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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments regarding claims 1 – 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 filed 16 March 2026, have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant argues Imai (US 2009/0284777) does not disclose “not generating the rendered image of the graphics object otherwise” “that is, not generating the rendered image if the drawing command is not determined to be a command for drawing a graphic object” (pages 1 and 2). Imai discloses Structure of Vector Hint Information 23B includes a line “VECTOR DATA FILE NAME: keiyakusho” that is not rendered as one of the character strings 2301, 2302 (Figure 23).
The 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection have been withdrawn due to applicant’s amendments.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 – 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1, 8, and 9, the phrase "otherwise" renders the claim(s) indefinite because the claim(s) include(s) elements not actually disclosed (those encompassed by "otherwise"), thereby rendering the scope of the claim(s) unascertainable. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). It is not immediately clear of what scenario would not generate the rendered image of the graphics object, making it extremely vague for one of ordinary skill in the art. Examiner best interprets as “in a case where the drawing command is determined not to be a command for drawing the graphic object”. Examiner warns this may not have support in the applicant’s original specification.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 1 – 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Imai (US 2009/0284777) in view of Choi et al. (US 2021/0174002).
Regarding independent claim 1, Imai teaches an information processing apparatus (Figure 3) comprising: one or more memory devices that store a set of instructions; and one or more processors that execute the set of instructions (paragraph 67 and Claim 8) to:
input a document represented by a hierarchical structure including a plurality of hierarchical levels (paragraph 103: which of a plurality of objects will be located in front can be determined based on the drawing order of the objects described in the PDL data, and the specified drawing method such as overwriting . . . As shown in 13C of FIG. 13, the depth of the hierarchy increases in ascending order from "C", "B", "A" and the ellipse, as viewed from the user), each hierarchical level including a plurality of drawing commands (Figure 14: plurality of drawing commands for drawing "A", "B", "C, "E", "F", "G" and ellipse). Imai does not expressly disclose the plurality of drawing commands including a drawing command for drawing a graphic object described by outline font characters, however Imai does a vector/ fill map converting unit 304 interprets the generated vector data, and generates fill map data that is intermediate data, and a rendering unit 305 forms an image based on the fill area information indicated by the fill map data, and generates bitmap data (paragraph 70), which then a vector data character recognition unit 306 performs character recognition by analyzing vector data and a fill map character recognition unit 307 performs character recognition by analyzing fill map data (paragraph 71), and even mentioning an outline of vector data hint information with fill map data (paragraph 131 and Figure 23). Choi discloses XML code that describes the outline font and the fill for the outline font (paragraphs 42, 52). Imai and Choi share a common field of endeavor with Imai discloses filling a color on a converted vectorized font and similarly Choi discloses filling a color on a converted outline of a font. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the time of the effective filing date of the application (AIA ) to achieve a predictable result of drawing commands that described outline font characters as a graphic object by modifying Imai's system that having drawing commands for drawing a font in a vector format and filling the vector shape of the font by replacing the drawing command with a drawing commands that describe the outline of the font and also fill a color of the outline of the font as taught by Choi, and the result would have been predictable.
Imai teaches analyze each of the plurality of drawing commands of respective hierarchical levels from a rearmost side to a frontmost side in the document, starting from the rearmost side (paragraph 102: whether there is an overlap between objects is determined by checking the overlap of this drawing position information; paragraph 101: FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating object drawing position information. In 13A of FIG. 13, the fact that the character string "ABC" is drawn, and only "B" is drawn on an ellipse is described as PDL data. In such a case, the PDL data is described such that an ellipse is drawn over with a graphics attribute, and "ABC" is subsequently drawn over with a text attribute);
determine whether a drawing command being analyzed in a hierarchical level from among the plurality of hierarchical levels is a command for drawing the graphic object (paragraph 111: Objects with a text attribute can be classified into a text drawing object and an image drawing object);
generate a rendered image of the graphic object by rendering the graphic object in a case where the drawing command is determined to be a command for drawing the graphic object (paragraph 111: "Text drawing object" is an object described by a text drawing instruction instructing drawing of a character string such as "ABC". "Image drawing object" is an object described by an image drawing instruction instructing drawing of an ornamental character such as WordArt), and not generating the rendered image of the graphic object otherwise (Figure 23: Structure of Vector Hint Information 23B includes a line “VECTOR DATA FILE NAME: keiyakusho” that is not rendered as one of the character strings 2301, 2302); and
perform character recognition processing on the rendered image (paragraph 111: For example, an ordinary object in which a text character and an ornament character are integrated as one has a text attribute; however, a text drawing instruction and an image drawing instruction coexist as drawing instructions. In the present embodiment, for such an object with a text attribute, in step S1512, rendering is performed on the fill map data, thereby generating bitmap data, and character recognition processing is performed on the bitmap data).
Regarding dependent claim 2, Imai teaches wherein drawing commands are arranged in the document in an order from a drawing command of a rearmost side to a drawing command of a frontmost side (paragraph 102: whether there is an overlap between objects is determined by checking the overlap of this drawing position information; paragraph 101: FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating object drawing position information. In 13A of FIG. 13, the fact that the character string "ABC" is drawn, and only "B" is drawn on an ellipse is described as PDL data. In such a case, the PDL data is described such that an ellipse is drawn over with a graphics attribute, and "ABC" is subsequently drawn over with a text attribute).
Regarding dependent claim 3, Imai teaches wherein the drawing command is determined to be a command for drawing a graphic object in a case where the drawing command includes a command indicating an image specified by a point and a line (Figure 14: Ellipse Drawing instruction containing plurality of point data and the geometric primitive to draw; paragraph 111: "Text drawing object" is an object described by a text drawing instruction instructing drawing of a character string such as "ABC". "Image drawing object" is an object described by an image drawing instruction instructing drawing of an ornamental character such as WordArt).
Regarding dependent claim 5, Imai teaches wherein the one or more processors execute instructions in the one or more memory devices to: acquire a character code of a character being recognized and position information indicating a position of the character (paragraphs 96, 97: FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an outline of an algorithm for character recognition processing performed on fill map data. First, in step S1101, a set of edge lists in which the fill area during rendering is represented by the left and right coordinates are generated for fill map data. This is the same as described with reference to FIG. 10. Next, the midpoint of the edge lists along the x-axis is derived in step S1102, and a line that should exist along the x-axis is interpolated at step S1103. Next, intersection points and lines that should exist are interpolated in step S1104, and, in step S1105, the gradients between line segments are quantized, and the features (components) of the character are extracted. Next, in step S1106, the components of the character are broken down, and character recognition is performed by selecting a character that is closest to the characteristics of the extracted components).
Regarding dependent claim 6, Imai teaches wherein the one or more processors execute instructions in the one or more memory devices to: add the character code being acquired and the position information of the character to the document (paragraph 122: Then, the image processing apparatus performs vector/fill map conversion processing on the vector data, thereby generating fill map data, and concurrently generates object drawing position information. Then, referring to the object drawing position information, the image processing apparatus performs character recognition processing on the fill map data, thereby generating a character string; paragraph 123: The image processing apparatus further generates vector data hint information in which the generated character string is associated with the vector data, and stores the vector data and the vector data hint information in pair in the document storage unit 311).
Regarding claims 8 and 9, claims 8 and 9 is similar in scope as to claim 1, thus the rejection for claim 1 hereinabove are applicable to claims 8 and 9. Imai teaches a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions, when executed by a computer system (Claim 8).
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 JEFFREY J CHOW whose telephone number is (571)272-8078. The examiner can normally be reached 11AM-7PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Devona Faulk can be reached at 571-272-7515. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEFFREY J CHOW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2618
Prosecution Insights