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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/3/26 has been entered.
Claims 1-7 are pending.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheong (US 2008/0298688, previously cited) in view of Gouch, et al. (GB 2503052, herein Gouch).1 2 Regarding claim 1, Cheong teaches a consumer product comprising an outer packaging (paragraph 0006: media on a physical object), the outer packaging having a visible code and having a first colour, a second colour and a third colour (paragraph 0079: CMYK includes 4 colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, black), wherein each colour occupies a surface of the outer packaging and wherein the surface occupied by the first colour, the second colour and the third colour is larger than the surface occupied by other colours (see Fig. 2A), characterised in that wherein the visible code includes a matrix of square cells (Fig. 2A): with a first group of cells being of the first colour (paragraph 0036); a second group of cells being of the second colour (paragraph 0036); a third group of cells (paragraph 0036) or3 a frame surrounding the first group and the second group of cells being of the third colour, wherein: the first colour has a brightness that is in a first range of brightness; the second colour has a brightness that is in a second range of brightness, with the second range of brightness being brighter than the first range of brightness (paragraph 0090); and wherein the third colour is in the first range of brightness or in the second range of brightness (paragraph 0090). Cheong does not explicitly teach a surface of the outer packaging not occupied by the visible code having the first, second, and third colours. Gouch teaches a surface of the outer packaging not occupied by the visible code having the first, second, and third colours (pages 1-2, lines 28-31 & 1-5, respectively: the target 1 has a set of colors outside the code). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Cheong and Gouch, because such a combination aids in calibrating the scanner (page 2, lines 7-14 of Gouch). Regarding claim 2, Cheong further teaches the code has a first outer frame and a second frame consecutive to the first outer frame, with the first outer frame being of the first colour and the second frame being of the second colour (Fig. 1: color code & paragraph 0038). Regarding claim 3, Cheong further teaches the code has a first outer frame and a second frame consecutive to the first outer frame, with the first outer frame being of the third colour and the second frame being of the second colour Fig. 1: color code & paragraph 0038), with the third colour being in the first range of brightness (paragraph 0090). Regarding claim 4, Cheong further teaches the code has a first outer frame and a second frame consecutive to the first outer frame, with the first outer frame being of the second colour and the second frame being of the first colour (paragraphs 0038 & 0079). Regarding claim 5, Cheong further teaches the code has a first outer frame and a second frame consecutive to the first outer frame, with the first outer frame being of the second colour and the second frame being of the third colour, with the third colour being in the first range of brightness (paragraph 0079). Regarding claim 6, Cheong further teaches the packaging also has a fourth colour (C4) which is in the first range of brightness or in the second range of brightness, with a fourth group of cells being of the fourth colour (paragraph 0079). Regarding claim 7, Cheong further teaches a device having a camera and a processor, the processor being configured to assign a first value to the colours corresponding to the first range of brightness and to assign a second different value to the colours corresponding to the second range of brightness, such that a binary code can be obtained from a code comprising three or more colours (paragraph 0079).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-7 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. New reference Gouch has been used to teach the newly added limitations. See above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW MIKELS whose telephone number is (571)270-5470. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 7:30 AM ET - 5:00 PM ET, Friday 7:30 AM ET - 9:30 AM ET, the Examiner is on central time.4
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas K Pham can be reached at 571-272-3689. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW MIKELS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
1 A copy of this reference is attached to this Office Action.
2 In addition to the cited portions of each reference, please see also the associated figures.
3 Note that this limitation lists the third group of cells and the frame in the alternative using “or”, so only one of the two is required to anticipate the claim.
4 The Examiner can also be reached at matthew.mikels@uspto.gov.
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