DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of documents required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/12/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and was considered by the examiner.
Specification
4. 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Claims 1 and 4-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sasaki et al. (US-PGPUB 2022/0148208).
Regarding claim 1, Sasaki discloses an image pickup apparatus (Digital camera 101; see fig. 2 and paragraph 0052) comprising:
a focus detector configured to perform focus detection in an imaging area to acquire a plurality of first defocus amounts different from one another in at least one of an image height, a focus detection direction, and an angle of an object (Acquiring defocus amount in the left and right directions. Acquiring defocus amounts in regions 2400 and 2401 From the pupil divided pixels 402A and 403B that are two-dimensionally and regularly arranged, an A image and a B image are output, respectively, as parallax images. Acquiring defocus amount by calculating phase difference between parallax images; see paragraphs 0171-0172, 0067, 0071 and figs. 23, 24A); and
a processor (CPU 201/1901; see figs. 2, 19A and paragraphs 0052, 0122, 0124) configured to perform focus control, wherein the processor is configured to:
acquire first information indicating a relation (difference) between a defocus amount at a specific position in the imaging area and a defocus amount corresponding to the at least one in an area other than the specific position (The acquisition unit 1923 acquires “the defocus amount in the left region” and “the defocus amount in the right region” acquired in step S2203. Subsequently, the difference calculating unit 1925 calculates a difference by subtracting “the defocus amount in the right region” from “the defocus amount in the left region”; see fig. 22 and paragraph 0173),
acquire a plurality of second defocus amounts by using the plurality of first defocus amounts and the first information (The identification unit 1926 acquires “information indicating a rotation direction and a rotation degree of the camera apparatus 1900” corresponding to the difference between the defocus amounts calculated in step S2204; see fig. 22 and paragraph 0174), and
acquires a third defocus amount to be used for the focus control from among the plurality of second defocus amounts (In addition, data indicating a spatial (two-dimensional) defocus amount distribution in the imaging range can be created, and the control unit 1924 acquires the defocus amount of the position decided by the decision unit 1922 in the defocus amount distribution (the distance information distribution); see paragraph 0163).
Regarding claim 4, Sasaki discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Sasaki discloses the first information is information on a ratio of a defocus amount in the area other than the specific position to the defocus amount at the specific position (The defocus amount corresponding to a focus degree can be determined as “−11” for front focus, “0” for the in-focus state, and “+7” for rear focus; see fig. 25 and paragraphs 0163, 0175).
Regarding claim 5, Sasaki discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Sasaki discloses the processor is configured to acquire the plurality of second defocus amounts by normalizing the plurality of first defocus amounts by using the first information (A distribution of a value obtained by normalizing the defocus amount by Fδ (F is the f-number, and δ is the diameter of an acceptable circle of confusion) can be acquired as the distance information distribution; see paragraph 0076).
Regarding claim 6, Sasaki discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Sasaki discloses the processor is configured to acquire the third defocus amount from among a second defocus amount as a mode value of a histogram of the plurality of second defocus amounts, an average value of the plurality of second defocus amounts, and a value at a closest distance or at an infinity distance among the plurality of second defocus amounts (A statistic of the distance information distribution is a histogram of the distance information distribution. Histogram of defocus map; see figs. 16-17C; paragraphs 0163, 0113 and claim 13 of Sasaki).
Regarding claim 7, Sasaki discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Sasaki discloses the processor is configured to: acquire second information indicating a relation between a unit movement amount of a focus element to be moved in the focus control and a change amount of position of an object image, and acquire a drive amount of the focus element in the focus control by using the third defocus amount and the second information (An identification unit 1926 identifies notification information for notifying “a rotation degree or a translation degree (including direction) for driving the camera apparatus 1900. Apparatus 200 acquires the notification information and on the basis of the notification information, controls the driving unit 2008 so as to set the camera apparatus 1900 at the desired position and orientation; see paragraph 0157).
Regarding claim 8, Sasaki discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, the image pickup apparatus allows attachment and detachment of an interchangeable lens, and wherein the processor is configured to acquire the first information from the interchangeable lens (A camera with a detachable optical system, statistics are collected as to whether a shift of the optical system and the imaging element from the design positions can be detected for each attached lens. This makes it possible to determine whether a shift has occurred in the optical system or in the imaging element, and to provide the user with a more detailed determination result; see paragraph 0112).
Regarding claim 9, Sasaki discloses a control method for an image pickup apparatus (see fig. 22), the control method comprising the steps of:
performing focus detection in an imaging area to acquire a plurality of first defocus amounts different from one another in at least one of an image height, a focus detection direction, and an angle of an object (Acquiring defocus amount in the left and right directions. Acquiring defocus amounts in regions 2400 and 2401 From the pupil divided pixels 402A and 403B that are two-dimensionally and regularly arranged, an A image and a B image are output, respectively, as parallax images. Acquiring defocus amount by calculating phase difference between parallax images; see paragraphs 0171-0172, 0067, 0071 and figs. 23, 24A);
acquiring first information indicating a relation between a defocus amount at a specific position on the imaging area and a defocus amount corresponding to the at least one in an area other than the specific position (The acquisition unit 1923 acquires “the defocus amount in the left region” and “the defocus amount in the right region” acquired in step S2203. Subsequently, the difference calculating unit 1925 calculates a difference by subtracting “the defocus amount in the right region” from “the defocus amount in the left region”; see fig. 22 and paragraph 0173);
acquiring a plurality of second defocus amounts by using the plurality of first defocus amounts and the first information (The identification unit 1926 acquires “information indicating a rotation direction and a rotation degree of the camera apparatus 1900” corresponding to the difference between the defocus amounts calculated in step S2204; see fig. 22 and paragraph 0174); and
acquiring a third defocus amount to be used for the focus control from among the plurality of second defocus amounts (In addition, data indicating a spatial (two-dimensional) defocus amount distribution in the imaging range can be created, and the control unit 1924 acquires the defocus amount of the position decided by the decision unit 1922 in the defocus amount distribution (the distance information distribution); see paragraph 0163).
Regarding claim 10, Sasaki discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that causes a computer of the image pickup apparatus (CPU 201/1901 reads operation programs of the blocks included in ROM, loads them to a RAM, and executes them; see figs. 2, 19A and paragraphs 0052, 0122, 0124) to execute the control method according to claim 9 (see the rejection of claim 9 above).
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 2-3 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 2, the specific limitation of “the processor is configured to: acquire, as the first information, information indicating the relation between the defocus amount at the specific position and the defocus amount corresponding to the image height and the focus detection direction in the area other than the specific position, and acquire the plurality of second defocus amounts by using a) the plurality of first defocus amounts different from one another in at least one of the image height and the focus detection direction and b) the first information…” in the combination as claimed is neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
Regarding claim 3, the specific limitation of “…the processor is configured to: acquire, as the first information, information indicating the relation between the defocus amount at the specific position and the defocus amount corresponding to the image height and the angle of the object in the area other than the specific position, and acquire the plurality of second defocus amounts by using a) the plurality of first defocus amounts different from one another in at least one of the image height and the angle of the object and b) the first information…” in the combination as claimed is neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
Contact Information
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CYNTHIA CALDERON whose telephone number is (571)270-3580. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TWYLER HASKINS can be reached at (571)272-7406. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CYNTHIA CALDERON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639 05/01/2026
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