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 .
Status of claims: claims 1-8 are examined below.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/2/2024 was filed and considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yoshida (US 2018/0084152).
Claim 1, similarly claims 7-8:
Yoshida (US 2018/0084152) anticipated the following subject matter:
An image processing apparatus, comprising:
processing circuitry configured to (figure 2 and 0048-0049 teaches use of processor or MPU): identify an outer edge of a document with respect to image data optically read from the document (0028 and 0030 detail the use of optical system 113 and image sensor 114 to image document sheet, where 0054 further detail identify document sheet area with calculating edge detection of detecting boundary position between document sheet and outside-document-sheet area (edge and background)); and
fill an outside from the outer edge in the image data with a predetermined color (0109 detail background processing portion with corresponding different color, where paragraph 0103 detail background replacement data to satisfies a predetermined replacement pixel value set in advance (predetermine color)).
Regarding method of claim 7, 0009 detail carryout method as well as image reading device and apparatus.
Regarding non-transitory computer media of claim 8, figure 2 and 0048-0050 detail storage portion of the system.
Claim 2:
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the processing circuitry is configured to fill the outside from the outer edge with the predetermined color different from a background color of the document (0109 detail background processing potion with corresponding different color, where paragraph 0103 detail background replacement data to satisfies a predetermined replacement pixel value set in advance (predetermine color)) used when the image data is optically read (0028 and 0030 detail the use of optical system 113 and image sensor 1114 to image document sheet).
Claim 3:
The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to fill the outside from the outer edge with the predetermined color associated with software that transfers the image data (0085-0086 teaches different color corresponding to post-processing portions 856).
Claim 4:
The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to identify positions of a plurality of end points constituting ends of the document based on a gradation change in the image data, connect the plurality of end points, and determine the outer edge of the document (0083; 0107-0109 setting of background data with outside/edge due to different gradation with respect to different data sequence and different colors).
Claim 5:
The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to correct a position of one end point based on other end points existing in a vicinity of the one end point, and determine the outer edge of the document based on the corrected position of the one end point (figures 7-8 and 0095-0097 detail approximate (vicinity) of the outside-document-sheet(edge/endpoint of document and background) area due to Xon-off (end point) difference data from subtracting light on/off from sampling portion 855).
Claim 6:
The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to perform correction processing according to which side of the document the plurality of end points correspond to (figures 7-8 and 0095-0097 detail difference of data (correction) with approximate range of intermediate to maximum level of the pixel data to be outside-document-sheet area (edge/end point and which side of document)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
MIYASHITA et al (US 2020/0120236) teaches IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING A THRESHOLD FOR EXTRACTING AN EDGE PIXEL BASED ON A REGION CORRESPONDING TO A SURFACE FACING AN IMAGING DEVICE – 0062 teaches gradation value is a luminance value or a color value. The second edge pixel extractor 223 extracts the first (leftmost) pixel having a neighboring difference value equal to or larger than the second threshold as a second edge pixel corresponding to the left side of the document, and 0107 teaches difference between the gradation value of the background color of the document and that of the color of the document backing, and the boundary between the document, and Hence, the information processing apparatus 200 can suitably detect the boundary between the document and the document backing even when the background color of the document is close to the color of the document backing.
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/TSUNG YIN TSAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2656