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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
The claims 1 and 11 recite acquiring information related to an electronic output data; derive the number of sheets virtually output in a case in which the data is output by the sheets, and perform control to display a reduction value of the sheets reduced by the electronic output of the data.
The limitation of “derive the number of sheets virtually output in a case in which the data is output by the sheets” and “a reduction value of the sheets reduced by the electronic output of the data” present mathematical concepts wherein some type of calculation occurs to obtain the number of sheets and with that information a reduction value of the sheets is calculated/performed.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the limitations of a processor and to display are mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component recited at a high level of generality to perform the abstract idea. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements as disclosed do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application as they are mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component recited at a high level of generality to perform the abstract idea.
Claim 2 is dependent on claim 1 and includes all the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, claim 2 recites the same abstract idea of claim 1. The claim recites the additional limitation of “acquire a history of the information related to the electronic output of the data from a storage unit that stores the history; derive the total number of sheets output and the total number of sheets virtually output, using the acquired history; derive a reduction ratio of the sheets indicating a ratio of the derived total number of sheets virtually output to a sum of the derived total number of sheets output and the derived total number of sheets virtually output; and perform control to display the derived reduction ratio of the sheets as the reduction value”, which is merely elaborating on the abstract idea, by further specifying an additional mathematical calculation, therefore, does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 3 is dependent on claim 1 and includes all the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, claim 3 recites the same abstract idea of claim 1. The claim recites the additional limitation of “acquire a history of information indicating aggregate printing in which a plurality of pages are collectively printed on the sheet; further derive a reduction ratio of the sheets by the aggregate printing, using the acquired history of the information indicating the aggregate printing; and perform control to display the reduction ratio of the sheets by the aggregate printing together with the reduction ratio of the sheets by the electronic output”, which is merely elaborating on the abstract idea, by further specifying an additional mathematical calculation, therefore, does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 4 is dependent on claim 1 and includes all the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, claim 4 recites the same abstract idea of claim 1. The claim recites the additional limitation of “perform control to individually display each of the reduction ratio of the sheets by the electronic output and the reduction ratio of the sheets by the aggregate printing”, which is merely elaborating on the abstract idea, by further specifying an additional mathematical calculation, therefore, does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 5 is dependent on claim 1 and includes all the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, claim 5 recites the same abstract idea of claim 1. The claim recites the additional limitation of “derive a composite reduction ratio obtained by combining the reduction ratio of the sheets by the electronic output and the reduction ratio of the sheets by the aggregate printing; and perform control to display the derived composite reduction ratio”, which is merely elaborating on the abstract idea, by further specifying an additional mathematical calculation, therefore, does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 6 is dependent on claim 1 and includes all the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, claim 6 recites the same abstract idea of claim 1. The claim recites the additional limitation of “further acquire information indicating a type of the electronic output; and perform control to display the reduction value of the sheets for each type indicated by the acquired information”, which is merely elaborating on the abstract idea, by further specifying an additional element recited at a high-level of generality, therefore, does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 7 is dependent on claim 1 and includes all the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, claim 7 recites the same abstract idea of claim 1. The claim recites the additional limitation of “wherein the type of the electronic output is at least one of an output of a scanned image, an output by printing, or an output of a printed image”, which is merely elaborating on the abstract idea, by further specifying an additional element recited at a high-level of generality, therefore, does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 8 is dependent on claim 1 and includes all the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, claim 8 recites the same abstract idea of claim 1. The claim recites the additional limitation of “acquire the history of the information related to the electronic output of the data from a storage unit that stores the history for each user; derive the reduction value for each user using the acquired history; and perform control to display the derived reduction value for each user”, which is merely elaborating on the abstract idea, by further specifying an additional mathematical calculation, therefore, does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 9 is dependent on claim 1 and includes all the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, claim 9 recites the same abstract idea of claim 1. The claim recites the additional limitation of “acquire information at a time when the electronic output is performed as the information related to the electronic output of the data”, which is merely elaborating on the abstract idea, by further specifying an additional element recited at a high-level of generality, therefore, does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 10 is dependent on claim 1 and includes all the limitations of claim 1. Therefore, claim 10 recites the same abstract idea of claim 1. The claim recites the additional limitation of “further acquire transmission information related to transmission of electronic data to an external apparatus that corresponds to the output of the data to the sheet; and derive the reduction value of the sheets in a case in which the data is output to the sheets using the electronic data according to the transmission indicated by the acquired transmission information”, which is merely elaborating on the abstract idea, by further specifying an additional mathematical calculation, therefore, does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 12 recites acquiring inform acquiring information related to an electronic output of data; deriving the number of sheets virtually output in a case in which the data is output by the sheets, and performing control to display a reduction value of the sheets reduced by the electronic output of the data.
The limitation of “deriving the number of sheets virtually output in a case in which the data is output by the sheets” and “reduction value of the sheets reduced by the electronic output of the data” present mathematical concepts wherein some type of calculation occurs to obtain the number of sheets and with that information a reduction value of the sheets is calculated/performed.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the limitation of a acquiring and displaying information are mere instructions to apply an exception. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements as disclosed do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application as they are mere instructions to “apply” the abstract ideas, which cannot provide an inventive concept. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
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.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka (US 2012/0325101 A1) in view of Rainero (US 2014/0307274 A1).
With respect to Claim 1, Tanaka’101 shows an information processing apparatus (figure 1 server 10) comprising: a processor (Figure 1 CPU 11) configured to:
acquire information related to an electronic output of data (Figure 7, ACT 101 paragraph [0048] number of printed sheets calculated per job);
derive the number of sheets physically [virtually] output in a case in which the data is output by the sheets, using the acquired information related to the electronic output of the data (figure 7 paragraphs [0049]-[0050]); and
perform control to display a reduction value of the sheets reduced by the electronic output of the data, using the derived number of sheets physically [virtually] output (figure 6 paragraphs [0036]-[0037] and [0044]-[0046] display reduction of number of sheet).
Tanaka’101 does not specifically show the sheets being virtually outputted.
Rainero’274 shows sheets being virtually outputted (figures 3 and 4 and paragraphs [0027]-[0028] the user is provided (as an alternative to physically printing sheets) an option to send the item that would otherwise be printed from a computerized device 132).
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claim invention to modify Tanaka’101 to include sheets being virtually outputted method taught by Rainero’274. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to improve cost savings, productivity improvements, green improvements, security improvements, compliance improvements and printing supply (paragraphs [0032] and [0034]).
With respect to Claim 2, the combination of Tanaka’101 and Rainero’274 shows an information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: acquire a history of the information related to the electronic output of the data from a storage unit that stores the history (in Tanaka’101: paragraph [0028] log database 14 saves a printing log ); derive the total number of sheets output (in Tanaka’101: figure 7 ACT 102) and the total number of sheets virtually output (in Rainero’274: paragraphs [0027]-[0028] the user is provided (as an alternative to physically printing sheets) an option to send the item that would otherwise be printed from a computerized device 132), using the acquired history (in Tanaka’101: figure 7 and paragraph [0048] ); derive a reduction ratio of the sheets indicating a ratio of the derived total number of sheets virtually output to a sum of the derived total number of sheets output and the derived total number of sheets virtually output (in Tanaka’101: Figure 7 ACT 105 calculate sheet reduction ratio, in Rainero’274: paragraphs [0027]-[0028] implementing alternative/virtual to physically printing sheets); and perform control to display the derived reduction ratio of the sheets as the reduction value (in Tanaka’101:Figures 6 and 7).
With respect to Claim 3, the combination of Tanaka’101 and Rainero’274 shows an information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to: further acquire a history of information indicating aggregate printing in which a plurality of pages are collectively printed on the sheet (in Tanaka’101: paragraph [0029] table of printing log data according to the first embodiment. A printing log is a log obtained by aggregating job data periodically collected from plural MFPs connected via a network); further derive a reduction ratio of the sheets by the aggregate printing, using the acquired history of the information indicating the aggregate printing (in Tanaka’101: paragraphs [0035]-[0036]); and perform control to display the reduction ratio of the sheets by the aggregate printing together with the reduction ratio of the sheets by the electronic output (in Tanaka’101: figure 6).
With respect to Claim 4, the combination of Tanaka’101 and Rainero’274 shows an information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to: perform control to individually display each of the reduction ratio of the sheets by the electronic output and the reduction ratio of the sheets by the aggregate printing (in Tanaka’101: figure 6, paragraphs [0044]-[0046] sheet reduction ratio, reduction duplex and reduction N-in-1/aggregation).
With respect to Claim 5, the combination of Tanaka’101 and Rainero’274 shows an information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to: derive a composite reduction ratio obtained by combining the reduction ratio of the sheets by the electronic output (in Tanaka’101: figure 6 sheet reduction ratio) and the reduction ratio of the sheets by the aggregate printing (in Tanaka’101: figure 6 reduction N-in-1 ); and perform control to display the derived composite reduction ratio (in Tanaka’101: figure 6).
With respect to Claim 6, the combination of Tanaka’101 and Rainero’274 shows an information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: further acquire information indicating a type of the electronic output (in Tanaka’101: figure 2, paragraphs [0029]-[0030] showing the functions to be print, copy, or scan); and perform control to display the reduction value of the sheets for each type indicated by the acquired information (in Tanaka’101: figure 3 showing the reused sheets).
With respect to Claim 7, the combination of Tanaka’101 and Rainero’274 shows an information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the type of the electronic output is at least one of an output of a scanned image, an output by printing, or an output of a printed image (in Tanaka’101: figure 2, paragraphs [0029]-[0030] showing the functions to be print, copy, or scan).
With respect to Claim 8, the combination of Tanaka’101 and Rainero’274 shows an information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: acquire the history of the information related to the electronic output of the data from a storage unit that stores the history for each user (in Tanaka’101: paragraph [0029] printing log include "serial number" indicating a machine body of an MFP, "user ID" for identifying a user of the MFP, "start date and time" and "end date and time" indicating job execution time, "function" indicating copy, print, and scan as a type of an executed job, "color" indicating a printing color, "size" indicating a size of a sheet used for printing, "duplex setting" indicating whether printing setting is simplex or duplex, "aggregation setting" indicating how many sheets are aggregated in one sheet, "number of input surfaces" for counting the front surfaces and the rear surfaces of original documents, "number of printed sheets" indicating the number of sheets, and "number of printed surfaces" for counting the front surfaces and the rear surfaces of printed sheet); derive the reduction value for each user using the acquired history (in Tanaka’101: figure 3 ); and perform control to display the derived reduction value for each user (in Tanaka’101: figures 3 and 6).
With respect to Claim 9, the combination of Tanaka’101 and Rainero’274 shows an information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: acquire information at a time when the electronic output is performed as the information related to the electronic output of the data (in Tanaka’101: figures 2 and 3 paragraphs [0029]-[0032] printing log including the start date time and end date time).
With respect to Claim 10, the combination of Tanaka’101 and Rainero’274 shows an information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: further acquire transmission information related to transmission of electronic data to an external apparatus that corresponds to the output of the data to the sheet (in Rainero’274: Figure 5 and paragraphs [0027]-[0029] send the item that would otherwise be printed from a computerized device (such as a laptop or desktop computer) to another computerized device (such as tablet device) through a computerized network (such as cloud computing network)); and derive the reduction value of the sheets in a case in which the data is output to the sheets using the electronic data according to the transmission indicated by the acquired transmission information (in Tanaka’101: figures 2-3 and 6 sheet reduction ratio in the printed performed).
With respect to Claims 11 and 12, rejection analogous to those presented for claim 1, are applicable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Suzuki (US 2014/0233967 A1) : paragraph [0124] results in the number of aggregation leading to reduced printing reducing less than the above-described predetermined reduction rate (for example, 75% or 80% in the ratio of one side) is made so as not to be selectable.
Kamisuwa et al. (US 2012/0327487 A1): paragraph [0066] The sheet reduction ratio is the ratio of the reduction in the number of sheets achieved by the setting for duplex/simplex printing and the setting for page aggregation. The sheet reduction ratio (r.sub.print) is a value obtained by dividing the sum of the reduction in the number of sheets achieved by the setting for duplex/simplex printing (z.sub.duplex) and the reduction in the number of sheets achieved by page aggregation (z.sub.Nin1) by the number of documents (y3).
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.
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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.
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/IRIANA CRUZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681