Shape feature matching for trademark image retrieval

Shape retrieval from image databases is a complex problem. This paper reports an investigation on the comparative effectiveness of a number of different shape features (including those included in the recent MPEG-7 standard) and matching techniques in the retrieval of multi-component trademark images. Experiments were conducted within the framework of the ARTISAN shape retrieval system, and retrieval effectiveness assessed on a database of over 10 000 images, using 24 queries and associated ground truth supplied by the UK Patent Office. Our results show clearly that multi-component matching can give better results than whole-image matching. However, only minor differences in retrieval effectiveness were found between different shape features or distance measures, suggesting that a wide variety of shape feature combinations and matching techniques can provide adequate discriminating power for effective retrieval.