Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/984,536

IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND METHOD

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Dec 17, 2024
Priority
Dec 01, 2023 — RE 10-2023-0172027 +1 more
Examiner
STATZ, BENJAMIN TOM
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
33%
Grant Probability
At Risk
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 1m
Est. Remaining
58%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants only 33% of cases
33%
Career Allowance Rate
2 granted / 6 resolved
-26.7% vs TC avg
Strong +25% interview lift
Without
With
+25.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
39
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
91.8%
+51.8% vs TC avg
§112
1.0%
-39.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 6 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
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 . Priority Application claims priority to foreign application with application number KR10-2023-0172027 dated 12/01/2023. Copies of certified papers required by 37 CFR 1.55 have been received. Priority is acknowledged under 35 USC 119(e) and 37 CFR 1.78. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements dated 12/17/2024, 05/07/2025, and 01/26/2026 have been considered and placed in the application file. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 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. Claim 3 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 3 recites the limitation "the screen capture image". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim; parent claim 1 recites “a first screen capture image” and “a second screen capture image”, and it is unclear which one is being referenced in claim 3. 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) 1-2, 4-7, 9-15, 17-18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh et al. (US 20100066762 A1; hereinafter "Yeh") in view of Aggarwal et al. (US 20200204864 A1; hereinafter "Aggarwal"), Etwaru (US 20240098213 A1), and Kim et al. (WO 2022065662 A1; hereinafter "Kim"). Regarding claim 1, Yeh teaches: A display device, comprising: a display (fig. 1 TV outputs 129 and 131); at least one processor (fig. 1 Video, Graphics, and Audio Processing System 101); and memory storing at least one instruction that, when executed by the at least one processor ([0089] “In one embodiment, each functional unit in the DPC 221 can operate independently of each other under a host control protocol using a set of programmable registers which contain various processing information and instructions to be used by the functional units in performing their corresponding functions.”), cause the display device to: change a data format for the first screen capture image from the first data format to a second data format ([0048] “If the source and the destination pixmaps are in different formats, then a color expansion operation is performed. If the destination format has a different color space than the source format, the operands are first converted to the destination format.”); transparentize a video area in the first screen capture image by adjusting a value of the transparency element for the video area, based on data of the second data format ([0068] “The graphics plane can be defined to be either translucent (transparent) or opaque. The graphics plane can overlay the background plane only or both the background and video planes.”; [0072] teaches adjusting alpha values to adjust transparency); generate a second synthesized image based on a second screen capture image comprising the transparentized video area and the first video image or a second video image following the first video image, wherein an area where the first video image or the second video image is displayed in the second synthesized image is in the transparentized video area ([0073] “The graphics plane can be positioned at any location in the active display area according to user-defined specifications. The graphics plane can be composited with the underlying background plane and/or video plane. The compositing operation uses a combination of the per-pixel alpha value (ap), data from the graphics plane (RGB), and a global composition alpha value (ag). The two alpha values can be combined together as shown in table 8 below.”; [0077] “Following the blending, compositing or otherwise combining of background image 401, scaled video image 403, scaled graphics image 405 and/or cursor image 407, the resulting composite output image may be provided to TV output 409…” Note: If the graphics plane is positioned above the video plane, then the video plane will be visible in any transparent sections of the graphics plane). Yeh does not explicitly teach: obtain a first screen capture image having a first data format by capturing a first synthesized image generated based on a first video image and at least one graphic image using a screen capture method, wherein the first data format does not comprise a transparency element indicating transparency; or transparentize a video area associated with the first video image in the first screen capture image by adjusting a value of the transparency element for the video area, based on data of the second data format. Aggarwal teaches: obtain a first screen capture image having a first data format by capturing a first synthesized image (fig. 2 step 202; [0048] “In step 202, a plurality of image frames is obtained.”; [0049] “For instance, image frames 302 may each comprise images obtained from the same type of GUI screen and/or images obtained from the same device. In examples, the plurality of image frames 302 may comprise a plurality of images of a GUI screen of a source media device rendered at different times.”, where a “rendered” image may be considered to be “synthesized”) generated based on a first video image and at least one graphic image ([0049] “The GUI screen may include a predetermined type of screen of the source media device, such as a home screen, a menu screen, a guide screen, a screen where pre-recorded multimedia content is listed, or any other type of screen where certain types of image elements (e.g., static and/or dynamic elements) are expected to be present… It is noted that example embodiments are not limited to capturing a home screen, but may include capturing any other screen representing a particular GUI screen of a media device, or any other image of the media device that includes both static and dynamic elements.”) using a screen capture method ([0048] “In example embodiments, each image frame of image frames 302 may comprise an image representing a GUI screen of a media device, such as one of source device(s) 102A”), wherein the first data format does not comprise a transparency element indicating transparency ([0051] teaches that image frames may initially be in YUV image format, which does not support transparency); change a data format for the first screen capture image from the first data format to a second data format ([0051] “In some other examples, frame converter 306 may be configured to perform other operations, such as reducing a resolution of the image frame (e.g., scaling the image frame to a reduced resolution, cropping the image frame, etc.) and/or a conversion operation from an image format associated with the image frames from one format (e.g., a YUV image format, a Red Green Blue (RGB) image format, etc.) to another image format (e.g., a PNG format, JPG format, GIF format, etc.).”); transparentize a video area associated with the first video image in the first screen capture image ([0056] “In step 208, an image stencil using the regions of interest is generated. For instance, with reference to FIG. 3, stencil creator 310 may use 318 the regions of interest identified by region of interest identifier 308 to generate an image stencil. Stencil creator 310 may generate an image stencil in various ways. In some examples, stencil creator 310 may generate an image stencil that includes a static image region and a transparent region outside the static image region. In other words, stencil creator 310 may be configured to generate an image stencil in which the image stencil is opaque in at least the first image region (e.g., the static image region) and is transparent in at least the second image region (e.g., the dynamic image region). It is understood that any number of opaque and/or transparent regions may be included in the image stencil generated by stencil creator 310.”) Yeh and Aggarwal are analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of generating and manipulating, respectively, composite images with video and graphical components. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh with the teachings of Aggarwal to obtain input images via screen capture of a media device. The motivation would have been to be able to separate out and transparentize a video region in instances where transparency is not initially supported. The combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal does not explicitly teach: change a data format for the first screen capture image from the first data format to a second data format comprising the transparency element. Etwaru teaches: change a data format for the first screen capture image from the first data format to a second data format comprising the transparency element ([0138] “In one embodiment, the displayed data and/or digital content can include a video represented by video data, wherein the video data can include an alpha channel for storing transparency data for each pixel. The video data can be transmitted in or converted to a format that supports the alpha channel.”); transparentize a video area associated with the first video image in the first screen capture image by adjusting a value of the transparency element for the video area, based on data of the second data format ([0044] In order to realize the augmentation of a digital user experience, a reference patch can be used. In one embodiment, the reference patch or other visually detectable element may serve to indicate a position at which digital content is to be placed onto a display… The reference patch can be embedded within displayed data (such as, but not limited to, an image, a video, a document, a webpage, or any other application that may be displayed by an electronic device”; [0147] In one embodiment, the first device 701 can adjust the transparency of the image data based on a prioritization of objects. It can be desired that certain objects are always visible. For example, a reference patch in displayed data needs to be visible in order for the first device 701 to incorporate corresponding digital content. A first device 701 can adjust the transparency of the digital content such that any region of the digital content that overlaps with the reference patch is transparent.”); generate a second synthesized image based on a second screen capture image comprising the transparentized video area and the first video image or a second video image following the first video image, wherein an area where the first video image or the second video image is displayed in the second synthesized image is in the transparentized video area ([0138] “In one embodiment, the regional transparency of any image or window in the composite image can be adjusted by the first device 701. When a first image or window in the composite image is transparent, a second image or window present behind the transparent region can be visible through the transparent region.”); Etwaru is analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of generating composite images from a plurality of layers of graphical and video data (see [0138]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh in view of Aggarwal with the teachings of Etwaru to convert a file format that does not support transparency to a file format that does support transparency. The motivation would have been to enable the features pertaining to transparency discussed in claim 1, which would not be possible if a file format does not support it. The combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal and Etwaru does not explicitly teach: blur the second synthesized image; and control the display to display at least a portion of the blurred second synthesized image. Kim teaches a method of generating a “composite frame based on a video frame and a graphic frame” ([0002]; also [0044] for details) which corresponds to the claimed “second synthesized image”, including the following limitations: blur the second synthesized image ([0045] “The electronic device (10) can generate and output a second composite frame (4). The second composite frame (4) includes a video frame (1) and a graphic frame (2) in which the same image effect processing has been performed. For example, when the video effect processing is blur, the electronic device (10) can generate and output a second composite frame (4) in which blur is performed on both the broadcast program of the "Sports Channel 20" and the EPG for selecting the broadcast program channel number.”); and control the display to display at least a portion of the blurred second synthesized image (fig. 1 shows blurred output). Kim is analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of generating composite images from graphical and video data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh in view of Aggarwal and Etwaru with the teachings of Kim to perform additional image effect processing on a synthesized image. The motivation would have been to enable additional visual options. Regarding claim 2, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 1, wherein the at least one graphic image comprises a first graphic image and a second graphic image, and wherein a window comprising the first graphic image and a window comprising the second graphic image are positioned in different layers (Yeh [0085] “In some embodiments, the iterative blending of the plurality of graphics images may further include determining an order (e.g. a priority) for some or all of the graphics images, and blending the plurality of graphics images may be based on the determined order. Such an order may be a priority for layering the various graphics images, such that certain graphics images are layers on top of others or below others. For example, a graphics image with the highest priority may always be placed on top of other graphics images during the blending process.”). Regarding claim 4, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 1, wherein the first data format is a YUV data format, and the second data format is an RGBA data format (Etwaru teaches format conversion to support transparency: [0138] “In one embodiment, the displayed data and/or digital content can include a video represented by video data, wherein the video data can include an alpha channel for storing transparency data for each pixel. The video data can be transmitted in or converted to a format that supports the alpha channel.”; Aggarwal teaches the use of the RGBA format to represent transparency: [0059] “In some example embodiments, the image stencil may comprise a Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image file with one or more alpha channel regions, also referred to as an image file in an RGBa format or color space.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim with the additional teachings of Aggarwal and Etwaru to use common data formats to represent video and graphical information, including the use of a data format including an alpha channel when support for transparency is required. The motivation would have been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (MPEP 2143(I)(A)). Regarding claim 5, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 4, wherein to transparentize the video area, the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the display device to adjust an alpha value of pixels corresponding to the video area to 0 in data of the second data format (Yeh teaches transparentizing an area of a graphics layer by adjusting an alpha value: [0072] “A color keying or a chroma keying feature on the graphics plane is also provided in one embodiment. Each pixel can be color-expanded to a predetermined number of bits, for example 24-bit value, and then examined to see if the color falls within a selected range. If it does, the alpha value associated with the pixel is forced to zero to make it transparent, otherwise the alpha channel value of the pixel is unaltered.”; Etwaru teaches adjusting alpha values to transparentize a defined video area: [0139] “In one embodiment, the transparency of each pixel can be adjusted, for example, along a gradient between completely transparent and completely opaque. For example, an alpha channel value of 128 in an 8-bit system for a pixel can correspond to the pixel being displayed with a transparency approximately halfway between fully transparent and fully opaque… The bit depth of the alpha channel and the individual pixel adjustment can enable regional transparency of the image data according to the present disclosure. For example, certain regions of a video can be made transparent, while other regions are opaque.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim with the additional teachings of Etwaru to modify the transparency of a video area by adjusting an alpha value of pixels. The motivation would have been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (MPEP 2143(I)(A)). Regarding claim 6, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 1, wherein the second video image corresponds to a post-capture image obtained by capturing a video image scaled for synthesis with the at least one graphic image using a video capture method (Yeh [0067] “The video image represents the video data captured by the VSC 205. The video window can be positioned anywhere in the visible display area according to a user-defined setting. The video window can be scaled to any horizontal and vertical size up to the maximum of the ROI size.”), and wherein the second video image has the first data format (Yeh teaches storing a video input in YCbCr format: [0067] “In one embodiment, video plane input data are written into the circular buffer in YCbCr (4:2:2) format”; this format does not support an alpha channel). Regarding claim 7, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 4, wherein the second synthesized image is generated by positioning the second video image in a lower layer than a layer comprising the second screen capture image (Kim teaches combining a video image with a screen capture image: fig. 7; [0138] “More specifically, the processor (5) can create a first composite frame b (52) by compositing a second video frame (42) onto a graphic frame (2), or create a first composite frame b (52) by compositing a second video frame (42) onto a first composite frame a (51) created based on the first video frame (41).”; Yeh teaches positioning a video layer lower than an additional layer: “[0085] In some embodiments, the iterative blending of the plurality of graphics images may further include determining an order (e.g. a priority) for some or all of the graphics images, and blending the plurality of graphics images may be based on the determined order… Such priority may also apply when the blended graphics image is composited with a video layer as shown in FIG. 4. In such a case, when the blended graphics image includes at least one graphics image with a high priority order, the blended graphics image may inherit the priority of the high priority graphics image and be given priority over a video layer when compositing, so that the blended graphics layer is on top of the video layer.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim with the additional teachings of Kim to use a transparent region to position a video layer underneath a portion of a screen capture image comprising graphics elements, rather than underneath a portion of a dedicated graphics layer. The motivation would have been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (MPEP 2143(I)(A)). Regarding claim 9, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 1, wherein, after blurring the second synthesized image, the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the display device to: generate a third synthesized image by synthesizing a third video image following the second video image with the screen capture image (Kim [0137] “The processor (5) generates a second composite frame b (72) based on the second video frame (42), which is the next video frame of the first video frame (41) among the plurality of video frames (1). In generating the second composite frame b (72), the graphic frame (2) or the first composite frame a (51) can be utilized. [0138] More specifically, the processor (5) can create a first composite frame b (52) by compositing a second video frame (42) onto a graphic frame (2), or create a first composite frame b (52) by compositing a second video frame (42) onto a first composite frame a (51) created based on the first video frame (41). The graphic frame (2) or the first composite frame a (51) may not have image effect processing performed. In addition, the graphic frame (2) may be one in which the graphic content is maintained without being changed.”) including the transparentized video area (Yeh and Etwaru both teach compositing layers by transparentizing a video area; see claim 1 citations); and blur the third synthesized image (Kim [0140] “The processor (5) performs image effect processing once on the first composite frame b (52) to generate the second composite frame b (72).”; where the particular image effect was previously stated to be blurring), and wherein the at least one graphic image is configured to be sequentially displayed on one screen with each of the first video image, the second video image, and the third video image (Kim [0141] “In the video area (6) and graphic area (7) included in the second composite frame b (72), the second video frame (42) and graphic frame (2), which have the same image effect processing performed, are displayed.”; fig. 7 further shows how this process is sequential, with additional video images being composited with the same graphic image, and the same processing (blur) performed for each composite image). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim with the additional teachings of Kim to layer a full screen capture image with a new video image when generating a new full synthesized image for the next frame. The motivation would have been to improve efficiency by reusing an unchanged graphics layer. Regarding claim 10, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 1, wherein the at least one graphic image comprises at least one graphic information, and wherein the at least one graphic information is in a graphic area positioned outside the video area in the first screen capture image, and comprises at least one of a user interface, menu information, configuration information, user guide information, electronic program guide information, or notification information (Kim fig. 1 (also see translated version) shows that the graphic information displayed adjacent to the video image is menu/guide information). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim with the additional teachings of Kim to display menu/guide information along with a video image. The motivation would have been use of a known technique to improve similar devices in the same way (MPEP 2143(I)(C)), the improvement being the display of useful information for a user relevant to a video. Regarding claim 11, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 1, wherein the first video image and the at least one graphic image have different data formats (Yeh teaches storing a video input in YCbCr format: [0067] “In one embodiment, video plane input data are written into the circular buffer in YCbCr (4:2:2) format”; and graphics/image inputs in various other formats such as GIF, JPEG, XVG, or XAML: [0081]), and wherein the first video image and the first screen capture image have the same data format (Yeh teaches storing a video input in YCbCr format: “In one embodiment, video plane input data are written into the circular buffer in YCbCr (4:2:2) format”; Aggarwal teaches obtaining the initial screen capture input in YUV format: [0051] “…a conversion operation from an image format associated with the image frames from one format (e.g., a YUV image format, a Red Green Blue (RGB) image format, etc.) to another image format…”; one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that YCbCr represents the same data encoding as YUV (brightness, blue difference, red difference)). Regarding claim 12, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the display device to: identify an event related to the blurring (Kim [0004] “When an event for image effect processing for a graphic frame is received, the electronic device can perform image effect processing for the graphic frame. For example, when an event is received requiring a blur operation on an EPG for selecting a broadcast program channel number, the electronic device can perform a blur operation on the EPG and output the blurred EPG.”); and obtain the first screen capture image based on identifying the event related to the blurring (Kim [0009] “The objective of the present invention described above can be achieved by an electronic device comprising: a video processing unit for outputting a video frame; a graphics processing unit for outputting a graphics frame; a mixer; and a processor that controls the mixer to generate and output a first composite frame based on the video frame and the graphics frame, and, in response to an event of image effect processing, generates a second composite frame in which the image effect processing is performed on the video area and the graphics area, in response to an event of image effect processing, and controls the second composite frame to be output through the mixer. [0010] The processor stores at least one of the graphic frame or the first composite frame in a buffer memory, composites the next sequence of video frames onto the stored graphic frame or the first composite frame, and performs the image effect processing to generate the second composite frame.”; The “first composite frame” of Kim can be considered to correspond to the claimed “first screen capture image”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim with the additional teachings of Kim to trigger a blur effect when a particular signal or input is received. The motivation would have been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (MPEP 2143(I)(A)). Regarding claims 13, 14, 17, 18, and 20, they are rejected with the same references, rationale, and motivation to combine as claims 1, 2, 6, 7, and 9 respectively because their limitations substantially correspond to the limitations of claims 1, 2, 6, 7, and 9 respectively. Regarding claim 15, it is rejected with the same references, rationale, and motivation to combine as claims 4 and 5 because its limitations substantially correspond to the limitations of claims 4 and 5. Claim(s) 3, 8, 16, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh (US 20100066762 A1) in view of Aggarwal (US 20200204864 A1), Etwaru (US 20240098213 A1), and Kim (WO 2022065662 A1) as applied to claims 1 and 13 above, and further in view of Suki (US 20230114438 A1). Regarding claim 3, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach: wherein obtaining the screen capture image is performed before a blur application associated with the blurring or graphic information associated with the blur application is displayed on a screen. Suki teaches: wherein obtaining the screen capture image is performed before a blur application associated with the blurring or graphic information associated with the blur application is displayed on a screen (figs. 4-7; [0042] “FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which text indicating the menu items is displayed over the blurring-processed image depicted in FIG. 6. Since the blurring-processed image (hereinafter referred to also as the “blurred image”) is used as the background of the menu screen, the menu screen not only keeps the hue of the world of the game unchanged, but also makes the text highly visible”). Suki is analogous to the claimed invention because it pertains to the same issue of blurring a displayed image. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim with the teachings of Suki to add an additional menu overlay over a blurred image. The motivation would have been to “make the text highly visible” (Suki [0042]). Regarding claim 8, the combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim teaches: The display device of claim 1, wherein to blur the second synthesized image, the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the display device to: apply a blur effect to the second synthesized image (Kim fig. 1; see claim 1 citations). The combination of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim does not explicitly teach: output graphic information associated with a blur application supporting the blurring on the second synthesized image to which the blur effect is applied. Suki teaches: output graphic information associated with a blur application supporting the blurring on the second synthesized image to which the blur effect is applied (figs. 4-7; [0042] “FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which text indicating the menu items is displayed over the blurring-processed image depicted in FIG. 6. Since the blurring-processed image (hereinafter referred to also as the “blurred image”) is used as the background of the menu screen, the menu screen not only keeps the hue of the world of the game unchanged, but also makes the text highly visible”). Suki is analogous to the claimed invention because it pertains to the same issue of blurring a displayed image. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Yeh in view of Aggarwal, Etwaru, and Kim with the teachings of Suki to add an additional menu overlay over a blurred image. The motivation would have been to “make the text highly visible” (Suki [0042]). Regarding claims 16 and 19, they are rejected with the same references, rationale, and motivation to combine as claims 3 and 8 because their limitations substantially correspond to the limitations of claims 3 and 8. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN STATZ whose telephone number is (571)272-6654. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 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, Tammy Goddard can be reached at (571)272-7773. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /BENJAMIN TOM STATZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2611 /TAMMY GODDARD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2611
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 17, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 29, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
33%
Grant Probability
58%
With Interview (+25.0%)
2y 8m (~1y 1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 6 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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