Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 7/30/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 3-11, 13-20 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/30/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s asserts that Photoshop does not teach an “effect line that is superimposed on an image to be processed in an effect image and whose luminous area exhibits brightness values that gradually change from the center of the effect line toward the periphery.
The first argument presented states that Photoshop’s masks are tools for defining visible regions of a layer, and not an “independently visible line that is superimposed on the image to be processed in the effect image”. This argument misinterprets what the non-final rejection claims is the actual effect line. In the original rejection of claim 1 on page 5 it is acknowledged that masks are simply masks, defined regions that block out content below it in the layer scheme. Masks in the Photoshop’s are user defined, and can be defined with a variety of shape and drawing tools. If a user draws a line with a pen tool when making the mask they now have a mask in the shape of their line. If they fill mask’s shape structure with color, an image, texture, etc… then there is now a visible line in the user defined shape. Thus, if a layer effect is applied to the layer that defines the shape of the line and fills it, so as to actually make the line, the effect will be applied to the line. Through its ability to define and fill masks by user defined tools, like a pen tool, Photoshop teaches the ability to make effect lines.
An example of this is seen below, where a used defines a multi part sun mask on layer C, and then assigns a solid fill color to the same layer, resulting in independently visible triangles. Photoshop p. 357
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The shape made from the mask and color, which could have alternatively been a line mask not a sun mask, is its own layer and is superimposed on the “to be processed image”, the blue image D. The entire effect image can be seen in the lefthand view with all layers, masks, and effects applied. Furthermore, as the mask and color which makes it visible are their own layer, an effect could be applied to the sun shape to make an effect shape, if the shape was a line applying an effect to the layer would give an effect line.
Applicant’s second argument states that Photoshop’s Outer Glow and Inner Glow effects do not teach the claims description of an “effect line presented with a luminous effect”. Applicant argues that because the Outer/Inner glow effect illuminates from the border of a layer inwards or outwards the effect line itself is not what is being illuminated. Applicant further states that vector mask boundaries and layer style glow are conflated. It is acknowledged that layer effects like Inner and Outer Glow are applied on the Layer scope, not to specific masks themselves. If the Inner Glow effect were applied to the sun in the depicted screenshot above, then the sun would illuminate from its edges inwards by default.
While Inner Glow in its default state does start the illumination effect from the outside borders inwards, Inner Glow can also illuminate from the starting from the center. Photoshop p. 378 teaches “Source Specifies the source for an inner glow. Choose Center to apply a glow that emanates from the center of the layer’s content, or Edge to apply a glow that emanates from the inside edges of the layer’s content.” Thus, Photoshop teaches the ability for an effect line to be illuminated from the center outwards.
Applicant’s third point refences the amended language reads that the luminous area’s brightness gradually changes from the “center of the effect line”. Photoshop’s rings/radiuses of user determined opacity and color that the glow effects have is argued to be non-analogous. Specifically, the variable opacity and color of the glow effects are said to not “constitute brightness values that gradually change from the center of a specific effect line”.
It was previously shown above that Photoshop does teach a glow starting in the center of a layer/effect line, so the portion regarding the origin of the illumination is taught. The argument that brightness values are not taught is not found convincing as Photoshop’s opacity value of the glow does directly determine how strong/weak it is (or in other words, how bright).
Applicant’s remaining argument asserts that Photoshop does not teach the pipeline of claim 1 as the applying of a Gaussian Blur filter happens at the layer scale and is not applied specifically to “a line mask image”. As established above, a layer that contains fill content and a shape’s defining boundaries (mask) together create a visible effect line, and an effect applied to this layer will apply an effect to the line itself, not the just mask or fill content, but the specific line created from them both. Thus, the applying of a Gaussian Blur filter on the layer scale is applying the filter to an effect line directly.
Applicants other remaining argument regarding prior art Quan is not found convincing. It is never stated in the non-final action that Quan teaches a noise figure, or making decisions based on one. Quan was stated to teach “based on the offset intensity, a target offset coordinate corresponding to the pixel to be processed; and updating, based on a pixel value corresponding to the target offset coordinate” Despite Quan having a different context and means to obtaining its image data, it nonetheless teaches the simple operations performed on pixels with offsets, and would be obvious to combine with another art that is performing image processing or editing, like Photoshop.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1, 4-7, 11, 14-17, 20, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the reference manual Adobe Photoshop Help, herein after Photoshop.
Regarding claims 11, 1, 20,
Photoshop teaches:
An electronic device, comprising: one or more processors; a storage device for storing one or more programs, (Photoshop p. 972 “3D Scene settings … Renders with OpenGL using the GPU on the video card, producing high-quality results, but lacking detailed reflections and shadows. For most systems, this option is best for editing.” Note: Photoshop that rendering the software performs leverages a systems GPU, a processor with on board storage teaching the use of a processor and memory.) wherein the one or more programs, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement acts comprising: in response to an effect trigger operation, obtaining an image to be processed, determining an effect image corresponding to the image to be processed, and displaying the effect image, (Photoshop p.340
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Note: Photoshop teaches the ability to apply effects to images via layers. When selecting a new image to edit only a single layer is present at first, a base background layer seen in item G of the image above. Effects can be applied to any layer one chooses, teaching the claims language of an effect trigger operation. Photoshop teaches that layers all have customizable opacity, allowing one to view single layers at a time. Using this one could view the isolated start image and isolated effect layers/images, teaching the claims statement that one can “display the effect image”.) wherein at least one effect line is displayed in the effect image, (Photoshop p. 357
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p. 376 “Apply or edit a custom layer style… To apply a layer style to a background layer, first convert it into a regular layer. 1 Select a single layer from the Layers panel. 2 Do one of the following: • Double-click the layer, outside the layer name or thumbnail. • Click the Add A Layer Style icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose an effect from the list. • Choose an effect from the Layer > Layer Style submenu. • To edit an existing style, double-click an effect displayed below the layer name in the Layers panel. (Click the triangle next to the Add A Layer Style icon to display the effects contained in the style.) 3 Set effect options in the Layer Style dialog box. See Layer style options. 4 Add other effects to the style, if desired.” p.357 “You can use masks to hide portions of a layer and reveal portions of the layers below. You can create two types of masks: • Layer masks are resolution-dependent bitmap images that are edited with the painting or selection tools. • Vector masks are resolution independent and are created with a pen or shape tool. Layer and vector masks are nondestructive, which means you can go back and re-edit the masks later without losing the pixels they hide” p.667 “The Curvature Pen tool lets you draw smooth curves and straight line segments with equal ease. Create custom shapes in your designs or define precise paths to effortlessly fine-tune your images using this intuitive tool. While doing so, create, toggle, edit, add, or remove smooth or corner points without ever having to switch tools.” Note: Photoshop teaches that the area layers cover can be defined by masks placed over them, the boundaries of a mask can be defined by pen and shape tools. Pen tools, as seen from p.667, can draw smooth and straight lines. As Photoshop teaches that layers are a means to apply effects on images, and a layer’s shape can be defined as lines, Photoshop teaches the ability for effects to be displayed by effect lines. While a mask provides the shape structure of the line as the user draws with a pen tool, the mask itself is simply a boundary defined. As seen from p. 357, providing a simple fill color on the layer where a mask is present fills the masks shape with the color. If the mask were a drawn line instead of a sun, a superimposed effect line would be visible instead.) the effect line being superimposed on the image to be processed in the effect image, (Photoshop p. 667, p. 376, cited above, teach that user defined boundaries of shapes, like lines, can be created with tools like a pen. Photoshop p. 357 shows an example where a defined shape can be created by providing a fill color, texture, image, etc… in the same layer as the mask. Photoshop p. 376 teaches that some effects can be applied to layers. Thus, when p. 357 shows that layer C has a mask defining a sun shape, and a yellow fill color, the result is the sun shape in yellow superimposed over image D. If the mask was for a line the user drew, not a sun, then a superimposed line would be visible. The output “effect image” that has the effect line (in p. 357 the shape is instead a sun) can be seen in the lefthand side of p.357 and p.341 where a single image with all layer assets, masks, images, effects, etc… will be made.) the effect line is presented with a luminous effect, (Photoshop p. 375 “Layer Style dialog box overview You can edit styles applied to a layer or create new styles using the Layer Style dialog box. You can create custom styles using one or more of the following effects: … Outer Glow and Inner Glow Add glows that emanate from the outside or inside edges of the layer’s content” Note: Photoshop teaches that available layer effects include outer glow and inner glow allowing for a luminous glow to be shined inwards or outwards. As it was already taught that a layer can provide an effect line, an effect applied to a layer that defines an effect line applies the effect to the line itself.) and the luminous effect is associated with a luminous area of the effect line and a brightness value corresponding to the luminous area; (Photoshop p. 377 “Contour With solid-color glows, Contour allows you to create rings of transparency. With gradient-filled glows, Contour allows you to create variations in the repetition of the gradient color and opacity … Opacity Sets the opacity of the layer effect. Enter a value or drag the slider.” p. 378 “Source Specifies the source for an inner glow. Choose Center to apply a glow that emanates from the center of the layer’s content, or Edge to apply a glow that emanates from the inside edges of the layer’s content.” Note: The brightness or intensity of the glow effect can be increased broadly be increasing opacity as the less transparent the glow is the more bright/intense it will appear. The brightness can be more finely tuned with the contour effect, which allows you to make variations in opacity. By being able to set the opacity differently at different areas contour allows some parts of the glow to appear more or less bright than others. luminous effect starting from its center.) area, wherein brightness values of the luminous area gradually change from a center of the effect line toward a periphery of the luminous area;(Photoshop p. 378 teaches that the effect Inner Glow can be set to emanate from the center of a layer’s content. As established previously, an effect line is produced by using a mask with any type of fill content in one layer. Thus, applying an Inner Glow effect on a layer that defines an effect line, and specifying in the Inner Glow effect settings that the source should be center, will have the result of an effect line with a glow originating from its center. Photoshop p. 377 teaches that not only can the opacity of a glow effect be changed, which will change the apparent brightness of the effect, but that opacity can be changed differently for different rings of the glow. Thus, the rings opacity can be set to be increasingly stronger/weaker to have the effect of the luminous area gradually growing brighter, or dimmer, as it expands outwards from the center.) and in response to an effect adjustment trigger operation input for the luminous area, adjusting the luminous effect, and updating the effect image based on the adjusted luminous effect, (Photoshop p. 375 “You can edit styles applied to a layer or create new styles using the Layer Style dialog box. Layer Style dialog box. Click a check box to apply the current settings without displaying the effect’s options. Click an effect name to display its option” Note: Photoshop teaches the ability to adjust effects, once edits are made they can be saved to update the layer where they can be viewed in the previously described layer view system.) wherein the effect adjustment trigger operation comprises at least one of: a display size adjustment operation, a display color adjustment operation, (Photoshop p. 377 “Color Specifies the color of a shadow, glow, or highlight. You can click the color box and choose a color” p.378 “Size Specifies the radius and size of blur” Note: In this continuation of the above provided p.375 citation we see options listed for effects, teaching that altering the color and size of an effect, including the luminous glow effect, are taught by Photoshop.) and a display morphology adjustment operation. (Photoshop p. 377 “Softer Applies a blur and is useful on all types of mattes, whether their edges are soft or hard. At larger sizes, Softer does not preserve detailed features. Precise Uses a distance measurement technique to create a glow and is primarily useful on hard-edged mattes from anti-aliased shapes such as type. It preserves features better than the Softer technique.” Note: The effect editing option Precise allows specific distance measurements to create glows, allowing one to specify the space a glow takes up, aka its morphology. The area of a glow can be less precisely changed with Softer which disperses the glow by applying a blur. If one wishes for the morphology of the effect line itself to be adjusted, not the glow/illumination effect, the layer mask can always be updated with the pen or shape tool as taught previously.)
wherein the determining an effect image corresponding to the image to be processed comprises: determining a line mask image corresponding to an effect line to be displayed in the image to be processed, (Photoshop p. 357, cited in claim above, teaches how layer masks can be created with tools such as pen and shape tools, teaching that straight and curved line masks can be created. As established, the shape boundaries defined by a mask supplemented with any type of fill (solid color asset, image, texture, etc…) in the same layer has the result of a shape with the dimensions of the mask and internal color/texture of the other content in the same layer. A layer effect applied to this layer has the result of the effect being applied to the shape itself, which can be a user drawn line. Thus, a “line mask image” is an implicit part of all effect lines in Photoshop, as it is required to form the line itself in a layer.) and determining at least one Gaussian blur image corresponding to the line mask image; (Photoshop p. 72 “Filters and adjustments Tap from the taskbar to bring up the Filters and adjustments panel. Gaussian blur: Applies the selected amount (from .1 to 1000) of gaussian blur to a layer” Note: Photoshop teaches that a layer can have a customizable amount of Gaussian blur applied to it. As the Gaussian Blur filter is applied on a layer scale, the blur can be applied to the line mask image by placing it on the layer the line ask image is in. Alternatively, due to the nature of Photoshop’s layer system, a Gaussian Blur filter could be placed on any layer above the line mask image and it blur it. In this way a Gaussian Blur effect could be its own image on its own layer, and still correspond/be applied to the line mask image if it is in a layer below it.) and generating a luminous brightness image based on the line mask image and at least one Gaussian blur image, (Photoshop, in p.341, p.376, teaches that effects like a luminous glow can be applied to individual layers. Similarly in p.72 it is taught that filters like a Gaussian blur can be applied to individual layers. This scheme of individual layers which have the ability to be viewed together or in isolation by changing opacity teaches the claims language of a “Gaussian blur image” or “luminous brightness image”.) and generating the effect image based on the luminous brightness image and the image to be processed. (Photoshop in p.340, p.341, and p.376 teaches that layers can be viewed together, and that layers can have effects applied to them. The “effect image” based on the luminous brightness image described by the claim is the combined result of the input background image layer, and a masked effect layer that has the glow effect applied. Photoshop p. 357 provides an example of this where all layer content is iteratively stacked/composited together to produce the final effect image seen in the left hand view.)
Regarding claims 14, 4,
Photoshop teaches:
The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the in response to an effect adjustment trigger operation input for the luminous area, adjusting the luminous effect, and updating the effect image based on the adjusted luminous effect comprises: in response to a display size adjustment trigger operation input for the luminous area, adjusting a display width of the luminous area, and updating the effect image based on the adjusted luminous area. (Photoshop p. 377 “Size Specifies the radius and size of blur” Note: Photoshop p. 377 teaches that the size of an effect itself can be adjusted, altering this effect setting on a glow would increase the overall size of the illumination over the area of the effect defined by the masked layer. If one wishes to adjust the width of the luminous area as described in the claim, or make any other specific adjustment on what area the effect should be applied to, p. 357 teaches how the area of a layer can be defined with masks. So, to increase the display width of a luminous area one need only edit the effect layer’s mask to widen the line with a pen tool, shape tool, or any other available tool.)
Regarding claims 15, 5,
Photoshop teaches:
The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the adjusting a display width of the luminous area, and updating the effect image based on the adjusted luminous area comprises: adjusting a Gaussian blur radius corresponding to the at least one Gaussian blur image, (Photoshop p. 377 “Size Specifies the radius and size of blur”, Photoshop p. 71, cited in claim 1, teaches that a Gaussian blur applied to a layer can have its amount adjusted from “(from .1 to 1000) “. Photoshop p.357 teaches how layer masks which can be created with a variety of tools like pen and shape tools allow for uniquely shaped layers to be made. Considering both teachings one can have a Gaussian blur on a single image/layer with a radius of any size or intensity one wishes by altering the Gaussian blur’s amount and layer mask.) updating the luminous brightness image based on the adjusted Gaussian blur image, (Photoshop p. 340, p.341 show that a top layer “covers” or applies its visual effect to those beneath it, thus a luminous brightness image/effect layer that is lower than a Gaussian blur layer/image will be updated when the Gaussian layer above it is updated.)and updating the effect image based on the updated luminous brightness image. This portion of the claim’s language is taught by several previous claims such as 4, 3, and 2, where a single or multiple effect images/layers are applied to the base or effect image. All instances of this language are taught by Photoshop’s layer system, cited in p. 340, p.341, which allows effects, images, drawings, etc… to be created on their own image space, called a layer, with a customizable opacity allowing the stacked layers to show what is beneath them. Thus, any number of effects, new images, combination of effects, etc… placed over a base layer, the input image to edit, can be viewed together or in isolation. Going forth this language will be addressed by simply reproving citations for Photoshop’s layer system.
Regarding claims 16, 6,
Photoshop teaches:
The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the in response to an effect adjustment trigger operation input for the luminous area, adjusting the luminous effect, and updating the effect image based on the adjusted luminous effect comprises: in response to a display color adjustment trigger operation input for the luminous area, determining a target display color; (Photoshop p. 377 “Color Specifies the color of a shadow, glow, or highlight. You can click the color box and choose a color”) performing color space transformation for the target display color to obtain a target display hue and a target display saturation corresponding to the luminous area, (Photoshop p.331
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Note: Photoshop teaches the HSB model as an available model to define colors in photoshop, the model provides a more intuitive way of choosing colors allowing users to customize the hue, saturation, and brightness) and determining, based on the luminous brightness image, a target display brightness corresponding to the luminous area; and updating the luminous brightness image based on the target display hue, the target display saturation, and the target display brightness,(Photoshop p.377 teaches that effects such as the luminous glow effect can have their color customized. Photoshop p.331, cited above, teaches that the color can be picked based on hue, saturation, and brightness, teaching a luminous brightness image/layer updated with a user’s chosen target hue, saturation, and brightness.) and updating the effect image based on the updated luminous brightness image. (Photoshop p.340, p,341, teach updating any image with any effect(s) via its layer system.)
Regarding claims 17, 7,
Photoshop teaches:
The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the determining a line mask image corresponding to an effect line to be displayed in the image to be processed comprises: performing stroke processing, based on a predetermined stroke algorithm, on a target object in the image to be processed to obtain the line mask image corresponding to a stroke line of the target object; (Photoshop p. 416 “The Object Selection tool simplifies the process selecting a single object or part of an object in an image—people, cars, furniture, pets, clothes, and more. You simply draw a rectangular region or a lasso around the object, the Object Selection tool automatically selects the object inside the defined region. The tool works better on well-defined objects than on regions without contrast.” p.417 “5 (Optional) Further refine the selection edge in the Select And Mask workspace To further adjust the selection boundary or view the selection against different backgrounds or as a mask, click Select And Mask workspace in the options bar.” p.419
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Note: The claim states that stroke processing can be performed on a target object in an image where the processing results in a line mask made from the stroke lines of the target object. Photoshop teaches this with its rectangle and lasso tools which allow the lines of an object, analogous to the claims stroke lines/strokes, to be automatically determined, analogous to the claims predetermined stroke algorithm. This can be seen in the image provided above where the outlines for a target object, in this case a person, are have ben automatically determined via the lasso tool. From these lines automatically drawn from a selected region of an object with the rectangle tool, or a whole object with the lasso tool, Photoshop teaches a mask can automatically be made via the “Select And Mask” option.) and/or obtaining a line rendering track input for the image to be processed, and generating, based on the image to be processed and the line rendering track, the line mask image corresponding to a rendering line in the image to be processed. (Photoshop p. 357, cited in claim 1, teaches how layer masks can be created with lines from tools such as the pen tool. Note: The specifications define a “line rendering track input” as ¶80 “The line rendering track may be understood as a track formed after a touch point in the display interface is controlled to slide based on an input device (such as a keyboard or a mouse) or a touch point (such as a user finger or a touch device).”, thus it can be understood simply as a line drawn with a mouse or other input means. This is taught by Photoshop’s available drawing tools such as the Pen tool, a tool for drawing lines already shown to be usable in making layer masks.)
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 3, 13, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by Photoshop in view of the 2.10 version of the photo editor Gimp, herein after Gimp 2.10.
Regarding claims 13, 3,
Photoshop teaches:
The electronic device of claim 11s, wherein the generating a luminous brightness image based the line mask image and at least one Gaussian blur image comprises: adding the line mask image to obtain the luminous brightness image. (As taught in p.341 and p.340 layers in Photoshop can be viewed together, allowing for all edits and effects on an image to be viewed in one cohesive image.)
The 2019 Photoshop reference does not directly discuss adding a plurality of Gaussian blur images at different radiuses. This is taught in Gimp 2.10 which teaches weighted adding a plurality of Gaussian blur images at different Gaussian blur radiuses (
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Note: In the screen shot of Gimp 2.10 it can be seen that a plurality of Gaussian blur images with different radiuses can be created. One blur which applies to the left portion of the image is seen to be set to a radius of 2.8, then in the second image it is shown that it is increased to 128. As seen the right half of the image has a different Gaussian blur with a different radius that stays the same between the two images. This can also be seen on the right-hand side of the image which provides a view of the present layers showing two layers each with their own Gaussian blurs. This shows that Gimp 2.10 teaches the ability to have a plurality of Gaussian blurs at different radiuses.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to modify Photoshop with Gimp 2.10 where generating a luminous brightness image with a Gaussian blur includes a plurality of Gaussian blurs with different radiuses.
There are several reasons that would motivate on to do so, a program could be made more functionable and desirable to use by giving the user higher degree of control over photo editing. This could easily be given to users by allowing multiple blurs with variable radiuses as Photoshop already enables users to apply filters like a Gaussian blur.
Claims 8-10, 18, 19, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by Photoshop in view of Quan (CN 107798658 B).
Regarding claims 18, 8,
Photoshop teaches:
The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the in response to an effect adjustment trigger operation input for the luminous area, adjusting the luminous effect, and updating the effect image based on the adjusted luminous effect comprises: in response to a display morphology adjustment trigger operation input for the luminous area, determining a distance change corresponding to the luminous area, adjusting a display morphology of the luminous area based on the distance change, (Photoshop p. 377 “Softer Applies a blur and is useful on all types of mattes, whether their edges are soft or hard. At larger sizes, Softer does not preserve detailed features. Precise Uses a distance measurement technique to create a glow and is primarily useful on hard-edged mattes from anti-aliased shapes such as type. It preserves features better than the Softer technique.” Note: The shape of a glow can be extended to new areas, or “morphed” into a different shape, via the Precise tool. The Precise tool is taught to create a glow with distance measurement techniques, teaching that the area or distance a glow covers can be adjusted) and updating the effect image based on the adjusted display morphology. (Photoshop p.340, p,341, teach updating any image with any effect(s) via its layer system.)
While Photoshop teaches display morphology adjustments and the ability to update effects to an image it does not overtly reference an “offset intensity”. The use of an offset intensity for an applied visual edit is taught in Quan which teaches determining an offset intensity corresponding to an area (Quan ¶62 “Next, the sharpening filter processor 120 counteracts the intensity values of the focus pixel and the adjacent pixel defined by the point divergence function, and replaces the offset intensity value of the focus pixel with a replacement value of the normalized offset intensity value, and obtaining a sharpening filter based on the replacement value of the focus pixel and the cancellation intensity value of the adjacent pixel.” Note: Quan teaches that an offset intensity for a sharpening filter, an effect applied to an image, has been determined and applied to certain pixels. This shows that Quan teaches determining an offset intensity for an area of an image.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to modify Photoshop with Quan such that applying a luminous effect and adjusting its display morphology involves determining an offset intensity to adjust the morphology by.
There are several reasons that would motivate on to do so, when viewing an image one may wish to keep an effect’s shape, in this case a glow effect, while only shifting certain parts of it specifically. This could be implemented by determining an offset value for the morphology rather than simply forcing new distance/shape changes to it.
Regarding claims 19, 9,
Photoshop teaches:
The electronic device of claim 18, wherein the adjusting a display morphology of the luminous area based on the offset intensity, and updating the effect image based on the adjusted display morphology comprises: determining at least one target noise figure corresponding to the luminous area, and determining, based on the target noise figure, a target coordinate corresponding to a pixel to be processed; (Photoshop p.804 “The Distort filters geometrically distort an image, creating 3D or other reshaping effects. Note that these filters can be very memory-intensive … Displace Uses an image, called a displacement map, to determine how to distort a selection. For example, using a parabola-shaped displacement map, you can create an image that appears to be printed on a cloth held up by its corners.” Note: The claims noise figure provides information detailing target offset coordinates of where pixels will be displaced to. This is taught by Photoshop’s displacement map, a type of image that specifies where every pixel in another image should be displaced, or offset. As a displacement map details a new location every image will be displaced to there are “target coordinates”, or a new pixel location, for all pixels in the original image to be processed.) and updating, based on a pixel value corresponding to the target coordinate, a pixel value corresponding to the pixel to be processed to update the luminous brightness image, and updating the effect image based on the updated luminous brightness image. (Photoshop p.800 “Applying filters to layers You can apply filters to individual layers or to several layers in succession to build up an effect. For a filter to affect a layer, the layer must be visible and must contain pixels—for example, a neutral fill color.” Note: Photoshop teaches that its displacement map functionality is a filter, meaning it can be applied to any layer which could contain the base image, an effect like the luminous glow effect, etc… This teaches the ability to update pixels for an effect, and/or an image, to produce an updated effect image.)
While Photoshop teaches that pixels in an image can be displaced to target locations with a displacement map it does not teach an offset intensity or target offset pixels. This is described in Quan which details based on the offset intensity, a target offset coordinate corresponding to a pixel to be processed; and updating, based on a pixel value corresponding to the target offset coordinate (Quan ¶62 “Next, the sharpening filter processor 120 counteracts the intensity values of the focus pixel and the adjacent pixel defined by the point divergence function, and replaces the offset intensity value of the focus pixel with a replacement value of the normalized offset intensity value, and obtaining a sharpening filter based on the replacement value of the focus pixel and the cancellation intensity value of the adjacent pixel.” Note: The claim teaches a “target offset coordinate” value that is obtained from the offset intensity is associated with a specific pixel, this is taught by Quan as specific pixels have an associated “offset intensity” value that is updated.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to modify Photoshop with Quan wherein updating an image with a luminous glow effect with a noise figure also involves updating the offset intensity of pixels in the image.
There are several reasons that would motivate one to do so, one of which is allowing the user more control over how pixels get moved. A noise figure aims to introduce visual noise by shifting around pixels, a user applying noise may want a higher degree of control over which areas get displaced/offset and by how much, introducing an offset intensity associated with pixels that determines by how much they will be offset by is an easy way to do this.
Regarding claim 10,
The method for processing an image of claim 9, wherein the target noise figure comprises a first noise figure and a second noise figure, and the determining, based on the target noise figure and the offset intensity, a target offset coordinate corresponding to the pixel to be processed comprises: performing, for each pixel to be processed in the luminous brightness image and based on original pixel coordinates of the pixel to be processed, image sampling in the first noise figure to obtain first brightness value as a first offset value corresponding to a horizontal coordinate in the original pixel coordinates;(Photoshop p. 818 “The Displace filter shifts a selection using a color value from the displacement map—0 is the maximum negative shift, 255 the maximum positive shift, and a gray value of 128 produces no displacement. If a map has one channel, the image shifts along a diagonal defined by the horizontal and vertical scale ratios. If the map has more than one channel, the first channel controls the horizontal displacement, and the second channel controls the vertical displacement.” Note: In Photoshop p. 800, cited previously, it was taught how a displacement filter leverages a displacement map, analogous to the claims “noise figure”, detailing pixel offsets for an image/layer it is applied to. The claim states that the image sampling from the noise figure obtains a “brightness value” to determine its first offset for horizontal pixel coordinates. This is taught in p. 818 when Photoshop teaches that the displacement map leverages a “color value” on a scale from 0 to 255, the numbering system leveraged for color modes such as RGB where white is 0 and black is 255. This is confirmed as the middle value of 128 balanced between black and white, or 0 and 255, is taught to be gray. The darker, meaning closer to 0/black a pixel in the depth map is the more negative it is taught to be offset by, and the closet the pixel is to white/255 the more positive the offset is. A displacement map is taught to potentially have 2 channels, if it does one channel denotes horizontal shifts and the other denotes vertical shifts. This teaches the claims language of performing the pixel coordinate offsets based on a “first noise figure” that shifts coordinates horizontally. This will shift every pixel as described by the claims so long as the displacement map is the same size as the image.) performing, based on the original pixel coordinates of the pixel to be processed, image sampling in the second noise figure to obtain a second brightness value as a second offset value corresponding to a vertical coordinate in the original pixel coordinates; (Photoshop p.818 teaches that a displacement map may have two channels, the second of which denoting vertical coordinate shifts. Although referred to as a single “displacement map” since the map contains two separate channels each specifying pixel coordinate offsets for different directions Photoshop teaches the claims “second noise figure” which specifies vertical coordinate offsets as well as the previously discussed “first noise figure” which specifies horizontal coordinate offsets.)
Photoshop does not however teach an offset intensity value associated with pixels, this is taught in Quan which teaches determining, based on the original pixel coordinates, the first offset value, and the offset intensity, a target offset coordinate corresponding to the pixel to be processed. (Quan ¶62, cited above, teaches that pixels have an associated value detailing offset intensity determined for them.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to modify Photoshop with Quan wherein updating an image with a luminous glow effect with a noise figure also involves updating the offset intensity of pixels in the image.
There are several reasons that would motivate one to do so, one of which is allowing the user more control over how pixels get moved. A noise figure aims to introduce visual noise by shifting around pixels, a user applying noise may want a higher degree of control over which areas get displaced/offset and by how much, introducing an offset intensity associated with pixels that determines by how much they will be offset by is an easy way to do this.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/ALAN GREGORY HAKALA/Examiner, Art Unit 2617 /KING Y POON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2617
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