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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s Response filed July 28, 2026. Claims 1-11 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
Response to Amendments/Arguments
In response to the amendments and arguments filed July 28, 2026, Examiner withdraws all previous objections and rejections.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55 for JP2019-138193 dated July 26, 2019 and JP2019-206498 dated November 14, 2019.
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome potential future rejections made using references falling between the filing date and the foreign priority date, because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216. No action by Applicant is requested at this time.
Additionally, Applicant’s requests for priority to PCT/JP2020/022058 dated June 4, 2020 and U.S. Pub. No. 17/529,239 dated November 17, 2021 are acknowledged.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0146504 (hereinafter, “Lee”; previously of record in the parent application and found in the IDS dated October 1, 2024) in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2017/0310945 (hereinafter, “Juang”; newly of record).
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses A distance measurement apparatus comprising:
a light emitter that emits a plurality of light beams toward a scene in different directions and at different timings (see at least [0006]; the light emitter rotates in order to capture data in different directions within a scene at different timings);
a light receiver that includes an array of a plurality of light-receiving elements, and detects reflected light from the scene produced by the emission of each light beam with the plurality of light-receiving elements (see at least [0009]-[0011]; a plurality of light receivers may receive reflected light of the light beams and may be disposed at different gradients relative to one another or stacked perpendicular to one another on a support plate (i.e., within an array)); and
a signal processing circuit that generates and outputs output data including measurement data indicating positions or distances of a plurality of points in the scene on a basis of a signal outputted by the light receiver (see at least [0128] and [0129]-[0138] generally; a controller (i.e., signal processing circuit) may output measurement data indicating positions and distances of points within the scene based on the data output by the light receivers),
wherein the output data includes a plurality of data sets, and individual time data is attached to each of the plurality of data sets (see at least [0128]-[0138] and [0243]-[0246]; each light emission may be considered a new data, and the time data attached to the data are used for determining distance/position information), and
the plurality of data sets includes a first data set including a plurality of data points representing the measurement data of a first part of the plurality of points in the scene and a second data set including a plurality of data points representing the measurement data of a second part of the plurality of points in the scene (see at least [0128]-[0138] and [0243]-[0246]; each light emission may be considered a new dataset, and the time data attached to the datasets are used for determining distance/position information. Each of the plurality of receivers may receive measurement data of different respective parts of the scene based. Any one of the receivers may be considered to correspond to the first part of the scene and any second one of the receivers may be considered to correspond to the second part of the scene).
Lee does not explicitly teach that the data having timestamps over time is a series of datasets comprising the same corresponding individual time data for each of the plurality of sets. However, Juang, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the output data includes a plurality of data sets, and individual time data is attached to each of the plurality of data sets (see at least [0027]; each set of LIDAR data may include a single-source timestamp).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date and with a reasonable likelihood of success, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Lee with the teachings of Juang in order to allow for the capture of multiple light emissions simultaneously and track the timing thereof for future processing purposes; see at least Juang at [0027]; data tracking for future processing purposes.
Regarding claim 2, Lee discloses and Juang teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Lee discloses wherein the time data attached to each of the plurality of data sets indicates a time at which the light beam for a corresponding one of the plurality of data sets from among the plurality of light beams was emitted (see at least [0024]-[0028] and [0128]-[00138]; the light radiation time point data corresponds to a data set from among the plurality).
Regarding claim 3, Lee discloses and Juang teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Lee discloses wherein the time data attached to each of the plurality of data sets indicates a time at which reflected light of the light beam for a corresponding one of the plurality of data sets from among the plurality of light beams was received by one of the plurality of light-receiving elements (see at least [0024]-[0028] and [0128]-[00138]; the light radiation time point data corresponds to a data set from among the plurality. Both the emitted time and received time are utilized for the time of flight analysis).
Regarding claim 4, Lee discloses and Juang teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Lee discloses wherein the light emitter varies a parameter of the emitted plurality of light beams including at least one of a shape or a diameter of the emitted plurality of light beams (see at least [0202]; the emitted light may be adjusted by adjusting the sizes of the reflective surfaces for a given data set), and a number or range of the plurality of points belonging to each of the plurality of data sets is different according to the parameter of a light beam for a corresponding one of the plurality of data sets (see at least [0140]-[0141]; the number of light emitters for a given emission may be considered a parameter with more emitters corresponding to more datapoints).
Regarding claim 5, Lee discloses and Juang teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Lee discloses wherein the plurality of data sets includes two or more data sets that share the time data (see at least [0140]-[0141]; different light emitters may be associated with different datasets and multiple light emitters may emit light simultaneously).
Regarding claim 6, Lee discloses and Juang teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Lee discloses wherein the signal processing circuit generates point cloud data including information about three-dimensional coordinates of the plurality of points as the output data (see at least [0128]-[0138] and [0243]-[0249]; each light emission may be considered a new dataset, and the time data attached to the datasets are used for determining distance/position information in 3D space including the use of 3D coordinates).
Regarding claim 7, Lee discloses and Juang teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Lee discloses wherein the signal processing circuit generates depth map data expressing a distance distribution of the plurality of points as the output data (see at least Fig. 23 and [0259]-[0264]; the detection of the obstacle is based on the previously collected 3D data which may be considered equivalent to a depth map as it is a collection of 3D distance data from a known reference point).
Regarding claim 8, Lee discloses and Juang teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Lee discloses wherein the time data expresses time in units of microseconds or in units of nanoseconds (see at least [0136]-[0137]; while the time unit is not explicitly stated, it is well-known in the art that any calculations using the speed of light would utilize nanoseconds for ease of use in equations and conversions. Additionally, any other unit used would be considered an anticipated equivalent as it portrays the same information based on a mathematical conversion).
Regarding claim 9, Lee discloses An information processing apparatus comprising (see at least [0009]; the cleaning robot):
a processor executing a process to (see at least [0009]; the controller (i.e., processor)):
acquire light reception data generated at different timings by a light receiver including an array of a plurality of light-receiving elements (see at least [0009]-[0011]; a plurality of light receivers may receive reflected light of the light beams and may be disposed at different gradients relative to one another or stacked perpendicular to one another on a support plate (i.e., within an array));
generate measurement data indicating positions or distances of a plurality of points in a scene on a basis of the light reception data (see at least [0128] and [0129]-[0138] generally; a controller (i.e., signal processing circuit) may output measurement data indicating positions and distances of points within the scene based on the data output by the light receivers); and
generate and output, on a basis of the measurement data, output data including a plurality of data sets, with individual time data attached to each of the plurality of data sets (see at least [0128]-[0138] and [0243]-[0246]; each light emission may be considered a new dataset, and the time data attached to the datasets are used for determining distance/position information),
wherein the plurality of data sets includes a first data set including a plurality of data points representing the measurement data of a first part of the plurality of points in the scene and a second data set including a plurality of data points representing the measurement data of a second part of the plurality of points in the scene (see at least [0128]-[0138] and [0243]-[0246]; each light emission may be considered a new dataset, and the time data attached to the datasets are used for determining distance/position information. Each of the plurality of receivers may receive measurement data of different respective parts of the scene based. Any one of the receivers may be considered to correspond to the first part of the scene and any second one of the receivers may be considered to correspond to the second part of the scene).
Lee does not explicitly teach that the data having timestamps over time is a series of datasets comprising the same corresponding individual time data for each of the plurality of sets. However, Juang, in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein the output data includes a plurality of data sets, and individual time data is attached to each of the plurality of data sets (see at least [0027]; each set of LIDAR data may include a single-source timestamp).
One of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date and with a reasonable likelihood of success, would have been motivated to modify the disclosure of Lee with the teachings of Juang in order to allow for the capture of multiple light emissions simultaneously and track the timing thereof for future processing purposes; see at least Juang at [0027]; data tracking for future processing purposes.
Regarding claim 10, Lee discloses and Juang teaches all of the limitations of claim 1. Additionally, Lee discloses wherein the output data includes a plurality of frames, and the plurality of data sets are included in single frame of the output data (see at least [0140]-[0141]; different light emitters may be associated with different datasets and multiple light emitters may emit light simultaneously. All datasets associated with the same starting time may be considered a single frame as it is a snapshot of the obstacle position/distance at that given time).
Claim 11 is rejected under essentially the same reasoning as claim 10.
Additional Relevant Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and may be found on the accompanying PTO-892 Notice of References Cited:
U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0363667 which pertains to a light emitter used for determining distance and location of objects in the surroundings of the emitter; and
U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0011998 which pertains to a vehicle distance measurement light emitter which is used to scan the scene surrounding the vehicle.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIFFANY P YOUNG whose telephone number is (313)446-6575. The examiner can normally be reached M-R 6:30 AM- 4:30 PM.
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TIFFANY YOUNG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3666
/TIFFANY P YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665
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