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 .
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/11/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract contains legal phraseology (e.g. disclosure, comprises). A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Objections
Claims 5 and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 5 and 12 recite “the image data comprises a (region of interest) containing...”. It appears the parentheses should be removed.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lipsey et al. (US 2020/0160053) in view of Johnson et al. (US 2020/0086437) and Glickman et al. (US 2016/0098831).
With respect to claims 1, 3, 9, 11, 15 and 17, Lipsey et al. discloses an inventory control system for tool identifier recognition and sensor calibration in a tool control system, comprising:
a plurality of storage containers (300) ([0026]), where each storage container comprises:
a plurality of storage locations for storing objects (tools) ([0033]);
at least one image sensing device (351, 310) configured to capture image data of the plurality of storage locations ([0028], [0029], [0035]-[0037]); and
a data processor (355) configured to execute machine readable instructions to ([0030]):
capture image data comprising an identification tag associated with a tool in a storage container ([0028], [0029], [0035]-[0037]);
identifying a pattern, wherein the pattern is correlated to a known pattern of color parameters consistent with the identification tag associated with the tool in the storage container ([0041]-[0049], [0060]-[0063], [0067]); and
in response to identifying the pattern, determining a presence or an absence of the tool in the storage container ([0031], [0050], [0061]-[0063], [0067]).
Lipsey et al. additionally discloses a non-transient computer readable medium storage having instructions embodied thereon ([0008], [0031]).
Lipsey et al. fails to expressly disclose the image data comprises a plurality of pixels of an identification tag; correlating the plurality of pixels to a numeric hue value; identifying a pattern of pixels from the plurality of pixels, wherein the pattern of pixels is correlated to a known pattern of color parameters consistent with the identification tag; and the pattern of pixels is consistent with the identification tag. Lipsey et al. additionally fails to expressly disclose determining a boundary range for a color to differentiate a plurality of colors from each other, wherein the boundary range comprises a range of numeric hue values. Lipsey et al. additionally fails to expressly disclose implementing a color gain to adjust a boundary range for a color.
Johnson et al. teaches it is well known in the art for image data to comprise a plurality of pixels of an identification tag and to correlate a pattern of pixels to a known pattern of color parameters consistent with an identification tag ([0042]-[0045], [0049], [0050]); and the pattern of pixels is consistent with the identification tag ([0049]-[0050]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the image data to comprise a plurality of pixels of an identification tag and to correlate a pattern of pixels to a known pattern of color parameters consistent with an identification tag, and to modify the pattern of pixels to be consistent with the identification tag in order to identify a 2D visual code on the at least one tool in the at least one image and determining the pose based on an orientation of the 2D visual code, as taught by Johnson et al ([0016]).
The combined teachings of Lipsey et al. and Johnson et al. disclose the invention set forth above, however they fail to expressly disclose correlating the plurality of pixels to a numeric hue value; determining a boundary range for a color to differentiate a plurality of colors from each other, wherein the boundary range comprises a range of numeric hue values; and implementing a color gain to adjust a boundary range for a color.
Glickman et al. teaches it is well known in the art to correlate a plurality of pixels to a numeric hue value ([0104]-[0110], [0195]); determine a boundary range for a color to differentiate a plurality of colors from each other, wherein the boundary range comprises a range of numeric hue values ([0104]-[0110], [0195]); and to implement a color gain to adjust a boundary range for a color ([0104]-[0110], [0195]-[0197]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to correlate the plurality of pixels to a numeric hue value; determine a boundary range for a color to differentiate a plurality of colors from each other, wherein the boundary range comprises a range of numeric hue values; and implement a color gain to adjust a boundary range for a color, in order to improve the efficiency in image data processing and transmissions, and provide an effective inventory control system that could assist tracking and accounting for usage of tools and whether they are properly put back after usage and knows exactly what tool is removed or returned to a tool box ([0006], [0072]).
The method is inherent to the system.
With respect to claims 2, 10 and 16, the modified Lipsey et al. discloses adjusting a maximum value of the boundary range which comprises: identifying at least one reference point within the boundary range, wherein the at least one reference point comprises at least one hue value; determining a variance between the maximum value of the boundary range to the variance with the at least one hue of the reference point; and in response to the determining the variance, adjusting the maximum value for the boundary range by increasing or decreasing the maximum value (Glickman: [0104]-[0110], [0195]-[0197]).
With respect to claims 4 and 20, the modified Lipsey et al. discloses updating an inventory status of the tool (Lipsey: [0019], [0020], [0030]).
With respect to claims 5 and 12, the modified Lipsey et al. discloses the captured image data is from a camera and formatted in a raw Bayer pattern (RGB), wherein the image data comprises a region of interest containing a tool silhouette (Lipsey: [0035]-[0037], [0043], [0051], [0060], [0061]).
With respect to claims 6 and 17, the modified Lipsey et al. discloses a range of numeric hue values, where a numeric hue value is associated with a pixel of the plurality of pixels (Glickman: [0104]-[0110], [0195]-[0197]).
With respect to claims 7, 13 and 18, the modified Lipsey et al. discloses the pixel comprising the numeric hue value is outside a range of a predefined threshold and is defined as a gray/white non-color pixel (Glickman: [0104]-[0110], [0192], [0195]-[0197]).
With respect to claims 8, 14 and 19, the modified Lipsey et al. discloses generating an image associated with the identification tag (Lipsey: [0031], [0035]-[0037], [0040], [0041]).
Telephone/Fax Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUEZU ELLIS whose telephone number is (571)272-2868. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 11:00 am - 7:00 pm EST.
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, Michael Lee can be reached at (571)272-2398. 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.
/SUEZU ELLIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876