(a). Therefore, such distinctions between the prior art and claimed invention are non-patentable distinctions entitled to no patentable weight. The rejection of representative claim 1 clearly addresses the patent-eligible features of the claimed invention with respect to their obviousness in view of the prior art. To argue, as Applicant does, that the prior art is merely deficient because, in the prior art, “the user’s role is merely to facilitate thus automated data collection, not to act as the primary, on-the-spot arbiter of photographic quality for each panorama,” is to argue for the patentability of the user’s opinion on a quality image. Because such an argument is drawn to an abstract idea, i.e. mental process, such an argument is unpersuasive of patentability.
On page 10 of the Remarks, Applicant contends Hutchcroft’s top-view floor plan is deficient because it is not interactive and is not a real-time decision-making tool for the user. Examiner disagrees. As exemplary paragraphs [0017] and [0026] of Hutchcroft explain, Hutchcroft’s system is capable of receiving user input to assist in the operations of the system and offers, by way of example, a browser or other computer display system capable of receiving and sending instructions for controlling the system and presenting information to the user such that the system may be directed by the user to capture images at specified locations. Therefore, contrary to Applicant’s arguments, Hutchcroft does not teach a system merely capable of autonomous work, but rather additionally teaches a hybrid or semi-autonomous system capable of control via user commands. And again, Applicant advances an argument which is not patentable in arguing the distinguishing feature is that, “The user visually assesses the density of completed shots on the map and makes an informed decision about where to go next.” Because Applicant’s argument is drawn to an unpatentable mental process, Applicant’s argument is unpersuasive of error.
Other claims are not argued separately. Remarks, 11.
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 of this title, 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, 5, 6, 8–10, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hutchcroft (US 2023/0206393 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Hutchcroft teaches or suggests a device control method, applied to a mobile terminal, comprising: sending a shooting start instruction to a shooting terminal, so that the shooting terminal shoots a plurality of house images at a first position in a house room (Hutchcroft, ¶ 0020: teaches a server computing system working in concert with one or more cameras to capture panorama pictures of a room of a house wherein the control of the acquisition of the target images is performed by a networked device sending the control (capture) instruction; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0074: teaches a user can send an instruction to initiate image acquisition at a first position); in response to receiving the plurality of house images sent by the shooting terminal (Hutchcroft, ¶ 0025: explains the cameras can transmit acquired target images), generating a target panorama based on the plurality of house images, and displaying the target panorama (Hutchcroft, ¶¶ 0010–0011: teaches generating target panorama images at multiple locations within a room and within a house (or other building); see also Hutchcroft, ¶ 0032: teaching more detail about the generation of panorama images), so that a user confirms to shoot a house image at a next position, or to re-shoot a house image at the first position (Examiner notes this seems like an unpatentable mental step or human activity; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0022: teaches a user can interact with the target panorama to analyze the pictures taken and further interact during image acquisition to provide feedback on which images have been taken or should be taken; Huchcroft, ¶¶ 0011 and 0024: teaches the automated acquisition of panorama images are 360-degrees of horizontal coverage and at multiple locations; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0026: teaches a user may control the actions of the image acquisition device using a mobile device having a graphical user interface, such as a browser interface; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0065: teaches the system can automate the processing of analyzing image overlap for proper comprehensive coverage of an imaged environment to automatedly reject acquired images and suggest further image acquisition; Examiner notes that a system that can automate the rejection and suggestion of proper image correspondence between multiple acquired images also teaches user-intervention to do that task wherein user activity is non-patentable anyway; Hutchcroft, ¶¶ 0074–0076: teaches moving on to a next position for image acquisition when the system and user are in agreement, through feedback and cues between user and system, that the images taken at the first location represent sufficient coverage); in response to the user confirming to shoot the house image at the next position, determining a second position in the house room (Hutchcroft, ¶ 0020: teaches a server computing system working in concert with one or more cameras to capture panorama pictures of a room of a house wherein the control of the acquisition of the target images is performed by a networked device sending the control (capture) instruction; see also Hutchcroft, ¶ 0033: teaching the determination of a next image acquisition location; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0065: teaches the system can automate the processing of analyzing image overlap for proper comprehensive coverage of an imaged environment to automatedly reject acquired images and suggest further image acquisition; Examiner notes that a system that can automate the rejection and suggestion of proper image correspondence between multiple acquired images also teaches user-intervention to do that task wherein user activity is non-patentable anyway; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0073: teaches the user may “participate in acquiring image information” or other parts of the embodiments using an interactive computing device; Hutchcroft, ¶¶ 0074–0076: teaches moving on to a next position for image acquisition when the system and user are in agreement, through feedback and cues between user and system, that the images taken at the first location represent sufficient coverage), wherein the determining a second position in the house room comprises: displaying a top view of an initial house model, wherein the top view displays a position identifier of a position completed shot; displaying a position identifier of the first position in the top view; determining a target point from the top view, wherein the determining a target point from the top view comprises: determining a target area with sparse position identifiers from the top view; and determining the target point from the target area; and determining the second position based on the target point (Hutchcroft, Fig. 1B and ¶ 0026: teaches a top view of a floor plan wherein acquisition target points are identified by a position identifier and wherein a first, initial acquisition location is identified and a second acquisition point in the same room is identified; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0016: teaches building information can be used to provide feedback during an image acquisition session; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0018: teaches determining camera position and pose from sparse information such as structured wall elements and IMU or other sensors to track a camera along a travel path within a space wherein the system can be aided by sparse user-selected position indicators; Examiner notes the mapping and location approach taught in Hutchcroft would be considered by the skilled artisan to be a “sparse” map because it has relatively little information including the locations of interest points such as corners and edges, but is not a dense mapping with meshes constructing a full textured map of the 3D environment, for example from a 360 degree LIDAR; see under Conclusion Section for supportive documentation explaining that Hutchcroft’s teachings are consistent with sparse mapping); and sending second position information to the shooting terminal, so that the shooting terminal shoots a plurality of house images at the second position (Hutchcroft, ¶ 0027: teaches that, after acquiring images at a first location, the image acquisition devices can be either manually or automatedly be moved to a second position for taking images for generating a second panorama at the new location).
Regarding claim 5, Hutchcroft teaches or suggests the method of claim 1, wherein, the shooting terminal is provided with a rotatable pan-tilt; the shooting terminal captures a plurality of house images at the same position in the house room by: executing a shooting step for a target times, wherein the shooting step comprises: shooting at least one house image; after shooting is completed, rotating the shooting terminal to a target angle by rotating the pan-tilt to the target angle, wherein a product of the target angle and the target times is 360 degrees (Huchcroft, ¶¶ 0011 and 0024: teaches the automated acquisition of panorama images are 360-degrees of horizontal coverage and at multiple locations; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0032: teaches the rotation of the device for the panoramic image can be manually achieved or automated, for example, mounted on a tripod and turned to effectuate panoramic imaging).
Regarding claim 6, Hutchcroft teaches or suggests the method of claim 1, wherein before the sending a shooting start instruction to a shooting terminal, the method further comprising: obtaining local area network information of a local area network connected to the mobile terminal; and broadcasting the local area network information, so that the shooting terminal is connected to the local area network (Hutchcroft, ¶ 0023: teaches wireless private and public networks used for connecting the imaging devices to controlling devices and servers; Such a teaching would teach or suggest to the skilled artisan a local area network (LAN)).
Regarding claim 8, Hutchcroft teaches or suggests the method of claim 1, wherein the sending a shooting start instruction to a shooting terminal comprises: creating a shooting item; and in response to the shooting item being created successfully, sending the shooting start instruction to the shooting terminal (Examiner believes this may be directed toward creating an “object” in “object oriented programming languages”; Examiner finds it obvious to initiate a software instance of an image acquisition routine in view of the teachings of Hutchcroft; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0020: teaches a server computing system working in concert with one or more cameras to capture panorama pictures of a room of a house wherein the control of the acquisition of the target images is performed by a networked device sending the control (capture) instruction; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0074: teaches a user can send an instruction to initiate image acquisition at a first position).
Regarding claim 9, Hutchcroft teaches or suggests the method of claim 1, further comprising: for each position where a house image is shot in the house room, in response to the user confirming to re-shoot the house image at the position, sending a re-shooting instruction to the shooting terminal, so that the shooting terminal re-shoots a plurality of house images at the position (Examiner notes this seems like an unpatentable mental step or human activity; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0022: teaches a user can interact with the target panorama to analyze the pictures taken and further interact during image acquisition to provide feedback on which images have been taken or should be taken; Huchcroft, ¶¶ 0011 and 0024: teaches the automated acquisition of panorama images are 360-degrees of horizontal coverage and at multiple locations; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0026: teaches a user may control the actions of the image acquisition device using a mobile device having a graphical user interface, such as a browser interface; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0065: teaches the system can automate the processing of analyzing image overlap for proper comprehensive coverage of an imaged environment to automatedly reject acquired images and suggest further image acquisition; Examiner notes that a system that can automate the rejection and suggestion of proper image correspondence between multiple acquired images also teaches user-intervention to do that task wherein user activity is non-patentable anyway; Hutchcroft, ¶¶ 0074–0076: teaches moving on to a next position for image acquisition when the system and user are in agreement, through feedback and cues between user and system, that the images taken at the first location represent sufficient coverage).
Regarding claim 10, Hutchcroft teaches or suggests the method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a house panorama based on a plurality of generated target panorama (Hutchcroft, ¶ 0021: teaches linked panoramas that can represent the whole house (floorplan) and can generate a 3D model of the house; see also Hutchcroft, ¶ 0022: teaching whole house models representing multiple floors displayed simultaneously (i.e. together)); and/or generating a target house model based on the plurality of generated target panorama and an initial house model (Hutchcroft, ¶ 0018: teaches the house model can take advantage of real-time structural acquisition combined with pre-existing building plans and can recognize changes therebetween; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0021: teaches linked panoramas that can represent the whole house (floorplan) and can generate a 3D model of the house; see also Hutchcroft, ¶ 0022: teaching whole house models representing multiple floors displayed simultaneously (i.e. together)).
Claim 12 lists the same elements as claim 1, but is drawn to a device rather than the method. Therefore, the rationale for the rejection of claim 1 applies to the instant claim.
Claim 13 lists the same elements as claim 1, but is drawn to a CRM rather than the method. Therefore, the rationale for the rejection of claim 1 applies to the instant claim.
Claim 17 lists the same elements as claim 5, but is drawn to a device rather than the method. Therefore, the rationale for the rejection of claim 5 applies to the instant claim.
Claim 18 lists the same elements as claim 6, but is drawn to a device rather than the method. Therefore, the rationale for the rejection of claim 6 applies to the instant claim.
Claim 20 lists the same elements as claim 8, but is drawn to a device rather than the method. Therefore, the rationale for the rejection of claim 8 applies to the instant claim.
Claim 21 lists the same elements as claim 9, but is drawn to a device rather than the method. Therefore, the rationale for the rejection of claim 9 applies to the instant claim.
Claims 4 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hutchcroft and Li (US 2022/0189122 A1).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Hutchcroft and Li teaches or suggests the method of claim 1, wherein a display interface of the top view comprises a draggable pre-set identifier; and wherein the determining a target point from the top view comprises: based on a drag operation performed by the user on the pre-set identifier, dragging the pre-set identifier into the top view; and determining the target point that the pre-set identifier is dragged to in the top view (Li, ¶¶ 0035 and 0043: teaches touchscreen interaction, including dragging a visual indicator, for a user to interact with panoramic images of a residential environment).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would have been motivated to combine the elements taught by Hutchcroft, with those of Li, because both references are drawn to the exact same field of endeavor and have overlapping authorship such that one wishing to practice real-estate virtual tours would be led to their relevant teachings and because using the click and drag feature of a touchscreen is nothing more than a mere combination of prior art elements, according to known methods, to yield a predictable result. This rationale applies to all combinations of Hutchcroft and Li used in this Office Action unless otherwise noted.
Claim 16 lists the same elements as claim 4, but is drawn to a device rather than the method. Therefore, the rationale for the rejection of claim 4 applies to the instant claim.
Claims 7 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hutchcroft and Jeong (US 2020/0177019 A1).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Hutchcroft and Jeong teaches or suggests the method of claim 1, further comprising: for each position where a house image is shot in the house room, in response to completing receiving a plurality of house images shot at the position sent by the shooting terminal, sending a reception completion notification to the shooting terminal, so that the shooting terminal deletes the plurality of house images shot at the position (Examiner notes the skilled artisan would interpret the deletion of photos in a camera’s internal local storage to be necessary for memory management; Hutchcroft, ¶ 0072: teaches the camera and a remote server can be in electronic communication to effectuate transfer of images stored in memory between connected devices for the purposes of memory management; Jeong, ¶ 0059: teaches memory management wherein after receiving an image file, a server transmits a reception completion message to the client device which acts upon the notification by deleting the image to ensure adequate storage space for future images).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would have been motivated to combine the elements taught by Hutchcroft, with those of Jeong, because both references are drawn to acquiring images and managing their storage at the local client device by transmitting the images to a server for display, and because Jeong is merely evidencing what was already known by the skilled artisan wishing to practice memory management at a local client device such that combining Jeong’s transmission of image data to a server, confirmation (known as a handshake), and deletion of local image data to make room for subsequent image acquisition at the client device with Hutchcroft’s teaching of memory management at the local client device to make room for subsequent imaging is nothing more than a mere combination of prior art elements, according to known methods, to yield a predictable result. This rationale applies to all combinations of Hutchcroft and Jeong used in this Office Action unless otherwise noted.
Claim 19 lists the same elements as claim 7, but is drawn to a device rather than the method. Therefore, the rationale for the rejection of claim 7 applies to the instant claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Torikai (US 2016/0198210 A1) teaches image files deleted from a client device after completion of upload (¶ 0238).
Takae (US 2014/0220939 A1) teaches memory management wherein a client device can upload images and set the local image copy to be deleted upon upload completion (¶ 0248).
Ebrahimi Afrouzi (US 2022/0066456 A1) teaches holding, dragging, and swiping gestures can be used by a user to interact with a connected camera (e.g. ¶ 0373).
Jakka (US 2021/0279852 A1) teaches modeling and mapping an environment using SLAM, 3D reconstruction, visual odometry, neural networks, etc. and using inertial measurements and camera information to describe the scene, which can output either a sparse or dense map (¶ 0243).
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 extension fee 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 Michael J Hess whose telephone number is (571)270-7933. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:00am-5:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Vaughn can be reached on (571)272-3922. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8933.
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/MICHAEL J HESS/Examiner, Art Unit 2481
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