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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-16 in the reply filed on 09/03/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
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.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because subject matter of claim 16, “computer program product” is “a computer program,” which is a non-statutory subject matter.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogura et al. (US2021/0096250) in view of Sorimoto et al. (US2021/0169318).
To claim 14, Ogura teach a system for generating a three-dimensional image of at least a partial section of a row of teeth (Fig. 11; paragraphs 0163, 0166), the system comprising:
a stereo camera system including a first and at least one further image capturing device (10 of Fig. 2; paragraph 0181, stereo camera obviously can be implemented in dental application);
at least one evaluation device (Fig. 7; paragraphs 0089-0098);
the system being configured to:
detect an imaged mirror image in an image generated by said first image capturing device and, in an image generated by said further image capturing device, wherein the mirror image is generated by a mirror element that is arranged in a capture region of the stereo camera system and reflects the at least one partial section of the row of teeth (Figs. 2, 11; paragraphs 0064-0067, front surface image, back surface image);
determine a pose of the mirror element (S103-S105 of Fig. 8; paragraphs 0107-0108); and,
determine the three-dimensional image on a basis of at least the imaged mirror images and the pose of the mirror element (S115 of Fig. 8; paragraphs 0062, 0067, 119-122).
In furthering said obviousness, Sorimoto teach using stereo camera to capture images for generation of three-dimensional image (abstract, paragraphs 0103).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate teaching of Sorimoto into the system of Ogura, in order to further camera implementation by design preference.
To claim 1, Ogura and Sorimoto teach a method for generating a three-dimensional image of at least a partial section of a row of teeth using a stereo camera system of a surgical microscope (Sorimoto, paragraphs 0002-0003, 0236-0238), wherein the stereo camera system includes a first image capturing device and a further image capturing device (as explained in response to claim 14 above).
To claim 16, Ogura and Sorimoto teach a computer program product (as explained in response to claim 14 above).
To claim 15, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 14.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach further comprising said mirror element (Ogura, Fig. 2).
To claim 2, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 1.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach wherein the three-dimensional image is additionally determined in dependence upon at least one of an optical property of the mirror element and an imaging property of the surgical microscope (Ogura, Fig. 3, paragraph 0066; Sorimoto, paragraphs 0037-0038,0198, magnification).
To claim 3, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 1.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach wherein images of virtual image capturing devices are determined at least on the basis of the pose of the mirror element, wherein at least one corresponding section of the row of teeth that is reflected in a catadioptric system is imaged in the image of the virtual image capturing device, wherein the three-dimensional image is determined on a basis of at least the images of the virtual image capturing devices (as explained in response to claim 14 above, as taught by Ogura and Sorimoto, 3D image can be generated based on images captured by stereo camera).
To claim 4, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 1.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach wherein the pose is determined by evaluating at least one property of the imaged mirror image or of the mirror element or in a marker-based fashion (Ogura, paragraphs 0109-0110; Sorimoto, paragraphs 0015).
To claim 5, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 4.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach wherein, for the marker-based determination of the pose, at least a marker element is imaged by at least one of the first image capturing device and the further image capturing device or an additional image capturing device, wherein the at least one marker element is arranged on or formed by the mirror element, with the pose being determined in dependence upon at least one property of the imaged marker element (Ogura, 200 of Figs. 1, 9; paragraphs 0055, 0125-0128; Sorimoto, paragraphs 0121, 0207, 0237-0238).
To claim 6, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 1.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach further comprising setting a focal position of the surgical microscope on a basis of the pose of the mirror element (obvious in Sorimoto, paragraphs 0032-0033, focal point position based on observation side, which means pose of mouth mirror; which is also well-known in the art, hence Official Notice is taken).
To claim 7, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 1.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach wherein radiation captured for generating the images of the stereo camera system is filtered (Sorimoto, paragraphs 0150, 0154).
To claim 8, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 7.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach wherein the filtering is polarization filtering (Sorimoto, paragraphs 0150, 0154).
To claim 9, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 7.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach wherein a filter element is arranged at least at one of: in an illumination beam path, in an imaging beam path, and on the mirror element (Sorimoto, Figs. 8A-B).
To claim 10, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 1.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach wherein the at least one partial section of the row of teeth is illuminated by radiation with predetermined radiation properties (Sorimoto, Figs. 8A-B).
To claim 11, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 10.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach wherein the radiation is generated with predetermined polarization properties (Sorimoto, paragraphs 0178, 0185, polarization state of projection).
To claim 12, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 1.
Ogura and Sorimoto teach further comprising filtering the images generated by the stereo camera system, wherein the three-dimensional image is determined on a basis of at least the filtered images (Sorimoto, paragraphs 0150, 0154).
To claim 13, Ogura and Sorimoto teach claim 1.
Though Ogura and Sorimoto do not expressly disclose wherein at least one quality measure of the three-dimensional image is determined, wherein user information is generated should the quality measure be less than a predetermined threshold value, such feature is well-known in the art, such as scenario where user is notified for inferior 3D image being generated, which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate such notification feature, hence Official Notice is taken.
Conclusion
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ZHIYU . LU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2669
/ZHIYU LU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2665 September 16, 2026
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