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 .
Notice of Preliminary Amendment
2. The Examiner acknowledges the amended claims filed on 01/08/2025.
- Claims 1, 3-8, 11-12, 14 have been amended.
- Claim 13 has been cancelled.
- Claims 15-21 have been added.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of documents required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/28/2025, 09/04/2025 and 02/14/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and were considered by the examiner.
Specification
5. The amendments to the Specification filed on 01/08/2025 have been accepted and made of record.
Drawings
6. The replacement sheets for figures 1A-7 filed on 01/08/2025 have been accepted and made of record.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
7. 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
8. Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Claim 14 sets forth "A computer-readable storage medium, comprising instructions, wherein when an electronic device runs the instructions, the electronic device performs the operations…"
However, the specification as originally filed, only provides open-ended examples of medium embodiments and it does not explicitly exclude carrier wave, transitory or propagating signal embodiments, see paragraphs 00213, 00218 and 00219 of the Specification.
[00213] Optionally, the chip system may also include one or more memories. The memory may be integrated with the processor, or may be separated from the processor. This is not limited in this embodiment of this application. For example, the memory may be a non-transitory memory such as a read only memory ROM, and the memory and the processor may be integrated on a same chip, or may be arranged on different chips respectively. A type of the memory and an arrangement manner of the memory and the processor are not limited in embodiments of this application.
[00218] All or some of the foregoing embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, implementation may be entirely or partially carried out in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When instructions of the computer program are loaded and executed on a computer, procedures or functions according to this application are all or partially generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatuses. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or may be transmitted from a computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired (for example, coaxial-cable, optical- fiber, or digital-subscriber-line) or wireless (for example, infrared, radio, or microwave) manner. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by the computer, or a data storage device, such as a server or a data center in which one or more usable
mediums are integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), a semiconductor
medium (for example, a solid-state drive (Solid State Disk)), or the like.
[00219] Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or some flows of the method in the above embodiments may be implemented by using a computer program instructing relevant
hardware. This program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When this program is performed, flows of all method embodiments mentioned above may be included. The storage medium includes: any medium that can store program code, such as an ROM, a random
access memory RAM, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is obliged to give claims their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification during proceedings before the USPTO. See In re Zletz, 893 F.2d 319 (Fed. Cir. 1989) (during patent examination the pending claims must be interpreted as broadly as their terms reasonably allow). The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to a computer readable media (also called machine readable medium and other such variations) typically covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media, particularly when the specification is absent an explicit definition or is silent. See MPEP 2111.01. When the broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim covers a signal per se, the claim must be rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as covering non-statutory subject matter. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1356-57 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (transitory embodiments are not directed to statutory subject matter) and Interim Examination Instructions for Evaluating Subject Matter Eligibility Under 35 U.S.C. § 101, Aug. 24, 2009; p. 2.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Claims 1, 11-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US-PGPUB 2017/0048461).
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses a photographing method (see fig. 8), comprising:
displaying, by an electronic device (Electronic device 101; see fig. 1), a photographing preview interface, wherein the photographing preview interface contains an image captured by a camera lens of the electronic device (Captured scene 903; see fig. 9A) and a first thumbnail (Thumbnail 920; see fig. 9A);
detecting, by the electronic device, an operation on a first control when detecting a first image frame (When the user touches a camera button 910 (or a shutter button), the electronic device 101 can capture a scene 903 as shown in FIG. 9A; see paragraph 0227);
displaying, by the electronic device, a thumbnail of the first image frame in the photographing preview interface in response to the operation on the first control (Displaying thumbnail image 920, corresponding to scene image 903, as shown in the middle image of figure 9A and paragraph 0229);
obtaining, by the electronic device, a second image frame based on an image frame in a first time range, wherein the image frame captured by the camera lens in the first time range comprises the first image frame; and the first image frame is different from the second image frame (When the user touches the thumbnail image 920 of the captured photo, the electronic device 101 can provide a representative image 905 as shown in FIG. 9A. The electronic device can also obtain sharpness information of each image and score the sharpness of the images. The electronic device can set the flag ‘1’ for the representative image of the highest score; see paragraphs 0219, 0230);
storing, by the electronic device, the second image frame in a gallery (Store captured data and relevant data; see step 809 and paragraph 0213);
exiting, by the electronic device, displaying of the photographing preview interface (Execute preset function based on relevant data; see step 813 and paragraphs 0218-0219); and
displaying, by the electronic device, the photographing preview interface again, and displaying a thumbnail of the second image frame in the photographing preview interface (The electronic device 101 can provide the representative image and thumbnail images corresponding to the images. The electronic device 101 can provide an indication 930 indicating the representative image on the thumbnail image of the representative image among the thumbnail images; see fig. 9A and paragraph 0230).
Regarding claim 11, Lee discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Lee discloses the second image frame stored in the gallery comprises marking information for marking a manually-captured highlight photo (The electronic device 101 can provide an indication 930 indicating the representative image on the thumbnail image of the representative image among the thumbnail images; see paragraph 0230).
Regarding claim 12, Lee discloses an electronic device (Electronic device 101; see fig. 1), comprising one or more processors (Processor 120; see fig. 1 and paragraphs 0041, 0043) and one or more memories (Memory 130; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0044), wherein the one or more memories are coupled to the one or more processors, and the one or more memories are configured to store computer program code (Program 140; see paragraphs 0044-0045), the computer program code comprises computer instructions, and when the electronic device executes the computer instructions, the electronic device performs the following operations:
displaying, by an electronic device, a photographing preview interface, wherein the photographing preview interface contains an image captured by a camera lens of the electronic device (Captured scene 903; see fig. 9A) and a first thumbnail (Thumbnail 920; see fig. 9A);
detecting, by the electronic device, an operation on a first control when detecting a first image frame (When the user touches a camera button 910 (or a shutter button), the electronic device 101 can capture a scene 903 as shown in FIG. 9A; see paragraph 0227);
displaying, by the electronic device, a thumbnail of the first image frame in the photographing preview interface in response to the operation on the first control (Displaying thumbnail image 920, corresponding to scene image 903, as shown in the middle image of figure 9A and paragraph 0229);
obtaining, by the electronic device, a second image frame based on an image frame in a first time range, wherein the image frame captured by the camera lens in the first time range comprises the first image frame; and the first image frame is different from the second image frame (When the user touches the thumbnail image 920 of the captured photo, the electronic device 101 can provide a representative image 905 as shown in FIG. 9A. The electronic device can also obtain sharpness information of each image and score the sharpness of the images. The electronic device can set the flag ‘1’ for the representative image of the highest score; see paragraphs 0219, 0230);
storing, by the electronic device, the second image frame in a gallery (Store captured data and relevant data; see step 809 and paragraph 0213);
exiting, by the electronic device, displaying of the photographing preview interface (Execute preset function based on relevant data; see step 813 and paragraphs 0218-0219); and
displaying, by the electronic device, the photographing preview interface again, and displaying a thumbnail of the second image frame in the photographing preview interface (The electronic device 101 can provide the representative image and thumbnail images corresponding to the images. The electronic device 101 can provide an indication 930 indicating the representative image on the thumbnail image of the representative image among the thumbnail images; see fig. 9A and paragraph 0230).
Regarding claim 14, Lee discloses a computer-readable storage medium (Memory 130; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0044), comprising instructions (Program 140; see paragraphs 0044-0045), wherein when an electronic device (Electronic device 101; see fig. 1) runs the instructions, the electronic device performs the following operations:
displaying, by an electronic device, a photographing preview interface, wherein the photographing preview interface contains an image captured by a camera lens of the electronic device (Captured scene 903; see fig. 9A) and a first thumbnail (Thumbnail 920; see fig. 9A);
detecting, by the electronic device, an operation on a first control when detecting a first image frame (When the user touches a camera button 910 (or a shutter button), the electronic device 101 can capture a scene 903 as shown in FIG. 9A; see paragraph 0227);
displaying, by the electronic device, a thumbnail of the first image frame in the photographing preview interface in response to the operation on the first control (Displaying thumbnail image 920, corresponding to scene image 903, as shown in the middle image of figure 9A and paragraph 0229);
obtaining, by the electronic device, a second image frame based on an image frame in a first time range, wherein the image frame captured by the camera lens in the first time range comprises the first image frame; and the first image frame is different from the second image frame (When the user touches the thumbnail image 920 of the captured photo, the electronic device 101 can provide a representative image 905 as shown in FIG. 9A. The electronic device can also obtain sharpness information of each image and score the sharpness of the images. The electronic device can set the flag ‘1’ for the representative image of the highest score; see paragraphs 0219, 0230);
storing, by the electronic device, the second image frame in a gallery (Store captured data and relevant data; see step 809 and paragraph 0213);
exiting, by the electronic device, displaying of the photographing preview interface (Execute preset function based on relevant data; see step 813 and paragraphs 0218-0219); and
displaying, by the electronic device, the photographing preview interface again, and displaying a thumbnail of the second image frame in the photographing preview interface (The electronic device 101 can provide the representative image and thumbnail images corresponding to the images. The electronic device 101 can provide an indication 930 indicating the representative image on the thumbnail image of the representative image among the thumbnail images; see fig. 9A and paragraph 0230).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. Claims 2-3 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Kang et al. (US-PGPUB 2021/0248725).
Regarding claim 2, Lee discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1). However, Lee fails to expressly disclose storing the thumbnail of the second image frame in the gallery.
On the other hand, Kang discloses storing the thumbnail of the second image frame in the gallery (The processor 120 may display one or more second images, stored in the memory 130 (e.g., a Gallery application), through the display, based on the first user input. For example, the processor 120 may display one or more second images stored in the memory 130, through the display, in a shrunken form (e.g., a thumbnail form), based on the first user input; see paragraph 0083).
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 Lee and Kang to provide storing the thumbnail of the second image frame in the gallery for the purpose of easily organize and retrieved processed relevant images.
Regarding claim 3, Lee and Kang disclose everything claimed as applied above (see claim 2). In addition, Lee discloses detecting, by the electronic device in the photographing preview interface, an operation corresponding to the thumbnail of the first image frame; and displaying, by the electronic device, the second image frame (When the user touches the thumbnail image 920 of the captured photo, the electronic device 101 can provide a representative image 905 as shown in FIG. 9A; see paragraphs 0219, 0230).
However, Lee does not expressly disclose displaying, by the electronic device, a full-size image display interface of a gallery application, wherein the full-size image display interface displays the second image frame.
On the other hand, Kang discloses displaying, by the electronic device, a full-size image display interface of a gallery application, wherein the full-size image display interface displays the second image frame (Upon storing the generated filter in the memory 130, the processor 120 may display, through the display, the generated filter along with images indicating pre-designated filters which have been displayed in operation 901. In operation 901, the processor 120 displays images using an image application (e.g., a Gallery application); see paragraphs 0229, 0212).
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 Lee and Kang to provide displaying, by the electronic device, a full-size image display interface of a gallery application, wherein the full-size image display interface displays the second image frame for the purpose of easily organize and retrieved processed relevant images.
Regarding claim 15, Lee discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 12). However, Lee fails to expressly disclose storing the thumbnail of the second image frame in the gallery.
On the other hand, Kang discloses storing the thumbnail of the second image frame in the gallery (The processor 120 may display one or more second images, stored in the memory 130 (e.g., a Gallery application), through the display, based on the first user input. For example, the processor 120 may display one or more second images stored in the memory 130, through the display, in a shrunken form (e.g., a thumbnail form), based on the first user input; see paragraph 0083).
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 Lee and Kang to provide storing the thumbnail of the second image frame in the gallery for the purpose of easily organize and retrieved processed relevant images.
Regarding claim 16, Lee and Kang disclose everything claimed as applied above (see claim 15). In addition, Lee discloses detecting, by the electronic device in the photographing preview interface, an operation corresponding to the thumbnail of the first image frame; and displaying, by the electronic device, the second image frame (When the user touches the thumbnail image 920 of the captured photo, the electronic device 101 can provide a representative image 905 as shown in FIG. 9A; see paragraphs 0219, 0230).
However, Lee does not expressly disclose displaying, by the electronic device, a full-size image display interface of a gallery application, wherein the full-size image display interface displays the second image frame.
On the other hand, Kang discloses displaying, by the electronic device, a full-size image display interface of a gallery application, wherein the full-size image display interface displays the second image frame (Upon storing the generated filter in the memory 130, the processor 120 may display, through the display, the generated filter along with images indicating pre-designated filters which have been displayed in operation 901. In operation 901, the processor 120 displays images using an image application (e.g., a Gallery application); see paragraphs 0229, 0212).
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 Lee and Kang to provide displaying, by the electronic device, a full-size image display interface of a gallery application, wherein the full-size image display interface displays the second image frame for the purpose of easily organize and retrieved processed relevant images.
Allowable Subject Matter
15. Claims 4-10 and 17-21 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 4, the specific limitation of “the electronic device comprises a hardware abstract layer HAL; and the obtaining, a second image frame based on an image frame in a first time range comprises: acquiring, by a decision-making module in the HAL, a preview frame in a preview stream and frame information of the preview frame from a frame buffering module in the HAL, wherein the frame information comprises a time stamp and a frame evaluation; selecting, by the decision-making module, a local optimal frame once in a period of time, and buffering the local optimal frame in a queued manner, wherein the local optimal frame is a preview frame with a highest image evaluation in the period of time or a preview frame with an image evaluation higher than a first reference value; and selecting, by the decision-making module, the second image frame from a local optimal frame that is buffered in a queued manner and that is in the first time range, wherein the second image frame is a preview frame with a highest image evaluation in the first time range or a preview frame with an image evaluation higher than a second reference value…” in the combination as claimed is neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
Regarding claim 5-10, they are objected to for depending on claim 4.
Regarding claim 17, the specific limitation of “acquiring, by the electronic device, a preview frame in a preview stream and frame information of the preview frame, wherein the frame information comprises a time stamp and a frame evaluation; selecting, by the electronic device, a local optimal frame once in a period of time, and buffering the local optimal frame in a queued manner, wherein the local optimal frame is a preview frame with a highest image evaluation in the period of time or a preview frame with an image evaluation higher than a first reference value; and selecting, by the electronic device, the second image frame from a local optimal frame that is buffered in a queued manner and that is in the first time range, wherein the second image frame is a preview frame with a highest image evaluation in the first time range or a preview frame with an image evaluation higher than a second reference value….” in the combination as claimed is neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
Regarding claim 18-21, they are objected to for depending on claim 17.
Citation of Pertinent Art
16. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Ren (US-PGPUB 2024/0223889) discloses the camera Hal may further select a high-quality image frame from a plurality of captured image frames, and the algorithm recognition module performs highlight degree scoring on the image frame to obtain a highlight degree score value.
Li et al. (US-PGPUB 2020/0327698) discloses the HAL 12 may transmit a suggestion that more images need to be transmitted to the APP 14, to well perform image post-processing.
Johnston et al. (US Patent 11,785,334) discloses responsive to receiving the selection, providing, by way of the user interface, an animation between the capture frame and the computer-selected frame, wherein the animation comprises an interpolation of one or more frames captured between the capture frame and the computer-selected frame.
Contact Information
17. 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.
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, 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 06/03/2026
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