Appeal No. 1997-3223
Application 08/228,050
the references relied upon by the examiner.
The examiner places principal reliance upon this feature
in Tuy at page 4 of the answer. The examiner asserts that
this medial axis corresponds to curves disclosed at columns 11
and 12 of this reference. The examiner further develops this
view at page 6 of the answer asserting that Figure 9 and the
teaching at column 11, lines 16-32 and the teaching at lines
41-46 of column 11 indicate that there is a splitting of three
dimensional data along a medial axis which amounts to a curve
through the center of the spine. We are in agreement with the
basic premise of appellant's position in the briefs that the
Tuy reference at these locations does not teach or suggest
such a medial axis. Figure 9 shows a 3-D image 100 but there
is no clear indication there or from the discussion associated
with these Figures 9-12 as a whole that any cutting or slicing
of the image occurs along any medial axis or a center line
path extending through three spatial dimensions. The
discussion at columns 11 and 12 of a common vertex which may
be present with respect to intersecting curves or planes
associated with that 3-D image is not necessarily along the
claimed medial axis.
-4-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007