Appeal No. 96-3646
Application 08/136,254
1. A method for compressing an image signal representing a radiation image, which comprises
the steps of:
detecting the image signal by reading out the radiation image which has been recorded on a
recording medium;
generating a conditioned image signal according to one condition of a set of conditions; and
compressing the conditioned image signal into a compressed image signal using a compression
process which is chosen depending upon said one condition.
The examiner’s Answer cites the following prior art:
Arakawa et al. (Arakawa) 5,028,784 July 2, 1991
Shimura 5,086,489 Feb. 4, 1992
OPINION
Claims 1-12 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Arakawa. Claims 13,
15-20, and 22-26 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Shimura. Claims 14
and 21 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Arakawa and Shimura.
All the claims require a step or means for “generating a conditioned image signal according to
one condition of a set of conditions.” The claims also require using a process “which is chosen
depending upon said one condition.”
The examiner concedes that the references do not teach a set of conditions or choosing a
process depending on the condition. However, the examiner takes “official notice” that other
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