Interference No. 103,587
FINAL JUDGMENT
The invention at issue in this interference relates to a method and apparatus for producing
a halftone image. The particular sub ject matter in issue is illustrated by count 1, the sole count,
as follows:
Count 1
A method of producing a halftone image comprising the steps of:
scanning a plurality of input points of an original image and generating a
numerical value representing a shade of gray for each input point scanned;
outputting a screened image having a plurality of dots, each dot of said
plurality of dots being one of black or white, the size of each plurality of dots being
determined from a recursive relationship between a value of a current input point, a
previous output, and an error representing a difference between a value of a
previous input point and the previous output; and
transmitting signals representing the screened image to a marking device for
making on an output medium.
The claims of the parties which correspond to the count are as follows:
Levien (patent) : Claims 1, 2. 6, 9-11, 14, 15, 18-20, 23, 25 and 26
Levien (reissue) : Claims 1, 2, 6, 9-11, 14, 15, 18-20, 23, 25, 26 and 28
Katayama et al. : Claims 32-43, 48, 49 and 53-55
Katayama et al. (Katayama) provoked this interference by copying certain claims of the
Levien patent. Thereafter, but prior to declaration of this interference, Levien filed a reissue
application in which independent claims 1 and 25 were amended for the purpose of
distinguishing over a 1986 article by Fawcett et al. 3 and independent claims 27 and 28 were
added to the application, of which claim 27 does not correspond to the count.
3 G.S. Fawcett and B.F. Schrack, “Halftone Techniques Using Error Diffusion,” 27 Proceedings of the Society for
Information Display no. 4 (1986).
2
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