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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 11-30 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-19 of U.S. Patent No. 12,160,658. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both sets of claims recite a similar device and method comprising a display, image sensor to capture consecutive frames of image data, memory to store the frames of image data, display a first frame of the plurality of consecutive frames, and a display area to input a user input such as a drag operation to command the device to sequentially switch between a plurality of consecutive frames of image data and to display a switch between the plurality of consecutives frames of image data based on the detected input operation.
Claim Objections
Claim 15, 29-30 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 15 is dependent off claim 15. Claims 29-30 should be renumbered as claim 28-29 since claim 28 does not currently exist. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 11, 13-18, 22-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0025711 to Doi (“Doi”).
Regarding claim 11, Doi teaches an electronic device comprising:
a display (Figure 2, reference number 190 input/output display panel);
an image sensor configured to capture a plurality of consecutive frames of image data (reference number 114 imaging device; Figure 6 shows an example of images of consecutive frames of image data, arranged in parallel in chronological order on the basis of the temporal information recorded in associated with the images, see paragraph [0100]);
a memory configured to store the plurality of consecutive frames of image data (reference number 300 image memory, see Figure 5); and circuitry configured to
control the display to display at least a first frame of the plurality of consecutive frames of image data;
control the display to display an input area superimposed on an image display area in which the at least first frame of the plurality of consecutive frames of image data is displayed (Figure 11B shows an image display area, and Figure 11A shows an input area superimposed on the display area; both the image display area and the input area occupy the totality of the display screen. The input area can be interpreted to be superimposed on the display area because when an area such as in Figure 11A is brought over the display area seen in Figure 11B then the screen acts as an input area to receive the user’s touch command); Note that the specification does not mention “superimpose” or further define “superimpose,” thus the term is interpreted broadly to mean that the input area may be brought over the image display area.
detect an input operation performed by a user in the input area, the input operation corresponding to a command to sequentially switch between each of the plurality of consecutive frames of image data (Figure 7A shows a flick of a finger is detected within the user input area, Figure 8B shows the display screen 190 switches from the image 402 to 403, the triangle image, and further from image 403 to image 404 in Figures 9A and 9B, see paragraph [0085] regarding displaying of continuous content in Figures 8A-9B); and
control the display to switch between each of the plurality of consecutive frames of image data based on the detected input operation (see display reference number 190 from Figure 8A-Figure 9B showing switching between each of a plurality of consecutive frames of image data in this case it is images 402 through 404).
Regarding claim 13, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 11, wherein the circuitry is configured to detect a drag operation in the input area as the input operation (the input in Figure 7A can be a continuous drag operation in the input area because it causes the switching of a continuous number of images at least from image 402 to 403).
Regarding claim 14, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 13, wherein the circuitry is configured to control the display, responsive to the drag operation, to switch between the plurality of consecutive frames of image data in time order based on when each of the plurality of consecutive frames of image data were captured by the image sensor (the images shown in Figure 6 are arranged in chronological order and the switching seen in Figures 8A-9B are showing image switched in time order based on when they were captured, see paragraph [0107] regarding images arranged on the time axis and paragraph [0095] regarding storing temporal information on time of taking the photograph associated with each image).
Regarding claim 15, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 15, wherein the circuitry is configured to identify at least one intermediate frame to be displayed while controlling the display to switch from displaying the first frame to displaying a second frame based on a direction of displacement of the drag operation received at the input area (the displacement direction is towards the left in Figure 7A, and the response is to display from image 402 to 404, where the intermediate image in that direction would be image 403).
Regarding claim 16, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 13, wherein the circuitry is configured to control, responsive to the continuous drag operation, the display to switch from displaying the first frame to a second frame among the plurality consecutive frames of image data without displaying less than an entirety of the first frame by displaying at least one intermediate frame among the plurality of consecutive frames of image data before display of the second frame (the intermediate image displayed is image 403 in switching from image 402 to 404 in response to the drag trigger).
Regarding claim 17, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 11, wherein the circuitry is configured to detect an input trigger (shutter button, reference number 181, is an input trigger).
Regarding claim 18, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 17, wherein the circuitry is configured to control the image sensor to capture the plurality of consecutive frames of image data in response to detecting the input trigger (the shutter button 181 triggers the image apparatus 100 to generate image data including video data, which is a plurality of consecutive frames, see paragraph [0058]).
Regarding claim 22, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 11, wherein a magnitude of a capacity of the memory is at least a magnitude of a capture rate of the image sensor over two seconds (an example of the image memory capacity is shown in Figure 5 and may hold the images captured over any arbitrary capture rate and time period).
Regarding claim 23, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 11, wherein the circuitry is configured to assign a time stamp to one or more of the plurality of consecutive frames of image data, the time stamp corresponding to a time at which the one or more of the plurality of consecutive frames of image data were captured by the image sensor (paragraph [0081] teaches that time information is stored with the image filed in the auxiliary information of the image file).
Regarding claim 24, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 11, wherein the memory is a buffer memory configured to store the plurality of consecutive frames of image data at sequential memory locations (see paragraph [0086] regarding buffer image memory).
Claims 25-30 contain the same claim elements as already addressed above with detailed citations of the prior art and are therefore rejected similarly.
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 12, 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Doi as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0002335 Chaudhri (“Chaudhri”).
Regarding claim 12, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 11, but is silent on wherein the circuitry is configured to control the display to display the input area so as to be graphically distinct from the image display area.
Chaudhri also teaches an electronic device comprising a display device that scrolls through a plurality of images. Different configurations in Figure 19 show that the user input area may be on the image display area, or alternatively may be on the display but on a separate and graphically distinct area from the image display area, for example in 19H.
It 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 to modify the teaching of Doi with that of Chaudhri to add the input area in a graphically distinct area from the image display area to increase clarity to the user or user friendliness.
Regarding claim 21, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 11, but is silent on wherein the circuitry is configured to control the display to display the input area including a graphic indicium at a position to receive the input operation performed by the user.
Chaudhri teaches control of the display to display the input area including a graphic indicium at a position to receive the input operation performed by the user (see Figure 19H).
It 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 to modify the teaching of Doi with that of Chaudhri to display the input area including a graphic indicium at a position to receive the input operation by the user to increase clarity to the user or user friendliness.
Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Doi as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0129854 to Onoda (“Onoda”).
Regarding claims 19-20, Doi teaches the electronic device of claim 22, but is silent on the circuitry is configured to control the image sensor to capture at least some of the plurality of images before detecting the input trigger.
Onodo teaches picking up images before and after the shutter button is depressed and storing the captured images (see paragraph [0068]).
It 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 to modify the teaching of Doi with that of Onodo to capture images before the input trigger or shutter button to anticipate images needed by the user such as capturing events that occur before the user intended to capture images.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMY R HSU whose telephone number is (571)270-3012. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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AMY R. HSU
Examiner
Art Unit 2664
/AMY R HSU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2638