Patents by Inventor Dennis G. Nicholson

Dennis G. Nicholson has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7660483
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that removes noise from an image. During operation, the system first identifies blobs in the image, wherein a blob is a set of contiguous pixels which possibly represents a character or a portion of a character in the image. Next, the system analyzes the blobs to dynamically determine a “noise threshold” for the blobs. The system then removes blobs from the image which are below the noise threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2010
    Assignee: Adobe Systems, Incorporated
    Inventor: Dennis G. Nicholson
  • Patent number: 7519221
    Abstract: A system creates an electronic version of a document from page-images of the document, wherein the electronic version replicates both the logical content and the physical appearance of the original document. During operation, the system receives the page-images for the document. Next, the system extracts character images from the page-images, and generates a synthetic font for the document from the extracted character images. Finally, the system constructs the electronic version of the document by, using the synthetic font to represent text regions of the document, and by using image-segments extracted from the pages-images to represent non-text regions of the document.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2009
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventor: Dennis G. Nicholson
  • Publication number: 20090022397
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that removes noise from an image. During operation, the system first identifies blobs in the image, wherein a blob is a set of contiguous pixels which possibly represents a character or a portion of a character in the image. Next, the system analyzes the blobs to dynamically determine a “noise threshold” for the blobs. The system then removes blobs from the image which are below the noise threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2005
    Publication date: January 22, 2009
    Inventor: Dennis G. Nicholson
  • Patent number: 6661919
    Abstract: A system for producing a raster image derived from coded and non-coded portions of a hybrid data structure from an input bitmap including (1) a data processing apparatus, (2) a recognizer which performs recognition on an input bitmap to the data processing apparatus to detect identifiable objects within the input bitmap, (3) a mechanism for producing a hybrid data structure including coded data corresponding to the identifiable objects and non-coded data derived from portions of the input bitmap which do not correspond to the identifiable objects, and (4) an output device capable of developing a visually perceptible raster image derived from the hybrid data structure. The raster image includes raster images of the identifiable objects and raster images derived from portions of the input bitmap that do not correspond to the identifiable objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2003
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventors: Dennis G. Nicholson, James C. King
  • Publication number: 20020067859
    Abstract: A system for producing a raster image derived from coded and non-coded portions of a hybrid data structure from an input bitmap including (1) a data processing apparatus, (2) a recognizer which performs recognition on an input bitmap to the data processing apparatus to detect identifiable objects within the input bitmap, (3) a mechanism for producing a hybrid data structure including coded data corresponding to the identifiable objects and non-coded data derived from portions of the input bitmap which do not correspond to the identifiable objects, and (4) an output device capable of developing a visually perceptible raster image derived from the hybrid data structure. The raster image includes raster images of the identifiable objects and raster images derived from portions of the input bitmap that do not correspond to the identifiable objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2002
    Publication date: June 6, 2002
    Applicant: Adobe Systems, Inc., a California corporation
    Inventors: Dennis G. Nicholson, James C. King
  • Patent number: 6385350
    Abstract: A system for producing a raster image derived from a data structure including a data processing apparatus, a recognizer which performs recognition on an input bitmap to the data processing apparatus to detect identifiable objects within the input bitmap, a mechanism for producing a hybrid data structure including coded data corresponding to the identifiable objects and to non-identifiable objects and the input bitmap, and an output device capable of developing a visually perceptible raster image derived from the input bitmap in the hybrid data structure. The raster image is derived from the input bitmap and thus includes no misrecognition errors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventors: Dennis G. Nicholson, James C. King, David M. Emmett
  • Patent number: 6366695
    Abstract: A system for producing a raster image derived from coded and non-coded portions of a hybrid data structure from an input bitmap including (1) a data processing apparatus, (2) a recognizer which performs recognition on an input bitmap to the data processing apparatus to detect identifiable objects within the input bitmap, (3) a mechanism for producing a hybrid data structure including coded data corresponding to the identifiable objects and non-coded data derived from portions of the input bitmap which do not correspond to the identifiable objects, and (4) an output device capable of developing a visually perceptible raster image derived from the hybrid data structure. The raster image includes raster images of the identifiable objects and raster images derived from portions of the input bitmap that do not correspond to the identifiable objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2002
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventors: Dennis G. Nicholson, James C. King
  • Patent number: 5999649
    Abstract: A system for producing a raster image derived from coded and non-coded portions of a hybrid data structure from an input bitmap including (1) a data processing apparatus, (2) a recognizer which performs recognition on an input bitmap to the data processing apparatus to detect identifiable objects within the input bitmap, (3) a mechanism for producing a hybrid data structure including coded data corresponding to the identifiable objects and non-coded data derived from portions of the input bitmap which do not correspond to the identifiable objects, and (4) an output device capable of developing a visually perceptible raster image derived from the hybrid data structure. The raster image includes raster images of the identifiable objects and raster images derived from portions of the input bitmap that do not correspond to the identifiable objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 7, 1999
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventors: Dennis G. Nicholson, James C. King
  • Patent number: 5729637
    Abstract: A system for producing a raster image derived from a data structure including a data processing apparatus, a recognizer which performs recognition on an input bitmap to the data processing apparatus to detect identifiable objects within the input bitmap, a mechanism for producing a hybrid data structure including coded data corresponding to the identifiable objects and to non-identifiable objects and the input bitmap, and an output device capable of developing a visually perceptible raster image derived from the input bitmap in the hybrid data structure. The raster image is derived from the input bitmap and thus includes no misrecognition errors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 17, 1998
    Assignee: Adobe Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis G. Nicholson, James C. King, David M. Emmett
  • Patent number: 5625711
    Abstract: A system for producing a raster image derived from coded and non-coded portions of a hybrid data structure from an input bitmap including (1) a data processing apparatus, (2) a recognizer which performs recognition on an input bitmap to the data processing apparatus to detect identifiable objects within the input bitmap, (3) a mechanism for producing a hybrid data structure including coded data corresponding to the identifiable objects and non-coded data derived from portions of the input bitmap which do not correspond to the identifiable objects, and (4) an output device capable of developing a visually perceptible raster image derived from the hybrid data structure. The raster image includes raster images of the identifiable objects and raster images derived from portions of the input bitmap that do not correspond to the identifiable objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 29, 1997
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventors: Dennis G. Nicholson, James C. King