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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/2/2026 is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 8/21/2026 has been entered and made of record. Claims 1-8 and 13 are amended. Claims 14-15 are canceled. Claims 1-13 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejections of independent claims 1, 7
and 13 have been fully considered but they are moot because the arguments do not apply to the references being used in the current rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, 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 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Noguchi (US 2019/0371027 A1) in view of Kodimer (US 2010/0073727 A1) and Furuya (US 2018/0268586 A1), further in view of Arafune (US 2012/0051632 A1).
As to Claim 1, Noguchi teaches An information processing apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and a memory that stores a program which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to (Noguchi, Fig 1):
acquire layout information corresponding to a skeleton from among a plurality of skeletons (Noguchi discloses a postcard design based on a layout image as shown in Fig 22-23; design parameter for setting disposition of the composite target image in [0018]; “It is determined that the layout image 130 has the "warm" impression through the questionnaire survey or the like. With respect to a different impression, the layout image 130 of a layout corresponding to the impression is determined in advance. Layout images other than the layout image 130 are also stored in the hard disk 12 in advance” in [0115]);
select an image by a user from among a plurality of images displayed on a dialog, wherein the image is not included in the acquired layout information (Noguchi discloses “In the layout image 130, image disposition areas 131 to 136 are defined. Certain images among the images I1 to I5 are disposed in certain areas among the image disposition areas 131 to 136” in [0115], see also user interface in Fig 22);
determine a main color included in the selected image, wherein the main color is a color that is included in the selected image and appears frequently in the selected image (Noguchi discloses “for example, a representative color is determined from a color distribution of the respective images of the composite target images” in [0053]);
accept a target impression from a user (Noguchi discloses “The user moves a slider 67 on the second desired impression value designating slider axis 66 using the mouse 9 (second desired impression value designating unit) to a desired position to thereby designate the second desired impression value (step 85)” in [0089]; see also Fig 8-9).
Noguchi is silent on color scheme pattern. The combination of Kodimer and Furuya further teaches following limitations:
select a color scheme pattern whose color differences from the determined main color are within a threshold, wherein each of the color scheme patterns is comprised of a plurality of colors and select, based on the accepted target impression and impression information corresponding to each of the color scheme patterns, a color scheme pattern from among the color scheme patterns (Noguchi discloses “Further, in a case where a target image is pasted to a template image to generate a composite image, in order to match a completed impression with a user's preference… determining a template image close to the impression and a target image” in [0003]; “Since the impression of the composite target image 50 and the impression of the first mount image 51 are the same, it is considered that the first composite image Syl that is close to a user's preference is obtained” in [0069]; “For each color, an impression value corresponding to "warm" and "cool", and an impression value corresponding to "soft" and "hard" are determined in advance” in [0053]. Kodimer further discloses “The subject application is directed to a system and method for greeting card template matching. In particular, the subject application is directed to a system and method for generation of customized greeting cards inclusive of user-supplied images, such as photographs, into a greeting card template with a color scheme visually compatible with properties of the supplied image” in [0023]. Here, it is well-known that a color matching can be performed by comparing the difference with a predetermined threshold. For example, Furuya discloses “The term "small difference" means that a value of the difference is equal to or smaller than a threshold value” in [0064]; “synthesis candidate images and background images, having a small difference between an impression value of one synthesis candidate image among the plurality of synthesis candidate images and an impression value of one background image among the plurality of background images, is equal to or greater than a threshold value may be determined by the CPU” in [0087]); and
create a poster image based on the acquired layout information and the selected color scheme pattern, wherein, in the poster image, the selected image and a plurality of graphic objects specified based on the acquired layout information are included (Noguchi discloses “a composite image generating program for obtaining a composite image having a user's desired impression … A user moves a slider 63 of a first desired impression value designating slider axis 62 corresponding to the first impression axis to designate an unspecified desired impression value. A second mount image having the designated desired impression value is determined, the second mount image, instead of the first mount image 51, and the composite target image 50 are combined to obtain a second composite image having the user's desired impression” in Abstract; “The first mount image determining unit may include design parameter determining unit that determines a design parameter for setting disposition of the composite target image in the first mount image on the basis of the impression values along the first impression axis with respect to the composite target image input through the composite target image input unit, and background image determining unit that determines a background image on the basis of the impression values along on the first impression axis with respect to the composite target image input through the composite target image input unit” in [0018], see also Fig 17, 20 and 22. Kodimer further discloses “The subject application is directed to a system and method for greeting card template matching. In particular, the subject application is directed to a system and method for generation of customized greeting cards inclusive of user-supplied images, such as photographs, into a greeting card template with a color scheme visually compatible with properties of the supplied image” in [0023].)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Noguchi with the teaching of Kodimer so as to add user-supplied image into a greeting card template with a color scheme visually compatible (Kodimer, [0023]). The motivation of combining the teaching of Furuya is to explain the matching process by comparing the comparison result with a predetermined threshold.
Noguchi, Kodimer and Furuya are silent on changing color based on size and position of the object. The combination of Arafune further teaches following limitations:
wherein, based on respective sizes of the plurality of graphic objects, colors from the selected color scheme pattern are assigned to the plurality of graphic objects such that adjacent graphic objects of the plurality of graphic objects are assigned different colors (Arafune discloses “A comparison between the two regions, the region Sa has a smaller area. Therefore, color conversion is performed in the region Sa having the smaller area at step S16… determines the object on which color conversion is to be performed based on the positions and sizes of the objects A and B and the areas of the confusing regions” in [0033], see also Fig 3.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Noguchi, Kodimer and Furuya with the teaching of Arafune so as to change a color of object based on the size and position relationship of the objects, and make the adjacent objects distinguishable.
As to Claim 2, Noguchi in view of Kodimer, Furuya and Arafune teaches The information processing apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein a main color included in the acquired image is identified, and selects a color scheme patterns based on the identified main color (Noguchi discloses “for example, a representative color is determined from a color distribution of the respective images of the composite target images, and an impression value corresponding to "warm" and "cool" and an impression value corresponding to "soft" and "hard" are determined with respect to the determined representative color. For each color, an impression value corresponding to "warm" and "cool", and an impression value corresponding to "soft" and "hard" are determined in advance. The representative color may be determined by the most frequent color in the images, an average color of a main subject in the images, or the like. Further, plural representative colors such as a first representative color or a second representative color may be determined to calculate impression values by a combination of the representative colors… In this case, such a discriminator extracts feature values from the colors, the textures, the imaging locations, and the subjects in the images, and performs learning for associating the feature values extracted from the images with the impression values” in [0053]. Kodimer further discloses “The skilled artisan will appreciate that such identification enables the controller 108 or other suitable component associated with the document rendering device 104 to ascertain the most common color or colors contained in the selected still image 1202” in [0068].)
As to Claim 3, Noguchi in view of Kodimer, Furuya and Arafune teaches The information processing apparatus according to Claim 1, further comprising a display configured to display a screen for accepting the target impression, wherein the target impression is accepted via the screen (Noguchi, Fig 8-9, 12, 17, 20.)
As to Claim 4, Noguchi in view of Kodimer, Furuya and Arafune teaches The information processing apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the poster image is created such that a difference between an impression of the poster image and a target impression is smaller than or equal to a predetermined threshold value (Noguchi discloses “correcting the target image to be close to the designated impression is disclosed” in [0003]; “An object of the invention is to provide a technique capable of obtaining a composite image having a user's desired impression” in [0005]; “Since the impression of the composite target image 50 and the impression of the first mount image 51 are the same, it is considered that the first composite image Sy1 that is close to a user's preference is obtained” in [0069]. Furuya further discloses “synthesis candidate images and background images, having a small difference between an impression value of one synthesis candidate image among the plurality of synthesis candidate images and an impression value of one background image among the plurality of background images, is equal to or greater than a threshold value may be determined by the CPU” in [0087].)
As to Claim 5, Noguchi in view of Kodimer, Furuya and Arafune teaches The information processing apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein when the memory is executed by the at least one processor, further causes the at least one processor to acquire a character, wherein the poster image is created based on the image, the character, and the target impression (Noguchi discloses background image with text in Fig 24-25, see also [0018, 0116].)
As to Claim 6, Noguchi in view of Kodimer, Furuya and Arafune teaches The information processing apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the poster image is created by changing a position of one or more of the image, a character, and a graphic included in the poster based on the target impression (Noguchi discloses “In this case, such a discriminator extracts feature values from the colors, the textures, the imaging locations, and the subjects in the images, and performs learning for associating the feature values extracted from the images with the impression values” in [0053].)
Claim 7 recites similar limitations as claim 1 but in a method form. Therefore, the same rationale used for claim 1 is applied.
Claim 8 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 2.
Claim 9 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 3.
Claim 10 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 4.
Claim 11 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 5.
Claim 12 is rejected based upon similar rationale as Claim 6.
Claim 13 recites similar limitations as claim 1 but in a computer readable storage medium form. Therefore, the same rationale used for claim 1 is applied.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
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/Weiming He/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2611
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