Judge Stark Construes Claim Terms for Patent Directed to Digital Image Processing

In Tarkus Imaging, Inc. v. Adobe Systems, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 10-063-LPS (D. Del. May 11, 2012), Judge Stark issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order construing the claim terms of U.S. Patent No. 6,628,823 at issue in the case as follows:

– “original image” means “the image data and other data pertaining to the image prior to performing the claimed processing steps”
– “original” means “two-dimensional object (such as a print, negative, or transparency, artwork, or reproduction defined by an image file)”
– “density capabilities” means “assumed or measurable density values that an assumed or actual output device is capable of producing”
– “density” means “the negative logarithm of reflectance, transmittance, or luminance factor”
– “output device” means “a physical or assumed device used to produce or define a reproduction”
– “pictorial dynamic range” means “the range from the value representing the edge of detail in black to the value representing the edge of detail in white”
– “tone reproduction curve” means “the relationship between the tonal values of an original image and the tonal values of an intended reproduction”
– “tone” means “lightness or brightness of an element in a scene or image”
– “color space values” means “the number or combination of numbers used to represent colors”
– “initial color space values of a scene” means “a number of combination of numbers determined by a capture device to represent colors in a scene (e.g., camera raw or scene referred image data)”
– “capture device” means “a device (e.g., a camera, scanner, or computer) capable of acquiring an image of a scene or original”
– “estimating a key of the original image” means “estimating whether an original image, as a whole, is bring or dark”
– “standard output device” means “a representative real or assumed device having defined associated color space values that are commonly used in image files”
– “applying an S-shaped flex adjustment” means “changing the amount of shaped of a curve”
– “applying a shift adjustment” means “changing the bow (e.g., convexity or concavity of a curve)”
– “scene” means “a real-world view”
– “focal plane image” means “an image formed on a sensor of a capture device”
– “Image file” means “a file containing image data and optionally data pertaining to the image”

Tarkus Imaging, Inc. v. Adobe Systems, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 10-063-LPS (D. Del. May 11, 2012)