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 .
The action is responsive to the following communication: an application filed on 09/09/2024 where:
Claims 1-13 are currently pending.
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.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 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.
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.
Claims 1, 3, and 8-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hiramtoto et al. (US 2017/0147912, hereinafter Hiramtoto) in view of Ghose et al. (US 2004/0061874, hereinafter Ghose).
Regarding claim 1, Hiramtoto teaches: An image processing apparatus for generating bitmap data based on PDL data ([0034, 0081] and fig. 5, print control apparatus for performing a conversion process from XPS to PCL), comprising:
an obtaining unit configured to obtain the PDL data ([0082], As illustrated in FIG. 17, when all of the XPS data 300 is processed with the standard filter) and
an identification unit configured to, in a case where PDL data including a command indicating repetitively drawing of a pattern in a predetermined range in a page is obtained, identifies the pattern defined in the command ([0085-0086, 0100], For example, in the XPS data in FIG. 7, it is specified that a predetermined range is completely covered in a “Tile” mode with image data having a file name “bg.png” (unit image 203 including the text “Unauthorized” and the pattern). The predetermined range is a rectangular area 200 defined by “Path Data” (see FIG. 6), which is, specifically, an area over the whole surface of a letter-sized (8.5 inches×11 inches) sheet. However, there is no limitation thereto, and the presence of the “repetitive pattern image portion” may be determined based on the presence of a particular description other than “TileMode-“Tile”” or the like.).
Hiramtoto does not explicitly teach: and a control unit configured to store image data of the identified pattern in a memory, wherein the control unit controls the storage of the image data of the identified pattern such that a single piece of image data is stored for same patterns in the memory.
However, Ghose teaches: and a control unit configured to store image data of the identified pattern in a memory, wherein the control unit controls the storage of the image data of the identified pattern such that a single piece of image data is stored for same patterns in the memory ([0012], It is typical to employ a pattern cache to store the pattern during this process. The whole pattern is rendered into the pattern cache as a bit map in the resolution of the printer.).
Therefore, the Applicant's claimed invention would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Hiramtoto to include and a control unit configured to store image data of the identified pattern in a memory, wherein the control unit controls the storage of the image data of the identified pattern such that a single piece of image data is stored for same patterns in the memory as taught by Ghose. The motivation/suggestion would have been to further enhance/improve the image processing apparatus since doing so would allow for pattern fill operation; therefore, allowing for copying the bit map from the pattern cache to a page bit map is faster than rendering from another source.
Regarding claim 3, Hiramtoto and Ghose teach: The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the PDL data includes a plurality of the commands, and the identification unit identifies a pattern defined in each of the plurality of commands (Ghose, [0012], Typically the page description language defines the pattern, the region to be filled by the pattern and initial alignment).
Regarding claim 8, Hiramtoto and Ghose teach: The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a drawing unit configured to generate the bitmap data by performing drawing based on the PDL data, wherein the image data of the pattern stored by the control unit is used in a case where the drawing unit repetitively draws the pattern in the predetermined range (Hiramtoto, TileMode, [0085-0086, 0100], For example, in the XPS data in FIG. 7, it is specified that a predetermined range is completely covered in a “Tile” mode with image data having a file name “bg.png” (unit image 203 including the text “Unauthorized” and the pattern). The predetermined range is a rectangular area 200 defined by “Path Data” (see FIG. 6), which is, specifically, an area over the whole surface of a letter-sized (8.5 inches×11 inches) sheet. However, there is no limitation thereto, and the presence of the “repetitive pattern image portion” may be determined based on the presence of a particular description other than “TileMode-“Tile”” or the like).
Regarding claim 9, Hiramtoto and Ghose teach: The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a page description language in the PDL data is Printer Command Language (PCL) (Ghose, [0001, 0012], The technical field of this invention is printer control and more particularly converting print data from a page description language to printer scan controls when rendering large patterns. Many page description languages, such as PostScript, manage repeating patterns in the printed image).
Regarding claim 10, Hiramtoto and Ghose teach: The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the PDL data includes a plurality of the commands, and the PDL data is PDL data in which a pattern and an identifier corresponding to the pattern are defined for each of the plurality of the commands (Ghose, [0012], any page description languages, such as PostScript, manage repeating patterns in the printed image. Typically the page description language defines the pattern, the region to be filled by the pattern and initial alignment. The page rendering process then fills a print page buffer with the pattern.).
Regarding claim 11, Hiramtoto and Ghose teach: The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is a unit image to be repetitively drawn in the predetermined range (Hiramtoto, [0120], FIG. 13 illustrates that each cell 602 is filled with the “fill pattern” in a spreadsheet software (such as EXCEL™). In FIG. 13, a plurality of cells 602 in a predetermined range 601 is filled in the same pattern, and each of cells 602 is represented by repetition of a unit image 603.).
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected for reasons similar to claim 1 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW H LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7969 and fax number is 571-270-8969. The examiner can normally be reached on 9AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benny Tieu can be reached on 571-272-7490. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW H LAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682
Prosecution Insights