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 Species I, claims 1-7, 10-11 and 13-20 in the reply filed on May 22, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 8-9 and 12 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected claims, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on May 22, 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-6, 10 and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipate by Ota Makoto (JP 5202264 B2).
In considering claim 1, Ota Makoto discloses all the claimed subject matter, note 1) the claimed a processor, wherein the processor is configured to: set a subject detection region where a subject detection processing is performed and a specific region where a specific processing is performed, for the captured image is met by the subject detection area determination circuit 7 (Figs. 1-2 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 7, line 34), and 2) the claimed switch the subject detection region between a first region defined based on the specific region and a second region that is different from the first region in at least one of a size, a shape, or a position is met by if the signal S81 output from the CPU 8 is 0 as a result of this determination, the moving image recording is waiting, and the process proceeds to step S1002, in step S1002, the read start address and the read image size are set to be the entire screen in the image data held in the memory, and on the other hand, if the signal S81 output from the CPU 8 is 1 as a result of the determination in step S1001, the process proceeds to step S1004 because a moving image is being recorded, in step S1004, based on the signal S6 output from the subject detection circuit 6, the subject is detected from the detected position and size of each subject using the image signal S3 output next (Figs. 1-2 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 7, line 34).
In considering claim 2, the claimed wherein the second region has a larger region size than the first region is met by the image size are set to be the entire screen in the image data and the size of the detection are increase as the size of the detected subject (Figs. 1-2 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 7, line 34).
In considering claim 3, the claimed wherein the first region is the specific region, and the second region is an effective region of an imaging surface of an imaging element is met by the image size are set to be the entire screen in the image data and the size of the detection are increase as the size of the detected subject (Figs. 1-2 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 7, line 34).
In considering claim 4, the claimed wherein the processor is configured to: repeatedly switch the subject detection region between the first region and the second region is met by in step S1008, it is determined whether or not to end the process for determining the detection area. As a result of the determination, if the process ends, the process ends, if not, the process returns to step S1001, and the process of determining the detection area is started again (Figs. 1-2 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 7, line 34).
In considering claim 5, Ota Makoto discloses all the claimed subject matter, note 1) the claimed wherein the processor is configured to: switch the subject detection region to the second region in a case where a state in which no subject is detected continues for a first threshold value time after setting the subject detection region to the first region is met by result of the comparison, if there is a subject that has not been detected by the subject detection circuit 6 this time among the subjects included in the history of detection results, the process proceeds to step S1006 (Figs. 1 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 8, line 25), and 2) the claimed switch the subject detection region to the first region in a case where a state in which no subject is detected continues for a second threshold value time after setting the subject detection region to the second region is met by as a result of the determination, the subject whose number of times not included in the signal S6 is less than N times is set as a detection target region, and the process proceeds to step S1007, in step S1007, the size of the detection area is determined from the size of the history subject according to the relationship shown in FIG. 2, and is added to the signal S7 together with information on the coordinate position of the history subject, that is, the signal S7 includes a detection area based on the position and size of the subject detected this time by the subject detection circuit 6 (Figs. 1 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 8, line 25).
In considering claim 6, the claimed wherein the second threshold value time is different from the first threshold value time is met by the correlation value is provided with a threshold value and the detection process may be terminated when the image signal S3 is updated by the number of times N set according to the processing speed of the subject detection circuit 6 (Figs. 1 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 8, line 25).
In considering claim 10, the claimed wherein the processor is configured to: in a case where a subject is detected in the subject detection region, switch the subject detection region to a third region defined based on a detection result of the subject in a previous frame is met by the information of the signal S7 output from the subject detection area determination circuit 7 for the image data held in the memory, then, by performing pattern matching between the image pattern stored in advance in the database and the image data read from the memory, a plurality of subject detection processes are started (Figs. 1-2 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 7, line 34).
In considering claim 13, the claimed wherein the processor is configured to: switch the subject detection region from the third region to the second region in a case where the subject detection region is set to the third region and a state in which no subject is detected continues for a third threshold value time is met by result of the comparison, if there is a subject that has not been detected by the subject detection circuit 6 this time among the subjects included in the history of detection results, the process proceeds to step S1006 (Figs. 1 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 8, line 25).
In considering claim 14, the claimed wherein the processor is configured to: perform, as the specific processing, at least one of processing related to display of an image of the specific region on a display unit or processing related to storage of the image of the specific region in a storage unit is met by in the step S905, the image data held in the memory is updated by the image signal S3 output from the AFE 3 (Figs. 1-2 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 7, line 34).
Claim 15 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 1 above.
Claim 16 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 1 above.
Claim 17 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 1 above.
In considering claim 18, the claimed which is a surveillance camera is met by the surveillance camera 2 (Figs. 1-2 and 9-10, page 6, line 3 to page 7, line 34).
Claim 19 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 1 above.
Claim 20 is rejected for the same reason as discussed in claim 18 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.
Claims 7 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ota Makoto (JP 5202264 B2).
In considering claim 7, Ota Makoto discloses all the limitations of the instant invention as discussed in claims 1 and 4-6 above, except for providing the claimed wherein the second threshold value time is longer than the first threshold value time. The capability using of the second threshold value time is longer than the first threshold value time is old and well known in the art. Therefore the Official Notice is taken. It was notoriously well-known in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the old and well known using of the second threshold value time is longer than the first threshold value time into Ota Makoto’s system in order to adjust the time to desirable value.
In considering claim 11, Ota Makoto discloses in the 1st embodiment all the limitations of the instant invention as discussed in claims 1 and 10 above, except for providing the claimed wherein the third region is a region obtained by enlarging a region of the subject detected in the previous frame based on a set magnification factor, with a centroid of the region of the subject detected in the previous frame as a reference. Ota Makoto teaches in 3rd embodiment that the resize processing circuit 10 receives the image signal S4 output from the camera signal processing circuit 4 and the signal S83 output from the CPU 83, then, the resizing processing circuit 10 determines the cutout size of the central portion of the image of the image signal S4 output from the camera signal processing circuit 4 according to the value of the signal S83 indicating the zoom magnification output from the CPU 83, then, the enlargement process is performed and the image signal S10 is output to the moving image recording processing circuit 5 (Figs. 5-6, page 9, line 22 to page 10, line 33). 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 the enlargement process as taught by Ota Makoto in 3rd embodiment into the 1st embodiment of Ota Makoto in order to enlarge the interest region of the image to the greater detail.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shin (US Patent No. 12,545,187 B2) discloses surrounding surveillance apparatus for vehicle.
Chosak et al. (US Patent No. 9,363,487 B2) disclose scanning camera-based video surveillance system.
Wang et al. (US Patent No. 9,298,987 B2) disclose information processing apparatus, information processing method, program, and information processing system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRANG U TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7358. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00AM- 6:00PM.
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July 25, 2026
/TRANG U TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2422
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