DETAILED ACTION
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 §103
1. 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over OSTAP et al (Pub. No. US 2024/0422289 A1; hereinafter OSTAP) in view of Kanas (Pub. No. US 2026/0082017 A1; hereinafter Kanas)
Consider claims 1, 11, and 20, OSTAP clearly shows and discloses a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program, an apparatus, and a method, comprising: obtaining, by a processing device, an image captured by an imaging device, the image including a plurality of subjects in a particular environment (a designated meeting room, having an area large enough to accommodate multiple conference room presentation objects or combinations of conference room presentation objects. For example, the objects or combinations of objects may include a first participant 110, a second participant 112, and a third participant 114) (paragraphs: 0025 and fig. 1); separating, by the processing device, the image into a plurality of frames, wherein each frame of the plurality of frames includes one or more particular subjects among the plurality of subjects (capturing a frame includes initiating a video conference session by surveying the conference environment 108 by acquiring a plurality of video frames within the generated video stream. These initial video frames are often referred to herein as survey frames. In some embodiments, the video stream is generated using the camera device 106. Typically, the survey frames are analyzed at the beginning of the video-conferencing session to detect objects, such as conference participants 110-114,) (paragraphs: 0039); performing, by the processing device, an operation to re-orient a particular frame of the plurality of frames to generate at least one re-oriented frame, wherein the at least one re-oriented frame is oriented along a particular vertical edge of the particular frame (the first participant 110 within cropping 302a is off-center relative to the border or edge (e.g., dashed lines) of the cropping 302a; whereas in cropping 302b, the first participant 110 is perfectly centered within the border or edge/re-orient) (paragraphs: 0046 and fig. 3A – fig. 3B, and figs. 4A-4C); and providing, by the processing device, the at least one re-oriented frame for display on a display device (wherein the cropping function comprises two or more individual cropping loss values and a respective cropping weight; and transmitting the adjusted croppings to an electronic device for display on a display device) (paragraphs: 0007, 0025, 0037, and 0064 and fig. 2, and fig. 9); however, OSTAP does not disclose another example for obtaining, by a processing device, an image captured by an imaging device, the image including a plurality of subjects in a particular environment.
In the same field of endeavor, Karnas clearly specifically another example for obtaining, by a processing device, an image captured by an imaging device, the image including a plurality of subjects in a particular environment (ach screen tile represents a sequence of cropped video frames of the video stream of a particular participant, plurality of images of respective participants of the virtual meeting is identified in a sequence of video frames comprised by the video stream and each screen tile of the plurality of screen tiles is produced by cropping the sequence of video frames to include at least one image of a participant of the virtual meeting) (paragraphs: 0006, 007and figs. 2A, 2B-3C and fig. 4)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the teaching of Karnas into teaching of OSTAP for the purpose using plurality of smart cameras is adapted as a main camera and each of the remaining of the plurality is adapted as a peripheral camera.
Consider claims 2 and 12, OSTAP and Karnas clearly show the apparatus and the method, further comprising: providing the at least one re-oriented frame for display on the display device in real time (OSTAP: paragraphs: 0046 and fig. 2, fig. 3A – fig. 3B, and figs. 4A-4C).
Consider claims 3 and 13, OSTAP and Karnas clearly show the apparatus and the method, wherein the image has a center, and wherein the particular vertical edge is a vertical edge of the particular frame closest to the center (OSTAP: paragraphs: 0046 and fig. 2, fig. 3A – fig. 3B).
Consider claims 4, and 14, OSTAP and Karnas clearly show the apparatus and the method, wherein the at least one re-oriented frame is further re-oriented horizontally (OSTAP: paragraphs: 0046, 0074 and fig. 2, fig. 3A – fig. 3B, and figs. 4A-4C).
Consider claims 5, and 15, OSTAP and Karnas clearly show the apparatus and the method, further comprising: a first re-oriented frame of the at least one re-oriented frame includes a first single subject, a second re-oriented frame of the at least one re-oriented frame includes a second single subject, and the first single subject and the second single subject are located at different locations within a conference room having a central location with respect to a field of view associated with the imaging device, and the method further comprises: re-orienting the first re-oriented frame along a vertical edge of the at least one re-oriented frame includes the first single subject that is closest to the central location of the conference room; and re-orienting the second re-oriented frame along a vertical edge of the at least one re-oriented frame includes the second single subject that is closest to the central location of the conference room (OSTAP: paragraphs: 0028, 0037, 0039 0064, 0072, and 0074).
Consider claims 6 and 16, OSTAP and Karnas clearly show the apparatus and the method, wherein: a third re-oriented frame of the at least one re-oriented frame includes a third single subject, and the third single subject is located within the conference room, and the method further comprises: re-orienting the third re-oriented frame along a vertical edge of the at least one re-oriented frame that is parallel to a vertical edge of the first re-oriented frame or a vertical edge of the second re-oriented frame (OSTAP: paragraphs: 0004, 0028, 0037, 0039 0064, 0072, and 0074).
Consider claims 7 and 17, OSTAP and Karnas clearly show the apparatus and the method, further comprising: generating, by the processing device, a perspective corrected crop of a particular aspect ratio of the image as part of generating the at least one re-oriented frame (OSTAP: paragraphs: 0050, 0051 and figs. 6A-6B and figs.10A-10B).
Consider claims 8, and 18, OSTAP and Karnas clearly show the apparatus and the method, further comprising: removing, by the processing device, at least a portion of the image as part of performing the operation to re-orient the particular frame (OSTAP: paragraphs: 0025 and fig. 1).
Consider claims 9 and 19, OSTAP and Karnas clearly show the apparatus and the method, wherein: the imaging device comprises a camera operating in a video conference environment, and the image is captured from a video stream captured by the imaging device (OSTAP: paragraphs: 0025 and fig. 1).
Consider claim 10, OSTAP and Karnas clearly show the method, further comprising: performing the operation to re-orient the particular frame to correct a visual perspective of at least one of the plurality of subjects that is to be displayed by the display device (OSTAP: fig. 2).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Amal Zenati whose telephone number is 571-270-1947. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00 -5:00 M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ahmad Matar can be reached on 571- 272- 7488. 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).
/AMAL S ZENATI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693
Prosecution Insights