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
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 1-5, 13, 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0388658 to Feng (“Feng”).
Regarding claim 1, Feng teaches a device comprising:
a housing; and an optical sensor arranged within the housing and coupled to a first region of the housing (Figure 9A shows an example of the device with an outer housing and the camera on the top portion is seen which is coupled to the adjacent housing section), the optical sensor configured to generate a signal in response to light that passes through the first region of the housing and onto the optical sensor (Feng teaches a photosensitive sensor as well as a flicker sensor which both convert an optical image on a photosensitive surface into an electrical signal, see paragraph [0168]).
Regarding claim 2, Feng teaches the device of claim 1, further comprising at least one controller coupled to the optical sensor and configured to determine, based on the signal generated by the optical sensor, a flicker frequency of the light passing through the housing and onto the optical sensor (the electronic device determines a flicker frequency or an artificial light source, see paragraph [0174]).
Regarding claim 3, Feng teaches the device of claim 2, wherein the flicker frequency is between 50 Hz and 2000 Hz (the flicker frequency may be for example 50Hz or 100Hz, see paragraph [0072]).
Regarding claim 4, Feng teaches the device of claim 2, further comprising a camera, and wherein the at least one controller is configured to adjust an exposure time of the camera based on the flicker frequency (the exposure time may be adjusted based on the flicker frequencies of the artificial light, see paragraph [0076]).
Regarding claim 5, Feng teaches the device of claim 2, wherein the at least one controller is configured to generate a frequency space representation of the signal generated by the optical sensor and to determine the flicker frequency based on the frequency space representation (flicker frequency is determined based on a sine wave which is a frequency space representation, see paragraph [0025]).
Regarding claim 13, Feng teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is configured to generate the signal in response to light at a plurality of visible light frequencies that passes through the first region of the housing and onto the optical sensor (light passes through the shutter, see paragraph [0099]).
Regarding claim 15, Feng teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is a multispectral ambient light sensor (the electronic device obtains light from the ambient brightness information and converts the time sequence into a spectrum, see paragraph [0016]).
Regarding claim 16, Feng teaches a system comprising: a camera; a housing comprising a housing shell, the housing shell being configured to permit light to pass through a passthrough region of the housing shell; an optical sensor arranged within the housing and configured to generate a signal in response to light that passes through the passthrough region of the housing and onto the optical sensor; and at least one controller configured to adjust at least one function of the camera based on the signal generated by the optical sensor (Claim 16 is rejected similarly to Claim 1, see citations to the prior art listed with claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 17, Feng teaches the system of claim 16, wherein the at least one function includes an exposure time (see claim 4 above).
Regarding claim 18, Feng teaches the system of claim 16, wherein the at least one controller is further configured to determine, based on the signal generated by the optical sensor, a flicker frequency of the light passing through the housing and onto the optical sensor (see claim 2 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 6-10, 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feng as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0246018 to Rho et al. (“Rho”).
Regarding claim 6, Feng teaches the device of claim 1, but is silent on showing details of the placement of the internal parts with respect to the housing. Rho teaches a camera within a device wherein the first region is thinner than other regions of the housing adjacent to the first region. See Figure 2B showing the camera and lens in a thinner region of housing above it compared to the portions to the left and right of the sensor. It 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 to modify the teaching of Feng with that of Rho to use a known type of placement for a camera and optical sensor within a device.
Regarding claim 7, Feng in view of Rho teach the device of claim 6, wherein an interior side of the housing includes a well, wherein a bottom of the well is the first region of the housing, and wherein the optical sensor is arranged within the well, see further Figure 2B of Rho showing the well within the top portion of the outer housing and surrounding the optical sensor region which is within the well.
Regarding claim 8, Feng in view of Rho teach the device of claim 6, wherein the first region of the housing has a thickness between 0.2 mm and 1.0 mm, and the other regions of the housing adjacent to the first region have a thickness greater than 1.0 mm. While particular dimensions are not mentioned by Rho, it would be obvious to use thickness that is normally known in the art and provide a greater thickness to the areas surround the optical sensor. It 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 to modify the teaching of Feng in view of Rho to utilize particular dimensions that are known in the art.
Regarding claim 9, Feng in view of Rho teach the device of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is arranged to contact an interior wall of the first region of the housing. See further Figure 2B of Rho.
Regarding claim 10, Feng in view of Rho teach the device of claim 9, wherein the optical sensor is arranged on a flexible printed circuit, and wherein the flexible printed circuit is adhered to the interior wall of the first region of the housing (see Figure 2B, reference number 215 is the FPCB).
Claims 19-20 are rejected similarly to claims 6, 9.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feng as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 14, Feng teaches the device of claim 1, but is silent on wherein the first region of the housing is configured to attenuate at least 75% of light incident on the first region of the housing, such that the light that passes through the first region of the housing and onto the optical sensor is no more than 25% of the light incident on the first region of the housing. One of ordinary skill in the art recognizes that the amount of light that passes through the top surface can be configured according to the particular needs of the device. It 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 to modify the teaching of Feng to attenuate at least 75% of light incident on the first region of the housing to accommodate the type of material that covers the sensor or other factors according the specific device needs.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-12 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMY R HSU whose telephone number is (571)270-3012. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lin Ye can be reached at (571)272-7372. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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AMY R. HSU
Examiner
Art Unit 2664
/AMY R HSU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2638
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