Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 12/02/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-12 are still pending in this application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being as being unpatentable over Sugimoto et al. (JP2013003995A IDS) in view of Matsui (US 20200081663) and Yuasa et al. (US 20190294396)
Regarding claim 1, Sugimoto teaches an information processing apparatus comprising: a processor configured to: execute assignment of jobs to a plurality of printing devices such that sheet refilling timings of the plurality of printing devices are shifted from each other (p0054: the number of sheets printed by each printer when the print job is executed (40 copies each),and the amount of paper remaining in each paper supply tray of each printer, p0075: it is possible to avoid or suppress a situation in which all paper feed trays of a certain printer run out of paper, causing the printing operation of the certain printer to be interrupted. And 0099: For example, among multiple printers, the time TX and the time TY may be determined by excluding from the target printers "printers that will not run out of paper while executing a print job (that has been instructed (accepted) at that time (present)))).
Sugimoto does not teach receive a plurality of jobs; sense a current amount of remaining sheets of each of a plurality of printing devices; calculate an amount of used sheets for each of the plurality of jobs; calculate a printing time period or a printing rate to perform printing of each of the plurality of jobs with respect to each of the plurality of printing devices. assignment of the plurality of jobs to the plurality of printing devices such that sheet refilling timings of the plurality of printing devices do not overlap each other on the basis of the printing time period or the printing rate for each of the plurality of jobs with respect to the plurality of printing devices.
Matsui teaches receive a plurality of jobs (p0025:print jobs); sense a current amount of remaining sheets of each of a plurality of printing devices (p0075: a remaining sheet field 670); calculate an amount of used sheets for each of the plurality of jobs (fig. 5: field 518 and 520); calculate a printing time period or a printing rate to perform printing of each of the plurality of jobs with respect to each of the plurality of printing devices (p0075: a print speed field 615: from total number of pages for job and printer speed, printer time can be calculated.
Yuasa teaches assignment of the plurality of jobs to the plurality of printing devices such that sheet refilling timings of the plurality of printing devices do not overlap each other on the basis of the printing time period or the printing rate for each of the plurality of jobs with respect to the plurality of printing devices (p0049: a print job can be assigned according to the consumption state of the toner and the paper sheet P. a maintenance timing is a replenishment timing of at least one of the toner and the paper sheet P. That is, in the present embodiment, the replenishment timing of each unit can be adjusted to the same timing: ie, could be different time not to overlap).
Sugimoto and Matsui and Yuasa combinable because they both deal with management printing apparatus. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to combine the teachings of Sugimoto with the teaching of Matsui and Yuasa for purpose of assigns a print job to the image forming apparatus having the smallest degree of variations (Yuasa: abstract) and for selecting an image forming device in accordance with the condition from among plural image forming devices to which the information processing apparatus is able to communicate (Matsui:p0007).
Regarding claim 2, Sugimoto teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: execute the assignment of the jobs such that an interval between the sheet refilling timings of the plurality of printing devices is equal to or greater than a threshold value (p0099: , among multiple printers, the time TX and the time TY may be determined by excluding from the target printers "printers that will not run out of paper while executing a print job (that has been instructed (accepted) at that time (present))).
Regarding claim 12, The structural elements of apparatus claim 1 perform all of the steps of method claim 12. Thus, claim 12 is rejected for the same reasons discussed in the rejection of claim 1.
Claim 11 has been analyzed and rejected with regard to claim 1 and in accordance with Sugimoto’s further teaching on: A computer-readable memory that contains instructions, which when executed by a processor perform steps in a method (p0014).
Regarding claim 3, Sugimoto teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: obtain an assignment pattern in which the sheet refilling timings of the plurality of printing devices are shifted from each other, among the assignment patterns of the jobs for the plurality of printing devices, on the basis of an amount of remaining sheets of each of the plurality of printing devices (p0010: an estimation unit that estimates a paper out-of time when each of a plurality of paper feed trays provided for each of a plurality of printers will run out of paper, based on the printing speed of each of the plurality of printers and the amount of paper remaining in each of a plurality of paper feed trays provided for each of the plurality of printers) and a sheet consumption rate for each job (p0010: based on the printing speed of each of the plurality of printers), and execute the assignment of the jobs to the plurality of printing devices in accordance with the obtained assignment pattern (p0010).
Regarding claim 4, Sugimoto teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: execute first selection processing of selecting a job to be assigned to a current printing device in accordance with a predetermined assignment policy within a range in which an amount of remaining sheets of the current printing device does not reach 0, for each of the plurality of printing devices (p0099: printers that will not run out of paper while executing a print job); and select jobs to be respectively assigned to the plurality of printing devices among jobs remaining without being assigned to any of the plurality of printing devices after the first selection processing such that the sheet refilling timings of the plurality of printing devices are shifted from each other (p0011: determines as target printers those printers among the plurality of printers excluding printers that do not run out of paper during the execution of accepted print jobs).
Regarding claim 5, Sugimoto teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: acquire information that defines a sheet refilling order of the plurality of printing devices (p0011: , determines the time when all paper feed trays will run out of paper for at least one of the target printers) ; and execute the assignment of the jobs to the plurality of printing devices such that the sheet refilling timing of each of the printing devices arrives at a corresponding position in the sheet refilling order (p0099).
Regarding claim 9, Sugimoto the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: divide one job into a plurality of jobs (p0041: job JB1 with a print count of 120 copies, 40 copies of print output are assigned to printer 10a, 40 copies of print output are assigned to printer 10b, and 40 copies of print output are assigned to printer 10c.); and set the divided plurality of jobs as a target and execute assignment of the jobs such that the sheet refilling timings of the plurality of printing devices are shifted from each other (p0099).
Regarding claim 10, Sugimoto teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: receive an input of an assignment pattern of the jobs to the plurality of printing devices from a user (p0043: the operating user UA presses the rectangular shape corresponding to job JB1 with his/her finger, then drags the rectangular shape to the icon corresponding to setting ST1…); and execute assignment of the jobs to the plurality of printing devices in accordance with the assignment pattern, in a case where the sheet refilling timings of the plurality of printing devices are shifted from each other by the received assignment pattern (p0099).
Claims 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugimoto in view of Matsui and Yuasa as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Doi (US 9838549).
Regarding claim 6, Sugimoto in view of Matsui and Yuasa does not teach the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: execute display processing for displaying, on a display device, remaining time periods until the respective sheet refilling timings of the plurality of printing devices at a time point at which printing is executed on the plurality of printing devices or amounts of remaining sheets in the printing devices at the time point.
Doi teaches wherein the processor is configured to: execute display processing for displaying, on a display device, remaining time periods until the respective sheet refilling timings of the plurality of printing devices at a time point at which printing is executed on the plurality of printing devices or amounts of remaining sheets in the printing devices at the time point (fig. 4: ACT 180-190 and fig. 5)
Sugimoto in view of Matsui and Yuasa and Dio are combinable because they both deal with management printing apparatus. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to combine the teachings of Sugimoto with the teaching of Dio for purpose of perform a notification process that notifies one of the present registrees that work needs to be done on the image forming apparatus (abstract).
Regarding claim 7, Sugimoto in view of Matsui and Yuasa and Dio teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the display processing is executed at a time point at which printing is executed while the jobs are assigned to the plurality of printing devices (Dio: fig. 5: MI).
The rational for the rejection of claim 6 has been incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 8, Sugimoto in view of Matsui and Yuasa and Dio teaches the information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein in the display processing, the remaining time periods or the amounts of remaining sheets in the plurality of printing devices are respectively displayed in association with the plurality of printing devices on a map showing arrangement of the plurality of printing devices (Dio: fig. 5: MFP-1 paper out. MFP-3 passage No. 3 has sheet).
The rational for the rejection of claim 6 has been incorporated herein.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
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HELEN ZONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2683
/HELEN ZONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683