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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 3, the limitations “the local maximum response value”, “the first sliding window”, and “the first preset threshold” lack antecedent basis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 2, and 6-20 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 1, Zhang et al. (“Accurate few-shot object detection with support-query mutual guidance and hybrid loss”) discloses:
obtaining a support data set and a query data set, wherein the support data set comprises a first support sample image and an object boundary annotation of the first support sample image, and wherein the query data set comprises a plurality of query sample images (see section 3.3.1 and fig 1, obtaining support data and query data, wherein the support data includes support image S and class boundary annotation ys(c), and wherein the query data includes query images Q);
for each of the plurality of query sample images:
obtaining, based on the object boundary annotation, a feature correlation of the query sample image, wherein the feature correlation indicates a similarity between the first support sample image and the query sample image (see sections 3.3.2-3.3.4, obtaining, based on the class boundary annotation ys(c), a similarity score sim(S,Pj), indicating a similarity between the support image and the query image); and
obtaining, based on the feature correlation, a center point predicted annotation of an object in the query sample image (see section 3.4, obtaining, based on thresholding the similarity score, a class predicted annotation that includes its center point (i.e., “Detection Result” in fig 1)); and
However, Zhang does not disclose: obtaining, based on the center point predicted annotation, a first annotation probability map of center point distribution of the object in the query sample image; and training, by inputting the plurality of query sample images and the corresponding first annotation probability maps into a preset center point detector, a center point detector, wherein the trained center point detector is configured to annotate a center point of an object in a to-be-annotated sample image. Similar reasons apply to claims 12 and 17.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Ette et al. (US 2020/0143154), Porikli et al. (US 2019/0213406), Fleishman et al. (US 2016/0171340), Barth et al. (US 2019/0034714) each discloses using a trained algorithm and detecting a center point of hands. Pérez-Rúa et al. (“Incremental few-shot object detection”) discloses few-shot object detection utilizing support images and feature similarities for class-agnostic object detection.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SJ PARK whose telephone number is (571)270-3569. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, EMILY TERRELL can be reached at 571-270-3717. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SJ Park/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2675
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