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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 16 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo (WO 2021/025534 A1), first published in Korean on 11 February 2021, in view of Kim (WO 2021/060819 A1), first published in Korean on 1 April 2021. The US Pre-Grant Publication Woo (US 2022/0150345 A1) is referred to herein as the English translation of the WIPO publication of the Woo reference and the US Pre-Grant Publication Kim (US 2022/0214852 A1) is referred to herein as the English translation of the WIPO publication of the Kim reference.
Claim 16, Woo teaches a method performed by an electronic device, the method comprising:
displaying, by the electronic device in a displaying area of a flexible display (electronic device 10 comprising a flexible display 552; paragraph 0057) of the electronic device having a first size, a preview image based on a first camera having a first field-of-view (FoV) corresponding to the first size among a plurality of cameras of the electronic device (first preview image from a first camera is displayed in operation 610; paragraph 0118-0119);
in response to an input modifying a size of the displaying area from the first size to a second size different from the first size (electronic device 10 identifies whether folding or unfolding of the electronic device is detected; paragraph 0129), identifying, by the electronic device, the size of the displaying area by using a sensor of the electronic device (sensor module 176 provides information to detect the folding or unfolding of the device; paragraph 0115);
activating, by the electronic device in a state in which the size of the displaying area is modified based on the input (when the electronic device is folded or unfolded, operation 630; paragraph 0128), a second camera having a second FoV corresponding to the second size among the plurality of cameras (second camera corresponding to the new field of view range is selected, operation 1230; paragraph 0192), based on identifying that a difference between the first size of the displaying area and the second size is lower than or equal to a preset difference by using the sensor (when the electronic device is changed from the unfolded to folded state, the display area size is lowered a preset amount; paragraph 0114); and
based on identifying that the first size of the displaying area is modified to the second size by the input, displaying, by the electronic device, the preview image based on the activated second camera among the first camera and the second camera (second preview image corresponding to the selected camera is displayed, operation 650; paragraph 0130).
Woo is silent regarding wherein the activation of a second camera is performed while displaying the preview image using the first camera.
Kim teaches wherein activation of a second camera is performed while displaying the preview image using a first camera (paragraph 0009: an electronic device is configured to start activation of a second camera while image information acquired by a first camera is displayed).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used the teaching of Kim with that of Woo in order to improve user experience by minimizing a sense of difference which a user may experience due to the change in cameras (see paragraph 0116 of Kim).
Claim 17, Woo further teaches wherein the displaying of the preview image based on the first camera further comprises:
identifying, by the electronic device, one or more visual objects in frames sequentially outputted from the first camera (faces are detected, operation 720; Fig. 7); and
displaying, by the electronic device in the state, the preview image based on a portion of the frames in which the one or more visual objects are positioned such that the one or more visual objects are maintained in the preview image (camera is selected corresponding to the field of view to capture all faces in the image, operations 730, 760; Fig. 7).
Claim(s) 1, 9, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo (WO 2021/025534 A1) in view of Kim (WO 2021/060819 A1), and further in view of Liu (US 2015/0153777 A1).
Claim 1, Woo teaches an electronic device, comprising:
a housing (housing 500; paragraph 0057);
a plurality of cameras exposed to an outside through a surface of the housing (cameras 341, 342; paragraph 0066 and Fig. 2);
a flexible display (electronic device 10 comprising a flexible display 552; paragraph 0057);
a sensor configured to detect a size of a displaying area (sensor module 176 provides information to detect the folding or unfolding of the device; paragraph 0115);
memory comprising one or more storage media storing instructions (memory 130; Fig. 1); and
at least one processor comprising processing circuitry (processor 120; Fig. 1), wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
display, in the displaying area of the flexible display having a first size, a preview image based on a first camera having a first field-of-view (FoV) corresponding to the first size among the plurality of cameras (first preview image from a first camera is displayed in operation 610; paragraph 0118-0119),
in response to an input modifying the size of the displaying area from the first size to a second size different from the first size, identify the size of the displaying area by using the sensor (when the electronic device is folded or unfolded, operation 630; paragraph 0128),
activate, in a state in which the size of the displaying area is modified based on the input, a second camera having a second FoV corresponding to the second size among the plurality of cameras (second camera corresponding to the new field of view range is selected, operation 1230; paragraph 0192), based on identifying that a difference between the first size of the displaying area and the second size is lower than or equal to a preset difference by using the sensor (when the electronic device is changed from the unfolded to folded state, the display area size is lowered a preset amount; paragraph 0114), and
based on identifying that the first size of the displaying area is modified to the second size by the input, display the preview image based on the activated second camera among the first camera and the second camera (second preview image corresponding to the selected camera is displayed, operation 650; paragraph 0130).
Woo is silent regarding wherein the activation of a second camera is performed while displaying the preview image using the first camera.
Kim teaches wherein activation of a second camera is performed while displaying the preview image using a first camera (paragraph 0009: an electronic device is configured to start activation of a second camera while image information acquired by a first camera is displayed).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used the teaching of Kim with that of Woo in order to improve user experience by minimizing a sense of difference which a user may experience due to the change in cameras (see paragraph 0116 of Kim).
Woo in view of Kim is silent regarding wherein the flexible display is configured to be inserted into the housing and extracted from the housing.
Liu teaches wherein a flexible display is configured to be inserted into the housing and extracted from the housing (flexible touchscreen display 212 extracted with frame bar 219 of the housing; paragraph 0020, 0031 and Fig. 2A), and a sensor is configured to detect a size of a displaying area of the flexible display extracted from the housing (position sensor to detect the instant position and view area of the flexible touchscreen; paragraph 0022).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used the teaching of Liu with that of Woo and Kim in order to dynamically adapt to format of the content displayed on the device (see paragraph 0006 of Liu).
Claim 9, Woo teaches a method performed by an electronic device (electronic device 10; Fig. 1), the method comprising:
identifying, by the electronic device among a plurality of cameras of the electronic device (first front camera 541; paragraph 0119), a first camera having a first field-of-view (FoV) corresponding to a first size of a displaying area of a flexible display extracted from a housing of the electronic device (first front camera 541 corresponding to first field of view range; paragraph 0119);
displaying, by the electronic device, a preview image in the displaying area based on at least a first portion of frames obtained from the first camera (first preview image is displayed in operation 610; Fig. 6);
based on identifying that the first size of the displaying area is modified to a modified size: modifying, by the electronic device (when the electronic device is folded or unfolded, operation 630; paragraph 0128), the preview image displayed in the displaying area by segmenting the frames based on the modified size and positions of one or more visual objects included in the preview image (objects in preview image are analyzed; paragraph 0180); and
based on identifying that the first size of the displaying area is modified to a preset size associated with a second FoV of a second camera different from the first camera (when the electronic device is changed from the unfolded to folded state, the display area size is lowered a preset amount; paragraph 0114), displaying, by the electronic device, the preview image in the displaying area based on at least a second portion of frames obtained from the second camera (second preview image corresponding to the selected camera is displayed, operation 650; paragraph 0130).
Woo further teaches a second camera having a second FOV corresponding to a preset size among the plurality of cameras (rear cameras 341, 342, 343 each have a preset field of view; paragraph 0069) but is silent regarding while displaying the preview image obtained from the first camera, activating, by the electronic device, a second camera having a second FOV corresponding to a preset size among the plurality of cameras.
Kim teaches while displaying the preview image obtained from the first camera, activating, by the electronic device, a second camera (paragraph 0009: an electronic device is configured to start activation of a second camera while image information acquired by a first camera is displayed) having a second FOV corresponding to a preset size among the plurality of cameras.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used the teaching of Kim with that of Woo in order to improve user experience by minimizing a sense of difference which a user may experience due to the change in cameras (see paragraph 0116 of Kim).
Woo in view of Kim is silent regarding wherein the flexible display is configured to be inserted into the housing and extracted from the housing.
Liu teaches wherein a flexible display is configured to be inserted into the housing and extracted from the housing (flexible touchscreen display 212 extracted with frame bar 219 of the housing; paragraph 0020, 0031 and Fig. 2A).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used the teaching of Liu with that of Woo in order to dynamically adapt to format of the content displayed on the device (see paragraph 0006 of Liu).
Claim 21, Woo further teaches wherein the preset difference is related to a size range for activating both the first camera and the second camera (the preset difference may be flat, folded, or intermediate state; paragraph 0114. The intermediate state may be within a certain angle; paragraph 0074).
Claim(s) 2-5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo (WO 2021/025534 A1) in view of Kim (WO 2021/060819 A1), and further in view of Liu (US 2015/0153777 A1) and Li (US 2024/0267613 A1).
Claim 2, Woo in view of Liu teaches the electronic device of claim 1, but is silent regarding wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
identify, in frames sequentially outputted from the first camera, one or more visual objects, and display, in the state, the preview image based on a portion of the frames in which the one or more visual objects are positioned such that the one or more visual objects are maintained in the preview image.
Li teaches an electronic device comprising a first and second camera (Fig. 2) wherein in frames sequentially outputted from the first camera, one or more visual objects (target object is selected from frames output from the first camera; paragraph 0024 and Fig. 2), and display, in the state (switching from first to second camera; paragraph 0025), the preview image based on a portion of the frames in which the one or more visual objects are positioned such that the one or more visual objects are maintained in the preview image (“the position of the target object in the second image may be controlled to be the same as the position of the target object in the first image;” paragraph 0025 and 0004).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used the teaching of Li with that of the cited prior art in order to maintain a position of a target object in a second image to be the same as a position of the target object so that the user does not need to re-position the device when switching cameras and to improve user experience (see paragraph 0003 and 0018 of Li).
Claim 3, Li further teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
obtain, in a larger state in which the size of the displaying area is increased from the first size to the second size larger than the first size (see Fig. 2), the preview image based on a crop with respect to the frames, and adjust, in the larger state, a portion in which the frames are cropped based on the size of the displaying area modified based on the input (transformation such as cropping is performed such that “the position of the target object in the second image is not much different from the position in the first image;” paragraph 0039).
Claim 4, Li further teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
obtain, in the state, the preview image by adjusting a magnification of the first camera based on the size of the displaying area modified based on the input (preview image of the first camera is zoomed; paragraph 0024 and Fig. 2).
Claim 5, Li further teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
identify types of the one or more visual objects included in the preview image (target object is identified; paragraph 0047 and Fig. 3), and based on the identified types, obtain, in the state, the preview images by adjusting a magnification of the first camera or a portion in which the frames obtained from the first camera are cropped (see paragraph 0024-0025).
Claim 8, Li further teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to: in the state, display, superimposed on the preview image, a visual object to notify that at least one of a crop with respect to frames obtained from the first camera or modification of a magnification of the first camera is performed based on a type of the one or more visual objects displayed in the preview image (see box displayed in Fig. 2-3 and paragraph 0047).
Claim(s) 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo (WO 2021/025534 A1) in view of Kim (WO 2021/060819 A1), and further in view of Li (US 2024/0267613 A1).
Claim 18, Woo in view of Kim teaches the method of claim 17, but is silent regarding wherein the displaying of the preview image based on the first camera further comprises: obtaining, by the electronic device, in a larger state in which the size of the displaying area is increased from the first size to the second size larger than the first size, the preview image based on a crop with respect to the frames; and adjusting, by the electronic device in the larger state, a portion in which the frames are cropped based on the size of the displaying area modified based on the input.
Li teaches an electronic device comprising a first and second camera (Fig. 2) wherein displaying of the preview image based on the first camera further comprises: obtaining, by the electronic device, the preview image based on a crop with respect to the frames (see Fig. 2); and adjusting, by the electronic device in the larger state, a portion in which the frames are cropped based on the size of the displaying area modified based on the input (transformation such as cropping is performed such that “the position of the target object in the second image is not much different from the position in the first image;” paragraph 0039).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used the teaching of Li with that of the cited prior art in order to maintain a position of a target object in a second image to be the same as a position of the target object so that the user does not need to re-position the device when switching cameras and to improve user experience (see paragraph 0003 and 0018 of Li).
Claim 19, Li further teaches wherein the displaying of the preview image based on the first camera further comprises: obtaining, by the electronic device in the state, the preview image by adjusting a magnification of the first camera based on the size of the displaying area modified based on the input (preview image of the first camera is zoomed; paragraph 0024 and Fig. 2).
Claim 20, Li further teaches wherein the displaying of the preview image based on the first camera further comprises: identifying, by the electronic device, types of the one or more visual objects included in the preview image (target object is identified; paragraph 0047 and Fig. 3); and obtaining, by the electronic device in the state, based on the identified types, the preview image by adjusting a magnification of the first camera or a portion in which the frames obtained from the first camera are cropped (see paragraph 0024-0025).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 7, and 10-15 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 attached.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHIAWEI A CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1707. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 12:00pm - 9:00pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sinh Tran can be reached at (571)272-7564. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHIAWEI CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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