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 in the reply filed on July 17, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 7 – 22 and 24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on July 17, 2026.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: “transmitting” in line 4 should be “transmit”. Appropriate correction is required.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1 – 5 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fredlund (US 2016/0373646).
Regarding claim 1, Fredlund discloses an imaging device comprising: at least one processor (20) (fig. 1); and at least one memory (20/28) having stored thereon instructions (fig. 1) which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the imaging device at least to: identifying a user of the imaging device (¶66-67, 70, 98, 102: face recognition); determining a state of continuous use of the imaging device by the user (fig. 6; ¶78, 80, 100: detecting face of user provides feedback to user and reads on continued use); and performing control such that information of the user is recorded in a memory in association with an image captured by the imaging device (fig. 2; ¶67, 70, 40: storing user images…the face recognition step 175 could be used to recognize the face of the user of the digital camera 10. The output of step 175 can include metadata that identifies the names or other identifiers for specific faces that are detected) between a time at which the user is identified and a time at which it is determined that use of the imaging device by the user is not continuing (fig. 6; ¶100: the digital camera 10 can be configured so that image capture is automatically initiated when all of the criteria have been met. An advantage of providing such an automatic capture mode is that the photographer 210 need not press the image capture button 240, which can be awkward, and may impart undesirable motion to the digital camera 10 during capture).
Regarding claim 2, Fredlund discloses the limitations of claim 1. Fredlund also teaches wherein the memory is included in the imaging device or connected to the imaging device in a physically detachable manner (¶40: removable Flash memory).
Regarding claim 3, Fredlund discloses the limitations of claim 1. Fredlund also teaches wherein the imaging device is connected to a server including the memory via a communication path, and the processor cause the imaging device to transmitting a signal to the server in accordance with a result of the determination so that the image and the information of the user are recorded in association with each other in the memory (¶40: photo service provided implies server).
Regarding claim 4, Fredlund discloses the limitations of claim 1. Fredlund also teaches wherein the imaging device identifies the user of the imaging device based on biometric information of the user of the imaging device (¶67: face recognition).
Regarding claim 5, Fredlund discloses the limitations of claim 1. Fredlund also teaches wherein the biometric information includes information of at least one of an iris, a fingerprint, a vein, and a face (¶67: face recognition).
Claim 23 is rejected as applied to claim 1 above. The method steps as claimed would have been implied by the apparatus of Fredlund.
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) 6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fredlund in view of Stenberg (US 6,433,818).
Regarding claim 6, Fredlund discloses the limitations of claim 1. Fredlund fails to explicitly disclose wherein the imaging device identifies the user of the imaging device based on authentication information that is input by the user of the imaging device or read from a recording medium.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Fredlund with the teachings of Steinberg. Fredlund discloses a camera device that identifies a face of a user for image capture. Steinberg teaches a digital camera with biometric security that uses a smart card or password for authentication purposes (c.5, line 60-65). One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of user input authentication, as taught by Stenberg, with the invention of Fredlund would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved system that reduces unauthorized use of a camera and/or deters theft.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTOINETTE SPINKS whose telephone number is (571)270-3749. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7am - 5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Twyler Haskins can be reached at 571-272-7406. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANTOINETTE T SPINKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639
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