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 .
DETAILED ACTION
35 USC § 112 (f)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: "a smart scaling app", “an analysis engine” and "a smart scaling engine” in claim claims 1-19.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification (Fig. 12, ¶0073-0074) as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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 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.
(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 1-14, 18-33, 37-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Distler (US Pub 2007/0146389 A1).
As to claim 1, Distler discloses a smart box scaling apparatus, comprising:
a smart scaling app configured to: select different graphical elements in a design template for a master box design having panel and flap elements (Fig. 16, ¶0046, “the image file is a multi-layered file. A first layer includes surface data that is used to distort a scene of a second layer. Thus, for example, the first layer may contain surface data corresponding to a three-dimensional object, such as an inclined plane, cylinder, sphere, or a more complex shape, and the second layer may contain a two-dimensional scene (either a raster or vector image) at the location corresponding to the surface data. When the first and second layer are provided to the imaging application, the application distorts the second layer according to the embedded information of the first layer, producing an image of the scene as distorted by (or wrapped about) the surface data. Thus inclined plane surface data provides perspective to the scene, while cylindrical or spherical surface data distort the scene as it would appear if wrapped about the corresponding three-dimensional surface.” ¶0057, “The resulting selection of the object region is then used to create a “layer mask” which is applied to the layer group which represents the face. For example, a layer mask of the top surface for a cube shaped box is created. The layer mask is associated with or attached to a layer group called “top face” which contains blank artwork layers called “top face artwork” into which a user may paste artwork.” ¶0102, “The placement of artwork images and the manipulation by embedded data”);
an analysis engine configured to:
read locations of the graphical elements of the master box design selected in the smart scaling app (¶0080, “Frame 304 provides a visual cue or guideline as to the shape that the artwork 301, 302 or 303 will be distorted to when imported into one of layers 306, 307 or 308.” ¶0081, “in order to automatically apply artwork placed in a specified region of the sizing guideline to the appropriate face or surface of an object or scene, constantly monitor the appropriate region of the sizing guideline. When a change is made to the area contained within the guideline region the apparatus will automatically load the artwork contained within that region, apply relevant two-dimensional or three-dimensional transformations and calculations in order to apply the artwork to the face or surface, and then re-render the composite resulting three-dimensional image.” ¶0103, “the software that controls the mapping of the artwork to the three-dimensional plane will then proportionally scale the artwork so that it is as large as possible without it being cropped.”);
find the panels based on the design template (¶0052, “the image file is provided to computer system 10 via media 20 or network 30, and may be uses as a “template” onto which other images or artwork may be added and subsequently manipulated by the embedded data of the image file.” Fig.1, ¶0054, “additional paths may be drawn which define the edges of portions of the silhouetted object, at blocks 101 b, 101 c, 101 d, etc. The edges may then be used to partition the region defined at block 101 a into object portions. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the images shown in blocks 101 a-101 d correspond to a silhouette of a perspective view of a box object (block 101 a) and edges of the box faces that are within the silhouette faces (blocks 101 b-101 d). Layering of additional objects having different silhouettes requires the repetition of block 102 for each object. In some embodiments, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 2, there is only one object silhouette (of a box object), and three regions (each face of the box) within the object.” ¶0057, “the object regions are identified and manipulated. As an example, each object region is masked off (in Photoshop this may be accomplished by command-clicking or alt-clicking the trimmed object image) to define the edge of the silhouetted object and then, using the appropriate object edge path, as defined at block 102, remove, crop, or add other faces to/from the object selection to make a solid, anti-aliased selection at block 107. The resulting selection of the object region is then used to create a “layer mask” which is applied to the layer group which represents the face. For example, a layer mask of the top surface for a cube shaped box is created.”);
identify the selected graphical elements of the master box design (¶0057, “The layer mask is associated with or attached to a layer group called “top face” which contains blank artwork layers called “top face artwork” into which a user may paste artwork.” ¶0082, “the embedded data is applied to images by selecting the appropriate artwork document at 301-303, copying the artwork to the “clipboard”, selecting the appropriate artwork layer at 306-308, activating the perspective filter or tool (which in this embodiment is the Vanishing Point filter within Photoshop), pasting the image onto the perspective filter (represented here at 304), positioning the artwork (as in FIG. 5 at 507) using the mouse and transformation tools as needed (for example scaling, rotation, or other distortion tools), and then accepting the position.”); and
mark the selected graphical elements with scaling attributes (¶0159, “User artwork 1301, 1302, and 1303 may be created in a vector or raster image format, and is first sized using proportioning guidelines that are supplied as numeric dimensions or as visual shapes which mimic the proportion of each object surface. The correctly proportioned artwork is then exported or “copied” from the source in which it was created and then imported or “pasted” into the artwork layers” ¶0169, “apply the artwork by first proportionally enlarging or reducing the scale of the artwork to match the size of the three-dimensional objects face (with, in this embodiment, the edge of the square representing the edges of the object face),”¶0116, ¶0159, “User artwork 1301, 1302, and 1303 may be created in a vector or raster image format, and is first sized using proportioning guidelines that are supplied as numeric dimensions or as visual shapes which mimic the proportion of each object surface.”); and
a smart scaling engine configured to:
annotate the selected graphical elements with said scaling attributes by scaling the selected graphical elements of the master box design independently of said panels and of each other and by controlling positioning of the selected graphical elements independently of their scale (¶0081, “When a change is made to the area contained within the guideline region the apparatus will automatically load the artwork contained within that region, apply relevant two-dimensional or three-dimensional transformations and calculations in order to apply the artwork to the face or surface, and then re-render the composite resulting three-dimensional image.” ¶0088, “occurs at 304 for applying artwork to a face should be followed with the face closest in orientation to the estimated or desired orientation of the background surface. “ ¶0089, “To display a final composite image at 313, the layers at 305-312 follow their respective layer masks and transparency settings in order to do the math to create a single image. The final composite image appears, in this example, inside Photoshop while the layers remain separate editable elements.” ¶0116, “each with corresponding shape and form attributes that mimic the respective layers contained in the layer group at layer 701, with corresponding transparency data attributes that approximate the true transparency of the objects or scenes contained in the respective layers contained in the layer group at layer 701, and with corresponding edge data that closely visually mimics and closely matches the edge data from respective layers contained in the layer group at layer 701.”Fig.13, ¶0159, “User artwork 1301, 1302, and 1303 may be created in a vector or raster image format, and is first sized using proportioning guidelines that are supplied as numeric dimensions or as visual shapes which mimic the proportion of each object surface. The correctly proportioned artwork is then exported or “copied” from the source in which it was created and then imported or “pasted” into the artwork layers” ¶0162-0164.); and
supply the smart scaling app with information about any graphical elements that exceed a panel/flap boundary or that overlap due to application of different scaling to the graphical elements and the panel and flap elements (Fig. 5, ¶0055, “the selection of block 103 is used to cut the image of the object from the scene, and the cut out image is pasted in place on a new image layer at block 104. At block 105, the scene and its shadow are optionally cropped to provide a margin, such as a one inch margin.” ¶0080, “Frame 304 provides a visual cue or guideline as to the shape that the artwork 301, 302 or 303 will be distorted to when imported into one of layers 306, 307 or 308. Frame 304 may be a grid-like image, as shown in the figure, or may includes lines, marks, or other visual cues as to the shape of the corresponding embedded surface data.” ¶0104, “an addition to the three-dimensional grid functionality causes the pasted artwork to be automatically, and proportionally scaled to fit the appropriate object face without the need for manual scaling input from the invention's user.” “the artwork is trimmed by the associated alpha channel or layer mask with the layer group before preview.” ¶0107, “the artwork is cleanly trimmed to the edges of the object face, because it is mapped to a three-dimensional surface which matches the object in orientation and perspective” ¶0116, ¶0122,” dynamically “trim” enclosed layer artwork to a portion or single face of the surface belonging to the object depicted in layer 806” ¶0146, “The resulting image is cleaned and trimmed using a combination of path and selection tools. A blur is applied to soften the edges of the highlight. Finally, the highlight is trimmed to fit inside the appropriate object, face, or surface (in this case the bottle image) by alt or command-clicking on the respective layer (for example, at layer 1203 in FIG. 12), inverting the selection to select everything except for the bottle, and then trimming away the excess by deleting it.” ¶0169, “apply the artwork by first proportionally enlarging or reducing the scale of the artwork to match the size of the three-dimensional objects face (with, in this embodiment, the edge of the square representing the edges of the object face), applying it to an artwork layer such as the one found at layer 204 b in FIG.2, and render a composite image.” ¶0172-0174.).
As to claim 2, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses maintain an aspect ratio of selected graphical elements when a panel or a flap they are on is not scaled symmetrically (¶0079, “artwork which has been created in a vector or raster image format is first sized using proportioning guidelines that are supplied as numeric dimensions or as visual shapes which mimic the proportion of each object surface at 301, 302, and 303.” ¶0080, “Frame 304 provides a visual cue or guideline as to the shape that the artwork 301, 302 or 303 will be distorted to when imported into one of layers 306, 307 or 308.” ¶0082-0083, ¶0094, ¶0102-0104.); and/or
maintain a size and/or a shape of selected graphical elements regardless of box size (¶0081, “automatically apply artwork placed in a specified region of the sizing guideline to the appropriate face or surface of an object or scene, constantly monitor the appropriate region of the sizing guideline. When a change is made to the area contained within the guideline region the apparatus will automatically load the artwork contained within that region, apply relevant two-dimensional or three-dimensional transformations and calculations in order to apply the artwork to the face or surface, and then re-render the composite resulting three-dimensional image. The appearance to the user will be that the flat sizing guideline region is both a two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional surface to which they wish to apply the artwork and that there is a precise, predictable link between artwork placed on the two-dimensional region and the artwork that automatically appears on the face or surface of the final three-dimensional object or scene image composite” ¶0172, “As detailed at block 117 each shape (in this example squares), depicted as guidelines 1502, 1503, and 1504 is created by first drawing a vector or image based measurement grid and applying it to each object face or surface of the associated object or scene image in order to accurately judge the proportional size, or relative X and Y dimensions, that artwork must have in order to scale edge-to-edge.”); and/or
maintain minimum offsets of selected graphical elements from a panel's or flaps side or corner to conform to marking requirements (¶0055, “the selection of block 103 is used to cut the image of the object from the scene, and the cut out image is pasted in place on a new image layer at block 104. At block 105, the scene and its shadow are optionally cropped to provide a margin, such as a one inch margin.” ¶0081, “automatically apply artwork placed in a specified region of the sizing guideline to the appropriate face or surface of an object or scene, constantly monitor the appropriate region of the sizing guideline. When a change is made to the area contained within the guideline region the apparatus will automatically load the artwork contained within that region, apply relevant two-dimensional or three-dimensional transformations and calculations in order to apply the artwork to the face or surface, and then re-render the composite resulting three-dimensional image. The appearance to the user will be that the flat sizing guideline region is both a two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional surface to which they wish to apply the artwork and that there is a precise, predictable link between artwork placed on the two-dimensional region and the artwork that automatically appears on the face or surface of the final three-dimensional object or scene image composite.” ¶0169, “apply the artwork by first proportionally enlarging or reducing the scale of the artwork to match the size of the three-dimensional objects face” ¶0172.).
As to claim 3, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said scaling attributes applied to said selected graphical elements comprise any of:
symmetric (equal horizontal and vertical), asymmetric, or no scaling; for symmetric scaling, a side that the scaling is relative to; minimum and/or maximum width and/or height; fixed offset from a corner or side; and/or minimum offset from a corner or side (¶0079, “artwork which has been created in a vector or raster image format is first sized using proportioning guidelines that are supplied as numeric dimensions or as visual shapes which mimic the proportion of each object surface at 301, 302, and 303.” ¶0081, “automatically apply artwork placed in a specified region of the sizing guideline to the appropriate face or surface of an object or scene, constantly monitor the appropriate region of the sizing guideline.” ¶0103, “The software that controls the mapping of the artwork to the three-dimensional plane will then proportionally scale the artwork so that it is as large as possible without it being cropped. Once the scaling has completed, the user may rescale, rotate, distort or edit the artwork as needed.” ¶0104-0105.).
As to claim 4, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling app is further configured to: specify graphical elements to be replaced by a specific substitute graphical element at print time with a custom color in the design template that flags said specified graphical elements for replacement (¶0071, “Layers 203 a-204 a, 203 b-204 b are additional pass through layer groups with associated alpha channel masks which constrain the layers of each group and the artwork pasted into these layers to the top, left and right faces, respectively. In some embodiments, any one of these layer groups may have varying overall opacity settings to simulate different types of printing or surface.” Fig. 6, ¶0106, “The image of FIG. 6 includes three regions (specifically, a top region 601, a left region 602, and a right region 603) and a shadow 604, and illustrates that, in one embodiment an image, such an image of a cube box, can have various types of user defined artwork map to the surfaces of the box to closely mimic an image a cube shaped box with artwork actually printed on it.” ¶0107, “The final application of user defined artwork (for example, the artwork depicted on top region 601) realistically simulates the appearance of a real cube with artwork printed on the cube and then photographed. This is because the artwork is cleanly trimmed to the edges of the object face, because it is mapped to a three-dimensional surface which matches the object in orientation and perspective, and because the photographic shading and color of the object image is applied to all underlying layers including the artwork layers.” ¶0108-0109. ¶0117, ¶0119, ¶0146. ¶0175.).
As to claim 5, claim 4 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine is further configured to: draw said specified graphical elements in the design template (abstract, ¶0052, “uses as a “template” onto which other images or artwork may be added and subsequently manipulated by the embedded data of the image file.” ¶0053-0054, “After the object silhouette has been drawn and saved as one complete path, additional paths may be drawn which define the edges of portions of the silhouetted object, at blocks 101 b, 101 c, 101 d, etc. The edges may then be used to partition the region defined at block 101 a into object portions.”); and
lock said specified graphical elements in place with default scaling attributes to maintain said specified graphical elements in a same place, to scale said specified graphical elements properly for multiple promotions, and to prevent repositioning or drawing over of said specified graphical elements (¶0005, ¶0087-0089, “the layers at 305-312 follow their respective layer masks and transparency settings in order to do the math to create a single image. The final composite image appears, in this example, inside Photoshop while the layers remain separate editable elements. In other embodiments, the final composite image may be a flat, non-editable image created by flattening the layers at 305-312.” ¶0150, “the format maintains the embedded layers and does not flatten the image” ¶0172, “As detailed at block 117 each shape (in this example squares), depicted as guidelines 1502, 1503, and 1504 is created by first drawing a vector or image based measurement grid and applying it to each object face or surface of the associated object or scene image in order to accurately judge the proportional size, or relative X and Y dimensions, that artwork must have in order to scale edge-to-edge. The measurements are then used to create a single page group of outlined shapes which match the proportions of each face measured. For instance, if a face is measured to be 10 units wide and 5 units high and the face is a rectangle with square edges, then the shape should be drawn as if viewed from a pure front view. In this case a simple square is drawn with a width of 2 units and a height of 1 unit or similarly, with a width of 20 units and a height of 10 units. If other faces are measured and drawn on the same page then it is important that these faces must be using the same scale. In other words, if, using the above example the square is drawn to 20 by 10 units, if the next face is measured to be 3 wide and 5 high the next square drawn would be drawn at 6 wide and 10 high. The absolute size of the shapes is usually based on the size needed to fit it and other shapes onto a page. In other embodiments, other shapes may be used. For instance, if the shape represents a circular surface, such as the surface of a CD or DVD, then the shape would be a circle and if the surface is irregular then the shape would be drawn to best reflect that irregular shape as viewed from a pure front view. A label is placed inside each shape (e.g. label “top” 1505) so that that a user may clearly associate each shape with the face or surface it represents on the target image. Because a 3D surface or object face is represented here as a series of shapes (in this example squares), an indication is given (e.g. indication “up” 1506) as to the orientation the artwork will have once applied and rotated to fit on the object or surface face. Once all surfaces have been measured and drawn to scale the page should be saved in either vector format, such as Illustrator, or high-resolution raster (bitmap) format to maintain its precision. The invention's user may then later use the sizing guideline apparatus to build their artwork before copying it or exporting it to the image apparatus.” ¶0176, “automatically apply artwork placed in a specified region of the sizing guideline to the appropriate face or surface of an object or scene, the apparatus will constantly monitor the appropriate region of the sizing guideline. When a change is made to the area contained within the guideline region the apparatus will automatically load the artwork contained within that region, apply relevant two-dimensional or three-dimensional transformations and calculations in order to apply the artwork to the face or surface, and then re-render the composite resulting three-dimensional image.”).
As to claim 6, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling app is further configured to: add graphical elements directly to the design template via annotations (¶0052, “may be uses as a “template” onto which other images or artwork may be added and subsequently manipulated by the embedded data of the image file.”. ¶0085, “The artwork layers at 306, 307, 308, are intended to be user customized with artwork and are intended to receive user artwork for each respective object surface.” ¶0164, “Artwork layers 1307, 1308, 1309, are intended to be user customized with artwork and are intended to receive user artwork for each respective object surface.” ¶0172-0175.).
As to claim 7, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses graphical elements that are not annotated with special scaling attributes are scaled with a same ratio as the sides of the panel or flap on which they are located (¶0103-0104, “an addition to the three-dimensional grid functionality causes the pasted artwork to be automatically, and proportionally scaled to fit the appropriate object face without the need for manual scaling input from the invention's user.” ¶0169, “the apparatus would apply the artwork by first proportionally enlarging or reducing the scale of the artwork to match the size of the three-dimensional objects face (with, in this embodiment, the edge of the square representing the edges of the object face),” ¶0170-0175.).
As to claim 8, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine is further configured to: maintain a shape of specific selected graphical elements regardless of a relative width and height of selected panels, while other graphical elements scale differently in the vertical and horizontal directions on said selected panels (¶0082, “positioning the artwork (as in FIG. 5 at 507) using the mouse and transformation tools as needed (for example scaling, rotation, or other distortion tools), and then accepting the position.” ¶0103, “The software that controls the mapping of the artwork to the three-dimensional plane will then proportionally scale the artwork so that it is as large as possible without it being cropped. Once the scaling has completed, the user may rescale, rotate, distort or edit the artwork as needed.” ¶0104, “causes the pasted artwork to be automatically, and proportionally scaled to fit the appropriate object face without the need for manual scaling input from the invention's user.” ¶0159, “User artwork 1301, 1302, and 1303 may be created in a vector or raster image format, and is first sized using proportioning guidelines that are supplied as numeric dimensions or as visual shapes which mimic the proportion of each object surface.” ¶0172, “As detailed at block 117 each shape (in this example squares), depicted as guidelines 1502, 1503, and 1504 is created by first drawing a vector or image based measurement grid and applying it to each object face or surface of the associated object or scene image in order to accurately judge the proportional size, or relative X and Y dimensions, that artwork must have in order to scale edge-to-edge. The measurements are then used to create a single page group of outlined shapes which match the proportions of each face measured. For instance, if a face is measured to be 10 units wide and 5 units high and the face is a rectangle with square edges, then the shape should be drawn as if viewed from a pure front view. In this case a simple square is drawn with a width of 2 units and a height of 1 unit or similarly, with a width of 20 units and a height of 10 units. If other faces are measured and drawn on the same page then it is important that these faces must be using the same scale. In other words, if, using the above example the square is drawn to 20 by 10 units, if the next face is measured to be 3 wide and 5 high the next square drawn would be drawn at 6 wide and 10 high. The absolute size of the shapes is usually based on the size needed to fit it and other shapes onto a page. In other embodiments, other shapes may be used. For instance, if the shape represents a circular surface, such as the surface of a CD or DVD, then the shape would be a circle and if the surface is irregular then the shape would be drawn to best reflect that irregular shape as viewed from a pure front view. A label is placed inside each shape (e.g. label “top” 1505) so that that a user may clearly associate each shape with the face or surface it represents on the target image. Because a 3D surface or object face is represented here as a series of shapes (in this example squares), an indication is given (e.g. indication “up” 1506) as to the orientation the artwork will have once applied and rotated to fit on the object or surface face. Once all surfaces have been measured and drawn to scale the page should be saved in either vector format, such as Illustrator, or high-resolution raster (bitmap) format to maintain its precision. The invention's user may then later use the sizing guideline apparatus to build their artwork before copying it or exporting it to the image apparatus.”).
As to claim 9, claim 8 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine is further configured to: maintain text and graphics scale relative to a panels' sides on all panels, independent of scaling said selected graphical elements, wherein graphics that cross panel boundaries meet up at the panel’s edges (Fig. 6. Fig, 10, ¶0071-0076, ¶0134-0137, “Layer 909 is set to have its shadow image data overlap the outer edge of layers 902 and 908 by 0 pixels in order to avoid having any visual overlap between the shadow image on shadow layer 909 and the semi-transparent ko layer 908 or object image in layer 902.” ¶0172, “As detailed at block 117 each shape (in this example squares), depicted as guidelines 1502, 1503, and 1504 is created by first drawing a vector or image based measurement grid and applying it to each object face or surface of the associated object or scene image in order to accurately judge the proportional size, or relative X and Y dimensions, that artwork must have in order to scale edge-to-edge. The measurements are then used to create a single page group of outlined shapes which match the proportions of each face measured. For instance, if a face is measured to be 10 units wide and 5 units high and the face is a rectangle with square edges, then the shape should be drawn as if viewed from a pure front view. In this case a simple square is drawn with a width of 2 units and a height of 1 unit or similarly, with a width of 20 units and a height of 10 units. If other faces are measured and drawn on the same page then it is important that these faces must be using the same scale. In other words, if, using the above example the square is drawn to 20 by 10 units, if the next face is measured to be 3 wide and 5 high the next square drawn would be drawn at 6 wide and 10 high. The absolute size of the shapes is usually based on the size needed to fit it and other shapes onto a page. In other embodiments, other shapes may be used. For instance, if the shape represents a circular surface, such as the surface of a CD or DVD, then the shape would be a circle and if the surface is irregular then the shape would be drawn to best reflect that irregular shape as viewed from a pure front view. A label is placed inside each shape (e.g. label “top” 1505) so that that a user may clearly associate each shape with the face or surface it represents on the target image. Because a 3D surface or object face is represented here as a series of shapes (in this example squares), an indication is given (e.g. indication “up” 1506) as to the orientation the artwork will have once applied and rotated to fit on the object or surface face. Once all surfaces have been measured and drawn to scale the page should be saved in either vector format, such as Illustrator, or high-resolution raster (bitmap) format to maintain its precision. The invention's user may then later use the sizing guideline apparatus to build their artwork before copying it or exporting it to the image apparatus.”).
As to claim 10, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine is further configured to: provide a background image large enough to cover an entire surface area of a largest box size (¶0059, “For a box object having planar face regions, surface perspective and shape detail is added by creating and positioning a perspective plane for each face. The edge of the perspective face ideally aligns closely to the respective edge of layer mask of the face.” ¶0088, “The “background color” layer at 312 may be filled, for example, with imagery, pattern, or solid color. Or, the background color layer may be left as the default white shade. Should the invention's user wish to create a background image that appears to be in perspective, the process which occurs at 304 for applying artwork to a face should be followed with the face closest in orientation to the estimated or desired orientation of the background surface. For example, in most cube-like or square edged objects the closest face will be the top face or face which sits most horizontally in space. The background color is considered a user customizable layer. Its layer group folder is unmasked.” ¶0089-0095, ¶0104-0108.).
As to claim 11, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine is further configured to: scale a background image to fit an entire surface area of a current box size (¶0088, “The “background color” layer at 312 may be filled, for example, with imagery, pattern, or solid color. Or, the background color layer may be left as the default white shade. Should the invention's user wish to create a background image that appears to be in perspective, the process which occurs at 304 for applying artwork to a face should be followed with the face closest in orientation to the estimated or desired orientation of the background surface. For example, in most cube-like or square edged objects the closest face will be the top face or face which sits most horizontally in space. The background color is considered a user customizable layer. Its layer group folder is unmasked.” ¶0089-0095).
As to claim 12, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine is further configured to: preview a final box which shows panels that are to be blanked (Fig. 16, ¶0057, “The resulting selection of the object region is then used to create a “layer mask” which is applied to the layer group which represents the face. For example, a layer mask of the top surface for a cube shaped box is created. The layer mask is associated with or attached to a layer group called “top face” which contains blank artwork layers called “top face artwork” into which a user may paste artwork.” ¶0104-0107, ¶0119.).
As to claim 13, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine is further configured to: apply selection and scaling to boxes having shapes and layouts comprising any of: top and/or bottom faces that are not split in half-sized flaps but are full sized with a small tab that folds into the box (Fig. 16, 0071, ¶0131, ¶0174.);
removable tops; boxes having more than six faces (Fig. 16, 0071, ¶0131, ¶0174.);
cylindrical boxes (¶0046, “an inclined plane, cylinder, sphere, or a more complex shape” ¶0059);
hexagonal boxes; boxes made of different materials, including any of non-corrugated cardboard, plastic, fiberboard, cloth, tile, or any other material having a printable surface (Fig. 16, ¶0005, ¶0046, “the first layer may contain surface data corresponding to a three-dimensional object, such as an inclined plane, cylinder, sphere, or a more complex shape” ¶0071, ¶0084, “in a situation such as a semitransparent CD case, where the CD artwork may be tinted by the cases material color, texture, or image” ¶0128-0131, ¶0174, “As with FIG. 15, a label is placed inside each shape (e.g. label “top” 1605) so that the user may clearly associate each shape with the face or surface it represents on the target image. Because a 3D surface or object face is represented here as a shape or a series of shapes (in this example squares), an indication is given (e.g. indication “up” 1606) as to the orientation the artwork will have once applied and rotated to fit on the object or surface face so the user will be able to scale and position their artwork accordingly.”);
non-box /non-shipping products, including any of building wraps or 3D printed objects; and boxes which are printed on both inside and outside surfaces (Fig .16, ¶0046, ¶0062, ¶0079, ¶0084, ¶0102, ¶0146, ¶0172-0175.).
As to claim 14, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling app comprises a plugin for one or more graphics design applications (¶0051, “interpretation of embedded data by the imaging application may require additional software either within, or accessible to, the imaging application. The additional software may be provided to computer system 10, either with or separate from the image file, as a software upgrade to the imaging application or as a plug-in to the imaging application.” ¶0081, ¶0176.).
As to claim 18, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine is further configured to: create multiple final box files of different dimensions and/or with different variable data for each box from a smart scaling file in a single invocation, allowing for high-speed box production (¶0008-0009, ¶0175, “In this embodiment additional guides (e.g. guides 1607, 1608, 1609, 1610) are supplied which allow the sizing guidelines to aid not only in preparation of artwork for application to the image file but also in preparing that same artwork for printing and production in a traditional printing process, such as an offset printing press with post-printing die cutting, gluing, folding, and assembly. In this embodiment the user can both visualize and prepare final artwork using the same guidelines, where the guidelines depicted in FIG. 15 aid the user in preparing their artwork for the image file but do not specifically aid the user in preparing their artwork for printing and production. In this embodiment, this is achieved by the shapes and guides, which make up the proportional sizing guideline, being based on or defined by mechanical “die lines” used by printers to define cutting and gluing locations on a printed sheet. In this embodiment the object depicted in the image file has been constructed using very similar guidelines and thus the guidelines depicted in FIG. 16 may be used to size the artwork and to prepare the artwork for print and production. In this embodiment only surfaces that are depicted in the object image will be labeled (e.g. label “top” 1605) in order to help the user understand which faces are visible in the object image. In this embodiment, all of the faces depicted in the sizing guidelines are part of the object or surface in the scene or object image. However, the unlabeled faces are hidden from view.” ¶0176, “In order to automatically apply artwork placed in a specified region of the sizing guideline to the appropriate face or surface of an object or scene, the apparatus will constantly monitor the appropriate region of the sizing guideline. When a change is made to the area contained within the guideline region the apparatus will automatically load the artwork contained within that region, apply relevant two-dimensional or three-dimensional transformations and calculations in order to apply the artwork to the face or surface, and then re-render the composite resulting three-dimensional image. The appearance to the invention's user will be that the flat sizing guideline region is both a two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional surface to which they wish to apply the artwork and that there is a precise, predictable link between artwork placed on the two-dimensional region and the artwork that automatically appears on the face or surface of the final three-dimensional object or scene image composite.”).
As to claim 19, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine produces a list of intersections for multiple box sizes; and wherein said smart scaling app presents information of all available box sizes at the same time to a user to preview (Fig. 16, ¶0104, “an addition to the three-dimensional grid functionality causes the pasted artwork to be automatically, and proportionally scaled to fit the appropriate object face without the need for manual scaling input from the invention's user.” ¶0105-0106, ¶0119, “take the form of any one of a numerous imaging effects: for example, “glow”, “invert”, “color tint”, “texturize”, etc. In still other embodiments, effects layer 811, may be a “layer style” within an image editing application (for example, Photoshop) layers palette.” “he effects layer may be an integrated component or rendering step within a self-contained application” ¶0174-0175.).
As to claim 20, Distler discloses a method for scaling a box, comprising: with a smart scaling app: selecting different graphical elements in a design template for a master box design having panel and flap elements: with an analysis engine: reading locations of the graphical elements of the master box design selected in the smart scaling app; finding the panels based on the design template; identifying the selected graphical elements of the master box design; and marking the selected graphical elements with scaling attributes; and with a smart scaling engine: annotating the selected graphical elements with said scaling attributes by scaling the selected graphical elements of the master box design independently of said panels and of each other and by controlling positioning of the selected graphical elements independently of their scale; and supplying the smart scaling app with information about any graphical elements that exceed a panel/flap boundary or that overlap due to application of different scaling to the graphical elements and the panel and flap elements (See claim 1 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 21, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses maintaining an aspect ratio of selected graphical elements when a panel or a flap they are on is not scaled symmetrically; and/or maintaining a size and/or a shape of selected graphical elements regardless of box size; and/or maintaining minimum offsets of selected graphical elements from a panel's side or corner to conform to marking requirements (See claim 2 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 22, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses said scaling attributes applied to said selected graphical elements comprise any of: symmetric (equal horizontal and vertical), asymmetric, or no scaling; for symmetric scaling, a side that the scaling is relative to; minimum and/or maximum width and/or height; fixed offset from a corner or side; and/or minimum offset from a corner or side (See claim 3 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 23, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses specifying graphical elements to be replaced by a specific substitute graphical element at print time with a custom color in the design template that flags said specified graphical elements for replacement (See claim 4 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 24, claim 23 is incorporated and Distler discloses drawing said specified graphical elements in the design template; and locking said specified graphical elements in place with default scaling attributes to maintain said specified graphical elements in a same place, to scale said specified graphical elements properly for multiple promotions, and to prevent repositioning or drawing over of said specified graphical elements (See claim 5 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 25, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses adding graphical elements directly to the design template via annotations (See claim 6 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 26, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses scaling graphical elements that are not annotated with special scaling attributes with a same ratio as the sides of the panel or flap on which they are located (See claim 7 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 27, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses maintaining a shape of selected graphical elements regardless of a relative width and height of selected panels, while other graphical elements scale differently in the vertical and horizontal directions on said selected panels (See claim 8 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 28, claim 27 is incorporated and Distler discloses maintaining text and graphics scale relative to a panels' sides on all panels, independent of scaling said selected graphical elements, wherein graphics that cross panel boundaries meet up at the panel’s edges (See claim 9 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 29, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses providing a background image large enough to cover an entire surface area of a largest box size (See claim 10 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 30, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses scaling a background image to fit an entire surface area of a current box (See claim 11 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 31, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses previewing a final box which shows panels that are to be blanked (See claim 12 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 32, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses applying selection and scaling to boxes having shapes and layouts comprising any of: top and/or bottom faces that are not split in half-sized flaps but are full sized with a small tab that folds into the box; removable tops; boxes having more than six faces; cylindrical boxes; hexagonal boxes; boxes made of different materials, including any of non-corrugated cardboard, plastic, fiberboard, cloth, tile, or any other material having a printable surface; non-box /non-shipping products, including any of building wraps or 3D printed objects; and boxes which are printed on both inside and outside surfaces (See claim 13 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 33, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling app comprises a plugin for one or more graphics design applications (See claim 14 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 37, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses creating multiple final box files of different dimensions and/or with different variable data for each box from a smart scaling file in a single invocation, allowing for high-speed box production (See claim 18 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 38, claim 20 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine producing a list of intersections for multiple box sizes; and said smart scaling app presenting a list of all available box sizes at the same time to a user to preview (See claim 19 for detailed analysis.).
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 15-16, 34-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Distler (US Pub 2007/0146389 A1) in view of Kokemohr (US Pub 2008/0137952 A1).
As to claim 15, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine is further configured to: use attributes to one or more whole images (¶0144, “A new layer is created and a solid white fill color is used to fill the layer with edge-to-edge white color at block 1105.”).
Distler does not discloses inpainting.
Kokemohr discloses use inpainting (Kokemohr, ¶0249, “There is a large amount of literature on optimal inpainting, and most of the suggested algorithms will work for the creation of C, for example provided by Oliveira et al, “Fast Digital Image Inpainting”, Proceedings of the International Conference of Visualization, VIIP 2001, Marbella, Spain, Sep. 3-5 2001, pp 261-266.” ¶0250, “Illustration 704 shows the matrix Cn, where the pixels outside the area of Rn were filled in using an inpainting algorithm. Illustration 705 shows Mn, where white pixels represent zero distances and darker pixels represent higher distances.”),
Distler and Kokemohr are considered to be analogous art because all pertain to modifications in an image. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Distler with the features of “use inpainting” as taught by Kokemohr. The suggestion/motivation would have been in order to fill in pixel area (Kokemohr, ¶0194).
As to claim 16, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine is further configured to: use (Distler, ¶0081-0084, “The “material color” layer at 309 may be filled with imagery, pattern, or solid color. Or, the material color layer may be left unchanged. In other embodiments, the material color will be composited above and placed in a superior position to the layers at 306-308 in the layer list, so that the material color overlays all artwork.” ¶0085, “vector or alpha channel based masks trim the artwork layers at 306, 307, and 308 and trim the user artwork before superimposing it transparently, opaquely, or a partially opaquely, over lower layers, represented by 309 through 312.” ¶0103, “The software that controls the mapping of the artwork to the three-dimensional plane will then proportionally scale the artwork so that it is as large as possible without it being cropped.” ¶0104-0106, ¶0144, “A new layer is created and a solid white fill color is used to fill the layer with edge-to-edge white color at block 1105. As in block 1104, a trimming area is made by using the object silhouette path as defined in block 1102. This selection area is then removed from the white fill area, leaving a transparent hole in the white fill which precisely matches the silhouette and position of the object.” ¶0155, “a solid fill” ¶0174, “an indication is given (e.g. indication “up” 1606) as to the orientation the artwork will have once applied and rotated to fit on the object or surface face so the user will be able to scale and position their artwork accordingly.”).
Distler does not discloses outpainting.
Kokemohr discloses use outpainting (Kokemohr, ¶0011, “An out-painting routine may be used on pixels that are outside of the region of interest.” ¶0248, “Cn,x,y is achieved with an inpainting routine by defining the area lying outside the region Rn as the area to be inpainted, while the area inside the region is the region with “correct” image pixels that are supposed to remain unchanged. In other words, the inpainting process inpaints the data outside the region as opposed to (what's normally done) inside the region. It is more an “outpainting” routine than an inpainting routine.”),
Distler and Kokemohr are considered to be analogous art because all pertain to modifications in an image. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Distler with the features of “use outpainting” as taught by Kokemohr. The suggestion/motivation would have been in order to fill in pixel area (Kokemohr, ¶0194) and provide image enhancement (Kokemohr, ¶0216).
As to claim 34, claim 20 is incorporated and the combination of Distler and Kokemohr discloses using inpainting to apply different scaling attributes to one or more whole images (See claim 15 for detailed analysis.).
As to claim 35, claim 20 is incorporated and the combination of Distler and Kokemohr discloses using outpainting to add and/or remove parts of an image to combine different annotated areas into a single, visually pleasing image scaled to proper box dimensions (See claim 16 for detailed analysis.).
Claims 17 and 36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Distler (US Pub 2007/0146389 A1) in view of Chiba (US Pub 2008/0204819 A1).
As to claim 17, claim 1 is incorporated and Distler discloses said smart scaling engine comprises: an embedded scaling engine within a printer that reads a smart scaling file, control information which is optionally embedded in the smart scaling file, and box dimensions(Distler, ¶0044-0046, ¶0053-0054, ¶0082-0084, ¶0102-0104, 0171-0175).
Distler does not disclose +VDP replacement files or different VDP elements.
Chiba discloses +VDP replacement files or different VDP elements (Chiba, ¶0005, ¶0054-0056, ¶0075-0081, ¶0092-0093).
Distler and Chiba are considered to be analogous art because all pertain to modifications in an image. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Distler with the features of “+VDP replacement files or different VDP elements” as taught by Chiba. The suggestion/motivation would have been in order to have content to be printed can be changed according to information in a database for each printing (Chiba, ¶0005).
As to claim 36, claim 20 is incorporated and the combination of Distler and Chiba discloses said smart scaling engine comprises: an embedded scaling engine within a printer that reads a smart scaling file, control information which is optionally embedded in the smart scaling file, and box dimensions+VDP replacement files to print one or more boxes of different scales and/or with different VDP elements (See claim 17 for detailed analysis.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Payauys (US 10,011,387 B1) discloses the graphics may be selected in real-time or near real-time to enable up-to-date graphics, such as advertisements, notifications, and messages.
Walker et al. (US Pub 2011/0116133 A1) discloses apply semantic structural design data to the style sheet until a graphic design template is prepared.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YU CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7951. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8-5 PST Mid-day flex.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xiao Wu can be reached on 571-272-7761. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YU CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2613
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