DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-8 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shibamori (US 2023/0388436 A1).
With respect to Claim 1, Shibamori’436 shows an information processing apparatus (Figure 1 printing apparatus 102 with configurations in figure 2 in paragraph [0036].) comprising:
a processor (222) configured to:
execute a process (Figure 5 500) of detecting drawing designation information (507 or 508) that is information for designating a drawing content in document data (paragraphs [0061]-[0062] checkboxes 507-508 regarding designating spot color printing, paragraphs [0043]-[0044] the spot color print setting (507-508) including a designating a pixel, of the print data used for printing [a document], having an RGB value to correspond to the spot color (exampled as fluorescence pink or orange)) without generating a preview screen for receiving an operation to designate the drawing content in the document data (Figure 5 509 paragraph [0063] when left unchecked a print preview for color printing is not activated), and converting, in a case where the detected drawing designation information is a conversion target for filling with a spot color, the drawing designation information into spot color filling information which is information for filling with a target spot color and outputting a result of the conversion, at a time of outputting the document data (Paragraphs [0044], [0047], and [0049] to convert the original RGB data into a predetermined color space that may include spot color conversion if the RGB value of the pixel matches the designated spot color target to be converted to the spot color. The converted data is transmitted along with print settings for printing by printer).
With respect to Claim 5, Shibamori’436 shows the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: in a case where the drawing designation information is a drawing with a gradation and a rule of the gradation coincides with a rule for conversion into the filling with the spot color, convert the drawing designation information into the corresponding spot color filling information and output a result of the conversion, at the time of outputting the document data (Figures 10-11 and paragraphs [0079]-[0087] describes detecting surrounding pixels of a target spot color pixel in which a color difference (gradation) is below a threshold and determined to be a spot color approximate color. Figure 12 and paragraph [0091] describes a message asking whether to replace the approximate color with the spot color. Figure 20 and paragraphs [0119]-[0120] describes a message notification displaying whether to cancel or print).
With respect to Claim 6, Shibamori’436 shows the information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the rule includes information of a start color, an end color, and a change amount of the gradation (Figure 10 S1005 describes a predetermined rule including a change amount regarding being above/below a threshold (includes a start and end)).
With respect to Claims 7-8, rejection analogous to those presented for claim 1, are applicable.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IRIANA CRUZ whose telephone number is (571)270-3246. The examiner can normally be reached 10-6.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Akwasi M. Sarpong can be reached at (571) 270-3438. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/IRIANA CRUZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681