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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 10, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 23, and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hautala (U.S. Pub. No. 20120198386) in view of Kang (U.S. Pub. No. 20030189647).
Regarding claim 1, Hautala discloses:
A method, comprising:
starting a camera application (the user may press a hardware key 104 or the image capture key 106 to activate the integrated camera and gallery application 218, and using integrated camera and gallery application 218 comprises software which controls operation of camera hardware 206 as well as software that causes the processor 200 to control what is output on the display 202, where there is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-readable code, which is executed by the apparatus, par. 17, 36, 39);
displaying a preview interface at a moment T1, wherein the preview interface comprises a preview area and a thumbnail area, and an image captured by a camera in real time is displayed in the preview area (screenshot 300, where screenshot 300 shows a live image 302 which is the direct output from camera hardware 206 and screenshot 300 also has a first thumbnail image 304 and a second thumbnail image 306 displayed in the top right corner of the screen, along the top edge of the screen, par. 41 and Fig. 3);
detecting a shooting operation at a moment T2, and displaying a thumbnail of a first photo in the thumbnail area in response to the shooting operation, wherein the first photo is obtained based on a first image, and the first image is an image captured by the camera after the moment T1 and after the moment T2 (screenshot 400 results after a capturing of the live image 302, where display 202 continues to display a live image 402, which is the direct output from camera hardware 206 and the captured version of the previously live image 302 now appears as the third thumbnail image 408 because it is the most recently saved image, par. 44-45 and Fig. 4); and
displaying a thumbnail of a second photo in the thumbnail area in response to the shooting operation, wherein the second photo is obtained based on a second image, and the second image is an image captured by the camera at a moment that is after the moment T2 and that does not comprise the moment T2 (first thumbnail image 304 is the second most recently saved image and second thumbnail image 306 is the most recently saved image (i.e. the last image in the sequence), where the thumbnail images may be displayed in reverse chronological order, and a captured version of the previously live image appears as a thumbnail image, par. 42-46 and Figs. 3 and 4).
Hautala is silent with regards to first image is an image captured by the camera after the moment T1 and before the moment T2. Kang discloses first image is an image captured by the camera after the moment T1 and before the moment T2 (one method of organizing the images is to display the actual shot 120 captured when the shutter button is fully depressed, where the pre-capture images 110 and post-capture images 130 may be arranged in sequential order as illustrated in FIG. 1, and viewed using scrolling functions provided for in a digital camera, par. 21-26). As can be seen in par. 36 this is advantageous in that a user can select his best picture after each shot. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include first image is an image captured by the camera after the moment T1 and before the moment T2.
Regarding claim 2, Hautala further discloses:
before displaying the thumbnail of the second photo in the thumbnail area, the method further comprises:
detecting a first operation performed on the thumbnail of the first photo (the second thumbnail image 406 has been selected by a user, par. 50 and Fig. 4);
displaying a second interface in response to the first operation, wherein the second interface comprises a third area, and the first photo is displayed in the third area (FIG. 5 shows a screenshot 500 which results after the second thumbnail image 406 has been selected by a user of the terminal 100, par. 50 and Fig. 5); and
replacing the displayed first photo with the second photo in the third area (a leftwards swipe may display the next image in the sequence of images stored in image/video storage 220 and a rightwards swipe may display the previous image in the sequence, par. 53 and Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 3, Hautala further discloses:
starting a gallery application (screenshot 600 may result when a user provides a touch input at any of the thumbnail images shown in FIG. 4 and performs a translation input motion to the left, par. 66 and Fig. 6); and
displaying a third interface, wherein one or more images are displayed in the third interface, and the one or more images comprise a preview image of the second photo and do not comprise a preview image of the first photo (screenshot 600 shows a live image 602, which is the direct output from camera hardware 206, and arranged along a top edge of the display 202 are seven thumbnail images, including a first thumbnail image 604, a second thumbnail image 606 and a seventh thumbnail image 608, and further the seventh thumbnail image 606 is the seventh most recently saved image and the last image which is displayed, and there may however be older images stored in image/video storage 220 which are not displayed as thumbnails, and in the screenshot 600, seven thumbnail images are visible; however this number may vary depending on the width of the display 202, the size of the thumbnail images and user preference settings, and in response to a rightwards fast swipe input across substantially the whole width of the display 202, the first (most recent) thumbnail image may be immediately displayed (and note that if the user preference settings of the number of thumbnails is not seven but instead one, then the first thumbnail would not be displayed), par. 64-67).
Regarding claim 4, Hautala further discloses:
the preview interface further comprises a second control, and the method further comprises:
detecting a user operation performed on the second control (user of the terminal 100 may capture the live image 302 being displayed by touching an image capture software key (not shown) on the display 202 itself, par. 43 and Fig. 3); and
enabling a manual snapping function (a user touch input causes the camera hardware 206 to capture the live image 302, par. 43).
Regarding claim 10, Hautala further discloses:
a third image comprises a first object (stick figure and other objects seen live view images 302, 402, 502, 602 in Figs. 3-6), and wherein before displaying the thumbnail of the first photo in the thumbnail area in response to the shooting operation the third image is an image displayed in the preview area when detecting the shooting operation (live view images 302, 402, 502, 602 are displayed before the corresponding thumbnail is saved and displayed, par. 43, 45, and Figs. 3-6).
Regarding claim 12, Hautala is silent with regards to obtaining the first photo based on the first image comprises: starting a first shooting mode, wherein the first shooting mode is a night mode; obtaining a plurality of frames of images that are captured by the camera and that comprise the first image; and fusing the plurality of frames of images into a new image, wherein the first photo is obtained based on the new image. Official Notice is taken that it was well known before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include capturing images in a night mode and obtaining a plurality of images while in the night mode followed by fusing the images into a new image. This is advantageous in that high dynamic range images at night can be created that allow viewing of dim features and without blur. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include starting a first shooting mode, wherein the first shooting mode is a night mode; obtaining a plurality of frames of images that are captured by the camera and that comprise the first image; and fusing the plurality of frames of images into a new image, wherein the first photo is obtained based on the new image.
Regarding claims 15, 17, 18, 19, 23, and 25, see the rejection of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, and 12 respectively and note that the limitations of claims 15, 17, 18, 19, 23, and 25 were shown.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 7, 8, 11, 20-22, and 24 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.
Regarding claim 5, no prior art could be located that teaches or fairly suggests first image is an image with a highest comprehensive score captured by the camera after the moment T1 and before the moment T2, wherein a comprehensive score of an image is determined based on one or more of the following: a quantity, size(s), and/or position(s) of first objects; a completion degree of a first action; a quantity, size(s), and/or position(s) of human faces; a degree of a smile on a human face; an opening degree of an eye on a human face; definition; or exposure, wherein the second image is an image with a highest comprehensive score captured by the camera at a moment that is after the moment T2 and that does not comprise the moment T2, wherein the comprehensive score of the second image is higher than the comprehensive score of the first image, and wherein a difference between the comprehensive score of the second image and the comprehensive score of the first image is greater than a first preset value, in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim and limitations of the parent claim.
Claims 7 and 8 depend on claim 5 and therefore are objected to.
Regarding claim 11, no prior art could be located that teaches or fairly suggests displaying a thumbnail of a fourth photo in the thumbnail area when the third image does not comprise the first object, wherein the fourth photo is obtained based on a fourth image, the fourth image is a convergence image closest to the third image, and the convergence image satisfies one or more of the following: automatic focus convergence, automatic exposure convergence, or automatic white balance convergence, in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim and limitations of the parent claims.
Claim 20 is objected to for similar reasons as claim 5.
Claim 21 and 22 depend on claim 20 and therefore are objected to.
Claim 24 is objected to for similar reasons as claim 11.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS G GILES whose telephone number is (571)272-2824. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:45AM-3:15PM EST (HOTELING).
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/NICHOLAS G GILES/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639
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