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 Interpretation
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.
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: part configured to in claims 10-18.
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 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
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 7-9 10, 12, 14 and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Tonogai (20140093172).
Regarding claim 1, Tonogai teaches a character string reading method capable of being executed by a character string reading device, comprising (pars. 8 and 20):
obtaining a first image of a read object by an image obtaining part (pars. 96 and 111);
obtaining a first format of a character string to be read from the first image and to be output (pars. 8, 15, 20, 39-41, 104);
setting, as a first character recognition condition, that only a first group of characters including all characters defined by the first format are to be identified, among characters which the character string reading device can identify (pars. 47-49);
recognizing a first character string in the first image according to the first character recognition condition (pars. 98-99 and 111-112); and
obtaining, for output, a second character string at a portion matching the first format among the first character string (pars. 59-61, 69 and 101).
Regarding claim 3, see pars. 62-69 and 121.
Regarding claim 5, see par. 54-55, 60 and 69-70.
Regarding claim 7, see pars. 47-49, 60-64 and 69.
Regarding claim 8, see pars. 66, 69 and 121.
Regarding claim 9, see pars. 43-44, 63, 69 and 131.
Regarding claims 10, 12, 14, 16-19, see the rejection of claims 1, 3, 5, and 7-9.
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.
Claim(s) 2, 4, 6, 11, 13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tonogai in view of Pakhchanian (20150278619, referred to as Pak herein).
Regarding claim 2, Tonogai teaches character string reading method according to claim 1, wherein the recognizing of the first character string comprises: recognizing first shapes included in the first image (par. 55);
specifying a character candidate constituted by a combination of one or more shapes among the first shapes (par. 54-55);
identifying which character the character candidate is, based on a matching rate obtained by comparing characteristics of the specified character candidate with characteristics of each of the characters in the first group (par. 44, 47-49),
recognizing the identified character and the indefinite character being arranged in a substantially straight line, as the first character string constituted of the arranged identified character and indefinite character (pars. 54-55 and 72).
Pak teaches recognizing a character candidate which is not identified as any of the characters in the first group as an indefinite character (par. 105);
It would have been obvious prior to the effective filing date of the invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in Tonogai the ability to mark characters as being uncertain as taught by Pak. The reason is to use confidence values to determine characters.
Regarding claims 4 and 6, see par. 105 of Pak.
Regarding claim 11, 13 and 15, see the rejection of claims 2, 4 and 6.
Conclusion
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/HADI AKHAVANNIK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2676