CTNF 19/092,974 CTNF 82501 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1-5 and 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Sanchez et al., US 2021/0169336 . Regarding claims 1 and 11, Sanchez discloses an endoscopic imaging system, comprising: a shutter; a light detector; a sensor; one or more processors, a memory, and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: detecting, based on a signal from the light detector, a light event (paragraph 136 and 197-198); and responsive to detecting the light event, activating the shutter to shield the sensor of the endoscopic imager from the light event (paragraph 136 and 197-198). Regarding claims 2 and 12, Sanchez discloses the endoscopic imaging system of claim 1, wherein the shutter comprises: a liquid crystal shutter, a mechanical shutter, a DLP mirror, or an electromechanical shutter (paragraph 197-198). Regarding claims 3 and 13, Sanchez discloses the endoscopic imaging system of claim 1, wherein the light detector comprises a photodiode detector (paragraph 186). Regarding claims 4 and 14, Sanchez discloses the endoscopic imaging system of claim 1, wherein the light event comprises infrared light (paragraph 89 and 210). Regarding claims 5 and 15, Sanchez discloses the endoscopic imaging system of claim 1, wherein the light event is generated by a laser (paragraph 33) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 6-8 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sanchez in view of Schmidt et al., US 2019/0208183 . Regarding claims 6 and 16, Sanchez discloses the endoscopic imaging system of claim 1. Sanchez is silent about automatically deactivating the shutter after a pre-defined period of time. In an analogous art, Schmidt discloses automatically deactivating the shutter after a pre-defined period of time (paragraph 46 and 60-68). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sanchez’s system with the teachings of Luby. The motivation would have been to channeling light for the benefit of obtaining high contrast images. Regarding claims 7 and 17, Sanchez and Schmidt disclose the endoscopic imaging system of claim 6, wherein the pre-defined period of time is approximately between 500us to 1ms (Schmidt paragraph 46 and 60-68). Regarding claims 8 and 18, Sanchez and Schmidt disclose the endoscopic imaging system of claim 6, wherein the pre-defined period of time is dynamically adjustable (Schmidt paragraph 46 and 60-68) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sanchez in view of McDowall et al., US 2019/0310545 . Regarding claims 9 and 19, Sanchez discloses the endoscopic imaging system of claim 1. Sanchez is silent about automatically deactivating the shutter responsive to detecting an absence of the light event. In an analogous art, McDowall discloses automatically deactivating the shutter responsive to detecting an absence of the light event (paragraph 54). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sanchez’s system with the teachings of McDowall. The motivation would have been to channeling light for the benefit of obtaining high contrast images . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 10 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sanchez in view of Ogawa, US 2019/0324261 . Regarding claims 10 and 20, Sanchez discloses the endoscopic imaging system of claim 1. Sanchez is silent about the endoscopic imager is a rolling shutter imager or a global shutter imager. In an analogous art, Ogawa discloses the endoscopic imager is a rolling shutter imager or a global shutter imager (paragraph 133). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sanchez’s system with the teachings of Ogawa. The motivation would have been to allow for sequential exposure of the image sensor for the benefit of capturing detailed images. Contact Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OSCHTA I MONTOYA whose telephone number is (571)270-1192. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8 am - 5 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan Flynn can be reached on 571-272-1915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. OM Oschta Montoya Patent Examiner Art Unit 2421 /OSCHTA I MONTOYA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421 Application/Control Number: 19/092,974 Page 2 Art Unit: 2421 Application/Control Number: 19/092,974 Page 3 Art Unit: 2421 Application/Control Number: 19/092,974 Page 4 Art Unit: 2421 Application/Control Number: 19/092,974 Page 5 Art Unit: 2421 Application/Control Number: 19/092,974 Page 6 Art Unit: 2421
