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 .
2. 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.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The Information Disclosure Statement filed 13 March 2025 has been fully considered by Examiner. An annotated copy is included herewith.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Okuyama (US-2019/0206013).
Regarding claim 1: Okuyama discloses an image file creation method (fig 5 and [0126] of Okuyama) comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring a captured first image (fig 6(“Wide Angle”) and [0136] of Okuyama – wide angle images are captured as “First Image”); a first generation step of generating one or a plurality of accessory images based on the first image and a second image (fig 6(“Narrow Angle”), fig 7, fig 18, fig 20, [0136]-[0138], [0140]-[0142], [0223], and [0245] of Okuyama – narrow angle images captured (second image) and corresponding thumbnail (accessory) images generated) captured before or after the capturing of the first image (fig 17, and [0218]-[0220] of Okuyama – different modes of capture occur at different times); and a creation step of creating an image file including the first image and the one or plurality of accessory images (fig 50 and [0455]-[0459] of Okuyama – plurality of images loaded from a file, edited, and saved into a file).
Regarding claim 2: Okuyama discloses the image file creation method according to claim 1 (as rejected above), wherein the one or plurality of accessory images are images that are not changed in conjunction with a change in the first image caused by correction processing (fig 10, fig 20, [0087], [0161]-[0163], and [0245]-[0247] of Okuyama – image correction occurs during or immediately after capture; accessory images are associated and displayed with the first image, and later used to combine, but are not changed in conjunction with a change in the first image caused by the correction processing).
Regarding claim 4: Okuyama discloses the image file creation method according to claim 1 (as rejected above), wherein, in a case in which a live view image is continuously captured before the capturing of the first image, the live view image satisfying a predetermined condition is stored as the second image captured in a period before the capturing of the first image (fig 17 and [0219]-[0220] of Okuyama – second (narrow angle) image captured at t2, which before first (wide angle) image captured at t1 and other narrow angle images captured at t3 and t4; timing based on predetermined range).
Regarding claim 5: Okuyama discloses the image file creation method according to claim 4 (as rejected above), wherein the predetermined condition is a condition in which a state or a position of a subject in the live view image is changed by a predetermined amount or more from the second image that is previously stored (fig 17(170) and [0220] of Okuyama – time state of image changed by a predetermine amount of time).
Regarding claim 11: Okuyama discloses the image file creation method according to claim 1 (as rejected above), wherein, in the first generation step, the accessory image based on the first image, the accessory image based on the second image captured before the capturing of the first image, and the accessory image based on the second image captured after the capturing of the first image are generated (fig 17, fig 26, [0219]-[0220], and [0297]-[0300] of Okuyama – switching modes based on image capture settings (wide/narrow angle) (fig 26); accessory images generated based on wide and narrow angle settings).
Regarding claim 12: Okuyama discloses an image file creation device (fig 3, fig 5, [0102], and [0126] of Okuyama) comprising: a processor (fig 3(201) and [0103] of Okuyama), wherein the processor acquires a captured first image (fig 6(“Wide Angle”) and [0136] of Okuyama – wide angle images are captured as “First Image”), the processor generates one or a plurality of accessory images based on the first image and a second image (fig 6(“Narrow Angle”), fig 7, fig 18, fig 20, [0136]-[0138], [0140]-[0142], [0223], and [0245] of Okuyama – narrow angle images captured (second image) and corresponding thumbnail (accessory) images generated) captured before or after the capturing of the first image (fig 17, and [0218]-[0220] of Okuyama – different modes of capture occur at different times), and the processor creates an image file including the first image and the one or plurality of accessory images (fig 50 and [0455]-[0459] of Okuyama – plurality of images loaded from a file, edited, and saved into a file).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 3 and 6-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James A Thompson whose telephone number is (571)272-7441. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-6pm.
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, Alicia Harrington can be reached at 571-272-2330. 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.
/JAMES A THOMPSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2615
Prosecution Insights