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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claim 1 of the currently examined application (19/015,992) is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of application 19/016,057. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the claim language provided in claim 1 of the current application 19/015,992: “ An image enhancement system comprising: an ambient light sensor operational to measure an ambient light level; a circuit operational to: generate a histogram based on an input video signal; export the histogram; receive a gray shade look up table; and generate an output video signal by converting a plurality of gray shades in the input video signal based on the gray scale look up table; and a processor operational to: receive the histogram from the circuit; develop the gray shade look up table based on the histogram and the ambient light level; dynamically remap the plurality of gray shades in the gray shade look up table in response to the ambient light level to compress a first region of the plurality of gray shades and stretch a second region of the plurality of gray shades; and transfer the gray shade look up table to the circuit…“, though it is a slight variation from claim 1 of application 19/016,057: “A true color image enhancement compensation system comprising: an ambient light sensor operational to measure an ambient light level; a circuit operational to: generate a histogram based on an input video signal; export the histogram; receive a gray shade look up table; and generate an output video signal by converting a plurality of gray shades in the input video signal based on a plurality of input video luminance ratios and the gray shade look up table to determine a plurality of new output gray shade values to maintain input video color coordinates; and a processor operational to: receive the histogram from the circuit; develop the gray shade look up table based on the histogram and the ambient light level; dynamically remap the plurality of gray shades in the gray shade look up table in response to the ambient light signal to compress a first region of the plurality of gray shades and stretch a second region of the plurality of gray shades; dynamically remap the plurality of gray shades in the gray shade look up table to correct for ambient lighting conditions; and transfer the gray shade look up table to the circuit.…“, is similar in scope and would provide analogous generation of stylized painting effects. Table I listed below is provided to show which claims in the current application 19/015,992 that are also rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting and map to claims of 19/016,057. Table II is provided below to show how the claimed limitations from the independent claim 1 of the current application 19/015,992 map to limitations of independent claim 1 in application 19/016,057.
TABLE 1
Current Application: 19/015,992
Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
U.S. Patent 19/016,057
Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
TABLE II
Current Application: 19/015,992 (Claim 1)
Application 19/016,057 (Claim 1)
An image enhancement system comprising: an ambient light sensor operational to measure an ambient light level; a circuit operational to:
generate a histogram based on an input video signal; export the histogram; receive a gray shade look up table;
and generate an output video signal by converting a plurality of gray shades in the input video signal based on the gray scale look up table;
and a processor operational to: receive the histogram from the circuit; develop the gray shade look up table based on the histogram and the ambient light level;
dynamically remap the plurality of gray shades in the gray shade look up table in response to the ambient light level to compress a first region of the plurality of gray shades and stretch a second region of the plurality of gray shades; and transfer the gray shade look up table to the circuit
A true color image enhancement compensation system comprising: an ambient light sensor operational to measure an ambient light level; a circuit operational to:
generate a histogram based on an input video signal; export the histogram; receive a gray shade look up table;
and generate an output video signal by converting a plurality of gray shades in the input video signal based on a plurality of input video luminance ratios and the gray shade look up table to determine a plurality of new output gray shade values to maintain input video color coordinates;
and a processor operational to: receive the histogram from the circuit; develop the gray shade look up table based on the histogram and the ambient light level;
dynamically remap the plurality of gray shades in the gray shade look up table in response to the ambient light signal to compress a first region of the plurality of gray shades and stretch a second region of the plurality of gray shades; dynamically remap the plurality of gray shades in the gray shade look up table to correct for ambient lighting conditions; and transfer the gray shade look up table to the circuit.
Claim 1 of the currently examined application (19/015,992) is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of application 19/015,987. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the claim language provided in claim 1 of the current application 19/015,992: “ An image enhancement system comprising: an ambient light sensor operational to measure an ambient light level; a circuit operational to: generate a histogram based on an input video signal; export the histogram; receive a gray shade look up table; and generate an output video signal by converting a plurality of gray shades in the input video signal based on the gray scale look up table; and a processor operational to: receive the histogram from the circuit; develop the gray shade look up table based on the histogram and the ambient light level; dynamically remap the plurality of gray shades in the gray shade look up table in response to the ambient light level to compress a first region of the plurality of gray shades and stretch a second region of the plurality of gray shades; and transfer the gray shade look up table to the circuit…“, though it is a slight variation from claim 1 of application 19/015,987: “A true color image enhancement compensation system comprising: an ambient light sensor operational to measure an ambient light level; a circuit operational to: generate a histogram based on an input video signal; export the histogram; receive a gray shade look up table; and generate an output video signal by converting a plurality of gray shades in the input video signal based on a plurality of input video luminance ratios and the gray shade look up table to determine a plurality of new output gray shade values to maintain input video color coordinates; and a processor operational to: receive the histogram from the circuit; develop the gray shade look up table based on the histogram and the ambient light level; and transfer the gray shade look up table to the circuit.…“, is similar in scope and would provide analogous generation of stylized painting effects. Table I listed below is provided to show which claims in the current application 19/015,992 that are also rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting and map to claims of 19/015,987. Table II is provided below to show how the claimed limitations from the independent claim 1 of the current application 19/015,992 map to limitations of independent claim 1 in application 19/015,987.
TABLE III
Current Application: 19/015,992
Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
U.S. Patent 19/015,987
Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
TABLE IV
Current Application: 19/015,992 (Claim 1)
Application 19/015,987 (Claim 1)
An image enhancement system comprising: an ambient light sensor operational to measure an ambient light level; a circuit operational to:
generate a histogram based on an input video signal; export the histogram; receive a gray shade look up table;
and generate an output video signal by converting a plurality of gray shades in the input video signal based on the gray scale look up table;
and a processor operational to: receive the histogram from the circuit; develop the gray shade look up table based on the histogram and the ambient light level;
dynamically remap the plurality of gray shades in the gray shade look up table in response to the ambient light level to compress a first region of the plurality of gray shades and stretch a second region of the plurality of gray shades; and transfer the gray shade look up table to the circuit
An image enhancement system comprising: an ambient light sensor operational to measure an ambient light level; a circuit operational to:
generate a histogram based on an input video signal; export the histogram; receive a gray shade look up table;
and generate an output video signal by converting a plurality of gray shades in the input video signal based on the gray shade look up table;
and a processor operational to: receive the histogram from the circuit; develop the gray shade look up table based on the histogram and the ambient light level;
and transfer the gray shade look up table to the circuit.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wang (W. Wang, X. Wu, X. Yuan and Z. Gao, "An Experiment-Based Review of Low-Light Image Enhancement Methods," in IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 87884-87917, 2020, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2992749): Teaches histogram based image enhancement using gray level transformations, histogram equalization, and dynamic range compression.
Su (H. Su, C. Jung, S. Wang and Y. Du, "Readability Enhancement of Displayed Images Under Ambient Light," in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, vol. 28, no. 7, pp. 1481-1496, July 2018, doi: 10.1109/TCSVT.2017.2676881.): Teaches ambient light adaptive luminance enhancement using nonlinear gray-level transfer functions based on measured ambient light and visibility thresholds.
Lee (J. Lee, H. Lee, S. Lee, J. Heo, J. Lee and B. C. Song, "Display Visibility Improvement Through Content and Ambient Light-Adaptive Image Enhancement," in IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 87902-87916, 2023, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3305680): Teaches adaptive image contrast enhancement by generating gray level mapping functions from local histograms using adaptive histogram equalization and cumulative histogram functions.
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/LATRELL ANTHONY CREARY/Examiner, Art Unit 2613
/XIAO M WU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2613
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