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 statement (IDS) submitted on 8/8/2025 in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 –
(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.
Claims 1-5, 12-13 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kohlenberg et al. US 2014/0282679.
Re claims 1 and 15-16, Kohlenberg discloses an image capturing apparatus (camera 102) and a control method for an image capturing apparatus comprising: a communication circuit (116) for communicating with an external device (106); one or more processors (110); and a memory (114) storing instructions which, when the instructions are executed by the one or more processors (figure 1; paragraphs 18-20), cause the image capturing apparatus to: select an image to be forwarded to the external device as a forward target image from among images stored in a storage; forward the forward target image to the external device via the communication circuit; and control a predetermined attribute of the forward target image, wherein in response to the forwarding of the forward target image, the instructions cause the image capturing apparatus to manage the forward target image as a forwarded image, and control the predetermined attribute of the forward target image to correspond to a forwarded state of the image (an image is captured and an image protection policy (432) modifying persons in the image, metadata and distribution rights is implemented and the camera device 102 may distribute a copy of a protected target image to approved personal computing device 106)(figures 4-5; paragraphs 31-40).
Re claim 2, Kohlenberg further discloses that the predetermined attribute of an image includes an attribute for setting a degree of importance of the image (camera device 102 may limit who can receive the image, how it is delivered or whether it can be copied which constitutes setting a degree of importance and setting protection)(figure 5; paragraph 40).
Re claim 3, Kohlenberg further discloses that the controlling of the predetermined attribute of an image to correspond to a forwarded state of the image includes setting protection on the image, or setting a rating of the image (camera device 102 may limit who can receive the image, how it is delivered or whether it can be copied which constitutes setting a degree of importance and setting protection)(figure 5; paragraph 40).
Re claim 4, Kohlenberg further discloses that the forward target image is a new second image obtained by editing a first image stored in the storage (camera device 102 may modify persons in the image or modify image metadata) (figure 5; paragraph 40).
Re claim 5, Kohlenberg further discloses that the instructions further cause the image capturing apparatus to set whether to control the predetermined attribute of the forward target image to correspond to the forwarded state of the image in response to the forwarding of the forward target image (camera device 102 may limit who can receive the image, how it is delivered or whether it can be copied which constitutes setting a degree of importance and setting protection and can modify persons in the image or modify image metadata)(figure 5; paragraph 40).
Re claims 12-13, Kohlenberg further discloses that the instructions further cause the image capturing apparatus to set an attribute that has been selected by a user operation from among a plurality of attributes as the predetermined attribute controlled wherein the instructions cause the image capturing apparatus to control an attribute that has been selected by the user for an image forwarded to correspond to a forwarded state of the image (the camera 102 may prompt a user to select an image protection policy affecting image attributes)(paragraphs 17, 38).
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.
Claims 9-11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kohlenberg et al. US 2014/0282679 in view of JP2008227873.
Re claim 9, the Kohlenberg reference discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 above including stating that the camera may be a video camera or web cam (paragraph 22). However, although the Kohlenberg reference discloses all of the limitations above, it fails to specifically disclose that the instructions further cause the image capturing apparatus to generate sound data associated with the forward target image.
JP2008227873 discloses that it is well known in the digital imaging art for a camera to capture video data that includes both video and audio data and to transfer the data to a server (paragraphs 13, 38). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to have been motivated to include the teaching of capturing video data including audio and transferring the video/audio data to a remote device as disclosed by the JP2008227873 reference in the image capturing apparatus disclosed by the Kohlenberg reference. Doing so would provide a means for capturing video and audio using an image capturing apparatus and transmitting the captured video and audio to a remote device.
Re claims 10-11, Kohlenberg further discloses that the instructions cause the image capturing apparatus to: forward sound data associated with the forward target image to the external device, and control, in response to forwarding of the sound data associated with the forward target image, the predetermined attribute of the sound data to correspond to a forwarded state of the sound data, wherein the instructions further cause the image capturing apparatus to set whether to control the predetermined attribute of the sound data to correspond to the forwarded state of the sound data in response to forwarding of the sound data associated with the forward target image ( a video image including audio is captured and an image protection policy (432) modifying persons in the image, metadata and distribution rights is implemented and the camera device 102 may distribute a copy of a protected target image to approved personal computing device 106)(figures 4-5; paragraphs 31-40).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 and 14 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Re claims 6-8, the prior art fails to teach or suggest, an image capturing apparatus having the specific configurations disclosed in claims 6-8, wherein the image capturing apparatus comprises: a communication circuit for communicating with an external device; one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions which, when the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, cause the image capturing apparatus to: select an image to be forwarded to the external device as a forward target image from among images stored in a storage; forward the forward target image to the external device via the communication circuit; and control a predetermined attribute of the forward target image, wherein in response to the forwarding of the forward target image, the instructions cause the image capturing apparatus to manage the forward target image as a forwarded image, and control the predetermined attribute of the forward target image to correspond to a forwarded state of the image, wherein the forward target image is a new second image obtained by editing a first image stored in the storage, and in a case where the predetermined attribute of the first image corresponds to a forwarded state of the image, the instructions cause the image capturing apparatus to control the predetermined attribute of the first image so as not to correspond to the forwarded state of the image in response to forwarding of the second image that is the forward target image. The prior art fails to specifically disclose an image capturing apparatus capable of selecting an image to be forwarded to an external device and controlling a predetermined attribute of a forward target image configured and arranged in the exact configuration disclosed in the specification and the claims.
Re claim 14, the prior art fails to teach or suggest, an image capturing apparatus having the specific configurations disclosed in claim 14, wherein the image capturing apparatus comprises: a communication circuit for communicating with an external device; one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions which, when the instructions are executed by the one or more processors, cause the image capturing apparatus to: select an image to be forwarded to the external device as a forward target image from among images stored in a storage; forward the forward target image to the external device via the communication circuit; and control a predetermined attribute of the forward target image, wherein in response to the forwarding of the forward target image, the instructions cause the image capturing apparatus to manage the forward target image as a forwarded image, and control the predetermined attribute of the forward target image to correspond to a forwarded state of the image, wherein the instructions further cause the image capturing apparatus to set an attribute that has been selected by a user operation from among a plurality of attributes as the predetermined attribute controlled, wherein the instructions cause the image capturing apparatus to control an attribute that has been selected by the user for an image forwarded to correspond to a forwarded state of the image, wherein the instructions cause the image capturing apparatus to control, in a case where the attribute that has been selected by the user for the forwarded image indicates that the attribute does not correspond to the forwarded state of the image, the attribute that has been selected by the user to correspond to the forwarded state of the image. The prior art fails to specifically disclose an image capturing apparatus capable of selecting an image to be forwarded to an external device and controlling a predetermined attribute of a forward target image configured and arranged in the exact configuration disclosed in the specification and the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Oyachi US 2020/0344443 discloses a communication apparatus enabling data to be transferred to an external apparatus.
Toyama et al. US 2006/0107297 discloses a system and method for exchanging images between clients.
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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