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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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 1-7 and 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Shindo et al. (US 2022/0114408) in view of Oki (US 2001/0016077).
Regarding claims 1, 15, and 16, Shindo discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method, an image processing method, and an image processing apparatus comprising:
at least one processor (Fig. 1 and paras 28-29, CPU 101); and
at least one memory (see Fig. 1 and paras 28-29, ROM 102) coupled to the at least one processor, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
generate bitmap data based on PDL data (see paras 30-31, bitmap data is generated from PDL data);
acquire, based on an analysis result of the bitmap data, a gamut mapping table that associates the bitmap data with a print color gamut (see paras 30-31 and 37, color conversion of bitmap data is performed using gamut mapping/matching);
correct the second bitmap data based on the gamut mapping table (see para 33, tone correction unit 203 performs tone correction using a LUT); and
generate quantized image data based on the corrected second bitmap data (see para 34, quantization unit 204 performs quantization processing on the bitmap data).
Shindo does not disclose expressly generate first bitmap data and second bitmap data different from the first bitmap data.
Oki discloses generate first bitmap data and second bitmap data different from the first bitmap data (see paras 29-32, a rendering module 109 for developing a first bitmap based on intermediate data stored in the intermediate data memory 115, and storing the first bitmap data in memory 116, a rendering module 110 for generating a second bitmap on the basis of attribute information data of intermediate data stored in the intermediate data memory 115, and storing it in memory 118, a conversion module 113 for converting data in the first bitmap memory 116 into second bitmap data with reference to attribute information of the second bitmap memory 118 in accordance with attribute information, and storing the data in the second bitmap memory 118).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the first and second bitmap data, as described by Oki, with the system of Shindo.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to properly factor attribute information into the color conversion process thereby increasing system efficiency and color conversion accuracy.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Oki with Shindo to obtain the invention as specified in claims 1, 15, and 16.
Regarding claim 2, Oki further discloses wherein the at least one processor generates intermediate data based on the PDL data, and generates the first bitmap data and the second bitmap data based on the intermediate data (see paras 29-32, a rendering module 109 for developing a first bitmap based on intermediate data stored in the intermediate data memory 115, and storing the first bitmap data in memory 116, a rendering module 110 for generating a second bitmap on the basis of attribute information data of intermediate data stored in the intermediate data memory 115, and storing it in memory 118, a conversion module 113 for converting data in the first bitmap memory 116 into second bitmap data with reference to attribute information of the second bitmap memory 118 in accordance with attribute information, and storing the data in the second bitmap memory 118).
Regarding claim 3, Oki further discloses wherein a resolution of the first bitmap data is lower than a resolution of the second bitmap data (see para 31, first bitmap data is a lower resolution than second bitmap data, 24-bit and 32-bit respectively).
Regarding claim 4, Shindo further discloses wherein the gamut mapping table includes a perceptual mapping table and a colorimetric mapping table (see paras 39-40, a minimum color difference mode, analogous to perceptual mapping, and saturation prioritized mode, analogous to colorimetric mapping, can be utilized).
Regarding claim 5, Oki further discloses wherein after the at least one processor acquires the gamut mapping table, the at least one processor deletes the first bitmap data and corrects the second bitmap data based on the gamut mapping table (see para 42first bitmap data can be deleted).
Regarding claim 6, Oki further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the at least one processor to hold the PDL data, wherein the at least one processor generates the intermediate data based on the PDL data held, and generates the first bitmap data and the second bitmap data based on the generated intermediate data (see paras 29-30, a rendering module 109 for developing a first bitmap based on intermediate data stored in the intermediate data memory 115, and storing the first bitmap data in memory 116, a rendering module 110 for generating a second bitmap on the basis of attribute information data of intermediate data stored in the intermediate data memory 115, and storing it in memory 118, a conversion module 113 for converting data in the first bitmap memory 116 into second bitmap data with reference to attribute information of the second bitmap memory 118 in accordance with attribute information, and storing the data in the second bitmap memory 118).
Regarding claim 7, Oki further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the at least one processor to hold the intermediate data generated, wherein the at least one processor generates the first bitmap data and the second bitmap data based on the intermediate data held (see paras 29-30, a rendering module 109 for developing a first bitmap based on intermediate data stored in the intermediate data memory 115, and storing the first bitmap data in memory 116, a rendering module 110 for generating a second bitmap on the basis of attribute information data of intermediate data stored in the intermediate data memory 115, and storing it in memory 118, a conversion module 113 for converting data in the first bitmap memory 116 into second bitmap data with reference to attribute information of the second bitmap memory 118 in accordance with attribute information, and storing the data in the second bitmap memory 118).
Regarding claim 13, Oki further discloses wherein the at least one processor generates the first bitmap data by rendering based on the intermediate data, and generates the second bitmap data by predetermined image processing using the generated first bitmap data (see paras 29-32, a rendering module 109 for developing a first bitmap based on intermediate data stored in the intermediate data memory 115, and storing the first bitmap data in memory 116, a rendering module 110 for generating a second bitmap on the basis of attribute information data of intermediate data stored in the intermediate data memory 115, and storing it in memory 118, a conversion module 113 for converting data in the first bitmap memory 116 into second bitmap data with reference to attribute information of the second bitmap memory 118 in accordance with attribute information, and storing the data in the second bitmap memory 118).
Regarding claim 14, Oki further discloses wherein the predetermined image processing is processing of reducing a size of the second bitmap data (see paras 31 and 44-45, second bitmap data can be smaller than first bitmap data.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-12 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. To further show the state of the art please refer to the attached Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARK R MILIA whose telephone number is (571) 272-7408. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Akwasi Sarpong can be reached at 571-270-3438. The fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARK R MILIA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681