CTNF 19/105,357 CTNF 86258 DETAILED ACTION 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 07-07-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. 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Nakamura (United States Patent Application Publication 2007/0085911) . Regarding claim 1, Nakamura discloses an imaging control device comprising: a detector that detects, as a region of interest, a face region of a person in a captured image obtained by an imaging apparatus (figure 1 exhibits white balance detection circuit 40 which detects a face region as disclosed at paragraph 70); an extractor that extracts a skin region in the region of interest detected by the detector (figure 1 exhibits white balance detection circuit 40 which detects a skin tone area as disclosed at paragraph 70); and a controller that performs an imaging control on the imaging apparatus on a basis of information obtained from the skin region extracted by the extractor (figure 1 exhibits white balance detection circuit 40 which controls white balancing based on the information of the skin area disclosed at paragraph 72). Regarding claim 11, Nakamura discloses the imaging control device according to claim 1, in addition, Nakamura discloses wherein the captured image includes a plurality of color components (paragraph 18 teaches that the captured image is a RGB image), and the controller performs, as the imaging control, gain setting for white balance adjustment in the imaging apparatus on a basis of information regarding an image signal value of each of the color components in the skin region extracted by the extractor (figure 1 exhibits white balance detection circuit 40 which controls white balancing based on the information of the skin area disclosed at paragraph 72) . 07-15 AIA Claim s 1-3, 9, 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Hung et al. (United States Patent Application Publication 2007/0041640), hereinafter referenced as Hung . Regarding claim 1, Hung discloses an imaging control device comprising: a detector that detects, as a region of interest, a face region of a person in a captured image obtained by an imaging apparatus (figure 2 exhibits face detector 210 as disclosed at paragraph 40); an extractor that extracts a skin region in the region of interest detected by the detector (figure 2 exhibits sub regions detector 210 that detects a skin area in the face area as disclosed at paragraph 41); and a controller that performs an imaging control on the imaging apparatus on a basis of information obtained from the skin region extracted by the extractor (figure 2 exhibits controller 206 that controls an aperture or shutter based on the brightness of the skin region as disclosed at paragraph 37). Regarding claim 2, Hung discloses the imaging control device according to claim 1, in addition, Hung discloses a brightness calculator that calculates, as the information obtained from the skin region, a brightness of the region of interest on a basis of a detection value of a brightness of the skin region extracted by the extractor (figure 2 exhibits brightness variation detection module 206 which calculates a brightness of the skin area as disclosed at paragraph 38). Regarding claim 3, Hung discloses the imaging control device according to claim 2, in addition, Hung discloses wherein the controller performs, as the imaging control, an exposure control in the imaging apparatus on a basis of information regarding the brightness of the region of interest calculated by the brightness calculator (paragraph 37 teaches that the controller 206 performs exposure control). Regarding claim 9, Hung discloses the imaging control device according to claim 2, in addition, Hung discloses wherein the detector sets a rectangular detection frame inside a region-of-interest detection frame that is for detecting the region of interest (figure 4 exhibits a first detection frame 304 as disclosed at paragraph 40), and the brightness calculator calculates, as the information obtained from the skin region, the brightness of the region of interest on a basis of the detection value of the brightness of the skin region and a detection value of a brightness inside the rectangular detection frame (paragraph 41 teaches using the brightness of sub region 304 and the brightness of skin area 308 to determine brightness of the face area). Regarding claim 13, Hung discloses an imaging apparatus comprising: an imager (figure 1 exhibits image capture device 101 as disclosed at paragraph 30); a detector that detects, as a region of interest, a face region of a person in a captured image obtained by the imager (figure 2 exhibits face detector 210 as disclosed at paragraph 40); an extractor that extracts a skin region in the region of interest detected by the detector (figure 2 exhibits sub regions detector 210 that detects a skin area in the face area as disclosed at paragraph 41); and a controller that performs an imaging control on a basis of information obtained from the skin region extracted by the extractor (figure 2 exhibits controller 206 that controls an aperture or shutter based on the brightness of the skin region as disclosed at paragraph 37). Regarding claim 14, Hung discloses the imaging apparatus according to claim 13, in addition, Hung discloses wherein the controller performs, as the imaging control, an exposure control on the imager (figure 2 exhibits brightness variation detection module 206 which calculates a brightness of the skin area as disclosed at paragraph 38) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hung in view of Sannoh et al. (United States Patent Application Publication 2003/0071908), hereinafter referenced as Sannoh . Regarding claim 4, Hung discloses the imaging control device according to claim 2, however, Hung fails to disclose wherein the controller performs, as the imaging control, a flash light emission amount control in the imaging apparatus on a basis of information regarding the brightness of the region of interest calculated by the brightness calculator. Sannoh is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Sannoh teaches an imaging device wherein the motivation of improving image quality in backlight scenes would have prompted a predictable variation of Hung by applying Sannoh’s known principal of controlling a flash to emit on the basis of face area brightness information (paragraph 221 teaches controlling the flash based on face area brightness information). In view of the motivations such as improving image quality in backlight scenes one of ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Hung. Therefore, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Regarding claim 15, Hung discloses the imaging apparatus according to claim 13, however, Hung fails to disclose a flash light emitter, wherein the controller performs, as the imaging control, a flash light emission amount control on the flash light emitter. Sannoh is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Sannoh teaches an imaging device wherein the motivation of improving image quality in backlight scenes would have prompted a predictable variation of Hung by applying Sannoh’s known principal of controlling a flash to emit on the basis of face area brightness information (paragraph 221 teaches controlling the flash based on face area brightness information; figure 1A exhibits flash unit 203). In view of the motivations such as improving image quality in backlight scenes one of ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Hung. Therefore, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hung in view of Madokoro et al. (Japanese Patent Publication 2005-222304-A), hereinafter referenced as Madokoro. All text citations for Madokoro refer to the attached machine translation . Regarding claim 5, Hung discloses the imaging control device according to claim 1, however, Hung fails to disclose wherein the extractor extracts the skin region on a basis of skin region reference data including skin color learning data and skin position learning data. Madokoro is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Madokoro teaches an image processing device wherein the motivation of improving the reliability of skin detection would have prompted a predictable variation of Hung by applying Madokoro’s known principal of extracting the skin region on a basis of skin region reference data including skin color learning data and skin position learning data (paragraph 34 teaches a skin tone model for skin color and paragraph 39 teaches skin position learning data wherein the areas for skin detection are near the faces and arm). In view of the motivations such as improving the reliability of skin detection one of ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Hung. Therefore, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Regarding claim 6, Hung discloses the imaging control device according to claim 1, however, Hung fails to disclose wherein the extractor calculates reliability of the skin region extracted. Madokoro is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Madokoro teaches an image processing device wherein the motivation of improving the reliability of skin detection would have prompted a predictable variation of Hung by applying Madokoro’s known principal of calculating reliability of the skin region extracted (paragraph 44 teaches classifying a skin area as a skin area if it is most reliably calculated to be a skin area). In view of the motivations such as improving the reliability of skin detection one of ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Hung. Therefore, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hung in view of Pinhasov et al. (United States Patent Application Publication 2022/0060619), hereinafter referenced as Pinhasov . Regarding claim 12, Hung discloses the imaging control device according to claim 1, however, Hung fails to disclose wherein the controller causes, as the imaging control, the imaging apparatus to perform a noise reduction process on the skin region on a basis of the information obtained from the skin region extracted by the extractor. Pinhasov is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Pinhasov teaches an imaging device wherein the motivation of providing an image with smoother skin would have prompted a predictable variation of Hung by applying Pinhasov’s known principal of perform a noise reduction process on the skin region on a basis of the information obtained from the skin region extracted by the extractor (paragraph 41 teaches performing different noise reduction in areas with a person’s skin). In view of the motivations such as providing an image with smoother skin one of ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Hung. Therefore, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 7, 8 and 10 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. Claim 7 is objected to because the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest the imaging control device according to claim 6, wherein the extractor calculates the reliability on a basis of information regarding closeness to a skin color space, probability information regarding a position at which a skin is likely to be present, and information regarding a state of the region of interest at a time of being detected by the detector. The closest prior art of record, Hung in view of Madokoro teaches controlling a camera based on the brightness of a skin area and calculating a reliability of a skin area. However, the combination fails to teach or suggest “wherein the extractor calculates the reliability on a basis of information regarding closeness to a skin color space, probability information regarding a position at which a skin is likely to be present, and information regarding a state of the region of interest at a time of being detected by the detector” as currently claimed. Claim 8 is objected to due to its dependence on claim 7. Claim 10 is objected to because the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest the imaging control device according to claim 9, wherein the extractor calculates reliability of the skin region extracted, and the brightness calculator calculates the brightness of the region of interest on a basis of a value in which the detection value of the brightness of the skin region and the detection value of the brightness inside the rectangular detection frame are mixed on a basis of the reliability. The closest prior art of record, Hung teaches the device of claim 9 and Madokoro teaches calculating a reliability. However, the combination fails to teach or suggest “the brightness calculator calculates the brightness of the region of interest on a basis of a value in which the detection value of the brightness of the skin region and the detection value of the brightness inside the rectangular detection frame are mixed on a basis of the reliability” as currently claimed. Citation of Pertinent Art 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yu et al. (United States Patent Application Publication 2022/0159168) teaches a method for controlling exposure. Ciuc et al. (United States Patent Application Publication 2011/0002506) teaches a method of image processing. Tabata et al. (United States Patent Application Publication 2007/0041640) teaches a method of image processing . Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON A FLOHRE whose telephone number is (571)270-7238. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00-3:00. 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, Sinh Tran can be reached at 571-272-7564. 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. JASON A. FLOHRE Patent Examiner Art Unit 2637 /JASON A FLOHRE/ Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/105,357 Page 2 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/105,357 Page 3 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/105,357 Page 4 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/105,357 Page 5 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/105,357 Page 6 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/105,357 Page 7 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/105,357 Page 8 Art Unit: 2637 Application/Control Number: 19/105,357 Page 9 Art Unit: 2637
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