Appeal No. 2001-0877
Application 08/530,434
examiner that the height profile calculated in Fujii constitutes
an outline of the document. The specification does not establish
any special definition for the term “outline.” In fact, the
specification, in describing Figure 9, refers to an actual
outline and an outline of the document image picked up by the
apparatus. Thus, the specification suggests that there are
several possible outlines of a document. The use of the term
outline in the specification appears to be entirely consistent
with the general meaning of that term. Therefore, the height
profile of the document as calculated in Fujii constitutes the
measurement of an outline as recited in claim 1.
We also agree with the examiner that appellants’
arguments related to size are not commensurate in scope with the
claimed invention. As noted by the examiner, claim 1 does not
recite that the size of the document is computed, but rather,
claim 1 recites that the size of the document is examined. The
use of the height and height profile in Fujii means that the size
of the document is examined. More specifically, we agree with
the examiner that the height of the document in Fujii is detected
at points X1, X2, X3, etc., and an outline of the document is
measured by the interpolated spline data. This height and
interpolation data represents the size of the document and
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