Appeal No. 1999-2040
Application No. 08/475,023 Page 12
limit value to said threshold value." In Spaulding, even though
the color values of subset 12 with the most saturated colors can
have uniform saturation compression, we find no clear teaching in
Spaulding that the saturation compression adjusts a color value
in subset 12 to the extent that the color value is reduced to the
extent of lying in the range between the limit value and the
threshold value, as claimed. The examiner's assertion (answer,
page 16) that "[i]nput colors in the region 12 is [sic]
transformed with a color enhancement strategy" does not address
the specific language of the limitation in question. In sum, the
evidence of record does not clearly support a finding that a
nominal color having a parameter beyond the threshold value is
reduced to a value that lies within the range from the limit
value to the threshold value. We therefore find that the
examiner has failed to establish a prima facie case of
anticipation of claim 9. Accordingly, the rejection of claims 1
and 9, and claims 7 and 18, dependent therefrom, under 35 U.S.C.
§ 102(e) is reversed.
We turn next to the rejection of claim 2 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a). In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103, it is
incumbent upon the examiner to establish a factual basis to
support the legal conclusion of obviousness. See In re Fine, 837
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