Patent EP1122939A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
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EP1122939A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Image processing system

Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 2001-01-24
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2021-01-24
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Abstract

Abstract It is an object of this invention to provide an image processing system capable of detecting at a high speed whether copy-protected information is embedded in image data. For this purpose, the image processing system that practices this invention uses image data having a low resolution in detecting the embedded position of the copy-protected information. When the position is detected, the neighboring image is extracted in units of blocks on the basis of the pattern size and compared with the pattern image. If a specific pattern is detected as the result of comparison, the image is regarded as an original to be copy-protected, and appropriate processing is executed.

Inventors

  • 👤 Takashi c/o Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Suzuki
  • 👤 Eiji c/o Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Ohara

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 13:04
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/38; G; G06; G06T; G06T1/00; G06T1/0021; G06T1/005; H04N1/00838; H04N1/0084; H04N1/00843; H04N1/00848; H04N1/00856; H04N1/00859; H04N1/00864; H04N1/00872; H04N1/00877; G06T2201/00; G06T2201/005; G06T2201/0065

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 43
Claim 1
Independent Claim 55 words
An image processing apparatus characterized by comprising: determination means (101, 1511) for determining whether image data contains specific information for at least one block extracted from the image data; and image processing means (101, 1512) for executing predetermined processing for the image data which is determined by said determination means to contain the specific information.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 37 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the specific information is predetermined image data, and said determination means performs the determination on the basis of at least the one block and the predetermined image data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 53 words
The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said determination means comprises detection means for detecting, from entire image data, position information related to a position where the specific information is contained, and determines whether the specific information is contained on the basis of the position information detected by said detection means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 46 words
The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said detection means detects the information related to the position using position detection image data obtained by decreasing resolution of the image data, and said determination means determines presence/absence of the specific information from the image data.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 20 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising image read means (111, 1501) for generating the image data.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 17 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the image data is image data for printing.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 20 words
The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized by further comprising image formation means (114, 1502) for printing the image data.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 28 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said image processing means executes processing of converting density or brightness of the image data as the predetermined processing.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 21 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said image processing means erases the image data as the predetermined processing.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 36 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the block has the same size as that of a block having a predetermined size as a unit of image data transfer in said image processing apparatus.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 69 words
The apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that said determination means comprises detection means for detecting, from entire image data, position information related to a position where the specific information is contained, specifies at least the one block from the image data on the basis of the position information detected by said detection means, and determines for at least the one block whether the specific information is contained.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 28 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the block is a band obtained by segmenting the image data along a direction of a line of pixels.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 28 words
The apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the band is a block obtained by segmenting the image data at a line having uniform color and density.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 57 words
An image processing method characterized by comprising: the determination step (S704, S208) of determining whether image data contains specific information for at least one block extracted from the image data; and the image processing step (S705, S301) of executing predetermined processing for the image data which is determined in the determination step to contain the specific information.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 38 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the specific information is predetermined image data, and the determination step comprises performing the determination on the basis of at least the one block and the predetermined image data.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 57 words
The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the determination step comprises the detection step (S1407, S1103) of detecting, from entire image data, position information related to a position where the specific information is contained and comprises determining whether the specific information is contained on the basis of the position information detected in the detection step.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 48 words
The method according to claim 16, characterized in that the detection step comprises detecting the information related to the position using position detection image data obtained by decreasing resolution of the image data, and the determination step comprises determining presence/absence of the specific information from the image data.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 21 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized by further comprising the image read step (S701, S201) of generating the image data.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 17 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the image data is image data for printing.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 21 words
The method according to claim 19, characterized by further comprising the image formation step (S706, S209) of printing the image data.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 30 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the image processing step comprises executing processing (S705) of converting density or brightness of the image data as the predetermined processing.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 23 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the image processing step comprises erasing (S301) the image data as the predetermined processing.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 31 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the block has the same size as that of a block having a predetermined size as a unit of image data transfer.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 72 words
The method according to claim 23, characterized in that the determination step comprises the detection step of detecting, from entire image data, position information related to a position where the specific information is contained, and comprises specifying at least the one block from the image data on the basis of the position information detected in the detection step and determining for at least the one block whether the specific information is contained.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 28 words
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the block is a band obtained by segmenting the image data along a direction of a line of pixels.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 28 words
The method according to claim 25, characterized in that the band is a block obtained by segmenting the image data at a line having uniform color and density.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim 68 words
A computer program executed by a computer to perform image processing, characterized by comprising: a program code of the determination step of determining whether image data contains specific information for at least one block extracted from the image data; and a program code of the image processing step of executing predetermined processing for the image data which is determined in the determination step to contain the specific information.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim 42 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in that the specific information is predetermined image data, and the program code of the determination step comprises performing the determination on the basis of at least the one block and the predetermined image data.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim 63 words
The program according to claim 28, characterized in that the determination step comprises a program code of the detection step of detecting, from entire image data, position information related to a position where the specific information is contained and comprises determining whether the specific information is contained on the basis of the position information detected by the program code of the detection step.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim 56 words
The program according to claim 29, characterized in that the program code of the detection step comprises detecting the information related to the position using position detection image data obtained by decreasing resolution of the image data, and the program code of the determination step comprises determining presence/absence of the specific information from the image data.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim 22 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized by further comprising a program code of the image read-step of generating the image data.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim 17 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in that the image data is image data for printing.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim 23 words
The program according to claim 32, characterized by further comprising a program code of the image formation step of printing the image data.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim 33 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in that the program code of the image processing step comprises executing processing of converting density or brightness of the image data as the predetermined processing.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim 26 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in that the program code of the image processing step comprises erasing the image data as the predetermined processing.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim 31 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in that the block has the same size as that of a block having a predetermined size as a unit of image data transfer.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim 84 words
The program according to claim 36, characterized in that the program code of the determination step comprises a program code of the detection step of detecting, from entire image data, position information related to a position where the specific information is contained, and comprises specifying at least the one block from the image data on the basis of the position information detected by the program code of the detection step and determining for at least the one block whether the specific information is contained.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim 28 words
The program according to claim 27, characterized in that the block is a band obtained by segmenting the image data along a direction of a line of pixels.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim 28 words
The program according to claim 38, characterized in that the band is a block obtained by segmenting the image data at a line having uniform color and density.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim 17 words
A computer-readable storage medium which stores the computer program of any one of claims 27 to 39.
Claim 41
Independent Claim 82 words
A method of processing image data to prevent the copying of copy-prohibited image data, comprising: processing data defining an input image to divide the image into a plurality of image parts; performing processing to test the image parts sequentially to determine whether an image part has characteristics of a copy-prohibited image; generating a control signal to prevent the output of image data faithfully reproducing the input image in response to the detection of an image part having characteristics of a copy-prohibited image.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim 32 words
A storage device storing instructions for causing a programmable processing apparatus to become operable to perform a method as set out in at least one of claims 14 to 26 and 41.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim 31 words
A signal conveying instructions for causing a programmable processing apparatus to become operable to perform a method as set out in at least one of claims 14 to 26 and 41.

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