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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-2 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2018/0270420 A1) in view of Tokita (JP 2022015696 A, cited in IDS, English translation attached) and Pipkorn (US 2009/0015681 A1, cited in IDS).
As to claim 1, Lee et al. discloses an electronic device (Fig.1A: electronic device 101; Fig.1C) comprising:
a camera (Fig.1C: cameras 180-1 and 180-2) comprising a plurality of lenses ([0075]: a wide-angle lens and telephoto lens);
a display (Figs.1A and 1C: display 160);
a memory (Figs. 1A and 1C: memory 130) storing at least one instruction ([0053]: memory 130 may store software and/or a program 140); and
at least one processor (Fig.1C: first image-processing module 122-1, second image-processing module 122-2, camera control module 124, first encoder 126-1 and second encoder 124-2) that is connected with the camera, the display, and the memory (See Fig.1C), and, by executing the at least one instruction, configured to:
control the display to display a preview based on an image obtained by the camera (Fig.4: operation 401; [0115]: “the electronic device may display, on a display, an image collected through a camera electrically connected to the electronic device in operation 401”).
Lee et al. further discloses selecting a first photographing model; but it fails to disclose, based on a selection of a first photographing mode, search for a symmetric object among a plurality of objects in the image, and perform a focusing operation on the symmetric object.
However, Tokita teaches searching for a symmetric object in the image ([0022]: “The symmetrical part detection unit 23 detects vertically symmetrical parts in the lower part of the detection frame of the person recognized by the object recognition unit 22.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lee et al. with the teaching of Tokita such that, based on a selection of a first photographing mode, search for a symmetric object among a plurality of objects in the image, so as to assist the user in composing or controlling capture of an image in a mode directed to reflected/symmetric scenes.
The combination of Lee et al. and Tokita fails to disclose performing a focusing operation on the symmetric object.
However, Pipkorn teaches performing a focusing operation on detected object ([0068-0069]: device 100 automatically identifies face data regions and input to face detection and tracking system; device 100 then performs autofocus on the face detected based on coordinate information of face detection and tracking system).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Lee et al. and Tokita with the teaching of Pipkorn to perform a focusing operation on the symmetric object, so as to improve image sharpness and image quality for the objected of interest.
As to claim 2, Lee et al. in view of Tokita and Pipkorn discloses the electronic device of claim 1. Tokita further teaches the at least one processor is further configured to:
obtain a symmetry map by using a symmetry detection algorithm ([0022-0024]: the symmetrical part detection unit 23 sets a search region in the lower part of the detected object frame, cuts out an image from the upper part of that search region, vertically inverts the cut-out image, slides the inverted image up and down in the search region, performs matching, identifies the position with the highest matching degree, and determines that an upper-lower symmetric portion exists when the matching degree is at least a preset threshold),
search the symmetric object among the plurality of objects in the image by using the symmetry map ([0023]: sliding the inverted image up and down in the search region and determining whether the matching degree is at least a preset threshold correspond to the claimed searching process), and
control the display to display a highlight corresponding to the symmetric object on the preview (Figs.4 and 5; [0034]: “the object range correction unit 25 shifts the lower edge of the detection frame D1 upward to the position of the detected symmetry center line Lc.” The detection frame D1 corresponds to the claimed highlight).
Method claims 11 and 12 recite substantially similar subject matter as disclosed in claims 1 and 2, respectively; therefore, they are rejected for the same reasons.
Claim(s) 3 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over as applied to claim Lee et al. (US 2018/0270420 A1) in view of Tokita (JP 2022015696 A, cited in IDS, English translation attached) and Pipkorn (US 2009/0015681 A1, cited in IDS) above, and further in view of Rajvanshi et al. (US 2019/0320113 A1).
As to claim 3, Lee et al. in view of Tokita and Pipkorn discloses the electronic device of claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
identify a symmetric axis of the symmetric object by using the symmetry map (Tokita: [0033-0034]: after the vertically symmetrical portion (shown as region As in Fig.3) is detected in the lower part of the detection frame D1, the symmetry detection unit 23 detects the symmetry center line Lc of the upper symmetry region),
control the display to display the symmetric axis on the preview (Tokita: Figs.4 and 5: symmetry center line Lc).
The combination of Lee et al., Tokita and Pipkorn fails to disclose determine whether a location of the symmetric axis is in a first area in the preview, and
based on a determination that the location of the symmetric axis is not in the first area in the preview, control the display to display a first guide information for guiding a movement of the electronic device such that the symmetric axis is located in the first area on the preview.
However, Rajvanshi et al. teaches determine whether a location of the composition indicator is in a first area in the preview, and based on a determination that the location of the composition indicator is not in the first area in the preview, control the display to display a first guide information for guiding a movement of the electronic device such that the composition indicator is located in the first area on the preview (Figs.5 and 6; [0105-0110]: first indicator 504 indicates current preview composition; second indicator 506 is the target composition indicator. The system determines that the composition matches when the first indicator is aligned with the second indicator. The user moves the computing device until the first indicator aligns with the second indicator).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Lee et al., Tokita and Pipkorn with the teaching of Rajvanshi et al. to determine whether a location of the symmetric axis is in a first area in the preview, and based on a determination that the location of the symmetric axis is not in the first area in the preview, control the display to display a first guide information for guiding a movement of the electronic device such that the symmetric axis is located in the first area on the preview, so as to help the user compose the image with the detected symmetric/reflected object positioned in a desired area of the preview image, thereby improving image composition and user guidance.
Method claim 13 recites substantially similar subject matter as disclosed in claim 3; therefore, it is rejected for the same reasons.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-10 and 14-15 are 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhao et al. (US 2015/0363654 A1) discloses a method for determining a wet road surface condition on a road. A real object and a virtual object are detected in the captured image. A feature point is identified on the real object and on the virtual object. A potential virtual object associated with the real object is identified on a ground surface of the road in the captured image.
Cho et al. (US 2017/0357292 A1) discloses a foldable device including a first body supporting a first display region; a second body supporting a second display region; a sensor configured to sense a folding angle between the first body and the second body; an actuator configured to change the folding angle; and a controller configured to control the actuator to increase the folding angle between the first body and the second body without user physical pressure in response to a first predetermined input.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHENZHEN WU whose telephone number is (571)272-2519. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 am - 5:30 pm.
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/ZHENZHEN WU/Examiner, Art Unit 2637
/SINH TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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