Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 19/069,550

CAMERA CONTROL DEVICE, CAMERA CONTROL METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Mar 04, 2025
Priority
Mar 15, 2024 — JP 2024-040761
Examiner
GARCES-RIVERA, ANGEL L
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Amnimo Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
11m
Est. Remaining
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allowance Rate
516 granted / 632 resolved
+21.6% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
10 currently pending
Career history
651
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.3%
-38.7% vs TC avg
§103
61.3%
+21.3% vs TC avg
§102
25.6%
-14.4% vs TC avg
§112
3.4%
-36.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 632 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 § 102 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1 and 6-8 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by IDS provided reference WO 2008/127194 to ZHOU et al. (hereinafter ZHOU). Regarding independent claim 1, ZHOU teaches a camera control device that is installed in a private address space and controls cameras installed in the private address space (network camera 12 and camera server 14 may be interconnected via a private network, see Fig. 2 and page 4 lines 23-26), the camera control device comprising: a control unit that controls the cameras on the basis of control information transmitted from a server device installed in a public address space without performing a process of transmitting images captured by the cameras to the server device (A user accesses with a client workstation 20 ( 1 ..... 3), collectively 20, the administration server 16 via a public network 30 for example the Internet. The client workstation may be a PC or other device such as a cellular phone or PDA with a browser, WAP capabilities to access the administration server and other components of the system 10, It is clear that the established communication is without image transmission, see page 4 lines 28-32). Regarding claim 6, ZHOU teaches the camera control device according to claim 1, wherein, when the camera control information including at least one of the imaging area of the cameras, the frame rate of the images captured by the cameras, and the bit rate when the images captured by the cameras are transmitted to the server device is transmitted as the control information from the server device, the control unit controls the cameras on the basis of the camera control information (the user is able to specify which frame rate, display area, see ZHOU page 11 line 9 and line 22 to page 12 line 6). Regarding claim 7, ZHOU teaches the camera control device according to claim 1, wherein, when the control information transmitted from the server device is no longer received, the control unit performs control for storing the images captured by the cameras in a storage device installed within the private address space (the user can specify how many images is stored per second. The storage space of the recording is calculated based on the user's selection and shown as estimated size. The storage currently available is shown. And the maximum recording period allowed is 30 also calculated and shown on the dialog, see page 11 lines 22-34). Regarding claim 8, ZHOU teaches the camera control device according to claim 7, wherein, when the control information that has stopped being received is received again, the control unit terminates the control for storing the images captured by the cameras in the storage device, and performs control for transmitting the images stored in the storage device to the server device (Referring to the view image/video window GU1 140 shown in FIG. 14, a user may view live video/image from camera. To view a camera, select a camera from the camera list, see page 11 lines 1-11). Regarding independent claim(s) 11, claim(s) is/are drawn to the method used by the corresponding apparatus in claim(s) 1 and is/are rejected for the same reasons used above. Regarding independent claim(s) 12, claim(s) is/are drawn to the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium used by the corresponding apparatus in claim(s) 1 and is/are rejected for the same reasons used above. 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) 2-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHOU in view of IDS provided reference CN 11437467 to WAN et al. (hereinafter WAN). Regarding claim 2, ZHOU teaches the camera control device according to claim 1. But ZHOU fails to clearly specify “wherein, when the control unit detects a new camera in the private address space, the control unit makes a registration request for the new camera to the server device”. However, WAN teaches “wherein, when the control unit detects a new camera in the private address space, the control unit makes a registration request for the new camera to the server device (the mobile client uses the SDK of each IPC model to send discovery messages on the wireless LAN. Then, the device is matched, and the mobile client displays the IPC information in the device list, such as the IPC's IP address on the wireless LAN, device manufacturer, IPC model, MAC address, etc. The user can select the IPC to be registered based on this information, and the mobile client sends a registration request for the IPC to be registered to the video surveillance platform. See par. [0177] and Fig. 6) References are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and/or are reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the applicant was concerned because they relate to network camera control. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the above system as taught by ZHOU, by incorporating the teachings of WAN. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to provide a camera registration method, apparatus, device, and storage medium to lower the registration threshold and improve the convenience of camera registration as suggested by WAN (see par. [0004]). Regarding claim 3, ZHOU in view of WAN teaches the camera control device according to claim 2, wherein, when a new camera is registered on the server device on the basis of the registration request, the control unit performs initial setting of the new camera registered on the server device on the basis of initial setting information transmitted from the server device as the control information (automatically activate and register cameras based on existing models in the device information database without the need for professional personnel to come to the site, see WAN pars. [0165-0166]). Regarding claim 4, ZHOU in view of WAN teaches the camera control device according to claim 3, wherein the initial setting information includes transmission destination information that indicates a transmission destination of images captured by the cameras, and wherein the control unit sets the transmission destination of the images in a new camera on the basis of the transmission destination information. Regarding claim 5, ZHOU in view of WAN teaches the camera control device according to claim 4, wherein the initial setting information includes camera setting information that indicates an imaging area of the cameras, a frame rate of the images captured by the cameras, and a bit rate when the images captured by the cameras are transmitted to the server device, and wherein the control unit sets the imaging area, the frame rate, and the bit rate for the new camera on the basis of the camera setting information (by the user being able to specify which frame rate implies that the initial camera setting indicates such information, see ZHOU page 11 lines 22 to page 12 line 6). Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHOU in view of US 20180054347 to KOJIMA (hereinafter KOJIMA). Regarding claim 9, ZHOU teaches the camera control device according to claim 1. But ZHOU fails to clearly specify “wherein, when the control unit detects, within the private address space, a camera that is in a stopped state among the cameras registered in the server device, the control unit performs control for restarting the camera that is in the stopped state”. However, KOJIMA teaches “wherein, when the control unit detects, within the private address space, a camera that is in a stopped state among the cameras registered in the server device, the control unit performs control for restarting the camera that is in the stopped state (a main control unit 101 of the router 100 performs the life-and-death monitoring of the PoE-enabled camera 300 connected with the router 100 and if the main control unit 101 determines the PoE-enabled camera 300 is in the unresponsive state, the main control unit 101 executes a process for restarting of the PoE-enabled camera 300, see par. [0052])”. References are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and/or are reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the applicant was concerned because they relate to network cameras. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the above system as taught by ZHOU, by incorporating the teachings of KOJIMA. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to provide a router that can operate the PoE-enabled device stably as suggested by KOJIMA (see par. [0005]). Regarding claim 10, ZHOU in view of KOJIMA teaches the camera control device according to claim 9, wherein the control unit restarts the camera that is in the stopped state by controlling a power supply device that supplies electric power to the cameras (since the router 100 includes the wired LAN communication/power supply unit 111 having a PoE-power function, it is possible to stop supplying power and then restart supplying power to the PoE-enabled camera 300, see KOJIMA par. [0052]). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGEL L GARCES-RIVERA whose telephone number is (571)270-7268. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM ET. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sinh Tran can be reached at 571-727-7564. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ANGEL L GARCES-RIVERA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2637 /SINH TRAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 04, 2025
Application Filed
Jul 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
82%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+10.4%)
2y 3m (~11m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 632 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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