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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 10, 11 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (US PGPUB 20220279111).
[Claim 1]
An information processing system comprising:
an image processing apparatus (fig. 8, camera 81) configured to execute image processing to improve an image quality of an image captured by an image capture apparatus (Paragraph 41, optionally, the processor 12 of the network camera may make quality determination before storing the current image in the second storage unit 132, and store the current image in the second storage unit 132 only when the image quality of the current image is greater than a preset image quality); and
a first storage device (memory 8132) configured to store the captured image (Paragraph 90, and the second storage unit 8132 is configured for storing part of the images that is a subset of all images, acquired by the image sensor 811),
wherein the image processing apparatus determines whether the image processing is to be executed (Paragraph 136, S101: when the similarity value of the captured face image is less than a first threshold, whether the similarity value of the captured face image is less than a second threshold is judged, if the similarity value of the captured face image is less than the second threshold, and Paragraph 40, Exemplarily, in a possible design of the present embodiment, the above-mentioned processor 12 is specifically configured for acquiring image quality of the current image when determining that the similarity value is less than the first similarity threshold and less than the second similarity threshold, and when the image quality is greater than a preset image quality, sending the current image to the server with a matching failure message through the network communication interface 14, assigning a uniquely associated device target identifier to the current image, and storing the current image in the second storage unit 132)
the first storage device stores the captured image when it is determined that the image processing is to be executed (Paragraph 43, the quality of the image stored in the second storage unit 8132 (which is part of the first memory 813 in fig. 8) can be improved by judging the image quality of the current image) , and
the first storage device avoids storing the captured image when it is determined that the image processing is not to be executed (Paragraph 142, In the present embodiment, when the similarity value of the captured face image is greater than or equal to the second threshold, it indicates that there is already an image in the face database whose content is consistent with content of the captured face image, so no processing is required. In order to avoid repeated storage of the face images, the captured face image is not stored in the face database in the camera, but sent to the server, so that the server may perform corresponding processing on the captured face image).
[Claim 2]
The information processing system according to Claim 1, wherein whether the image processing is to be executed is determined based on the captured image (Paragraph 40, Exemplarily, in a possible design of the present embodiment, the above-mentioned processor 12 is specifically configured for acquiring image quality of the current image and Paragraph 39, on the other hand, the processor is configured for matching the current image acquired by the image sensor).
[Claim 3]
The information processing system according to Claim 2, wherein whether the image processing is to be executed is determined based on a parameter related to noise of the captured image
[Claim 4]
The information processing system according to Claim 1, wherein whether the image processing is to be executed is determined based on a request from the image capture apparatus or an information processing apparatus (Paragraph 66, Specifically, functions such as adding, deleting image, and setting attribute for the second storage unit 132 is completely compatible with the management of the storage unit under normal circumstances, the second storage unit may receive attribute values specified by users through a human-computer interaction interface and Paragraph 67, For example, FIG. 4 is an interface diagram of attribute setting of the second storage unit. As shown in FIG. 4, in the embodiment, the information of the second storage unit may specifically be as follows: [0068] name: second storage unit 1, first similarity threshold (i.e., successful matching threshold): 85%, remark information: none; [0069] image storage settings: [0070] enabling storing: disenabled (block unchecked indicates disenabled, block checked indicates enabled), second similarity threshold (i.e. similarity threshold of storing): 70%, image quality threshold: 60%).
[Claim 5]
The information processing system according to Claim 1, wherein the image processing is executed on the image stored in the first storage device based on a request from an information processing apparatus Paragraph 66, Specifically, functions such as adding, deleting image, and setting attribute for the second storage unit 132 is completely compatible with the management of the storage unit under normal circumstances, the second storage unit may receive attribute values specified by users through a human-computer interaction interface and Paragraph 67, For example, FIG. 4 is an interface diagram of attribute setting of the second storage unit. As shown in FIG. 4, in the embodiment, the information of the second storage unit may specifically be as follows: [0068] name: second storage unit 1, first similarity threshold (i.e., successful matching threshold): 85%, remark information: none; [0069] image storage settings: [0070] enabling storing: disenabled (block unchecked indicates disenabled, block checked indicates enabled), second similarity threshold (i.e. similarity threshold of storing): 70%, image quality threshold: 60%).
[Claim 10]
The information processing system according to Claim 1, wherein the captured image is transmitted at a predetermined timing (Paragraph 40, Exemplarily, in a possible design of the present embodiment, the above-mentioned processor 12 is specifically configured for acquiring image quality of the current image when determining that the similarity value is less than the first similarity threshold and less than the second similarity threshold, and when the image quality is greater than a preset image quality, sending the current image to the server with a matching failure message through the network communication interface 14).
[Claim 11]
The information processing system according to Claim 10, further comprising: a second storage device configured to store the transmitted image; and an information processing apparatus communicating with the image processing apparatus via a network, wherein the information processing apparatus executes image processing to improve an image quality on the image stored in the second storage device based on an instruction input to an input apparatus (Paragraph 78, Exemplarily, the display device may have a human-computer interaction interface, which can be controlled by a user, that is, the user may input or generate an image sorting instruction through the human-computer interaction interface, so as to indicate in what sorting mode the images in the second storage unit 132 may be displayed and Paragraph 83, For example, for the application option, there are filtering conditions on the display interface for the second storage unit, and for a selected image, the human-computer interaction interface may also display detailed information of the image, i.e.,, image details. For example, image attributes may include information such as the name, gender, province, and city of the person corresponding to the image, second similarity threshold, storage time, total number of successful matches, etc., and shooting records may include matching time, acquaintance, image quality, etc.)
[Claim 13]
An image capture apparatus comprising: an image capture element (image sensor 811, fig. 8); at least one memory storing instructions (in order to execute the processor functions, there has to be a memory for storing instructions); and at least one processor that (812), upon execution of the stored instructions, causes the at least one processor to: output an image captured by the image capture element to an image processing apparatus that executes image processing to improve an image quality (Paragraph 41, optionally, the processor 12 of the network camera may make quality determination before storing the current image in the second storage unit 132, and store the current image in the second storage unit 132 only when the image quality of the current image is greater than a preset image quality) ; obtain information indicating whether the image processing is to be executed on the captured image (Paragraph 136, S101: when the similarity value of the captured face image is less than a first threshold, whether the similarity value of the captured face image is less than a second threshold is judged, if the similarity value of the captured face image is less than the second threshold, and Paragraph 40, Exemplarily, in a possible design of the present embodiment, the above-mentioned processor 12 is specifically configured for acquiring image quality of the current image when determining that the similarity value is less than the first similarity threshold and less than the second similarity threshold, and when the image quality is greater than a preset image quality, sending the current image to the server with a matching failure message through the network communication interface 14, assigning a uniquely associated device target identifier to the current image, and storing the current image in the second storage unit 132); and output the captured image to a storage device to be stored in a case where the image processing is to be executed (Paragraph 43, the quality of the image stored in the second storage unit 8132 (which is part of the first memory 813 in fig. 8) can be improved by judging the image quality of the current image), and avoid outputting the captured image to the storage device in a case where the image processing is not to be executed (Paragraph 142, In the present embodiment, when the similarity value of the captured face image is greater than or equal to the second threshold, it indicates that there is already an image in the face database whose content is consistent with content of the captured face image, so no processing is required. In order to avoid repeated storage of the face images, the captured face image is not stored in the face database in the camera, but sent to the server, so that the server may perform corresponding processing on the captured face image).
[Claims 14 and 15]
These are method and computer readable claims corresponding to apparatus claim 13 and are therefore analyzed and rejected based upon apparatus claim 13.
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(s) 6-9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US PGPUB 20220279111) in view of Walker et al. (US PGPUB 20120242844).
[Claim 6]
Li fails to teach wherein the image processing apparatus executes compression processing on the captured image, and the image on which at least one of the image processing or the compression processing has been executed is transmitted. However Walker teaches that according to some embodiments of the present invention, alternatively, or in addition to automatically compressing or deleting an image, the camera may automatically transfer an image to a second device. For example, the camera may include a wireless communication port that allows the camera to transmit images to a second electronic device (e.g., a computer server, personal computer, portable hard drive, digital picture frame, or other electronic device, Paragraph 474).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Li and Walker, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have been motivated to have an apparatus that executes compression processing on the captured image, and the image on which at least one of the image processing or the compression processing has been executed is transmitted in order to use the bandwidth more efficiently.
[Claim 7]
Li fails to teach the captured image includes a plurality of images, and an image for which it has
been determined that the image processing is not to be executed that is an image that
meets a predetermined condition from among the plurality of images captured by the
image capture apparatus is stored in the first storage device. However Walker teaches the captured image includes a plurality of images (see fig. 8, Paragraph 172, The tabular representation 800 includes some example entries of acquired images), and an image for which it has been determined that the image processing is not to be executed that is an image that meets a predetermined condition from among the plurality of images captured by the image capture apparatus is stored in the first storage device (Paragraph 171, In some embodiments an overall rating 820 may be determined for an image that indicates a quality of the image. As also discussed herein, in some embodiments a processor may determine (e.g., based on a quality of an image) whether to store (e.g., in a removable memory) an image that was acquired (e.g., automatically). For example, an automatically-acquired image may only be stored in a flash memory card if it has an overall rating 820 of "4.0" or greater. The information in image stored 825 preferably includes an indication (e.g., "YES," "NO") of whether the corresponding acquired image was also stored (e.g., in a memory other than an image buffer).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Li and Walker, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have been motivated to have captured image that includes a plurality of images, and an image for which it has been determined that the image processing is not to be executed that is an image that
meets a predetermined condition from among the plurality of images captured by the image capture apparatus is stored in the first storage device in order to store only images that have quality greater than a certain threshold.
[Claim 8]
Walker teaches wherein the predetermined condition is a condition related to at least one of a gain, a contrast, a fluctuation, or a size of a subject of the image captured by the image capture apparatus ( The term "quality" is used herein in a broad sense and may be used to refer to a variety of different factors that affect whether an image is (or is likely to be) desirable to a user. The "quality" of an image may be indicative of any of various factors, some of which include, without limitation: how visually appealing the image is (e.g., pleasing, engaging), how well the image was captured or acquired (e.g., exposure, camera movement, framing, noise), how desirable the image is to the user (e.g., based on user preferences), how memorable the image may be to a user or subject, how interesting or unique the image is (e.g., capturing the exact moment of the new year in Times Square) in order to store only images that have quality greater than a certain threshold.
[Claim 9]
Walker teaches wherein the predetermined condition is whether an amount of noise of the captured image is greater than or equal to a threshold (Paragraph 270, sharpness of the image (or noise)--For example, a camera may determine if the subject of an image is in focus. In a second example, the camera may determine whether the background of the image is in focus. Images that are sharp and in focus may be determined to be of higher quality (e.g., worth storing), whereas images that are blurred, fuzzy, or out of focus may be determined to be of lower quality) in order to store only images that have quality greater than a certain threshold.
[Claim 12]
Li fails to teach wherein the captured image is deleted when it is determined that the image processing is not to be executed. However Walker teaches that a camera may determine whether to store and/or how to store an image based on the image itself. This may be done, for example, by evaluating the quality of the image or one or more characteristics of the image. For example, the camera may evaluate an image (e.g., using an image processing program) to determine the quality of the image. If the image is high quality (e.g., well-exposed, not blurred, well-framed subject), then the image may be stored by the camera in secondary memory. If the image is low quality (e.g., underexposed, blurred, or poorly composed), then the image may be compressed and stored or just deleted or overwritten (Paragraph 266). Therefore taking the combined teachings of Li and Walker, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have been motivated to have the captured image deleted when it is determined that the image processing is not to be executed so that the memory is used efficiently by not storing low quality images.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOGESH K AGGARWAL whose telephone number is (571)272-7360. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sinh Tran can be reached at 5712727564. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YOGESH K AGGARWAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637