DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-10 are pending in the application.
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 § 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.
Claims 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rolston (US 2011/0117959 A1) in view of Rivard et al (US 2019/0149706 A1).
As per claim 1, Rolston discloses an imaging system (fig. 38A, mobile device 800) comprising:
a display device that includes a display panel (fig. 38A, mobile device 800, main display 802) on which a light source configured to emit light to a side surface of the display panel (fig. 38A, mobile device 800, top and bottom portions 810 and 812, para 0209); and
an imaging device that is provided with the display panel interposed between the imaging device and a subject and is configured to capture an image of the subject transmitted through the display panel (figs. 38A and 38C, mobile device 800, image capturing device 806, para 0209 and 0211).
Rolston fails to teach a display having a plurality of pixels are arranged in a first direction and a second direction intersecting the first direction and a first period in which pixel data is written to the pixels and a second period in which the light source emits the light after the first period, and the imaging device is configured to generate imaged data of the subject using exposure data acquired during the first period. However, Rivard discloses a digital photographic system 300 comprising a display unit 312 and strobe unit 336, having a two-dimensional array of pixels and a method for image capturing wherein a first ambient frame is captured during a first time, a flash frame being captured at a second time, lastly a final image is captured based on the ambient frame and the flash frame (Rivard, figs. 1 and 3, method 100, digital photographic system 300, display unit 312, strobe unit 336, steps 110 and 112, para 0035, 0060).
Therefore, 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 Rolston in view of Rivard, as a whole, by incorporating the display and imaging method as taught by Rivard into the mobile device as taught by Rolston, because doing so would provide a more efficient way of adjusting the exposure, thus enhancing image capturing.
As per claim 10, the combined teachings of Rolston in view of Rivard, as a whole, further discloses the imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the display panel is a liquid crystal panel in which polymer-dispersed liquid crystals are enclosed (Rolston, fig. 38A, mobile device 800, LCD display 801, para 0209).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2, none of the prior art cited alone or in combination provides the motivation to teach the following claimed limitations, with emphasis that it is each claim, taken as a whole, including the interrelationships and interconnections between various claimed elements make them allowable over the prior art of record, the imaging system according to claim 1, wherein a one-frame period in which the image for one frame is displayed on the display panel includes: a first sub-frame period in which display of a first color is performed; a second sub-frame period in which display of a second color different from the first color is performed; and a third sub-frame period in which display of a third color different from the first color and the second color is performed, the light source includes: a first light source configured to emit light in the second period of the first sub-frame period; a second light source configured to emit light in the second period of the second sub-frame period; and a third light source configured to emit light in the second period of the third sub-frame period, and the imaging device is configured to generate the imaged data by combining first exposure data acquired in the first period of the first sub-frame period, second exposure data acquired in the first period of the second sub-frame period, and third exposure data acquired in the first period of the third sub-frame period.
Regarding claims 5 and 7, claims depend from claim 2, and are allowable for the same reasons stated above.
Regarding claim 3, none of the prior art cited alone or in combination provides the motivation to teach the following claimed limitations, with emphasis that it is each claim, taken as a whole, including the interrelationships and interconnections between various claimed elements make them allowable over the prior art of record, the imaging system according to claim 1, further comprising a shutter that is provided between the display panel and the imaging device and is configured to block light in the second period, wherein a one-frame period in which the image for one frame is displayed on the display panel includes: a first sub-frame period in which display of a first color is performed; a second sub-frame period in which display of a second color different from the first color is performed; and a third sub-frame period in which display of a third color different from the first color and the second color is performed, the light source includes: a first light source configured to emit light in the second period of the first sub-frame period; a second light source configured to emit light in the second period of the second sub-frame period; and a third light source configured to emit light in the second period of the third sub-frame period, and the imaging device is configured to generate the imaged data using exposure data acquired over the first period of the first sub-frame period, the first period of the second sub-frame period, and the first period of the third sub-frame period.
Regarding claims 4, 6, and 8, claims depend from claim 3, and are allowable for the same reasons stated above.
Regarding claim 9, none of the prior art cited alone or in combination provides the motivation to teach the following claimed limitations, with emphasis that it is each claim, taken as a whole, including the interrelationships and interconnections between various claimed elements make them allowable over the prior art of record, the imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the display device includes: a scan circuit configured to simultaneously supply a drive signal to the pixels arranged in the first direction and sequentially supply the drive signal to the pixels arranged in the second direction; and a signal output circuit configured to supply the pixel data of the image to be displayed on the display panel to the pixels supplied with the drive signal, all the pixels on the display panel are configured to be reset immediately before the first period, and an area not supplied with the pixel data of the image to be displayed on the display panel in the first period overlaps an imaging area of the imaging device when the exposure data is acquired.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN H MOREHEAD III whose telephone number is (571)270-3845. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 0930-1800 EST.
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/JOHN H MOREHEAD III/Examiner, Art Unit 2639
/TWYLER L HASKINS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2639