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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 8, 10-11, 17 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Richards (US 2016/0316155).
Regarding claim 1, Richards discloses:
An electronic device comprising:
memory, comprising one or more storage mediums, storing instructions (Richards: Fig 2; memory 270; [0020]-[0022]; software; [0024]);
a first camera having a first field of view (FOV) (Richards: Fig 1; [0016]; camera with narrower field of view; Fig 2; two cameras; [0020]);
a second camera having a second FOV wider than the first FOV (Richards: Fig 1; [0016]; camera with wider field of view; Fig 2; two cameras; [0020]), wherein the second camera and the first camera are disposed on a same side of the electronic device to face in a same direction (Richards: Fig 1; [0016]; both cameras captures images, 160 and 170, of scene 120);
a display (Richards: Fig 1; mobile device 110; smartphone; Fig 2; display 240; [0020]-[0021]); and
at least one processor comprising processing circuitry (Richards: Fig 2; controller 220; [0022]; controller 220 may be any programmable processor; programmed microprocessor or microprocessor, peripheral integrated circuit elements, an application-specific integrated circuit or other integrated circuits, hardware/electronic logic circuits, such as a discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device, such as a programmable logic array, field programmable gate-array),
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
receive an input for obtaining an image through the first camera,
based on the input (Richards: Fig 2; user interface 260; [0021]; user interface 260 can include a keypad, a keyboard, buttons, a touch pad, a joystick, a touch screen display, another additional display, or any other device useful for providing an interface between a user and an electronic device):
control the first camera to obtain a first image (Richards: [0016]-[0017]; camera with narrower field of view captures image; [0023]), and
control the second camera to obtain a second image (Richards: [0016]-[0017]; camera with wider field of view captures image; [0023]),
obtain a third image, by compensating for a peripheral area of obtained first image using the obtained second image (Richards: [0017]-[0018]; merge a wide image and a telephoto image per scene to provide a zoomed image; better image than a digital zoom image, and competitive with an optical zoom image, given the same zoom ratio; lens shading correction / matching; [0023]; corrected images used to create merged image), and
store, in the memory, the third image (Richards: controller 220 can also output the merged image for display on the display 240, for storage in the memory 270, for transmission to another device via the transceiver 250 or the network interface 280, and/or otherwise output the merged image).
Regarding claim 2, Richards discloses:
The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
based on obtaining the second image, identify a partial image of the second image, corresponding to the peripheral area of the first image (Richards: [0018]; noise is higher at image corners),
perform an operation to compensate for a deteriorated characteristic of the first image (Richards: [0018]; [0023]; lens shading correction on images),
using the first image and the partial image of the second image, and obtain the third image based on the operation performed (Richards: [0023]; merge the corrected first image with the corrected second image to generate a merged image).
Regarding claim 8, Richards discloses:
The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the deteriorated characteristic of the first image includes a deteriorated characteristic related to relative illumination, a deteriorated characteristic related to gradation, or a deteriorated characteristic by barrel distortion (Richards: [0018]; [0023]; noise; shading; [0004]).
Regarding claims 10-11, 17 and 19-20, Richards discloses the method and CRM limitations of these claims as discussed above with respect to claims 1-2 and 8. It is noted that the preambles of claims 10 and 19 are given patentable weight because limitations of the preambles are referred to in the bodies of the claims.
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) 3 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Richards (US 2016/0316155) in view of Jeon et al. (US 2023/0074962)
Regarding claim 3,
Richards teaches:
The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
perform the operation compensating for the deteriorated characteristic of the first image, by providing the first image and the partial image of the second image to compensate for a deteriorated characteristic of an image (Richards: [0017]-[0018]; merge a wide image and a telephoto image per scene to provide a zoomed image; [0023]; lens shading correction on images), and
obtain the third image (Richards: [0017]-[0018]; merge a wide image and a telephoto image per scene to provide a zoomed image; [0023]; merge the corrected first image with the corrected second image to generate a merged image).
Richards fails to teach:
a model trained / trained model;
Jeon teaches:
a model trained / trained model (Jeon: [0144]; artificial intelligence model processing);
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Jeon with Richards. Using the artificial intelligence model of Jeon would benefit the Richards teachings by enhancing quality and/or speed. Additionally, this is the application of a known technique, using an artificial intelligence model, to a known device ready for improvement, the Richards device, to yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 12, Richards in view of Jeon teaches the limitations of this claim as discussed above with respect to claim 3.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7, 9, 13-16 and 18 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 JAMES M PONTIUS whose telephone number is (571)270-7687. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-4.
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, Sath V Perungavoor can be reached at (571)272-7455. 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.
/JAMES M PONTIUS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488