Appeal No. 1998-3393
Application No. 08/763,326
art suggested the desirability of the modification. In re
Fritch, 972 F. 2d 1260, 1266, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1783-84 (Fed.
Cir. 1992).
We are in further agreement with Appellants that, even
assuming arguendo that proper motivation exists for combining
Godshalk with Itoh, the proposed combination would not result in
the invention as claimed. We find nothing in the disclosure of
Itoh which suggests the determination of a less significant bit
threshold based on a previous determination of a most
significant bit threshold. In making this determination, we are
cognizant of the Examiner’s reference (Answer, page 5) to the
disclosure at column 5, lines 6-25 and column 8, lines 27-38 of
Itoh. In our view, this disclosure of Itoh at most describes
the estimation of pixel values of a lower resolution image using
values from surrounding higher resolution pixels, a feature
which falls well short of the specific threshold determination
procedure recited in Appellants’ claims.
Since all of the claim limitations are not taught or
suggested by the applied prior art, it is our opinion that the
Examiner has not established a prima facie case of obviousness
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