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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Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12260572. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims of instant application are anticipated by claims of U.S. Patent No. 12260572 as shown below.
INSTANT claim 1 <= ‘572 claim 1
INSTANT claim 2 <= ‘572 claims 1, 2
INSTANT claim 3 <= ‘572 claims 1, 3
INSTANT claim 4 <= ‘572 claims 1, 8
INSTANT claim 5 <= ‘572 claims 1, 8, 10
INSTANT claim 6 <= ‘572 claims 1, 8, 10, 11
INSTANT claim 7 <= ‘572 claims 1, 8, 10, 11, 12
INSTANT claim 8 <= ‘572 claim 1
INSTANT claim 9 <= ‘572 claims 1, 4
INSTANT claim 10 <= ‘572 claims 1, 5
INSTANT claim 11 <= ‘572 claims 1, 5, 6
INSTANT claim 12 <= ‘572 claims 1, 5, 7
INSTANT claim 13 <= ‘572 claim 1
INSTANT claim 14 <= ‘572 claims 1, 16
INSTANT claim 15 <= ‘572 claims 1, 18
INSTANT claim 16 <= ‘572 claim 1
INSTANT claim 17 <= ‘572 claims 1, 14
INSTANT claim 18 <= ‘572 claim 1
INSTANT claim 19 <= ‘572 claims 1, 19
INSTANT claim 20 <= ‘572 claims 1, 20
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 8, 9, 16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 (U.S. PG-PUB NO. 2020/0334894) in view of D2 (U.S. PG-PUB NO. 2013/0009943).
-Regarding claim 1, D1 discloses a computer-implemented method comprising: determining, for each respective pixel of a plurality of pixels of a depth image, wherein the depth image corresponds to an input image having an initial viewpoint, and wherein each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image has a corresponding depth value (Depth estimator 120 is configured to generate a depth map based on a two dimensional (2D) image, [0034]); generating (i) an inpainted image by inpainting portions of the input image expected to be disoccluded by a change in the initial viewpoint (a neural network may be used to inpaint the missing color and depth information to produce additional points 620 within the inpainted image 615, [0099]) and (ii) an inpainted depth image by inpainting portions of the depth image expected to be disoccluded by the change in the initial viewpoint (a color- and depth-inpainting network is used to fill the holes in the warped representation, [0101]); and generating a modified image having an adjusted viewpoint that is different from the initial viewpoint by combining visual information of the input image and the inpainted image (View generator 160 is configured to generate one or more intermediate views based on the global point cloud and the camera path, [0044]).
D1 is silent to teaching that a corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image; determining a foreground visibility map comprising, for each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image, a visibility value that is inversely proportional to the corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image; and in accordance with the depth image, the inpainted depth image, and the foreground visibility map. However, the claimed limitation is well known in the art as evidenced by D2.
In the same field of endeavor, D2 teaches a corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image (the depth gradient logic 250 may compare the gradient level of each pixel with an upper limit value (gmax) to determine whether the depth gradient is sharp or large, [0031]); determining a foreground visibility map comprising, for each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image, a visibility value that is inversely proportional to the corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image (the pre-processing phase 110 may use foreground prior depth image based rendering (DIBR) technique to identify and reduce the depth gradients to minimize disocclusion effect, [0022]); and in accordance with the depth image, the inpainted depth image, and the foreground visibility map (the depth of the foreground may be preserved by the foreground prior DIBR approach to generate better visual effect on a new virtual image, [0024]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of D1 with the teaching of D2 in order to improve the visual effect.
-Regarding claim 2, the combination further discloses the foreground visibility map is determined using a soft foreground visibility function that is continuous and smooth along at least one interval (D2, the depth smoothing may be as depicted by the smoothened lines 691 and 692 in FIG. 6E, [0036]).
-Regarding claim 8, the combination further discloses determining a background disocclusion mask that indicates, for each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image, a disocclusion likelihood that a corresponding pixel of the input image will be disoccluded by a change in the initial viewpoint (D1, a color- and depth-inpainting network is used to fill the holes in the warped representation, [0101]; D2, identify and reduce the depth gradients to minimize disocclusion effect, [0022]), wherein generating the inpainted image and the inpainted depth image comprises: generating (i) the inpainted image by inpainting portions of the input image based on the background disocclusion mask (D1, (a neural network may be used to inpaint the missing color and depth information to produce additional points 620 within the inpainted image 615, [0099]); D2, identify and reduce the depth gradients to minimize disocclusion effect, [0022]) and (ii) the inpainted depth image by inpainting portions of the depth image based on the background disocclusion mask (D1, a color- and depth-inpainting network is used to fill the holes in the warped representation, [0101]; D2, identify and reduce the depth gradients to minimize disocclusion effect, [0022]).
-Regarding claim 9, the combination further discloses the background disocclusion mask is determined using a soft background disocclusion function that is continuous and smooth along at least one interval (D2, after transforming the sharp depth gradient areas into a linearly changing shape, a low-strength, low-pass Gaussian filter with a smaller window-size (compared to the window size of the high-strength, low-pass Gaussian filter) may be used to smoothen the linearly changing shape, [0023]; the depth smoothing may be as depicted by the smoothened lines 691 and 692 in FIG. 6E, [0036]).
-Regarding claim 16, the combination further discloses the inpainted image and the inpainted depth image are generated by an inpainting model (D1, a neural network such as a modified GridNet architecture may be used for the inpainting network, [0102]).
-Regarding claim 18, the combination further discloses the input image is a monocular image (D1, [0066]).
-Regarding claim 19, D1 discloses a system comprising a processor configured to perform operations (processor 105, FIG. 1) comprising: determining, for each respective pixel of a plurality of pixels of a depth image, wherein the depth image corresponds to an input image having an initial viewpoint, and wherein each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image has a corresponding depth value (Depth estimator 120 is configured to generate a depth map based on a two dimensional (2D) image, [0034]); generating (i) an inpainted image by inpainting portions of the input image expected to be disoccluded by a change in the initial viewpoint (a neural network may be used to inpaint the missing color and depth information to produce additional points 620 within the inpainted image 615, [0099]) and (ii) an inpainted depth image by inpainting portions of the depth image expected to be disoccluded by the change in the initial viewpoint (a color- and depth-inpainting network is used to fill the holes in the warped representation, [0101]); and generating a modified image having an adjusted viewpoint that is different from the initial viewpoint by combining visual information of the input image and the inpainted image (View generator 160 is configured to generate one or more intermediate views based on the global point cloud and the camera path, [0044]).
D1 is silent to teaching that a corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image; determining a foreground visibility map comprising, for each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image, a visibility value that is inversely proportional to the corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image; and in accordance with the depth image, the inpainted depth image, and the foreground visibility map. However, the claimed limitation is well known in the art as evidenced by D2.
In the same field of endeavor, D2 teaches a corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image (the depth gradient logic 250 may compare the gradient level of each pixel with an upper limit value (gmax) to determine whether the depth gradient is sharp or large, [0031]); determining a foreground visibility map comprising, for each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image, a visibility value that is inversely proportional to the corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image (the pre-processing phase 110 may use foreground prior depth image based rendering (DIBR) technique to identify and reduce the depth gradients to minimize disocclusion effect, [0022]); and in accordance with the depth image, the inpainted depth image, and the foreground visibility map (the depth of the foreground may be preserved by the foreground prior DIBR approach to generate better visual effect on a new virtual image, [0024]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of D1 with the teaching of D2 in order to improve the visual effect.
-Regarding claim 20, D1 discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations (memory 110, FIG. 1) comprising: determining, for each respective pixel of a plurality of pixels of a depth image, wherein the depth image corresponds to an input image having an initial viewpoint, and wherein each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image has a corresponding depth value (Depth estimator 120 is configured to generate a depth map based on a two dimensional (2D) image, [0034]); generating (i) an inpainted image by inpainting portions of the input image expected to be disoccluded by a change in the initial viewpoint (a neural network may be used to inpaint the missing color and depth information to produce additional points 620 within the inpainted image 615, [0099]) and (ii) an inpainted depth image by inpainting portions of the depth image expected to be disoccluded by the change in the initial viewpoint (a color- and depth-inpainting network is used to fill the holes in the warped representation, [0101]); and generating a modified image having an adjusted viewpoint that is different from the initial viewpoint by combining visual information of the input image and the inpainted image (View generator 160 is configured to generate one or more intermediate views based on the global point cloud and the camera path, [0044]).
D1 is silent to teaching that a corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image; determining a foreground visibility map comprising, for each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image, a visibility value that is inversely proportional to the corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image; and in accordance with the depth image, the inpainted depth image, and the foreground visibility map. However, the claimed limitation is well known in the art as evidenced by D2.
In the same field of endeavor, D2 teaches a corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image (the depth gradient logic 250 may compare the gradient level of each pixel with an upper limit value (gmax) to determine whether the depth gradient is sharp or large, [0031]); determining a foreground visibility map comprising, for each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image, a visibility value that is inversely proportional to the corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image (the pre-processing phase 110 may use foreground prior depth image based rendering (DIBR) technique to identify and reduce the depth gradients to minimize disocclusion effect, [0022]); and in accordance with the depth image, the inpainted depth image, and the foreground visibility map (the depth of the foreground may be preserved by the foreground prior DIBR approach to generate better visual effect on a new virtual image, [0024]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of D1 with the teaching of D2 in order to improve the visual effect.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 (U.S. PG-PUB NO. 2020/0334894) in view of D2 (U.S. PG-PUB NO. 2013/0009943) and further in view of D3 (U.S. PG-PUB NO. 2024/0378789).
-Regarding claim 4, the combination of D1 and D2 further discloses determining the foreground visibility map comprises: determining a depth-based foreground visibility map comprising, for each respective pixel of the plurality of pixels of the depth image, the visibility value that is inversely proportional to the corresponding depth gradient associated with the respective pixel of the depth image (D2, the depth gradient logic 250 may compare the gradient level of each pixel with an upper limit value (gmax), [0031]); and determining the foreground visibility map based on (i) the depth-based foreground visibility map (D2, (the depth of the foreground may be preserved by the foreground prior DIBR approach to generate better visual effect on a new virtual image, [0024])).
The combination is silent to teaching that determining a matte-based foreground visibility map based on a foreground alpha matte corresponding to the input image; and (ii) the matte-based foreground visibility map. However, the claimed limitation is well known in the art as evidenced by D3.
In the same field of endeavor, D3 teaches determining a matte-based foreground visibility map based on a foreground alpha matte corresponding to the input image (a more accurate algorithm can be used to estimate, for each patch 110, the foreground color and alpha (transparency) using so called alpha matting, [0079]); and (ii) the matte-based foreground visibility map (trimap, [0080]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of the combination with the teaching of D3 in order to provide further improve foreground object detection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PING Y HSIEH whose telephone number is (571)270-3011. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Mehmood can be reached at (571) 272-2976. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PING Y HSIEH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2664
