DETAILED ACTION
Remarks
This office action is issued in response to communication filed on 10/29/2025 . Claims 1-12 and 16-23 are pending in this Office 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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 7/10/2025 with respect to rejection of claims under 35 USC 103 have been considered and are moot in view of new ground of rejection.
The 35 USC 101 rejection has been withdrawn in response to applicant’s amendments that overcome the rejection.
Claim Objections
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 16 depends on canceled claim 15. Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10 and 19 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.
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, 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 1-8,11-12 and 16-18 and 20-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Erol.(US Patent Application Publication 2009/0028382 A1, hereinafter “Erol”) and further in view of Kanematsu et al.(US Patent Application Publication 2016/0352971 A1, hereinafter “Kanematsu”)
As to claim 1, Erol teaches a method comprising:
at an electronic device having a processor, receiving input selecting a source image (Erol par [0026] teaches accessing document from memory or receiving electronic document from capture device) ;
displaying a set colors based on the source image (Erol Fig.4 teaches displaying portion 400 (which interprets to include set of colors) and obtaining a selection of a first color from the colors of the displayed set of colors for a visual marker;(Erol par [0055] teaches a set of dominant colors is determined based upon the area within the electronic document that has been determined for positioning the barcode)
determining colors for the visual marker based on the selecting of the first color and distances between the colors for the visual marker exceeding a spatial distance threshold corresponding to points in a 3D color space (Erol par [0057] teaches a color combination from the set of color combinations determined in step 304 that is closest to or most similar to the dominant colors determined in step 306 is then determined) , and
generating, based on the determined colors, an appearance of the visual marker comprising graphical elements encoding data using the determined colors, wherein the encoded data is decodable to identify the encoded data.(Erol par [0061] teaches the one or more colors in the color combination determined in step 308 are then selected or designated as the colors to use for the barcode)
Erol fails to expressly teach determine colors based on distances between the colors exceeding a spatial distance threshold corresponding to points in a 3D color space.
However, Kanematsu teaches determine colors based on distances between the colors exceeding a spatial distance threshold in a 3D color space (Kanematsu par [0058] teaches when CP2 is located on the spherical surface or the outside of sphere S, distance d12 is more than or equal to threshold value Cth. It is determined that dominant colors DC1 and DC2 are similar when point CP2 is located within sphere S in the RGB color space and dissimilar when point CP2 is located on or outside sphere S) )
Therefore , it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed was made to combine the teachings of Erol and Kanematsu to achieve the claimed invention. One would have been motivated to make such combination to enhance the display object. (Kanematsu par [0004])
As to claim 2, Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 1, wherein determining the colors further comprises identifying variations of the colors for a lighting condition, printing device condition, display device condition, or based on camera calibration. (Erol par [0030] teaches other criteria may also include properties of printer that is used for printing the document with barcode )
As to claim 3, Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 1, wherein determining the colors further comprises identifying variations of the colors for multiple lighting conditions, multiple printing device conditions or multiple display device conditions. (Erol par [0030] teaches other criteria may also include properties of printer that is used for printing the document with barcode, print resolution, paper quality for printing and the like )
As to claim 4, Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 3, wherein identifying variations of the colors comprises identifying nearest neighbors of respective colors of the colors in the 3D color space. (Erol par [0056] teaches colors representing histogram bins with highest number of pixels are selected as the dominant colors)
As to claim 5, Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 3, further comprising: clustering respective colors with respective colors of the colors to form one or more clusters of colors. (Erol par [0056] teaches colors representing histogram bins with highest number of pixels are selected as the dominant colors )
As to claim 6, Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 5, further comprising determining alternate colors for the visual marker using one color from each of the one or more clusters of colors. (Erol par [0057] teaches color combination from the set of color combination)
As to claim 7,Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 1, wherein determining the colors based on the distances between the colors exceeding the spatial distance threshold in the 3D color space comprises determining colors that have a maximum separation therebetween. (Erol par [0058] teaches the differences in the weighted sum of color pairs are minimized where d is the Euclidian distance)
As to claim 8,Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 1, wherein determining the colors further comprises selecting a subset of colors based on determining that colors of the subset of colors are sufficiently differentiated to be detectable by devices sensing a printed or displayed visual marker in various lighting conditions of the visual marker.(Erol par [0041] teaches the data processing system may receive other information including printer device properties, print resolution, paper quality, target reader information used for reading the barcode, etc.)
As to claim 11, Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 1, wherein generating the appearance of the visual marker comprises displaying the visual marker.(Erol par [0031] teaches generating document with the barcode )
Claims 12 and 16-18 merely recite a system to perform the method of claims 1 and 6-8 respectively. Accordingly, Erol and Kanematsu teach every limitation of claims 12 and 16-18 as indicates in the above rejection of claims 1 and 6-8 respectively.
Claim 20 merely recites non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing program instructions executable on a computer to perform the method of claim 1. Accordingly, Erol and Kanematsu teach every limitation of claim 20 as indicates in the above rejection of claim 1.
As to claim 21, Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 1, wherein the encoded data is decodable to enable a remote action.(Erol par [0033] teaches scanning and decoding barcode)
As to claim 22, Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 1, wherein the encoded data is decodable to provide a link to an action.(Erol par [0033] teaches the electronic data may be a URL, multimedia and other types of information)
As to claim 23, Erol and Kanematsu teach the method of claim 1, wherein said determining the colors for the visual marker is further based on calibration data associated with environmental conditions.(Erol par [0046] teaches the size of area “A” is determine such that the barcode when position in the area “A” is inconspicuous and blends in with the contents of the electronic document but is also clearly visible for error free reading by a barcode reader)
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIEN DUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7335. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00AM-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Viker Lamardo can be reached at 571-270-5871. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HIEN L DUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2147
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