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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 5 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. Reasons for allowance will be provided in the event the application becomes in condition for allowance.
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) 1, 2, 4, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hanawa (U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2014/0126005) in view of Yui (U.S. Patent No. 5,677,741).
Regarding claim 1, Hanawa (U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2014/0126005) discloses:
An image processing apparatus comprising one or more processors, an operation acceptor, and a memory,
wherein the memory stores a first conversion table and a second conversion table for converting input image data including a first color value into output image data including black and a second color value (paragraphs [0032]-[0033], [0037], [0039], two tables are included, a brightness shift table and a color conversion table; the colors include each color of RGB and the output can be constructed of CMYK), and
the one or more processors
perform conversion based on the first conversion table when no instruction for color balance adjustment is input from the operation acceptor (paragraphs [0033]-[0036], the color conversion system determines that the brightness shift table is applied to the letter region; this determination constitutes an “input from the operation acceptor” and the brightness conversion involves a lightening/darkening and not a change in hue) and
perform conversion based on the second conversion table when an instruction for color balance adjustment is input from the operation acceptor (paragraphs [0033]-[0035], the color conversion system determines that the background removal table is applied to the non-letter region; this determination constitutes an “input from the operation acceptor”; the background removal table turns colors that, for example, changes color data to white when input density approaches a set value)
Even assuming arguendo that the claim requires and that Hanawa does not explicitly disclose:
An operation acceptor that accepts an operation from the user;
Performing or not performing color balance adjustment based on the operation from the user;
Yui (U.S. Patent No. 5,677,741) discloses:
An operation acceptor that accepts an operation from the user (column 3, lines 23-);
the memory stores a first conversion table and a second conversion table for converting input image data (Figure 2A, column 2, line 62 through column 3, line 13 and column 3, lines 23-67, the system includes an ordinary processing mode and a table control button ON mode that convert input image data); and
the one or more processors perform conversion based on first conversion table when no instruction for color balance adjustment is input from the operation acceptor corresponding to an operation from the user (Figure 2A, column 2, line 62 through column 3, line 13 and column 3, lines 23-67, when the user does not turn on the table control button, the ordinary processing is performed), and
perform conversion based on the second conversion table when an instruction for color balance adjustment is input from the operation acceptor corresponding to an operation from the user (Figure 2A, column 2, line 62 through column 3, line 13 and column 3, lines 23-67, when the user turns on the table control button, the processing is performed according to the custom table)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the system of Yui with the system of Hanawa such that the system would have been configured to accept an operation from the user and perform or not perform color balance adjustment based on the operation from the user as described in Yui. The suggestion/motivation would have been in order to implement a system capable of “perform[ing] customized color conversion of the connected environment of a color system with optimal color reproducibility” (column 7, lines 24-27 of the Yui reference).
Regarding claim 2, Hanawa additionally discloses:
wherein the one or more processors distinguish between a character region and a non-character region in the input image data (paragraph [0033], the document is divided into a letter region and a non-letter region), and
perform conversion based on any one of the first conversion table and the second conversion table selected based on the number of pixels in the non-character region when an instruction for color balance adjustment is input from the operation acceptor (paragraphs [0033]-[0038], the two tables are applied selectively for the pixels of each region)
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Hanawa and Yui discloses the apparatus of the parent claim (claim 1).
Hanawa does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the second conversion table stored in the memory includes a plurality of second conversion tables, and
when an instruction for color balance adjustment is input from the operation acceptor, the one or more processors perform conversion based on any one of the plurality of second conversion tables selected based on the instruction.
Yui discloses:
wherein the second conversion table stored in the memory includes a plurality of second conversion tables (column 4, lines 4-21, color tables for each user are stored), and
when an instruction for color balance adjustment is input from the operation acceptor, the one or more processors perform conversion based on any one of the plurality of second conversion tables selected based on the instruction (column 4, lines 4-21, color tables for each user are stored; Figure 2A, column 2, line 62 through column 3, line 13 and column 3, lines 23-67, when the user turns on the table control button, the processing is performed according to the custom table)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the system of Yui with the system of Hanawa such that the system would have been configured to accept an operation from the user and perform or not perform color balance adjustment based on the operation from the user as described in Yui. The suggestion/motivation would have been in order to implement a system capable of “perform[ing] customized color conversion of the connected environment of a color system with optimal color reproducibility” (column 7, lines 24-27 of the Yui reference).
Regarding claim 6, the structural elements of apparatus claim 1 perform all of the steps of method claim 6. Thus, claim 6 is rejected for the same reasons discussed in the rejection of claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN R WALLACE whose telephone number is (571)270-1577. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 8:30-5 PM.
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/JOHN R WALLACE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682
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