Appeal No. 2003-1063
Application No. 09/100,487
Ebner discloses merging first and second halftoning
techniques, such as cluster quad dot and white noise, such that
there is a smooth, contour-free transition region between them
having characteristics and advantages of both techniques
(col. 12, lines 10-15 and 29-60; col. 13, lines 4-29; col. 13,
line 45 - col. 14, line 10). Thereafter, a hybrid imaging
technique within the transition region is used to form an image
(col. 14, lines 11-12).
The examiner argues (answer, sixth page):
Ebner clearly teaches modifying the first printer
grayscale commands to emulate the grayscale printing
characteristics of a second printer (col. 4, lines 14-
22 and col. 13, lines 22-29, e.g. based on the
characteristics of the first printer and the second
printer the grayscale commands are transformed by
combining both characteristics to create the grayscale
commands that match between the two printers). Ebner
clearly describes in column 13, line 56 thru column 14,
line 19, how the instruction or commands to reproduce
the data from of [sic] a first printer (or first
halftone system) can be modify [sic] by combining the
characteristics of the first printer with the
characteristic of a second printer (or second
halftoning system) to create a significantly better
hybrid system. By creating a combination of
characteristics between the first halftoning method and
the second halftoning method, the instructions or
commands to represent the image or data created are
changed based on the hybrid system generated by the
combination of the two halftoning methods.
The examiner’s statement that “Ebner clearly teaches modifying
the first printer grayscale commands to emulate the grayscale
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