Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. Applicant’s arguments filed on 07/16/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejections of claims 1, 2, 4-7 and 9 as being unpatentable over Yuki (US 2018/0158161) in view of Yamamoto (US 2007/0101437), and further in view of DeMillo (US 11,106,762) have been fully considered. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of amended claims.
Allowable Subject Matter
3. Claims 1-3, 6, 7, and 9 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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
4. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable
over U.S. Publication No. 20180158161 hereinafter Yuki in view of U.S. Publication No.
20070101437 hereinafter Yamamoto, and further in view of U.S. Patent No.
11106762 hereinafter DeMillo.
As per claim 9, Yuki in view of Yamamoto and DeMillo discloses:
A data management system (para 0003 "According to an aspect of the
present invention, a license management system for managing a license for an
application to be executed by an image forming apparatus includes a license
information storage unit configured to store license information including a
licensed period for permitting to use the application.") comprising:
a receiving-side server serving as a data management server according to claim 1 (Please see rejection of claim 1)
providing-side server that creates a data file
provided from outside to the receiving-side server, the providing-side
server including a control unit, and a database, the control unit including a
data acquisition unit configured to acquire a data file stored in the
database (Yuki Figs. 1, 3A-B, 5A-7B and Yamato Figs. 2,3 and 5);
a data use condition creation unit configured to add, to the data file,
available application information in which an application or a name of the
application executed by the receiving-side server that is permitted to
access the data file is set, and a data output unit configured to output the
data file to which the available application information is added by the data
use condition creating unit to outside as a provision data file to be
provided to the receiving-side server (Yuki Figs.1, 3A-B, 5A-7B ) and
Yamato Figs. 2,3 and 5). The claim is analyzed with respect to claim 1.
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 GARY S GRACIA whose telephone number is (571)270-5192. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Philip Chea can be reached at 5712723951. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GARY S GRACIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2499
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