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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 6/24/2025, 12/30/2025 and 3/11/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claim 27 recites, “A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions…” An Examiner is obliged to give claims their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification during examination. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon typically covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media. See MPEP 2111.01. When the broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim covers a signal, per se, the claim must be rejected under 35 U.S.C. §101 as covering non-statutory subject matter. Therefore, given the open-ended language of the disclosure and the broadest reasonable interpretation, the computer-readable storage medium storing instructions may include transitory propagating signals. As a result, the claim pertains to non-statutory subject matter.
However, the Examiner respectfully submits that a claim drawn to program that covers both transitory and non-transitory embodiments may be amended to narrow the claim to cover only statutory embodiments to avoid a rejection under 35 U.S.C. §101 by adding the limitation "non-transitory computer readable medium” to the claim. Such an amendment would typically not raise the issue of new matter, because the broadest reasonable interpretation relies on the ordinary and customary meaning that includes signals per se. For additional information, please see the Patents’ Official Gazette notice published February 23, 2010 (1351 OG 212).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-26 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Re claims 16-26, the prior art fails to teach or suggest, an image processing method applied to an electronic device having the specific configurations disclosed in claims 16-26, wherein the image processing method comprises: starting a camera application, and presenting a photographing preview interface or a video preview interface; successively obtaining a first image frame, a second image frame, and a third image frame by using the camera application, wherein a time interval between the first image frame obtained by using the camera application and the second image frame obtained by using the camera application is a first time interval, a time interval between the second image frame obtained by using the camera application and the third image frame obtained by using the camera application is a second time interval, and the first time interval is different from the second time interval; performing composition processing on the first image frame by using a surface flinger in a first Vsync period; performing composition processing on the second image frame by using the surface flinger in a second Vsync period; and performing composition processing on the third image frame by using the surface flinger in a third Vsync period, wherein a quantity of Vsync periods as a difference between the first Vsync period and the second Vsync period is a first quantity, a quantity of Vsync periods as a difference between the second Vsync period and the third Vsync period is a second quantity, and the first quantity is the same as the second quantity; and a time interval corresponding to the first quantity of Vsync periods is a third time interval, a time interval corresponding to the second quantity of Vsync periods is a fourth time interval, the first time interval is less than the third time interval, and the second time interval is greater than the fourth time interval. The prior art fails to specifically disclose an image processing method applied to an electronic device comprising presenting a preview interface, successively obtaining image frames and performing composition processing on the image frames in the exact configuration disclosed in the specification and the claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Song et al. US 2022/0247891 discloses a processing method and device for image content obtained by using a preview function and a surface flinger.
Cai et al. US 12,525,173 discloses a frame rate switching method and apparatus including an image compositing system having a surface flinger.
Feng et al. US 12,375,757 discloses a refresh rate setting method and device including a surface flinger to compose displayed images.
Li et al. US 2025/0157110 discloses an interface generation method and electronic device including a surface flinger.
Contacts
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kelly L. Jerabek whose telephone number is (571) 272-7312. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, George Eng can be reached at (571) 272-7495. The fax phone number for submitting all Official communications is (571) 273-7300. The fax phone number for submitting informal communications such as drafts, proposed amendments, etc., may be faxed directly to the Examiner at (571) 273-7312.
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 .
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).
/KELLY L JERABEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2699
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