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 8/14/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-23 and 26-36 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of USPN 5,315,342 Cocca.
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 (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 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.
1: Claim(s) 19, 21-23, 26, 28, 31 and 33-36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0101548 A1 Zhang et al in view of USPN 5,315,342 Cocca.
2: As for Claim 19, Zhang et al depicts in Figures 1, 3C and 4B and teaches in Paragraphs [0054, 0090-0092 and 0131] A method for adapting illumination comprising: providing a picture recording arrangement (camera image sensor) comprising an image sensor (camera image sensor) and a light source (340), the light source (340) configured to illuminate a scene comprising a target along different emission directions (each LED in the array reaches the object at a different angle or vector); obtaining illumination information of at least one of a background of the scene or a reference image (ambient lighting is determined by the controller see Paragraph [0011]), the illumination information being based on a situation when the light source is turned off (ambient lighting); generating an optimized weight vector based on the illumination information, the optimized weight vector including at least one intensity value for each one of the emission directions (the intensity of the individual lighting elements in the array 340 is determined from the luminance information and are set accordingly. The set values of the array is viewed by the examiner as a weight vector); and taking at least one target image of the target by controlling light emission of the light source (340) along the emission directions according to the optimized weight vector (set LED intensity and location within the array 340), wherein the target is indirectly illuminated so that at least some of the emission directions point next to the target and not onto the target (indirect illumination is discussed in Paragraph [0131-0136]). However, does not teach wherein radiation emitted into the emission directions is emitted out of a field of view of the image sensor.
Cocca depicts in Figure 1 and teaches on Column 1, Lines 33-47 an imaging system that allows for indirect illumination of an object so that it appears to be illuminated from above in a way characteristic of natural lighting and to illuminate the scene directly to soften dark shadows caused by downwardly directed light. Therefore, Cocca teaches radiation emitted into the emission directions is emitted out of a field of view (indirect illumination pointed at ceiling) of the image sensor.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the illuminator of Zhang et al to be configured to provide for indirect illumination of an object so that it appears to be illuminated from above in a way characteristic of natural lighting and to illuminate the scene directly to soften dark shadows caused by downwardly directed light as taught by Cocca in order to enable a natural lighting effect.
3: As for Claim 21, Zhang et al teaches in Paragraphs [0054 and 0134] wherein obtaining the illumination information comprises one or more of the following: taking a low-light image of the scene with the light source being switched off (under ambient lighting conditions), estimating a three-dimensional representation of the scene within a field of view of the image sensor, and/or estimating a three-dimensional representation of the scene next to the field of view of the image sensor, wherein the illumination information comprises information about reflective surfaces (reflective object orientation is determined) next to the target.
4: As for Claim 22, Zhang et al teaches in Paragraphs [0134 and 0135] wherein obtaining the illumination information further comprises analyzing illumination conditions of the reference image (the illumination of the reflective objects is analyzed), wherein the illumination information comprises information about at least one direction of illumination (the orientation of the reflective surface relative to the camera is determined) used to take the reference image.
5: As for Claim 23, Zhang et al teaches in Paragraph [0307] wherein generating the optimized weight vector (determine the brightness settings of the array or LED’s) comprises one or more of the following: feeding a neural network with the illumination information and running it to generate the optimized weight vector (Zhang et al teaches the processing can be performed using a multi-core neural engine), estimating from the illumination information reflective surfaces to be illuminated with the light source ,and calculating the optimized weight vector accordingly (Paragraphs [0134 and 0135] teaches determining the illumination reflected by the reflective surfaces and then determining the illumination settings of the LED array).
6: As for Claim 26, Zhang et al depicts in Figure 1 a illumination array comprised of 25 LEDs located at different positions. Therefore, Zhang et al teaches wherein there are at least 6 and at most 30 (25) of the emission directions.
7: As for Claim 28, Zhang et al teaches in Paragraphs [0136 and 0137] wherein the light source (340) comprises an additional light-emitting unit (a subset of the illuminators in the array) configured for direct lighting of the target.
8: As for Claim 31, Zhang et al teaches in Paragraph [0053 and 0055] wherein the light source emits only a single beam of light (a laser light source can be used in the form of laser diodes) along at least some of the emission directions.
9: As for Claim 33, Zhang et al teaches in Paragraph [0053] wherein the picture recording arrangement comprises a 3D-sensor (depth sensor to determine the distance to objects captured with the image sensor), wherein the 3D-sensor (depth sensor) obtains three-dimensional information of the scene prior to generating the optimized weight vector (the brightness settings for the illumination array are based on the determined distances to the objects).
10: As for Claim 34, Zhang et al teaches in Paragraphs [0003, 0066 and 0067] and depicts in Figure 3C wherein the picture recording arrangement is a single mobile device (320) including the image sensor (325) and the light source (340).
11: As for Claim 35, Zhang et al teaches in Paragraphs [0003 and 0066] and depicts in Figure 3C wherein the picture recording (325) arrangement is a smart phone 320).
12: As for Claim 36, Zhang et al depicts in Figures 1, 3C and 4B and teaches in Paragraphs [0054, 0090-0092 and 0131] A mobile device (320) comprising: an image sensor (camera image sensor); a light source (340); and a processor (controller 130 see Paragraph [0057]) configured to obtain illumination information of at least one of a background of a scene comprising a target or a reference image (ambient lighting is determined by the controller see Paragraph [0011]), the illumination information being based on a situation when the light source is turned off (ambient lighting), wherein the processor (130) is further configured to generate an optimized weight vector based on the illumination information (the intensity of the individual lighting elements in the array 340 is determined from the luminance information and are set accordingly. The set values of the array is viewed by the examiner as a weight vector), the optimized weight vector (set LED intensity and location within the array 340) including at least one intensity value for each one of emission directions (each LED in the array reaches the object at a different angle or vector), and wherein the image sensor (camera image sensor) is configured to take at least one target image (image with the set illumination values in array 340) of the target by controlling (130), by the processor, light emission of the light source (340) along the emission directions according to the optimized weight vector. However, does not teach wherein radiation emitted into the emission directions is emitted out of a field of view of the image sensor.
Cocca depicts in Figure 1 and teaches on Column 1, Lines 33-47 an imaging system that allows for indirect illumination of an object so that it appears to be illuminated from above in a way characteristic of natural lighting and to illuminate the scene directly to soften dark shadows caused by downwardly directed light. Therefore, Cocca teaches radiation emitted into the emission directions is emitted out of a field of view (indirect illumination pointed at ceiling) of the image sensor.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the illuminator of Zhang et al to be configured to provide for indirect illumination of an object so that it appears to be illuminated from above in a way characteristic of natural lighting and to illuminate the scene directly to soften dark shadows caused by downwardly directed light as taught by Cocca in order to enable a natural lighting effect.
13: Claim(s) 20 and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0101548 A1 Zhang et al in view of USPN 5,315,342 Cocca in view of Official Notice.
14: As for Claim 20, Zhang et al teaches indirect illumination is discussed in Paragraph [0131-0136]) wherein the target is illuminated by the lights source (340) exclusively in an indirect manner, wherein orientations of the emission directions relative to the image sensor are fixed (the LEDs in the array 340 are fixed relative to the camera system 325). Zhang et al depicts the camera and light source are included in a smartphone as depicted in Figure 3C. However, is silent as to the size of the light source and the phone and does not teach wherein a diameter of the light source is at most 0.3 m, seen in top view of the image sensor.
Official Notice is taken that it was well known and common practice in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the light sources within a camera system in a smart phone to be smaller than a diameter of 0.3 meters in order to make the device handheld and small enough to fit into a user’s pocket.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the smartphone with illuminators as taught by Zhang et al to have a size smaller than 0.3 meters in order to make the device handheld and small enough to fit into a user’s pocket.
15: As for Claim 29, Zhang et al teaches a camera phone for capturing images. However, Zhang et al is silent as to the location of the images being captured and does not teach wherein the method is performed indoors, wherein the light source emits a photo flash for taking the at least one target image, wherein a distance between the picture recording arrangement and the target is between 1 m and 6 m, inclusive.
Official Notice is taken that it was well known and common practice in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for camera users of smartphones to take pictures indoors with a subject located between 1m to 6m away.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the camera system of Zhang et al to capture images in an indoor environment at a distance between 1m and 6m.
16: Claim(s) 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0101548 A1 Zhang et al in view of USPN 5,315,342 Cocca in view of CN 112823512 B Zhu.
17: As for Claim 32, Zhang et al teaches a camera system with an array of illuminators. However, does not teach the wavelength of the illuminators and does not teach wherein the light source comprises an emitter configured for non-visible radiation.
Zhu teaches on Page 6 a camera system with an illuminator and teaches it was advantageous to use illuminators that operate in the infrared spectrum in order to illuminate objects at night and to improve safety for the human eye.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use infrared illuminators as taught by Zhu for the illuminators in the camera system of Zhang et al in order to illuminate objects at night and to improve safety for the human eye.
18: Claim(s) 27 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0101548 A1 Zhang et al in view of USPN 5,315,342 Cocca in view of US 2022/0026781 A1 Wang.
19: As for Claim 27, Zhang et al teaches a camera system with an illuminator array wherein the light source comprises one light-emitting unit for each one of the emission directions, and wherein positions of the light-emitting units relative to one another are fixed. However, Zhang et al does not teach wherein the light-emitting units are arranged in a circular manner, seen in top view of the image sensor.
Wang teaches in Paragraphs [0038 and 0042] and depicts in Figure 6 a camera system with an illuminator array and teaches it is advantageous to form the illuminator array wherein the light-emitting units are arranged in a circular manner, seen in top view of the image sensor in order to improve the uniformity of light distribution.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the illuminator array of Zhang et al in a circular manner as seen in top view of the image sensor as taught by Wang in order to improve the uniformity of light distribution.
20: As for Claim 30, Zhang et al teaches a camera system with an illuminator array wherein the light source emits independently a plurality of beams along at least some of the emission directions. However, Zhang et al does not teach the individual illuminators having different colors.
Wang teaches in Paragraphs [0056] and depicts in Figure 6 a camera system with an illuminator array and teaches it is advantageous to form the illuminator array wherein the illuminators can each output an independent different color in order to allow a camera user to select different lighting effects thereby improving the flexibility of the lighting control.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the illuminator array of Zhang et al wherein the illuminators can each output an independent different color as taught by Wang in order to allow a camera user to select different lighting effects thereby improving the flexibility of the lighting control.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 37 is allowed.
Claims 24 and 25 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: The prior art does not teach wherein generating the optimized weight vector comprises: feeding a neural network with the illumination information and running it to generate the optimized weight vector, estimating from the illumination information reflective surfaces to be illuminated with the light source and calculating the optimized weight vector accordingly, and/or based on the illumination information, simulating an illumination of the scene for each one of the emission directions, wherein per simulating the light source it is assumed to emit the radiation only along a subset of the emission directions when taken in combination with all the limitations of the independent claim.
Conclusion
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 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 JAMES M HANNETT whose telephone number is (571)272-7309. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM-5:00 PM Monday thru Thursday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Twyler Haskins can be reached at 571-272-7406 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).
/JAMES M HANNETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639
JMH
October 6, 2026
Prosecution Insights