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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/17/25 and 9/19/25 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
The USPTO “Interim Guidelines for Examination of Patent Applications for Patent Subject Matter Eligibility” (Official Gazette notice of 22 November 2005), Annex IV, reads as follows:
Nonfunctional descriptive material that does not constitute a statutory process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter and should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. Sec. 101. Certain types of descriptive material, such as music, literature, art, photographs and mere arrangements or compilations of facts or data, without any functional interrelationship is not a process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter. USPTO personnel should be prudent in applying the foregoing guidance. Nonfunctional descriptive material may be claimed in combination with other functional descriptive multi-media material on a computer-readable medium to provide the necessary functional and structural interrelationship to satisfy the requirements of 35 U.S.C. Sec. 101. The presence of the claimed nonfunctional descriptive material is not necessarily determinative of nonstatutory subject matter. For example, a computer that recognizes a particular grouping of musical notes read from memory and upon recognizing that particular sequ3nce, causes another defined series of notes to be played, defines a functional interrelationship among that data and the computing processes performed when utilizing that data, and as such is statutory because it implements a statutory process.
Claims 31-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. Sec. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter as follows. Claim 31 recites a data structure for use in a camera-based exterior view assembly for road vehicles, or a data structure generated by a camera-based exterior view assembly for road vehicles, wherein the data structures comprises first image and second image data, which does not impart functionality to a computer or computing device, and is thus considered nonfunctional descriptive material. Such nonfunctional descriptive material, in the absence of a functional interrelationship with a computer, does not constitute a statutory process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter and is thus non-statutory per se. Dependent claim 32-33 inherits the deficiencies of independent claim 31.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 16-17, 20-22, 25-26 and 31-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Iwao et al. (JP 2013131925) (see attached translation).
Regarding claim 16, Iwao teaches a camera-based exterior view assembly (Figs. 1-4, exterior camera assembly 30), that is configured to be mounted to a road vehicle (Figs. 1-4, mounted on vehicle), the camera-based exterior view assembly comprising:
at least one image capturing system, comprising at least one optical lens arrangement and at least one image capturing sensor arrangement, and having at least one first field of view (Fig. 4, and corresponding teachings, image sensor 33, using optical arrangement 32 to image in a first line of sight that has a first field of view 37, referred to as imaging range),
-said at least one image capturing system being adapted to capture optical radiation from a first part of the surrounding area of the road vehicle within said at least one first field of view (Fig. 4, and corresponding teachings, image sensor 33, using optical arrangement 32 to image in a first line of sight that has a first field of view 37, referred to as imaging range);
a light deflection device (Fig. 4, mirror 50), mounted to the camera-based exterior view assembly and/or to the road vehicle, and configured such that-said light deflection device is arranged within the at least one first field of view of the image capturing system (Fig. 4, mirror 50 is located within the range of imaging 37),
-said light deflection device is capturing optical radiation from a second part of the surrounding area of the road vehicle within a second field of view different from the at least one first field of view, (Fig. 4, mirror 50 captures a second range of imaging 41 that is different from the first line of sight/field of view) and such that
-said captured optical radiation from the second part of the surrounding area of the road vehicle is deflected onto a part of said at least one image capturing sensor arrangement via said at least one optical lens arrangement (Fig. 4, mirror 50 deflects the range of imaging area 41 onto the sensor 33 using the original arrange for the first field of view 47).
Regarding claim 17, Iwao teaches the claimed wherein said light deflection device is arranged within the at least one first field of view of the at least one image capturing system, thereby partly shading the at least one first field of view of the image capturing system (Fig. 4, wherein the mirror 50 partly shades the range of imaging 47).
Regarding claim 20, Iwao teaches the claimed wherein the light deflection device is movably mounted to the camera-based exterior rear view assembly and/or to the road vehicle to adapt said second field of view of said light deflection device and/or said second optical path of said light deflection device (Page 3 states “the mounting angle of the mirror 50 with respect to the camera 30 can be appropriately set by rotating the mirror 50 with respect to the bracket 52”).
Regarding claim 21, Iwao teaches the claimed wherein the at least one image capturing system is a Camera Monitoring System or a rear view Camera Monitoring System (Figs. 1-4, camera monitoring system and rear view camera functionality is taught).
Regarding claim 22, Iwao teaches the claimed a road vehicle comprising at least one camera-based exterior view assembly according to claim 16 (Figs. 1-4, camera is mounted on a road vehicle).
Method claim 25 is rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 16 above wherein the system performs the capturing process using the first field of view and second field of view.
Regarding claim 26, Iwao teaches the claimed wherein the method further comprising:
receiving first optical radiation from the first area of the surrounding area of the road vehicle within the first field of view via a first optical path defined by the optical lens system and the image capturing sensor arrangement of the image capturing system (Fig. 4, and corresponding teachings, image sensor 33, using optical arrangement 32 to image in a first line of sight that has a first field of view 37, referred to as imaging range);
receiving second optical radiation from the second area of the surrounding area of the road vehicle different from the first area, within the second field of view different from the first field of view via a second optical path different from the first optical path and defined by said light deflection, said optical lens system and said image capturing sensor arrangement of said image capturing system (Fig. 4, mirror 50 captures a second range of imaging 41 that is different from the first line of sight/field of view. The reflected range of imaging 41 is also reflected back towards the imaging sensor);
creating combined image data by said image capturing sensor arrangement of said image capturing system, said combined image data comprising a first image data section representing the received first optical radiation from said first area of the surrounding area of the road vehicle and a second image data section representing the received second optical radiation from said second area of the surrounding area of the road vehicle (page 3 teaches wherein the image regions 44 and 43 are combined in the image sensor to generate a “captured image” by the image sensor 33. “The image sensor 33 photoelectrically converts the light and darkness of the image formed in the first region 43 and the second region 44 of the image pickup surface 36 into the amount of electric charge, sequentially reads it and converts it into an electrical signal, Output to the engine. The image engine generates an image of the upper region 41 and the lower region 42 based on the electrical signal output from the image sensor 33, that is, a captured image including images of the rear upper and rear of the vehicle 10”) and
displaying the combined image data to a vehicle user by an image display arrangement (page 3 teaches displaying the “captured image output from the camera”); or (examiner notes the alternative language wherein the above option of the option below needs to be taught to anticipate the claim language)
creating image data by said image capturing sensor arrangement of said image capturing system, said image data comprising first image data representing the received first optical radiation from said first area of the surrounding area of the road vehicle and a second image data representing the received second optical radiation from said second of the surrounding area of the road vehicle (page 3 teaches wherein the image regions 44 and 43 are combined in the image sensor to generate a “captured image” by the image sensor 33. “The image sensor 33 photoelectrically converts the light and darkness of the image formed in the first region 43 and the second region 44 of the image pickup surface 36 into the amount of electric charge, sequentially reads it and converts it into an electrical signal, Output to the engine. The image engine generates an image of the upper region 41 and the lower region 42 based on the electrical signal output from the image sensor 33, that is, a captured image including images of the rear upper and rear of the vehicle 10”) and
displaying said image data to a vehicle user by one image display arrangements or by a plurality of image display arrangements (page 3 teaches displaying the “captured image output from the camera”).
Data structure claim 31 is rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 16 above wherein the system performs the capturing process to generate a data structure for use in a camera based exterior view assembly for road vehicles or a data structure generated by a camera based exterior view assembly for road vehicles, comprising image data generated by the exterior camera of Iwao.
Regarding claim 32, Iwao teaches containing boundary data adapted to create a displayable optical boundary separating the first image data from the second image data when said combined image is displayed (page 3 teaches wherein the image regions 44 and 43 are combined in the image sensor to generate a “captured image” by the image sensor 33. “The image sensor 33 photoelectrically converts the light and darkness of the image formed in the first region 43 and the second region 44 of the image pickup surface 36 into the amount of electric charge, sequentially reads it and converts it into an electrical signal, Output to the engine. The image engine generates an image of the upper region 41 and the lower region 42 based on the electrical signal output from the image sensor 33, that is, a captured image including images of the rear upper and rear of the vehicle 10”. The images put together comprises a boundary between the first image and second image when combined and displayed together as a “captured image output from the camera”)).
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 of this title, 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 18, 23, 24, 27-28 and 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwao et al. (JP 2013131925) in view of Berne (US 2020/0406819).
Regarding claim 18, Iwao teaches the claimed wherein-said at least one first field of view of said at least one image capturing system is adapted to collect optical radiation from at least one first class area of the surrounding area of the road vehicle as defined in UN ECE Regulation No 46; and-said second field of view of said light deflection device is adapted to collect optical radiation from at least one second different class area of the surrounding area of the road vehicle as defined in UN ECE Regulation No 46 (Fig. 1, first field of view/range of imaging 47 and second field of view/range of imaging 41. However, while the camera is used to capture the two different fields of views, fails to explicitly teach that the camera performs the operations based on a specific UN ECE Regulation No 46).
In an analogous art, Berne teaches in Fig. 1 and paragraphs 34-38 of a further camera system imaging the front area of the road vehicle for collision avoidance system, which meets the MOIS of the road vehicle).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current application to incorporate the teachings of Berne into the system of Iwao because said incorporation allows for the benefit of improving safety by affording the driver with improved visibility when moving forward (at least paragraphs 6 and 35).
Regarding claim 23, Iwao teaches the claimed further comprising a further camera-based exterior view assembly being a camera-based exterior front view assembly, comprising a further image capturing system-which is adapted to collect optical radiation from a front area of the surrounding area of the road vehicle, which is arranged in a center area of the front region of the vehicle, and-which is configured as part of a Move-Off Information System (MOIS) of the road vehicle. (Berne: teaches in Fig. 1 and paragraphs 34-38 of a further camera system imaging the front area of the road vehicle for collision avoidance system, which meets the MOIS of the road vehicle).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current application to incorporate the teachings of Berne into the system of Iwao because said incorporation allows for the benefit of improving safety by affording the driver with improved visibility when moving forward (at least paragraphs 6 and 35).
Regarding claim 24, Berne in combination with Iwao teaches the claimed comprising a further camera-based exterior view assembly being a camera-based exterior front view assembly, comprising a further image capturing system which is adapted to collect optical radiation from a front class area of the surrounding area of the road vehicle as defined in UN ECE Regulation No 46 (Berne: teaches in Fig. 1 and paragraphs 34-38 of a further camera system imaging the front area of the road vehicle for collision avoidance system, which meets the MOIS of the road vehicle. Paragraphs 27-28 at least teaches the UN ECE Reg 46). The prior motivation as discussed above is incorporated herein.
Claim 27 is rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 18 above.
Claims 28 and 33 are rejected for the same reasons as discussed in claim 18 above.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwao et al. (JP 2013131925) in view of Abbott et al. (US 2014/0273181).
Regarding claim 19, Iwao teaches the claimed mirror above, however doesn’t specifically teach the claimed, but Abbott teaches the claimed wherein said light deflection device has a first curved shape in a first cross-sectional plane and a second curved shape in a second cross-sectional plane perpendicular to the first cross-sectional plane (Figs. 2A, 3A-3C and paragraphs 57-58 and 61 teaches that a mirror/reflecting surface is a double curved mirror, which curves in “two axes” and/or cross sectional planes).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current application to incorporate the teachings of Abbott into the system of Iwao such that the mirror can be utilized because said incorporation allows for the benefit of improving/increasing the field of view by capturing a wide-angle view (at least in paragraphs 77).
Claims 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwao et al. (JP 2013131925) in view of Russell et al. (US 10,345,437).
Regarding claim 29, Iwao teaches the claimed as discussed in claim 25 above, however fails to teach, but Russell teaches the claimed further comprising: applying an image post processing and/or image correction algorithm to the combined image data before displaying the combined image data to a vehicle user by an image display arrangement to eliminate one of image distortion or differences in image quality or differences in image brightness or differences in image sharpness (col. 17, line 51 through col. 18, line 4 teaches the claimed ability to apply post processing teaching the above alternatively stated limitations).
Regarding claim 30, Iwao teaches the claimed as discussed in claim 25 above, however fails to teach, but Russell teaches the claimed further comprising:
applying to the combined image data an image post processing or image correction algorithm based on calibration data or applying to the combined image data an artificial intelligence based or (examiner notes the alternative language)
neuronal network based image post processing or (examiner notes the alternative language),
image correction algorithm comprising a machine learning model in the form of a pre-trained neural network or (examiner notes the alternative language), in the form of a pre- trained transversal neural network or (examiner notes the alternative language), in the form of a pre-trained convolutional neural network (col. 17, line 51 through col. 18, line 4 teaches the claimed ability to apply post processing teaching the above alternatively stated limitations)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chen et al. (US 2020/0341118) teaches a system that uses mirror to extend sensor field of view in vehicles.
Yamada et al. (US 2007/0273764) teaches a vehicular based camera that is used to image the front of the vehicle, but utilizes a mirror to provide a different field of view of the rear part of the vehicle.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GELEK W TOPGYAL whose telephone number is (571)272-8891. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (9:30-6 PST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Vaughn can be reached at 571-272-3922. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GELEK W TOPGYAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481
