CTNF 19/039,105 CTNF 79985 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-17, 19, 20 and 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niga et al. (US PGPUB 20200213523) in view of Ito (US PGPUB 20190066275) . [Claim 1] Niga teaches a control apparatus that is used for a camera system that includes an image pickup apparatus including an image sensor (fig. 1, camera capturer 1001), and a lens apparatus including an optical system including at least one optical member (Paragraph 21), the control apparatus comprising: a processor (1003) configured to: acquire first position information and second position information based on an instruction by a user (Paragraph 29, fig. 3, Herein, the contrast evaluation area 2005 of the long-distance object 2001 and the contrast evaluation area 2006 of the short-distance object 2003 are set manually by the user input via the input unit 1104 .) , and construct the focal plane from the first position information, the second position information, and information that is not specified by the user (Paragraph 29, fig. 3, The upper contrast evaluation area 2007 and the lower contrast evaluation area 2008 of the short-distance object 2003 are evaluation areas which are obtained by vertically dividing the contrast evaluation area 2006 of the near-distance object 2003 into two, and automatically set by the system control unit 1003 and Paragraph 34, The proper tilt angle is the tilt angle that minimizes the blur peculiar to the tilt and appears in the short-distance object 4003 . In this embodiment, the proper tilt angle is the tilt angle finally set to the image sensor driver 1008 by the system control unit 1003 via the image sensor control unit 1009 . In FIG. 5, in the proper tilt angle, the focal planes corresponds to both the long-distance object 4001 and the upper and lower parts of the short-distance object 4003 . Therefore, in the proper tilt angle state, the contrast evaluation value is high in the contrast evaluation area 4005 of the long-distance object 4001 , the upper contrast evaluation area 4007 of the short-distance object 4003 , and the lower contrast evaluation area 4008 of the short-distance object 4003. ). Niga fails to teach tilting a focal plane of the optical system relative to an imaging surface of the image sensor. However Ito teaches an imaging apparatus includes an image sensor that generates image data, a mount unit on which a lens apparatus including a tilt mechanism that tilts a lens with respect to an imaging surface of the image sensor is mounted, and a correction circuit that makes a correction according to an optical characteristic of the lens apparatus on image data generated by the image sensor by performing image capturing using the lens apparatus, wherein the correction circuit makes the correction according to the optical characteristic, in accordance with correction data including a value corresponding to an image height with reference to a correction center position, and change the correction center position in the image data according to a tilt operation of the tilt mechanism (Paragraph 10). Therefore taking the combined teachings of Niga and Ito, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have been motivated to have tilted a focal plane of the optical system relative to an imaging surface of the image sensor in order to perform the correction processing of the optical aberrations like distortion aberration correction processing, lateral chromatic aberration correction processing, peripheral light amount correction processing, and image recovery processing. [Claim 2] Niga teaches wherein the information that is not specified by the user is third position information (Paragraph 29, The upper contrast evaluation area 2007 and the lower contrast evaluation area 2008 of the short-distance object 2003 are evaluation areas which are obtained by vertically dividing the contrast evaluation area 2006 of the near-distance object 2003 into two, and automatically set by the system control unit 1003 ). [Claim 3] Niga teaches wherein the processor is configured to determine the third position information based on image data output from the image sensor (Paragraph 29, In FIG. 3, reference numeral 2000 denotes a captured image by the surveillance camera 1000 , reference numeral 2001 denotes a long-distance object (first object), reference numeral 2002 denotes a center object, reference numeral 2003 denotes a short-distance object (second object), and reference numeral 2004 denotes an in-focus plane). [Claim 4] Niga teaches wherein the processor is configured to determine the third position information based on object information detected from the image data (Paragraph 29, The upper contrast evaluation area 2007 and the lower contrast evaluation area 2008 of the short-distance object 2003 are evaluation areas which are obtained by vertically dividing the contrast evaluation area 2006 of the near-distance object 2003 into two, and automatically set by the system control unit 1003 . Short distance object 2003 is detected for focus-detection by the processor). [Claim 5] Niga teaches wherein the object information includes at least one of information about a type of an object, a range of the object, or an edge of the object (Short distance object 2003 signifies range or distance of the object). [Claim 6] Niga teaches wherein the processor is configured to determine the third position information based on the range of the object corresponding to the first position information or the second position information so as to widen an in-focus range of the object (Paragraph 29, The upper contrast evaluation area 2007 and the lower contrast evaluation area 2008 of the short-distance object 2003 are evaluation areas which are obtained by vertically dividing the contrast evaluation area 2006 of the near-distance object 2003 into two, and automatically set by the system control unit 1003 and Paragraph 34, The proper tilt angle is the tilt angle that minimizes the blur peculiar to the tilt and appears in the short-distance object 4003 . In this embodiment, the proper tilt angle is the tilt angle finally set to the image sensor driver 1008 by the system control unit 1003 via the image sensor control unit 1009 . In FIG. 5, in the proper tilt angle, the focal planes corresponds to both the long-distance object 4001 and the upper and lower parts of the short-distance object 4003 . Therefore, in the proper tilt angle state, the contrast evaluation value is high in the contrast evaluation area 4005 of the long-distance object 4001 , the upper contrast evaluation area 4007 of the short-distance object 4003 , and the lower contrast evaluation area 4008 of the short-distance object 4003 ). [Claim 7] Niga teaches wherein the processor is configured to determine the third position information based on an imaging scene (figs. 3-5 are an imaging scene). [Claim 8] Niga teaches wherein the imaging scene is determined based on the image data output from the image sensor (sensor (Paragraph 29, In FIG. 3, reference numeral 2000 denotes a captured image by the surveillance camera 1000 , reference numeral 2001 denotes a long-distance object (first object), reference numeral 2002 denotes a center object, reference numeral 2003 denotes a short-distance object (second object), and reference numeral 2004 denotes an in-focus plane). [Claim 9] Niga teaches wherein the imaging scene is determined based on the object information detected from the image data (Paragraph 29, The upper contrast evaluation area 2007 and the lower contrast evaluation area 2008 of the short-distance object 2003 are evaluation areas which are obtained by vertically dividing the contrast evaluation area 2006 of the near-distance object 2003 into two, and automatically set by the system control unit 1003 . Short distance object 2003 is detected for focus-detection by the processor). [Claim 10] Niga teaches wherein the imaging scene is determined based on a mode set by the user (Paragraph 27, A system control unit 1103 generates a camera control command in response to a user operation (GUI operation) and transmits the camera control command to the surveillance camera 1000 via the communicator 1101 ). [Claim 11] Niga teaches wherein the processor is configured to determine the third position information based on at least one of information about a focal length, a focus position, or an aperture value (Paragraph 29, The upper contrast evaluation area 2007 and the lower contrast evaluation area 2008 of the short-distance object 2003 are evaluation areas which are obtained by vertically dividing the contrast evaluation area 2006 of the near-distance object 2003 into two, and automatically set by the system control unit 1003 . The contrast evaluation area 2006 is an area where focus position is set in fig. 5). [Claim 12] Niga teaches wherein the processor is configured to determine the third position information while changing an aperture value (Paragraphs 61 and 62, Next, in the step S 8002 , the system control unit 1003 stores the sum U.sub.α+L.sub.α of the contrast evaluation values in the upper and lower contrast evaluation areas 2007 and 2008 of the short-distance object at the stored F-number α. In the step S 8003 , the system control unit 1003 determines whether or not the aperture of the diaphragm has already been narrowed to the upper limit. If the aperture is not narrowed to the upper limit, the flow proceeds to the step S 8005 . If the aperture has already been narrowed to the upper limit, the flow proceeds to the step S 8004 ). [Claim 13] Niga teaches wherein the processor is configured to: determine a rotation axis based on the first position information and the second position information, and rotate the focal plane around the rotation axis by changing the third position information (Paragraph 34, The proper tilt angle is the tilt angle that minimizes the blur peculiar to the tilt and appears in the short-distance object 4003 . In this embodiment, the proper tilt angle is the tilt angle finally set to the image sensor driver 1008 by the system control unit 1003 via the image sensor control unit 1009 . In FIG. 5, in the proper tilt angle, the focal planes corresponds to both the long-distance object 4001 and the upper and lower parts of the short-distance object 4003 . Therefore, in the proper tilt angle state, the contrast evaluation value is high in the contrast evaluation area 4005 of the long-distance object 4001 , the upper contrast evaluation area 4007 of the short-distance object 4003 , and the lower contrast evaluation area 4008 of the short-distance object 4003 ). [Claim 14] Niga teaches wherein the processor is configured to control driving of a drive unit configured to drive the optical member that tilts the focal plane relative to the imaging surface of the image sensor, or a focus member configured to perform focusing (Paragraph 22, In addition, the system control unit 1003 receives request commands of a zoom setting value, a focus setting value, a tilt angle setting value, and a diaphragm setting value of the surveillance camera 1000 from the video control apparatus 1100 . Then, the system control unit 1003 reads each setting value from the imaging view-angle control unit 1006 , the focus control unit 1007 , the image sensor control unit 1009 , and the diaphragm controller 1011 , and distributes these setting values via the communicator 1012 . The system control unit 1003 receives zoom, focus, tilt angle, and diaphragm setting commands from the video control apparatus 1100 . At that time, the system control unit 1003 commands the imaging view-angle control unit 1006 , the focus control unit 1007 , the image sensor control unit 1009 , and the diaphragm controller 1011 to control the lens driver 1005 , the image sensor driver 1008 , and the diaphragm driver 1010 based on those set values ). [Claim 15] Niga teaches wherein the processor is configured to rotate the focal plane so as to include a focal plane that minimizes or maximizes a moving amount of the optical member configured to tilt the focal plane relative to the imaging surface of the image sensor (Paragraph 34, The proper tilt angle is the tilt angle that minimizes the blur peculiar to the tilt and appears in the short-distance object 4003 . In this embodiment, the proper tilt angle is the tilt angle finally set to the image sensor driver 1008 by the system control unit 1003 via the image sensor control unit 1009 . In FIG. 5, in the proper tilt angle, the focal planes corresponds to both the long-distance object 4001 and the upper and lower parts of the short-distance object 4003 . Therefore, in the proper tilt angle state, the contrast evaluation value is high in the contrast evaluation area 4005 of the long-distance object 4001 , the upper contrast evaluation area 4007 of the short-distance object 4003 , and the lower contrast evaluation area 4008 of the short-distance object 4003 ). [Claim 16] Niga teaches wherein the drive unit drives the optical member to a predetermined position in a case where the processor cannot determine the third position information (Paragraph 32, In FIG. 4, the in-focus plane 3004 is tilted around the center object 3002 by adjusting the tilt angle. The tilt angle is an angle before reaching the proper tilt angle, and is in a state where the in-focus plane does not correspond to the long-distance object 3001 . The in-focus plane corresponds to the lower part of the short-distance object 3003 , but not correspond to the upper part). [Claim 17] Niga teaches wherein the drive unit changes the focal plane within a movable range of the optical member in a case where the processor cannot determine the third position information (The angle of tilt is in a movable range from figs. 3 to 4 until in fig. 5 where a focus position or contrast evaluation value is highest). [Claim 19] Niga teaches wherein the first position information, the second position information, and the third position information are three-dimensional position information (Figs, 3-5 are three-dimensional images having x, y and z positions). [Claims 20 and 23] This claim is similar to claim 1 except for an image sensor and an optical system. However Niga teaches an image capturer 1001 includes a lens (imaging optical system) and an image sensor (Paragraph 21). [Claims 24 and 25] These are method and non-transitory computer-readable storage claims corresponding to apparatus claim 1 and are therefore analyzed and rejected based upon apparatus claim 1. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 18, 21 and 22 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. The prior art fails to teach or suggest as recited in claim 18, “wherein the processor is configured to issue an alert to the user in a case where the processor cannot determine the third position information or in a case where the driving of the drive unit exceeds a movable range of the optical member”. “Claim 21, “wherein the optical member includes a first optical member and a second optical member which are movable in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis, wherein both the first optical member and the second optical member have positive refractive power or negative refractive power, and wherein a tilt effect is generated by moving the first optical member and the second optical member in opposite directions, and a shift effect is generated by moving the first optical member and the second optical member in the same direction” and claim 22, “wherein the optical member includes a first optical member and a second optical member which are movable in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis, wherein the first optical member and the second optical member have refractive powers of different positive and negative signs, and……” Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOGESH K AGGARWAL whose telephone number is (571)272-7360. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /YOGESH K AGGARWAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/039,105 Page 2 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/039,105 Page 3 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/039,105 Page 4 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/039,105 Page 5 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/039,105 Page 6 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/039,105 Page 7 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/039,105 Page 8 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/039,105 Page 9 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/039,105 Page 10 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/039,105 Page 11 Art Unit: 2637
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