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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4-5 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Dependent claim 4 recites “a calibration module configured to adjust an internal camera parameter, depth correction information, and distortion correction information corresponding to the desired region in response to a variation in the size of the desired region”. It appears the limitation stipulates changing or adjusting multiple items in response to variation in the size of desired region (for example, by zooming or magnification). It is common knowledge that focus lens may need to be adjusted in response to change in the zoom, which can be read as adjusting an internal camera parameter. However, it is not clear what is being referred to by depth correction information and distortion correction information. The specification does not provide any clarification on these terms and, in particular, how they are to be adjusted in response to variation in the size of the desired region.
Claim 5 which is dependent on claim 4, recites “a processing module configured to decode the image based on the internal camera parameter, the depth correction information, and the distortion correction information corresponding to the desired region for outputting the depth information of the image”. However, claim 5 does not further clarify the issue raised in the parent claim 4. Furthermore, because it is not clear what is being referred to by distortion correction information and depth correction information, it is not clear how depth is determined based on depth correction information and distortion correction information and the specification does not provide any clarification.
Claims 15 and 16 are rejected for the same reasons as claims 4 and 5 above.
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 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 1-4, 6-15, 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1.1
With regard to claim 1, D1 teach a sensor assembly comprising at least one optical lens and configured to generate an image comprising the target based on the light source reflected from the target (see fig. 1, ¶¶ 31-32: camera system including lenses to capture image); a driving circuit configured to provide one or more driving signals to adjust an optical characteristic of the at least one optical lens corresponding to a desired region of the target in the image for varying a size of the desired region of the target in the image (see fig. 1, ¶¶ 31-32, 37: zoom lens driving unit for varying the size of region of interest; ¶¶ 54-55: zooming into designated subject); and a depth decoding circuitry electrically connected to the light emitter, the sensor assembly, and the driving circuit, and configured to decode the image after varying the size of the desired region, and output depth information of the image (see fig. 1, ¶ 104: calculating distance or depth).
D1 fails to explicitly teach a light emitter configured to emit a light source to a target, however Examiner takes Official Notice to the fact that light source or camera flash is extremely well known in the art before the effective filing date and it would have been particularly obvious to incorporate known teachings into the configuration of D1 yielding predictable results. The motivation would have been to illuminate the subject to capture bright and clear image.
With regard to claim 2, D1 teaches detecting subject or region of interest (see ¶¶ 43, 46, 51) but fails to explicitly teach a neural network processing module configured to detect the desired region of the target in the image. However, Examiner takes Official Notice to the fact neural networks for detecting region of interest is extremely well known in the art before the effective filing date and it would have been particularly obvious to incorporate known teachings into the configuration of D1 yielding predictable results and enhanced subject or region of interest detection.
With regard to claim 3, D1 teach a controller electrically connected between the driving circuit and the neural network processing module, and configured to control the driving circuit to provide the one or more driving signals corresponding to the desired region detected by the neural network processing module (see fig. 1, ¶¶ 44, 54-55: driving zoom lens to zoom into detected subject or region of interest).
With regard to claim 4, D1 teach a calibration module configured to adjust an internal camera parameter, depth correction information, and distortion correction information corresponding to the desired region in response to a variation in the size of the desired region (see ¶ 41: focus lens adjusted based on the change to zoom lens or field angle; see claim 11: in a case in which a zoom magnification is changed via optical zooming in the second state, the control unit performs focus adjustment control and exposure control again, see ¶ 35: exposure control includes aperture and shutter speed values — adjusting focus lens and exposure can be read as changing internal camera parameters; aperture and exposure adjustment can be read as or related to distortion correction; adjusting focus lens and aperture can be read as or related to depth; aperture directly related to depth of field).
With regard to claim 6, D1 teach wherein the at least one optical lens is disposed in the sensor assembly (see fig. 1, ¶¶ 31-32: lens barrel and camera main body are integrally formed).
With regard to claim 7, D1 teach wherein the at least one optical lens is disposed outside of the sensor assembly (see ¶¶ 31-32: interchangeable lens detachably attached to the camera main body).
With regard to claim 8, D1 teach wherein the at least one optical lens is disposed inside and outside of the sensor assembly (see ¶¶ 31-32: plurality of lens which can be integrally formed or detachably attached to the camera main body).
With regard to claim 9, D1 fails to explicitly teach wherein the at least one optical lens comprises one of a liquid crystal lens and a liquid lens. However, Examiner takes Official Notice to the fact that liquid lenses are extremely well known in the art before the effective filing date and one skilled in the art would have found it obvious to integrate known teachings into the camera system of D1 yielding predictable and enhanced results. Advantages of using liquid lenses over mechanical lenses include faster focus, reduced bulk and reduced power consumption.
With regard to claim 10, D1 teach wherein the optical characteristic of the at least one optical lens comprises at least one of a curvature, a phase difference, and an applied voltage distribution (see fig. 1: lens comprising curvature).
With regard to claim 11, D1 an application device configured to select the desired region of the target in the image by a user (see fig. 1, ¶ 54: photographer manually designates subject or region of target using touch panel).
With regard to claim 12, see discussion of claim 1.
With regard to claim 13, see discussion of claim 2.
With regard to claim 14, see discussion of claim 11.
With regard to claim 15, see discussion of claim 4.
With regard to claim 17, see discussion of claim 10.
With regard to claim 18, see discussion of claim 6.
With regard to claim 19, see discussion of claim 7.
With regard to claim 20, see discussion of claim 8.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AVINASH YENTRAPATI whose telephone number is (571)270-7982. The examiner can normally be reached on 8AM-5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sumati Lefkowitz can be reached on (571) 272-3638. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AVINASH YENTRAPATI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2672
1 US Publication No. 2016/0295125.
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