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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
In response to a restriction requirement dated March 4, 2026, the Applicants elected Group I of claims 1-8 and 10-14 without traverse in a reply filed on May 4, 2026. The non-elected claims 9 and 15 are withdrawn.
Pending elected claims 2-8 and 10-14 of which claim 1 is an independent claim, are examined on their merits, infra.
Priority
Examiner acknowledges the claims for domestic priority under 35 U.S. C. 119 (e) to continuation application PCT/JP2022/010922 which was filed March 11, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement filed (September 10, 2024, September 2, 2025 and March 11, 2026) has been received, entered into the record, and considered.
Oath/Declaration
The Office acknowledges receipt of a properly signed Oath/Declaration submitted September 24, 2024
Drawings
The drawings filed September 10, 2024 are accepted by the examiner.
Abstract
The abstract filed September 10, 2024 is accepted by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 1-6 and 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. (US 20170235398 A1) in view of Arai (IDS submitted prior art US 20200221021 A1).
As to Claim 1:
Choi et al. discloses a mobile information terminal (Choi, see Abstract, where Choi discloses an electronic device includes a housing including a 1st surface that faces in a 1st direction, and a 2nd surface that faces in a 2nd direction opposite to the 1st direction, a display disposed between the transparent plate and the 2nd surface of the housing, and including a 1st surface that faces in the 1st direction and a 2nd surface that faces in the 2nd direction, at least one sensor disposed between the 2nd surface of the display and the 2nd surface of the housing, a processor electrically coupled with the display and the at least one sensor, and a memory electrically coupled with the processor. The memory stores instructions and the processor is configured to execute the instructions to enable the display during 1st time periods, and disable at least a part of the display during at least a part of 2nd time periods, and enable the at least one sensor) comprising: a display (Choi, see display 1303 in figure 13) ; an imager (Choi, see camera device 1001 in figure 13) embedded in the display (Choi, see 1303b in figure 13 and paragraph [0166], where Choi discloses that the display 1303 can include a 1st region 1303a and a 2nd region 1303b. The 1st region 1303a can be a region at least partially not overlapping with at least one sensor, when viewed from the top of the transparent plate 1301. The 2nd region 1303b can be a region at least partially overlapping with at least one sensor, when viewed from the top of the transparent plate 1301. In various example embodiments, the 2nd region 1303b can be a central region of the display 1303. That is, the camera device 1001 can be
arranged at the center of the electronic device 101. This camera device 1001 can have a plurality of image sensors); and a controller (Choi, see processor 120 in figure 1), wherein the controller (Choi, see processor 120 in figure 1) is configured to display an image at position on the display which corresponds to a position of the imager (Choi, see 1901 in figure 19A and paragraph [0196], where Choi discloses that as illustrated in FIG. 19A, the display 1409 can display a star-like pattern 1901 in the 2nd region 1303b when the camera device 1001 works for photographing. When the camera device 1001 performs a photographing operation in a state where the star-like pattern 1901 is displayed in the 2nd region 1303b, as illustrated in FIG. 19B, the camera device 1001 can acquire a star-like image
1903. Besides this, by displaying various patterns in the 2nd region 1303b, the display 1409 can acquire an image applying the displayed pattern).
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Choi differs from the claimed subject matter in that Choi does not explicitly disclose predetermined.
However in an analogous art, Arai discloses predetermined (Arai, see line of sight guidance image 1 in figure 2 and paragraph [0040], where Arai discloses that the line-of-sight guidance image 1 may be displayed at all times around the arrangement position of the camera 10 when and after the display screen 13a switches to a preview screen, regardless of whether or not there is a command input for selfie photography, the line of sight guidance image being previewed teaches or suggest predetermined).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Choi with Arai. One would be motivated to modify Choi by disclosing predetermined as taught by Arai, and thereby providing an object to enable the user to simultaneously and easily recognize his/her face and a line-of-sight guidance on a display device (Arai, paragraph [0006]).
As to Claim 2:
Choi in view of Arai discloses the mobile information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to display an image captured by the imager on the display (Choi, see 1303 in figure 22B), and display the predetermined image at the position on the display which corresponds to the position of the imager (Choi, see 1001 in figure 22A) in a superimposed manner (Choi, see paragraph [0202] and figures 22A and 22B, where Choi discloses that the camera device 1001 can be arranged at the center of a display 1303. And, at selfie or video telephony, user's eyes viewing the camera device 1001 can be guided to the center of the display 1303. That is, a user can check a photographed image through the display 1303 while performing the selfie or video telephony).
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As to Claim 3:
Choi in view of Arai discloses that the mobile information terminal according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined image is an image in which a region including an imaging range of the imager in the display is filled with the same image data (Arai, see claim mapping in figures 22A and 22B below, where Arai discloses that the selfie preview (predetermined image) is in the same range as the imager 1001 and the imager image becomes the selfie image 1303 in figure 22B).
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As to Claim 4:
Choi in view of Arai discloses that the mobile information terminal according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined image is a guide image indicating a position where a user's face captured by the imager is to be displayed (Arai, see figure 8 claim mapping below).
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As to Claim 5:
Choi in view of Arai discloses the mobile information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined image is a user's selfie image captured by the imager, and the controller is configured to reduce or move the selfie image so that a position in an eye-height direction or a midpoint between both eyes in the selfie image is located at a position on the display which corresponds to the position of the imager, and display the selfie image on the display (Kaisha, see claim mapping in figures 14 and 15 below).
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As to Claim 6:
Choi in view of Arai discloses the mobile information terminal according to claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to superimpose and display an image of a shutter button in the vicinity of the predetermined image (Arai, see paragraph [0040], where Arai discloses that an input of a user command for selfie photography may be made, for example, by hovering over or touching a
shutter icon region (not shown) of the display screen 13a).
As to Claim 10:
Choi in view of Arai discloses that the mobile information terminal according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of the imagers are provided, and the controller is configured to display a user's selfie image captured by an imager selected among the plurality of imagers at a position on the display which corresponds to a position where the selected imager is embedded (Arai, see claim mapping in figures 16 and 14 below).
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As to Claim 11:
Choi in view of Arai discloses that the mobile information terminal according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the imagers are provided, and when activating an application using an imager selected among the plurality of imagers, the controller is configured to display the predetermined image at a position on the display which corresponds to a position where the selected imager is embedded (Arai, see claim mapping below in figure 16).
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As to Claim 12:
Choi in view of Arai discloses the mobile information terminal according to claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to superimpose and display the predetermined image at each of positions on the display which correspond to positions where the plurality of imagers are respectively embedded at the time of activating the application (Arai, see claim mapping in figure 16 below).
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As to Claim 13:
Choi in view of Arai discloses that the mobile information terminal according to claim 2, wherein the image captured by the imager is a selfie image of a user, and the controller is configured to display a message for prompting the user to take an action on the display (Choi, see claim mapping in figures 22A and 22B and paragraph [0202], where Choi discloses that the camera device 1001 can be arranged at the center of a display 1303. And, at selfie or video telephony, user's eyes viewing the camera device 1001 can be guided to the center of the display 1303. That is, a user can check a photographed image through the display 1303 while performing the selfie or video telephony).
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As to Claim 14:
Choi in view of Arai discloses that the mobile information terminal according to claim 13, wherein the message is guidance display when taking a selfie, and a selfie mode is any one of an ID photo mode, an upturned eye mode, a background mode, and a line-of-sight shift mode (Arai, see figures 14 and 15 claim mapping below).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 8 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.
Referring to claim 7 and dependent claim 8, the following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art fail to suggest limitations “comprising: a transceiver, wherein the predetermined image is an image of a communication partner by the transceiver, and the controller is configured to reduce or move the image of the communication partner so that a position in an eye-height direction or a midpoint between both eyes in the image of the communication partner is located at a position on the display which corresponds to the position of the imager, and displays the image on the display”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to
applicant's disclosure. Hiraga (US 20170221244 A1) discloses an imaging device photographs the photographing subject. A guide display control unit displays a guide on the displaying device for photographing the photographing subject from different imaging directions, where the guide indicates rotating the imaging device to photograph the photographing subject from the different imaging directions. An image compositing unit stitches a set of images obtained by photographing the photographing subject from the different imaging directions so as to generate a composite image.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NELSON ROSARIO whose telephone number is (571)270-1866. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday, 7:30am- 5:00pm EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Eason can be reached on (571) 270-7230. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NELSON M ROSARIO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624
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