Appeal No. 2005-1666 Page 4
Application No. 10/356,079
The appellants’ specification discloses, as depicted in Fig. 2A, a camera which
indicates a measure of focus (curve 202) as a function of focal distance (200 axis)
(specification at page 4). As such, appellants’ specification discloses that at each of a
plurality of focal distances, there is a measure of focus associated therewith.
Miyamoto describes a camera which measures the focal distance of a subject to
be imaged and moves a lens group based on the focal distance from an "out of focus"
position to an “in focus” position (col. 7, lines 13 to 19 and lines 53 to 56).
The examiner’s position is that whether a subject is in or out of focus is a
measure of focus and that since the determination of whether the subject is "in focus" or
"out of focus" is determined based on focal point distance Miyamoto describes
indicating a measure of focus as a function of focal distance as claimed (answer at page
6).
We agree with the examiner that an indication of whether a subject is in focus or
out of focus is an indication of a measure of focus. However, as Miyamoto indicates
this measure of focus based on only one focal distance, Miyamoto does not describe
“computing a measure of focus, using the image data, at each of the plurality of focal
distances” as required by claim 1. In addition, since the indicator relates to only one
focal distance, it can not be considered indicating a measure of focus as a “function of
focal distance.” As such, we agree with the appellants that an indication of a function of
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007