Ex Parte AlsamDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardFeb 24, 201612556183 (P.T.A.B. Feb. 24, 2016) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE 12/556, 183 0910912009 22879 7590 02/26/2016 HP Inc, 3390 E. Harmony Road Mail Stop 35 FORT COLLINS, CO 80528-9544 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR AliAlsam UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www .uspto.gov ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 82243490 2030 EXAMINER LIEW, ALEX KOK SOON ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2668 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 02/26/2016 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address( es): ipa.mail@hp.com barbl@hp.com yvonne.bailey@hp.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte ALI ALSAM Appeal2014-002754 Application 12/556, 183 Technology Center 2600 Before BRUCE R. WINSOR, JOHN F. HORVATH, and AARON W. MOORE, Administrative Patent Judges. HORVATH, Administrative Patent Judge. STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellant seeks our review under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) of the Examiner's rejection of claims 1-20. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b ). We REVERSE. Appeal2014-002754 Application 12/556,183 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is directed to conversion of a color image to a monochrome image. Spec. i-f 1. Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: 1. A method of obtaining a monochrome image from a color image, said color image comprising a plurality of color pixels, and having at least two color channels, each pixel of said plurality of color pixels comprising a value for each color channel of said at least two color channels, said monochrome image comprising a plurality of monochrome pixels, each monochrome pixel having a value for a monochrome channel, the method comprising: calculating a local weighting factor for each color channel of each pixel of said color image; calculating said value of said monochrome channel for each pixel as a sum over said at least two color channels of products of said local weighting factor and said value for each color channel. Hasuo Bala Li REFERENCES us 5,434,649 US 2005/0207 641 A 1 US 2007 /0263009 Al REJECTIONS July 18, 1995 Sept. 22, 2005 Nov. 15, 2007 Claims 1and8 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated by Bala. Final Act. 4. Claims 2---6, 9-11, and 16-19 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Bala and Li. Final Act. 5. 2 Appeal2014-002754 Application 12/556,183 Claims 7 and 12 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Bala in view of Official Notice. Final Act. 7. Claims 13-15 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Bala and Hasuo. Final Act. 8. Claim 20 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Bala, Li, and Official Notice. Final Act. 8. ISSUES AND ANALYSIS We have reviewed the Examiner's rejections in light of Appellant's arguments that the Examiner has erred. Because we are persuaded by one of Appellant's arguments pertaining to all of the independent claims, we reverse the Examiner's rejections of all pending claims. We highlight the following for emphasis. Claims 1-20 The Examiner finds Bala' s filtered luminance and chrominance values (Lhp, ahp, and bhp) are local weighting factors for each of a pixel's color channels. Final Act. 5 (citing Bala Fig. 1 ). The Examiner further finds Bala discloses calculating a value for each pixel's monochrome channel as a sum of products of the local weighting factors and each pixel's color channel values because "each weighting factors ahp, bhp, and Lhpfrom each color channel contribute to determining the final monochrome channel." Id. Appellant argues Bala teaches calculating a combination of the chrominance components of the image, Chp, that is "then multiplied by a weight factor w that is a function of the high-pass luminance signal Lhp." App. Br. 12 (citing Bala i-fi-121, 23). Appellant further argues that Bala teaches "the result of multiplying W with Chp is then added to Ln (the 3 Appeal2014-002754 Application 12/556,183 luminance component)." Id. at 13 (citing Bala, Fig. 1 ). Consequently, Appellant argues, Bala "at best teaches that a weighted value (not a number of weighted values for each color channel) is added to a luminance component and not that each of the before mentioned products are added together." Id. at 13. We are persuaded by Appellant's arguments. Claim 1 recites calculating the value of a pixel's monochromatic channel as a sum over color channels of the product of each color channel's color value and a local weighting factor. Bala teaches "adjusting [the] luminance component of [a] color image based upon [a] high pass filtered chrominance component." Bala, Abstract. Thus, in Bala, the luminance or monochromatic channel values have already been calculated, and are adjusted or modified based on values in the chrominance or color channels. Bala's modified luminance value is given by the expression: See Bala i-fi-1 21-23; Fig. 1. Thus, the adjusted or modified luminance Laut is not a sum over the color channels of the product of each color channel's color value and a weighting factor as recited in claim 1. Accordingly, we do not sustain the Examiner's rejection of claim 1. Appellant argues independent claims 8 and 16 are patentable for the same reasons as claim 1. App. Br. 17 and 21-22. We agree. Appellant argues dependent claims 2-7, 9-15, and 17-20 are patentable for the same reasons as independent claims 1, 8, and 16 from which they respectively depend. Id. 4 Appeal2014-002754 Application 12/556,183 at 13, 17, and 22. We agree. Accordingly, we do not sustain the Examiner's rejections of claims 2-20. DECISION The Examiner's rejections of claims 1-20 are reversed. REVERSED 5 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation