Appeal No. 2001-1420
Application No. 08/988,453
shown in Figure 1 of Dir are composed of a number of pixels. Even if each “halftone
cell” were considered to be “one pixel,” the elements making up the “pixel” are merely
black or white, as opposed to the claimed “at least three levels.”
We find no response from the examiner in the Answer with respect to appellants’
argument regarding Takahashi. However, the examiner states in the Final Rejection (at
4) that “Takahashi teaches pixels having subpixels in the sub-scanning direction which
are to be colored to obtain different densities of the pixel.” Further, the examiner
responds (Answer at 5-7) that each half-tone cell as disclosed by Dir is considered to
be a single pixel with 16 sub-cells considered to be 16 sub-pixels, with each sub-pixel
being “subjected to multi-tone levels, sixteen levels to be exact.” (Id. at 7.)
The terms used in the claims bear a “heavy presumption” that they mean what
they say and have the ordinary meaning that would be attributed to those words by
persons skilled in the relevant art. Texas Digital Sys., Inc. v. Telegenix, Inc., 308 F.3d
1193, 1202, 64 USPQ2d 1812, 1817 (Fed. Cir. 2002). Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and
treatises are particularly useful resources in determining the ordinary and customary
meanings of claim terms. Id. at 1202, 64 USPQ2d at 1818. Indeed, these materials
may be the most meaningful sources of information in better understanding both the
technology and the terminology used by those skilled in the art to describe the
technology. Id. at 1203, 64 USPQ2d at 1818.
“Pixel” is defined as “the smallest element of an image that can be individually
displayed.” Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language at
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