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 .
Acknowledgements
2. Applicant’s arguments, filed on 04/30/2026, are acknowledged. Amended claims 1, 3-4, 8-9 , cancelled claims 10-15, and new added on claims 16-25 are acknowledged.
Claims 1-9, and 16-25 remain pending and have been examined.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant argues/remarks (pg. 7):
Regarding claim 1, Kadoi does not disclose calculating a ratio of a development size to a capture size and reading a compression ratio from a compression ratio table associated with a compression ratio, as amended claim 1 limits.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of Kim (CN1816091A; see below for mapping of newly amended subject matter).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
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.
5. Regarding claim 1, an imaging device (…Kadoi, in [0036], teaches an imaging
apparatus 100; Fig. 1…) comprising:
a memory storing a program a program (…[0038] teaches a memory storing a control program…), and
at least one processor configured to execute the program to perform operations (…[0038] further teaches a CPU reading and executing the control program stored in the memory…) comprising:
acquiring a development size corresponding an image size at a time of development of a RAW image to provide an acquired development size (…[0057] teaches a RAW compression unit 113 which generates RAW image data by compressing RAW image data that is output from a sensor signal processing unit 103…);
compressing a captured image at the compression ratio corresponding to the acquired development size (…wherein as stated control unit 161 instructs switch 118 what compression ratio to output…) and
by a compression method that compresses an image by decomposing the image into a plurality of spatial frequency components to generate the RAW image (…wherein [0062] teaches that in the Lossy compression data size is reduced by deleting high frequency through the performance of various methods of performing spatial frequency (e.g., Fourier transform, wavelet transform, etc.)…), wherein
the compression ratio increases as the development size decreases (…Kadoi, in [0060], teaches compression ratio R_Lossy is higher than compression ratio R_Lossless. RAW image data acquired after the Lossy compression is RAW image data size that is smaller than data size of the RAW image data after Lossless compression…).
Kadoi doesn’t further teach
calculating a ratio of the development size to a capture size (…however, Kim teaches a memory device implemented in a communication device with the ability to store images, wherein pg. 5-lines 12-17 teach a ratio of a size of an image data before compression to a size of a compressed image data; wherein compression ratio= compressed image data size/pre-compression image data size…);
reading a compression ratio from a compression ratio table in which the ratio of the development size to the capture size is associated with the compression ratio (…wherein Kim (pg. 5-lines 12-17) teaches Table 1 including compression ratio based on threshold values adjustable by a user.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that a compression ratio table, as taught by Kim, is implemented so to compress raw image data, in accordance with a compression ratio that is proportional to a ratio of the compressed image data size to the pre-compression image data size, in accordance the availability of image storage space. Thereby, effectively optimizing available storage for image storing by determining varying threshold values for using different compression ratios…).
6. Regarding claim 2, Kadoi in view of Kim teaches the imaging device according to claim 1 (see claim 1 above) wherein
the compression method includes a compression method using a wavelet transform (…wherein Kadoi teaches wavelet transform in performing the Lossy compression in
[0062]…).
7. Regarding claim 3, Kadoi in view of Kim teaches the imaging device according to claim 1 wherein the operations further comprise:
recording the RAW image on a recording medium in association with size information indicating the development size (…(…wherein [0057] teaches a buffer 115 (as a storage medium) for storing the generated record RAW image data; Fig. 1…).
8. Regarding claim 4, Kadoi in view of Kim teaches the imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:
controlling a display of a setting screen for the development size, and acquiring the development size set by a user on the setting screen (…wherein [0039] teaches an operation unit 162 which receives user operation detected by control unit 161. Further, [0059] teaches control unit 161 instructs switch 118, in accordance with user operation, to select between two different compression ratios…).
9. Regarding claim 5, Kadoi in view of Kim teaches the imaging device according to claim 4 (see claim 4 above) wherein
the setting screen includes a screen where one option selected by the user from among a plurality of options of the development size is set (…wherein [0059] teaches control unit 161 instructs switch 118, in accordance with user operation (at operation unit 162), to select between two different compression ratios…).
10. Regarding claim 6, Kadoi in view of Kim teaches the imaging device according to claim 4 (see claim 4 above), wherein
the setting screen includes a screen where the development size input by the user is set (…wherein the operation unit 162 is used for user instruction which the control unit uses to instruct switch 118 to select a particular compression ratio…).
11. Regarding claim 7, Kadoi in view of Kim teaches the imaging device according to claim 1 (see claim 1 above) further comprising:
an imaging unit that acquires the capture image (…wherein Kadoi teaches the imaging apparatus 100; the apparatus further includes elements 101, 102, and 103 (Fig. 1; e.g.) that are used to capture an image…).
12. Regarding claim 8, claim 8 is rejected for reasons related to claim 1 (see claim 1 above).
13. Regarding claim 9, claim 9 is rejected for reasons related to claim 1 (see claim 1 above).
14. Regarding claim 16, claim 16 is rejected for reasons related to claim 2 (see claim 2 above).
15. Regarding claim 17, claim 17 is rejected for reasons related to claim 3 (see claim 3 above).
16. Regarding claim 18, claim 18 is rejected for reasons related to claim 4 (see claim 4 above).
17. Regarding claim 19, claim 19 is rejected for reasons related to claim 5 (see claim 5 above).
18. Regarding claim 20, claim 20 is rejected for reasons related to claim 6 (see claim 6 above).
19. Regarding claim 21, claim 21 is rejected for reasons related to claim 2 (see claim 2 above).
20. Regarding claim 22, claim 22 is rejected for reasons related to claim 3 (see claim 3 above).
21. Regarding claim 23, claim 23 is rejected for reasons related to claim 4 (see claim 4 above).
22. Regarding claim 24, claim 24 is rejected for reasons related to claim 5 (see claim 5 above).
23. Regarding claim 25, claim 25 is rejected for reasons related to claim 6 (see claim 6 above).
Conclusion
24. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SURAFEL YILMAKASSAYE whose telephone number is (703)756-1910. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:00pm.
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/SURAFEL YILMAKASSAYE/Examiner, Art Unit 2639
/TWYLER L HASKINS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2639
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