Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/896,742

DETECTION METHOD AND APPARATUS, STORAGE MEDIUM AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Sep 25, 2024
Priority
Aug 17, 2022 — CN 202210987670.1 +1 more
Examiner
WANG, CLAIRE X
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Mashang Consumer Finance Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
68%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 1m
Est. Remaining
76%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 68% — above average
68%
Career Allowance Rate
136 granted / 200 resolved
+8.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+7.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 11m
Avg Prosecution
11 currently pending
Career history
206
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.4%
-36.6% vs TC avg
§103
75.0%
+35.0% vs TC avg
§102
16.4%
-23.6% vs TC avg
§112
2.7%
-37.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 200 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . 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 1, 3, 5, 7-10, 13, 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zheng et al. (CN112966654A hereinafter Zheng; Published on 2021-06-15). As to claim 1, Zheng teaches a detection method, comprising: determining, based on a first image frame comprising a facial region of a user (detecting the lip key points on the target face in the t-th frame image of the target video; Abstract), an interlabial distance (calculate the current lip distance according to the lip key point information; Abstract) and a reference value for interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame (lip key points on the target face in the t-th frame image of the target video; [0008]); determining, based on a correspondence between the interlabial distance and the reference value for interlabial distance, a reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame (According to the current lip distance The difference between the lip distance and the historical lip distance determines the lip movement detection result; Abstract); and determining, based on the reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, a lip movement detection result of the user (determining a lip movement detection result according to a lip distance difference value between the current lip distance and the historical lip distance; page 3, lines 18-20). As to claim 3, Zheng teaches the lip movement detection method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, based on the reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, the lip movement detection result of the user, comprises: determining n historical image frames with timing prior to and adjacent to the first image frame (The lip motion detection result is determined based on the lip distance difference between the current lip distance and the historical lip distance; [0011]), wherein n is a positive integer less than or equal to 30 (Detect the lip key points on the target face in the t-th frame image of the target video, and obtain the lip key point information, where t is a positive integer greater than 1; [0008]); and determining, based on reference interlabial distances of the user in all historical image frames of the n frames (The lip motion detection result is determined based on the lip distance difference between the current lip distance and the historical lip distance; [0011]), the reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, and a lip movement threshold, the lip movement detection result of the user (Lip movement threshold can be set. When the lip distance difference is greater than the lip movement threshold, it means that lip movement occurs; when the lip movement difference is less than or equal to the lip movement threshold, it means that lip movement does not occur; [0111]). As to claim 5, Zheng teaches the lip movement detection method according to claim 3, wherein before the determining, based on the reference interlabial distances of the user in all historical image frames in the n frames, the reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, and the lip movement threshold, the lip movement detection result of the user, the method further comprises: performing Kalman filtering on the reference interlabial distance of the user in all historical image frames of the n frames and the reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, respectively; wherein the determining, based on the reference interlabial distances of the user in all historical image frames in the n frames, the reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, and the lip movement threshold, the lip movement detection result of the user, comprises: determining, based on the reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, the reference interlabial distance of the user in all historical image frames of the n frames processed by Kalman filtering, and the lip movement threshold, the lip movement detection result of the user (perform Kalman filtering on the adjusted current lip distance to obtain the filtered current lip distance; [00117]). As to claim 7, Zheng teaches the lip movement detection method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, based on the first image frame comprising the facial region of the user, the interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, comprises: determining at least one set of lip keypoints of the user in the first image frame; determining, according to the at least one set of lip keypoints, an interlabial distance of the user corresponding to each set of lip keypoints; and determining, based on an interlabial distance of the user corresponding to all sets of lip keypoints in the first image frame, the interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame (each pair of key points includes an upper lip key point and a lower lip key point, and M is a positive integer; calculate the corresponding lip area by a formula The current lip distance, where the lipDist represents the current lip distance; [00139]). As to claim 8, Zheng teaches the lip movement detection method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, based on the first image frame comprising the facial region of the user, the reference value for interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, comprises: determining at least one set of lip keypoints of the user in the first image frame; determining, according to the at least one set of lip keypoints, a reference value for interlabial distance of the user corresponding to each set of lip keypoints; and determining, based on a reference value for interlabial distance of the user corresponding to all sets of lip keypoints in the first image frame, the reference value for interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame (each pair of key points includes an upper lip key point and a lower lip key point, and M is a positive integer; calculate the corresponding lip area by a formula The current lip distance, where the lipDist represents the current lip distance; [00139]). As to claim 9, Zheng teaches the lip movement detection method according to claim 7, wherein the determining the at least one set of lip keypoints of the user in the first image frame, comprises: determining, based on a set of facial keypoints of the user in the first image frame, the at least one set of lip keypoints of the user, wherein the set of lip keypoints comprises upper lip inner keypoints and upper lip outer keypoints used to represent a position of an upper lip, and lower lip inner keypoints and lower lip outer keypoints used to represent a position of a lower lip (the (xdown_i, ydown_i) represents the pixel coordinates of the lower lip key point in the i-th pair of key points, and the (xup_i, yup_i) represents The pixel coordinates of the upper lip key point in the i-th pair of key points; [000139]). As to claim 10, Zheng teaches the lip movement detection method according to claim 8, wherein the determining the at least one set of lip keypoints of the user in the first image frame, comprises: determining, based on a set of facial keypoints of the user in the first image frame, the at least one set of lip keypoints of the user, wherein the set of lip keypoints comprises upper lip inner keypoints and upper lip outer keypoints used to represent a position of an upper lip, and lower lip inner keypoints and lower lip outer keypoints used to represent a position of a lower lip(the (xdown_i, ydown_i) represents the pixel coordinates of the lower lip key point in the i-th pair of key points, and the (xup_i, yup_i) represents The pixel coordinates of the upper lip key point in the i-th pair of key points; [000139]). As to claim 13, Zheng teaches the lip movement detection method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, based on the correspondence between the interlabial distance and the reference value for interlabial distance, the reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, comprises: determining, based on a ratio of the interlabial distance to the reference value for interlabial distance, the reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame (Assume that the calculated area ratio of the face area in the t-th frame image to the t-th frame image is 0.5, and the corresponding adjustment weight is 0.8. Then multiply the current lip distance by 0.8 to obtain the adjusted current lip distance; [00115]). As to claim 15, Zheng teaches a lip movement detection method for a virtual digital human, comprising: obtaining a to-be-processed video comprising a facial region of the virtual digital human; and processing, based on the lip movement detection method according to claim 1, an image frame comprised in the to-be-processed video, to obtain a lip movement detection result of the virtual digital human (pixel coordinates [00020] pixel is inherently digital therefore the video would be in a digital format). As to claim 16, Zheng teaches an electronic device, comprising: a processor; and a memory configured to store computer executable instructions; wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer executable instructions to: determine, based on a first image frame comprising a facial region of a user, an interlabial distance and a reference value for interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame; determine, based on a correspondence between the interlabial distance and the reference value for interlabial distance, a reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame; and determine, based on the reference interlabial distance of the user in the first image frame, a lip movement detection result of the user (Determine the lip motion detection result based on the lip distance difference between the current lip distance and the historical lip distance; [00109]). As to claim 17, Zheng teaches an electronic device, comprising: a processor; and a memory configured to store computer executable instructions; wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer executable instructions to: obtain a to-be-processed video comprising a facial region of the virtual digital human; and process an image frame comprised in the to-be-processed video based on the lip movement detection method according to claim 1, to obtain a lip movement detection result of the virtual digital human (pixel coordinates [00020] pixel is inherently digital therefore the video would be in a digital format). As to claim 18, Zheng teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing with instructions that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device, enable the electronic device to execute the method according to claim 1 (computer readable storage medium; [00045]). As to claim 19, Zheng teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing with instructions that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device, enable the electronic device to execute the method according to claim 15 (computer readable storage medium; [00045]). As to claim 20, Zheng teaches a computer program product comprising computer executable instructions, wherein the method according to claim 1 is implemented when a processor executes the computer executable instructions (processor; [00045]). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2, 4, 6, 11-12 and 14 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. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang et al. (US 20210407510 A1) teach a system and method for correlating speech and lip movement. Wherein the speech detection system may use height and width of the mouth as features for detecting lip movement. In particular, the ratio of the height and width of the mouth is determined as a mouth closeness indicator, where the lower value indicates closed lips. Sezille (US 20150110366 A1) teaches a method and system for determining user liveness wherein the locations of the eyes, nose, cheekbones, and chin. Data obtained from the Face Point Tracker application may be used to calculate distances between these characteristics, and the distances may be used to establish ratios useful in determining whether faulty data was used to calculate the mouth surface area of a frame. Hiraizumi et al. (US 20070127785 A1) teach An image processing apparatus includes a detecting unit for detecting a position of a facial feature in a face image, a principal component analysis performing unit for performing principal component analysis on the position of the facial feature in a registered image that is a pre-registered face image. Using distances between facial features to compare to registered face images for authentication purposes. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLAIRE X WANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1051. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Patricia Mallari can be reached at (571) 272-4729. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. CLAIRE X. WANG Supervisory Patent Examiner Art Unit 1774 /CLAIRE X WANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1774
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 25, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
68%
Grant Probability
76%
With Interview (+7.7%)
3y 11m (~2y 1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 200 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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