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
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of Applicant's claim for foreign priority based on a Patent Applications filed on 10/27/22. It is noted that Applicant has filed a certified copy of the application as required by 35 U.S.C. 119(b).
PATH TO ALLOWANCE
Examiner respectfully suggests Applicant telephone Examiner Adams (571-270-3688) prior to filing a response to the instant office action to discuss minor claim 8amendments to place this application in a Condition for Allowance. Possible considerations for allowance would be to incorporate some of the subject matter deemed allowable in the instant office action as well as cure deficiencies for Claim 15.
Claim Objections
Claim 15 is object to for the following: Claim 15 recites “A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium including a program that executable to perform a controlling method of a cooking appliance” whereby it is unclear what the program is executable and whereby “executable by a processor” provides the appropriate clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
Claims 1, 8, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DIAO et al. (US Pub. No.: 2019-0200797) in view of KIM (US Pub. No.: 2015-0261421) in view of LEE et al. (US Pub. No.: 2020-0252594).
As per Claim 1 DIAO discloses A cooking appliance comprising (Figs. 1-4 [Abstract]):
a cooking chamber in which an inner chamber is rotatable (Figs. 1-6 see Fig. 3 for rotation of foodstuff holder chamber [0042] [0060-0061]); a camera (Figs. 1-6 cameras 201, 212 [0060-0061]); a memory to store at least one instruction (Figs. 1-6 control system 112 and food controls 118 for controlling camera unit including one or more processors and memory [0060-0061]); and at least one processor to be connected to the memory to control the cooking appliance (Figs. 1-6 control system 112 and food controls 118 for heat control [0060-0061]), so that while the at least one processor is connected to the memory, the at least one processor executes the at least one instruction to (Figs. 1-6 control units 112 & 118 [0060-0061]):
based on cooking being started, obtain a reference image of an inside of the cooking chamber captured by the camera (Figs. 1-6 establish a baseline [0027-0028, 0043] trigger beginning cycle [0034-0038] [0060-0061]); obtain a plurality of images of the inside of the cooking chamber, captured by the camera, at a preset time interval while the inner chamber rotates in a first direction (Figs. 1-6 preset intervals for appearance adjustments to cooking time [0034-0038] series of captured images and at different angles during rotation [0044] [0060-0061]); a rotation angle of the inner chamber (Figs. 1-6 see Fig. 3 for rotation of foodstuff holder chamber [0042] [0060-0061])
DIAO does not disclose but KIM discloses store the plurality of images with a rotation angle (Figs. 1-8 store at least temp to display presentation [0056-0057]); obtain a plurality of rotated images by rotating the plurality of images in a second direction by a rotation angle, the second direction being opposite to the first direction (see Figs. 5A-6C image rotator 306 - rotating images both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions [0056-0057] [0061-0065]); obtain a plurality of cropped images by cropping the plurality of rotated images such that the plurality of rotated images correspond to the reference image (Figs. 1-8 crop via rotation [0015] [0056] [0064-0065])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include store the plurality of images with a rotation angle; obtain a plurality of rotated images by rotating the plurality of images in a second direction by a rotation angle, the second direction being opposite to the first direction; obtain a plurality of cropped images by cropping the plurality of rotated images such that the plurality of rotated images correspond to the reference image as taught by KIM into the system of DIAO because of the benefit taught by KIM to improve and expand upon analysis and presentation techniques for series of captured image data with paired rotational effects whereby DIAO captures data at changes in the angle of view for the object of interest during rotation and would benefit from the ability to further analysis and segment paired angled data at the time of capture.
DIAO and KIM do not disclose but LEE discloses matching an angle at a time the plurality of images are captured, respectively (Figs. 1-6, 19-27 match/pair angles with specific capture times – for viewing angles [0089][0162] [0183]); angle stored that matches the plurality of images (Figs. 1-6, 19-27 image segments 2006-2008 [0089][0162] [0183]); provide a time-lapse video using the reference image and the plurality of cropped images (Figs. 1-6, 19-27 time-lapse and cropped to fit [0169-0172] [0183])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include matching an angle at a time the plurality of images are captured, respectively; angle stored that matches the plurality of images; provide a time-lapse video using the reference image and the plurality of cropped images as taught by LEE into the system of DIAO and KIM because of the benefit taught by LEE to disclose time-dependent presentations of video content via time-lapsed presentations which improves the user’s playback and data analysis whereby DIAO and KIM would benefit as both would be facilitated by improving presentations techniques of captured image data to fulfill system requirements by at least providing a time-lapse analysis.
As per Claim 8 DIAO discloses A controlling method of a cooking appliance, the controlling method comprising (Figs. 1-4 [Abstract]):
based on cooking being started, obtaining a reference image of an inside of a cooking chamber captured by a camera (See said analysis for Claim 1); obtaining a plurality of images of the inside of the cooking chamber at a preset time interval while an inner chamber of the cooking chamber rotates in a first direction (See said analysis for Claim 1); a rotation angle of the inner chamber (See said analysis for Claim 1)
DIAO does not disclose but KIM discloses store the plurality of images with a rotation angle (See said analysis for Claim 1); obtain a plurality of rotated images by rotating the plurality of images in a second direction by a rotation angle, the second direction being opposite to the first direction (See said analysis for Claim 1); obtain a plurality of cropped images by cropping the plurality of rotated images such that the plurality of rotated images correspond to the reference image (See said analysis for Claim 1)
DIAO and KIM do not disclose but LEE discloses matching an angle at a time the plurality of images are captured, respectively (See said analysis for Claim 1); angle stored that matches the plurality of images (See said analysis for Claim 1); provide a time-lapse video using the reference image and the plurality of cropped images (See said analysis for Claim 1).
As per Claim 15 DIAO discloses A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium including a program that executable to perform a controlling method of a cooking appliance, the controlling method comprises (Figs. 1-4 [Abstract] [0012]):
based on cooking being started, obtaining a reference image of an inside of a cooking chamber captured by a camera (See said analysis for Claim 1);
obtaining a plurality of images of the inside of the cooking chamber at a preset time interval while an inner chamber of the cooking chamber rotates in a first direction (See said analysis for Claim 1); a rotation angle of the inner chamber (See said analysis for Claim 1)
DIAO does not disclose but KIM discloses storing the plurality of each of the plurality of images with a rotation angle (See said analysis for Claim 1); obtain a plurality of rotated images by rotating the plurality of images in a second direction by a rotation angle, the second direction being opposite to the first direction (See said analysis for Claim 1); obtaining a plurality of cropped images by cropping the plurality of rotated images such that the plurality of rotated images correspond to the reference image (See said analysis for Claim 1)
DIAO and KIM do not disclose but LEE discloses matching an angle at a time the plurality of images are captured, respectively (See said analysis for Claim 1); angle stored that matches the plurality of images (See said analysis for Claim 1); provide a time-lapse video using the reference image and the plurality of cropped images (See said analysis for Claim 1)
Claims 4, 7, 11, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DIAO et al. (US Pub. No.: 2019-0200797) in view of KIM (US Pub. No.: 2015-0261421) in view of LEE et al. (US Pub. No.: 2020-0252594), as applied in Claims 1, 8, 15, and further in view of BRAULT et al. (US Pub. No.: 2024-0144797)
As per Claim 4 DIAO discloses The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1,
DIAO and KIM do not disclose but LEE discloses wherein a thumbnail corresponding to at least one of the plurality of images is displayed (Figs. 1-6 display device 240 [Abstract] [0103]) (The motivation that applied in Claim 1 applies equally to Claim 4)
DIAO KIM LEE do not disclose but BRAULT discloses wherein the time-lapse video includes a progress bar (Fig. 4 control 11 [0139] [0147]); displayed on one side of the progress bar (Fig. 4 display of time lapse [0139-0141] [0147])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include wherein the time-lapse video includes a progress bar; displayed on one side of the progress bar as taught by BRAULT into the system of DIAO KIM LEE because of the benefit taught by BRAULT to assist with time-dependent presentations of video content such that time-lapse and progress presented thereof improves the user’s playback and data analysis whereby DIAO KIM LEE benefit as each would be facilitated by improving presentations techniques of captured image data to fulfill system requirements by at least providing progress results and status.
As per Claim 7 DIAO discloses The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to (See said analysis for Claim 1)
DIAO KIM LEE do not disclose but BRAULT discloses transmit information for displaying the time-lapse video to a user terminal device (Figs. 4-5A transmit video stream file for display S1130 [0147]) (The motivation that applied in Claim 4 applies equally to Claim 7)
As per Claim 11 DIAO discloses The controlling method as claimed in claim 8,
DIAO and KIM do not disclose but LEE discloses wherein a thumbnail corresponding to at least one of the plurality of images is displayed (See said analysis for Claim 4)
DIAO KIM LEE do not disclose but BRAULT discloses wherein the time-lapse video includes a progress bar (See said analysis for Claim 4); displayed on one side of the progress bar (See said analysis for Claim 4).
As per Claim 14 DIAO discloses The controlling method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:
DIAO KIM LEE do not disclose but BRAULT discloses transmitting information for displaying the time-lapse video to a user terminal device (See said analysis for Claim 7).
Allowable Subject Matter
REASONS FOR ALLOWANCE
Claims 2-3, 5-6, 9-10, 12-13 is/are objected to as being dependent upon the 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.
Claim 2-3, 5-6, 9-10, 12-13 is/are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
As per Claim 2 the prior art of record either alone or in reasonable combination fails to teach or suggest “The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain the plurality of cropped images by cropping an area of the plurality of rotated images that does not overlap with an area of the reference image in the plurality of rotated images" These limitations in combination with the other limitations of the independent claim are thus deemed allowable.
As per Claim 3 the prior art of record either alone or in reasonable combination fails to teach or suggest “The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: obtain a plurality of corrected images by performing a correction of displaying a blank area of the plurality of cropped images in black; and provide a time-lapse video including the reference image and the plurality of corrected images" These limitations in combination with the other limitations of the independent claim are thus deemed allowable.
As per Claim 5 the prior art of record either alone or in reasonable combination fails to teach or suggest “The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to identify an image corresponding to a preset cooking degree among the plurality of images" These limitations in combination with the other limitations of the independent claim are thus deemed allowable.
As per Claim 6 the prior art of record either alone or in reasonable combination fails to teach or suggest “The cooking appliance as claimed in claim 5, wherein the time-lapse video includes a thumbnail including an image corresponding to the preset cooking degree" These limitations in combination with the other limitations of the independent claim are thus deemed allowable.
As per Claim 9 the prior art of record either alone or in reasonable combination fails to teach or suggest “The controlling method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the obtaining a plurality of cropped images comprises obtaining the plurality of cropped images by cropping an area where each of the plurality of rotated images does not overlap with an area of the reference image in each of the plurality of rotated images" These limitations in combination with the other limitations of the independent claim are thus deemed allowable.
As per Claim 10 the prior art of record either alone or in reasonable combination fails to teach or suggest “The controlling method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising: obtaining a plurality of corrected images by performing a correction of displaying a blank area of each of the plurality of cropped images in black; and wherein the providing a time-lapse video comprises providing a time-lapse video including the reference image and the plurality of corrected images" These limitations in combination with the other limitations of the independent claim are thus deemed allowable.
As per Claim 12 the prior art of record either alone or in reasonable combination fails to teach or suggest “The controlling method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising: identifying an image corresponding to a preset cooking degree among the plurality of images" These limitations in combination with the other limitations of the independent claim are thus deemed allowable.
As per Claim 13 the prior art of record either alone or in reasonable combination fails to teach or suggest “The controlling method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the time-lapse video includes a thumbnail including an image corresponding to the preset cooking degree" These limitations in combination with the other limitations of the independent claim are thus deemed allowable.
The closest prior art of record DIAO et al. (US Pub. No.: 2019-0200797) for Claims 2-3, 5-6, 9-10, 12-13 does not teach all the elements in combination with the other limitations of the independent claim. DIAO only discloses a cooking appliance that includes a cooking chamber in which an inner chamber is rotatable along with a camera. The prior art also teaches that based on cooking being started, obtain a reference image of an inside of the cooking chamber captured by the camera and as well obtain a plurality of images of the inside of the cooking chamber, captured by the camera, at a preset time interval while the inner chamber rotates in a first direction.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EILEEN M ADAMS whose telephone number is 571-270-3688. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:30-5:00 EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, William Vaughn can be reached on (571) 272-3922. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-4688.
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/EILEEN M ADAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481