Appeal No. 2004-0930
Application No. 09/934,962
Sato obtains each element Ci of a block’s color feature
vector by counting the number of pixels within the hue range di-1
to di+1 in a histogram (col. 25, lines 56-58; figure 43).1 Sato
creates a color versus block size (i.e., resolution) index table
which shows, for each Ci that is larger than a threshold value,
the number of the block (region id) and the number of the image
which includes the block (image id) (col. 26, lines 5-10;
figure 45). Thus, “index information to images and regions
having a predetermined frequency or higher of a specific color is
stored in the index table 213 in units of blocks” (col. 26,
lines 16-18).
The examiner argues that “Sato clearly teaches that the
color feature vector (Ci), each Ci represents the number of
pixels of color Ci in the block, is a characterization measure
that is proportional to the frequency of occupance (how many
pixels in the color Ci) in the local histogram of a block”
(answer, eighth page)2. The appellant’s claims, however, do not
require characterizing a block but, rather, require
characterizing an image comprised of partitions (which correspond
1 This corresponds to the appellant’s determining a
frequency of occurrence of each color of a plurality of pixels
within each of a plurality of partitions.
2 The pages in the examiner’s answer are not numbered.
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