Appeal No. 96-3634
Application 08/295,122
Claim 1 is illustrative and reads as follows:
1. A method for determining an offset correction level for a light sensitive sensor used to record
the intensity of exposure light reflected from the surface of a document, comprising the steps of:
measuring the sensor response when the sensor is exposed to light reflected from a first target
having a first, non-zero reflectance level;
measuring the sensor response when the sensor is exposed to light reflected from a second
target, the second target having a second reflectance level greater than the first reflectance level; and
calculating only as a function of the sensor response to the first target and the sensor response
to the second target and the reflectances of the first and second targets, the response of the sensor to
light reflected from a zero reflectance target, and thereby enabling the calculated response to be used as
the offset correction level for the sensor.
The reference relied upon by the examiner as evidence of unpatentability is:
Tomohisa 4,660,082 Apr. 21, 1987
The appealed claims stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102 as being anticipated by Tomohisa.
The respective positions of the examiner and the appellants with regard to the propriety of this
rejection are set forth in the final rejection (Paper No. 5), the advisory action (Paper No. 8) and the
examiner's answer (Paper No. 11), and the appellants’ brief (Paper No. 10).
Opinion
We will reverse the rejection of claims 1-4 under 35 U.S.C. § 102.
Method claim 1 recites “measuring the sensor response when the sensor is exposed to light
reflected from a first target having a first, non-zero reflectance level”. Our review of Tomohisa leads us
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