Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/901,706

Macro Shooting Method, Electronic Device, and Computer-Readable Storage Medium

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 30, 2024
Priority
Apr 02, 2022 — CN 202210351277.3 +1 more
Examiner
TREHAN, AKSHAY
Art Unit
2639
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 4m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allowance Rate
402 granted / 565 resolved
+9.2% vs TC avg
Strong +24% interview lift
Without
With
+23.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
577
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
84.2%
+44.2% vs TC avg
§102
10.2%
-29.8% vs TC avg
§112
3.4%
-36.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 565 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
N O N - F I N A L A C T I O N 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/30/24 and 5/22/25 complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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. Examiner notes that the current title is a good starting point but recommends modifying said “Electronic Device” by adding analogous language to “Electronic Device Comprising Macro Cameras” into the current title. For example, Examiner recommends the following amended new title: “Electronic Device Comprising Macro Cameras And Macro Shooting Method” Closest Prior Art The prior art (cited on PTO-892) is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Among these, the following references are considered to be the closest, collectively disclosing the state of the art concerned with a method of switching capture modes between cameras with different focal lengths and magnifications on an electronic device. NASH (US 20170230585) – applied to 35 USC 103 rejection, see below. NISHIMURA (US 20190289201) – applied to 35 USC 103 rejection, see below. HAN (US 20210314499) – applied to 35 USC 103 rejection, see below. ARORA (US 20210321043) – applied to 35 USC 103 rejection, see below. COHEN (US 20200106964) – applied to 35 USC 103 rejection, see below. CUI HANTAO (CN 111010506, published 4/14/20) – applied to 35 USC 103 rejection, (US 20220394190 will be used as an English translation), see Abstract, Fig. 4 & 5, and para [0177] states images in the first viewfinder frame and the second viewfinder frame may be images captured by a same camera, for example, images captured by the long-focus camera. NOTE: Examiner welcomes INTERVIEW(s) to discuss the instant application’s claimed invention as it corresponds to the specification embodiments, as well as, discussing the similarities/differences taught/not taught by prior art. In the interest of compact prosecution, Applicant’s arguments/amendments should not only address the cited closest art applied/relied on in the 35 USC 102/103 rejection (below), but also address the other cited closest art not applied/relied on. Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed 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 1-3 and 7-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NASH (US 20170230585) in view of NISHIMURA (US 20190289201) in view of HAN (US 20210314499) in view of ARORA (US 20210321043) -- hereafter, termed as shown “underlined”. As per INDEPENDENT CLAIM 1, NASH teaches a method comprising: displaying, in a viewfinder frame and when a zoom ratio is within a first ratio range, a first image based on a first camera focal length (Fig. 2A: cameras 208 & 206 to perform close-up shooting which can be considered macro photography, wherein different focal lengths per par[0033]: the first camera 115 is the main camera and has a wide angle lens, focal length of 3.59 mm, and a second camera is an auxiliary camera and has telephoto lens having a focal length of 6 mm. Furthermore, per Fig. 2A & 2B and Fig. 9, state 1, para [0036]: output of an image captured using wide-angle camera 206 can be provided to the display 203 and fills the display; par.[0091]: In state 1, at the relatively small zoom level less than the first threshold value T1, the wide-angle camera is on and the telephoto camera is off); switching, when displaying the first image and when the zoom ratio is a camera switching ratio, from displaying the first image to displaying in the viewfinder frame a second image that is based on a second camera focal length (Fig. 2C & 2D and Fig. 9, states 2&3, par.[0036]: In FIG. 2C, a received zoom-in command indicating a zoom level where the multi-camera device 204 activates the telephoto camera 208 and uses images captured using the telephoto camera 208 to display a more zoomed-in image; par.[0092]: If a zoom command is received that indicates a zoom level F(z) between the first threshold value T1 and a second threshold value T2 (FIG. 10), the state machine transitions to state 2. In state 2, the wide-angle camera is on and images generated by the wide-angle camera are provided to the display. In some instances, the images provide to the display are modified by a spatial and a photometric transformation before they are displayed. In state 2, the telephoto camera is also on. If a zoom command is received that indicates a zoom level F (z) greater a second threshold value T2, the state machine transitions to state 3. In state 3, the wide-angle camera may be turned off, the telephoto camera remaining on); and displaying, in the viewfinder frame, and when the zoom ratio is greater than the camera switching ratio and is within a second ratio range that comprises the camera switching ratio, the second image (Fig. 2E & 2F and Fig. 9, state 4, para [0036]: In Fig. 2E and 2F, if the multi-camera device 204 continues receive a zoom-in command, the multi-camera device 204 can continue to zoom-in the region 205 and the image data for previewing images of the target scene can be already available as a result of the image fusion operation performed earlier; par.[0092]: If the zoom command F (z) increases beyond the second threshold value T2, the state machine transitions into state 4 where the wide-angle camera may be turned off and the output of the telephoto camera can be provide to the display as a preview image. The state machine can remain in state 4 if the zoom command is greater or equal to the second threshold value T2). Regarding underlined limitation: “switching” and “displaying in a viewfinder” claimed features – to more robustly/further show this feature was known in the art in context to switching between cameras having different focal lengths, Examiner evidences related prior art NISHIMURA (See Fig. 16 “screen switch” button and Fig. 24-29 “T” and “W” buttons and para [0139-0157]). Thus, when considering the collective knowledge bestowed by each applied prior art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to COMBINE the teachings of NISHIMURA into suitable modification with the teachings of NASH to produce Applicant’s claimed invention with the structural arrangement / functional configuration of switching between cameras of different focal lengths / zoom ratios for the MOTIVATED REASON of enhancing the user experience and versatility of capture modes in the analogous art of a digital camera. The Examiner has interpreted the teachings of NASH’s close-up shooting as macro photography. For sake of completeness to address this further, with context to switching between cameras, the Examiner further points out it is generally known to switch between cameras of different focal length in the context of a zooming operation and depending on the zooming ratio being within predetermined ranges in a macro mode. For example, see prior art HAN (Fig. 13, para [0210-0214]) when the digital photographing apparatus 100 is in the macro mode, the output image can be switched from a wide-angle image captured by a wide angle lens to a telephoto image captured by a telephoto lens. Furthermore, it was also known to configure an electronic device with more than one macro camera - for example, see prior art ARORA (Fig. 1-4, para [0038, 0043]) for media acquisition unit 110 which may switch to macro camera mode. Thus, when considering the collective knowledge bestowed by each applied prior art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to COMBINE the teachings of HAN (use macro mode with different focal length cameras) and ARORA (use more than one macro camera such as two macro cameras) into suitable modification with the teachings of NASH in view of NISHIMURA to produce Applicant’s claimed invention with the structural arrangement / functional configuration of switching between macro cameras of different focal lengths / zoom ratios for the MOTIVATED REASON of enhancing the user experience and versatility of capture modes in the analogous art of a digital camera. As per CLAIM 2, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying a preview image; and displaying a navigation window superimposed on the preview image, wherein the navigation window comprises a navigation image, and wherein a field of view of the navigation image is greater than a field of view of the preview image (The features in this limitation are obvious over NISHIMURA, see Figures 25-29). As per CLAIM 3, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the navigation image is the first image and the preview image is the second image when the zoom ratio is within the second ratio range (This limitation is obvious over NISHIMURA as taught in Figures 25-29). As per CLAIM 7, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the zoom ratio is within the first ratio range, and wherein displaying the first image further comprises: performing, in a zoom process based on the first ratio range and based on an image offset value, image offset cropping on the first image to obtain a first cropped image; identifying, by using an identification pattern that identifies a relative location relationship between the preview image and the navigation image and based on the image offset value, a location of the first cropped image in the first image to obtain a first identification image; displaying the first cropped image in the viewfinder frame; and displaying the first identification image in the navigation window (The features in this limitation are obvious over the NISHIMURA, given the teachings in Figures 25-29). As per CLAIM 8, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the zoom ratio is within the second ratio range or a third ratio range, and wherein displaying the second image further comprises: performing, in a zoom process based on the second ratio range or the third ratio range, digital zoom cropping on the second image to obtain a second cropped image; identifying, by using an identification pattern that identifies a relative location relationship between the preview image and the navigation image and based on an initially calibrated image offset value or an updated image offset value, a location of the second cropped image in a target image to obtain a second identification image; displaying the second cropped image in the viewfinder frame; and displaying the second identification image in the navigation window, wherein the target image is based on image offset cropping the first image or a full field-of-view image that is based on the first camera focal length (The features in this limitation are obvious over the NISHIMURA over the teachings in Figures 25-29). As per CLAIM 9, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting a photo shooting operation; outputting, in response to detecting the photo shooting operation and when the zoom ratio is within a fifth ratio range, the image captured by the first macro camera; performing, in response to detecting the photo shooting operation and when the zoom ratio is within a sixth ratio range, image fusion on the first image and the second image to obtain a fused image, and outputting the fused image; and outputting, in response to detecting the photo shooting operation and when the zoom ratio is within the second ratio range, the second image, wherein the first ratio range comprises the fifth ratio range and the sixth ratio range (The features in this limitation are obvious over NASH per para [0028-29, 0036-37] and NISHIMURA over the teachings in Figures 25-29). As per CLAIM 10, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 9, wherein the fused image comprises a target area and a non-target area, wherein an image quality of the target area is higher than an image quality of the non-target area, and wherein the target area is in the first image and corresponds to the second image (The features in this limitation are obvious over NASH per para [0028-29, 0036-37] and NISHIMURA over the teachings in Figures 25-29). As per CLAIM 11, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting a first shooting distance of a third image of a target camera, switching from the target camera to a default macro camera when first shooting distances of N consecutive frames of images are all less than a first threshold, wherein N is a positive integer; and displaying, in the viewfinder frame, a fourth image from the default macro camera, wherein the default macro camera is the first macro camera or the second macro camera (This feature is considered obvious over the prior art combined teachings discussed in claim 1 – see NASH teaches selecting a camera based on shooting distance, para [0028]). As per CLAIM 12, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 11, but appears to remain silent to “indicating, in the viewfinder frame, a macro shooting mode”. However, Official Notice (MPEP § 2144.03) is taken that both the concepts and advantages of using a macro mode indicator in a viewfinder frame is well known and expected in the art. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use macro mode indicator in a viewfinder frame for the MOTIVATED REASON of enhancing the user experience via a current mode indication (i.e. macro mode) in the analogous art of a digital camera with a display viewfinder. As per CLAIM 13, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 12, further comprising: detecting a second shooting distance of a fifth image from a current macro camera; switching from the current macro camera to the default macro camera when second shooting distances of M consecutive frames of images are all greater than a second threshold, wherein M is a positive integer; and displaying, in the viewfinder frame, the fourth image, wherein the current macro camera is the first macro camera or the second macro camera (This feature is considered obvious over the prior art combined teachings discussed in claim 1 – see NASH teaches selecting a camera based on shooting distance, para [0028]). As per CLAIM 14, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the viewfinder frame comprises a first shortcut control and a second shortcut control, and wherein the method further comprises: switching, in response to activation of the first shortcut control, from displaying the first image to displaying the second image; and switching, in response to activation of the second shortcut control, from displaying the second image to displaying the first image (NISHIMURA, Fig. 24, para [0141], shortcut controls 501 and 502: switching between the wide angle image display and the narrow angle image display of (A) and (B) of Fig. 25 is performed when an angle-of-view switching). As per INDEPENDENT CLAIM 15, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches a method comprising: displaying, in a viewfinder frame, a first image; displaying a preview image in the viewfinder frame; and displaying a navigation window superimposed on the preview image, wherein the navigation window displays a navigation image, and wherein a field of view of the navigation image is greater than a field of view of the preview image (The method of claim 15 is rejected for the same reasons as the electronic device in claim 20 (or method in claim 1) over NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA. Furthermore, the features displaying a navigation window superimposed on the preview image is obvious over NISHIMURA, see Figures 25-29). As per claim 16, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the navigation image is the first image or a second image captured by a second macro camera, and wherein a field of view of the second image is greater than a field of view of the first image (This limitation is obvious over NISHIMURA as taught in Figures 25-29). As per claim 17, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 16, wherein the navigation image is the first image, and wherein displaying the navigation window superimposed on the preview image comprises: performing, based on an initially calibrated image offset value or an updated image offset value, image offset cropping on the first image to obtain a first cropped image; identifying, by using an identification pattern that identifies a relative location relationship between the preview image and the navigation image and based on the image offset value, a location of the first cropped image in the first image to obtain a first identification image; displaying the first cropped image in the viewfinder frame; and displaying the first identification image in the navigation window (This limitation is obvious over the prior art combination made in claim 15 and in further view of NISHIMURA as taught in Figures 25-29). As per claim 18, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 17, further comprising: performing image feature matching based on the first cropped image and the second image to obtain a first image feature matching result; determining, based on the first image feature matching result and a zoom ratio of the first image, an image offset value of the first image; and performing offset value updating based on the image offset value (This limitation is obvious over the prior art combination made in claim 15 and in further view of NISHIMURA as taught in Figures 25-29). As per claim 19, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 16, wherein the navigation image is the second image, and wherein displaying, in the viewfinder frame, the first image further comprises: performing digital zoom cropping on the first image to obtain a second cropped image; identifying, by using an identification pattern that identifies a relative location relationship between the preview image and the navigation image and based on an initially calibrated image offset value or an updated image offset value, a location of the second cropped image in a target image to obtain a second identification image; displaying the second cropped image in the viewfinder frame; and displaying the second identification image in the navigation window, wherein the target image is based on an image offset cropping the second image or is a full field-of-view image (This limitation is obvious over the prior art combination made in claim 15 and in further view of NISHIMURA as taught in Figures 25-29). As per INDEPENDENT CLAIM 20, NASH teaches an electronic device comprising: a first macro camera having a first focal length and configured to capture a first image, a second macro camera having a second focal length and configured to capture a second image, wherein the second focal length differs from the first focal length (see Fig. 2A: cameras 208 & 206 to perform close-up shooting which can be considered macro photography, wherein different focal lengths per par[0033]: the first camera 115 is the main camera and has a wide angle lens, focal length of 3.59 mm, and a second camera is an auxiliary camera and has telephoto lens having a focal length of 6 mm); one or more processors configured to cause the electronic device to: display the first image in a viewfinder frame when a zoom ratio is within a first ratio range (Fig. 2A & 2B and Fig. 9, state 1, para [0036]: output of an image captured using wide-angle camera 206 can be provided to the display 203 and fills the display; par.[0091]: In state 1, at the relatively small zoom level less than the first threshold value T1, the wide-angle camera is on and the telephoto camera is off); switch from displaying the first image to displaying in the viewfinder frame the second image when displaying the first image and when the zoom ratio is a camera switching ratio (Fig. 2C & 2D and Fig. 9, states 2&3, par.[0036]: In FIG. 2C, a received zoom-in command indicating a zoom level where the multi-camera device 204 activates the telephoto camera 208 and uses images captured using the telephoto camera 208 to display a more zoomed-in image; par.[0092]: If a zoom command is received that indicates a zoom level F(z) between the first threshold value T1 and a second threshold value T2 (FIG. 10), the state machine transitions to state 2. In state 2, the wide-angle camera is on and images generated by the wide-angle camera are provided to the display. In some instances, the images provide to the display are modified by a spatial and a photometric transformation before they are displayed. In state 2, the telephoto camera is also on. If a zoom command is received that indicates a zoom level F (z) greater a second threshold value T2, the state machine transitions to state 3. In state 3, the wide-angle camera may be turned off, the telephoto camera remaining on); and display the second image in the viewfinder frame when the zoom ratio is greater than the camera switching ratio and is within a second ratio range that comprises the camera switching ratio (Fig. 2E & 2F and Fig. 9, state 4, para [0036]: In Fig. 2E and 2F, if the multi-camera device 204 continues receive a zoom-in command, the multi-camera device 204 can continue to zoom-in the region 205 and the image data for previewing images of the target scene can be already available as a result of the image fusion operation performed earlier; par.[0092]: If the zoom command F (z) increases beyond the second threshold value T2, the state machine transitions into state 4 where the wide-angle camera may be turned off and the output of the telephoto camera can be provide to the display as a preview image. The state machine can remain in state 4 if the zoom command is greater or equal to the second threshold value T2). Regarding underlined limitation: “switching” and “displaying in a viewfinder” claimed features – to more robustly/further show this feature was known in the art in context to switching between cameras having different focal lengths, Examiner evidences related prior art NISHIMURA (See Fig. 16 “screen switch” button and Fig. 24-29 “T” and “W” buttons and para [0139-0157]). Thus, when considering the collective knowledge bestowed by each applied prior art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to COMBINE the teachings of NISHIMURA into suitable modification with the teachings of NASH to produce Applicant’s claimed invention with the structural arrangement / functional configuration of switching between cameras of different focal lengths / zoom ratios for the MOTIVATED REASON of enhancing the user experience and versatility of capture modes in the analogous art of a digital camera. The Examiner has interpreted the teachings of NASH’s close-up shooting as macro photography. For sake of completeness to address this further, with context to switching between cameras, the Examiner further points out it is generally known to switch between cameras of different focal length in the context of a zooming operation and depending on the zooming ratio being within predetermined ranges in a macro mode. For example, see prior art HAN (Fig. 13, para [0210-0214]) when the digital photographing apparatus 100 is in the macro mode, the output image can be switched from a wide-angle image captured by a wide angle lens to a telephoto image captured by a telephoto lens. Furthermore, it was also known to configure an electronic device with more than one macro camera - for example, see prior art ARORA (Fig. 1-4, para [0038, 0043]) for media acquisition unit 110 which may switch to macro camera mode. Thus, when considering the collective knowledge bestowed by each applied prior art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to COMBINE the teachings of HAN (use macro mode with different focal length cameras) and ARORA (use more than one macro camera such as two macro cameras) into suitable modification with the teachings of NASH in view of NISHIMURA to produce Applicant’s claimed invention with the structural arrangement / functional configuration of switching between macro cameras of different focal lengths / zoom ratios for the MOTIVATED REASON of enhancing the user experience and versatility of capture modes in the analogous art of a digital camera. Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NASH (US 20170230585) in view of NISHIMURA (US 20190289201) in view of HAN (US 20210314499) in view of ARORA (US 20210321043) in view of CUI (CN 111010506, published 4/14/20) -- hereafter, termed as shown “underlined”. NOTE: CUI (US 20220394190) will be used as an English translation for CUI (CN 111010506). As per CLAIM 4, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 2 but does not teach using the same camera to meet the limitation: “wherein both the navigation image and the preview image are the first image when the zoom ratio is within the first ratio range, and wherein both the navigation image and the preview image are the second image when the zoom ratio is within the second ratio range”. However, this feature would have been obvious over the additional teachings of prior art CUI shown in Figures 4-5 in view of para [0177] states images in the first viewfinder frame and the second viewfinder frame may be images captured by a same camera, for example, images captured by the long-focus camera. Thus, when considering the collective knowledge bestowed by each applied prior art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to COMBINE the teachings of CUI into suitable modification with the teachings of NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA to produce Applicant’s claimed invention with the structural arrangement / functional configuration of switching between macro cameras of different focal lengths / zoom ratios for the MOTIVATED REASON of enhancing the user experience and versatility of capture modes in the analogous art of a digital camera. As per CLAIM 5, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 2 but does not teach using the same camera to meet the limitation: “wherein both the navigation image and the preview image are the first image when the zoom ratio is within the first ratio range, and wherein the navigation image is the first image and the preview image is the second image when the zoom ratio is within the second ratio range”. However, this feature would have been obvious over the additional teachings of prior art CUI shown in Figures 4-5 in view of para [0177] states images in the first viewfinder frame and the second viewfinder frame may be images captured by a same camera, for example, images captured by the long-focus camera. Thus, when considering the collective knowledge bestowed by each applied prior art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to COMBINE the teachings of CUI into suitable modification with the teachings of NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA to produce Applicant’s claimed invention with the structural arrangement / functional configuration of switching between macro cameras of different focal lengths / zoom ratios for the MOTIVATED REASON of enhancing the user experience and versatility of capture modes in the analogous art of a digital camera. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NASH (US 20170230585) in view of NISHIMURA (US 20190289201) in view of HAN (US 20210314499) in view of ARORA (US 20210321043) in view of COHEN (US 20200106964) -- hereafter, termed as shown “underlined”. As per CLAIM 6, NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA teaches the method of claim 2 but remains silent to: “wherein both the navigation image and the preview image are the first image when the zoom ratio is within the first ratio range, wherein the navigation image is the first image and the preview image is the second image when the zoom ratio is within a third ratio range, wherein both the navigation image and the preview image are the second image when the zoom ratio is within a fourth ratio range, wherein the second range comprises the third ratio range and the fourth ratio range, and wherein the third ratio range comprises the camera switching ratio”. However, this feature would have been obvious over the teachings of NASH (see Fig. 9) and the additional teachings of prior art COHEN shown in para [0049-50] which teaches using 3 distinct ranges in which (1) only the wide camera is active, (2) the wide and the tele cameras are active, and (3) only the tele camera is active. Thus, when considering the collective knowledge bestowed by each applied prior art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to COMBINE the teachings of COHEN into suitable modification with the teachings of NASH in view of NISHIMURA in view of HAN in view of ARORA to produce Applicant’s claimed invention with the structural arrangement / functional configuration of switching between macro cameras of different focal lengths / zoom ratios for the MOTIVATED REASON of enhancing the user experience and versatility of capture modes in the analogous art of a digital camera. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the EXAMINER should be directed to AKSHAY TREHAN whose telephone number is (571) 270-5252. The examiner can normally be reached between the hours of 10am – 6pm during the weekdays Monday – Friday. Interviews with the examiner are available via telephone AND video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant may contact the examiner via telephone OR use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR), which can be found at: http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TWYLER HASKINS can be reached on (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). 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. /AKSHAY TREHAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2639 /TWYLER L HASKINS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2639
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 30, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 08, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
71%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+23.8%)
3y 0m (~1y 4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 565 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month