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 .
Priority
1. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
2. Claims 11-19 are hereby withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 3/11/2026. The traversal is on the ground(s) that “the subject matter of all claims is sufficiently related that a thorough search for the subject matter of any one Group of claims would encompass a search for the subject matter of the remaining claims. Thus, it is respectfully submitted that the search and examination of the entire application could be made without serious burden”. This is not found persuasive because the inventions have acquired a separate status in the art in view of their different classification and the inventions would require a different field of search.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
4. 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.
5. Claims 1,2,4,20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tokuma USP 10,054,892.
Tokuma discloses, regarding claim 1, A recording medium processing apparatus that performs processing on a recording medium bundle, comprising:
an advancing member (803) that advances from a side facing one surface of the recording medium bundle toward the recording medium bundle and presses the recording medium bundle;
a transporter (819) that transports the recording medium bundle to a downstream side in a direction of movement of the recording medium bundle so that a portion of the recording medium bundle that is being pressed by the advancing member moves ahead of other portions; and
a processor (451; fig.4) configured to change at least one of an advancing velocity of the advancing member and a transport velocity at which the recording medium bundle is transported by the transporter on a basis of medium information, which is information on the recording medium bundle, and/or apparatus information, which is information on the recording medium processing apparatus (see at least fig.12).
Regarding claim 2, wherein:
the processor is configured to, in a case where the number of recording media that constitute the recording medium bundle is larger than a predetermined threshold value, make the advancing velocity higher and/or make the transport velocity lower than in a case where the number of recording media that constitute the recording medium bundle is not larger than the predetermined threshold value (see at least S208-S214 in fig.12 and C8/L25-30).
Regarding claim 4, wherein:
the processor is configured to, in a case where the number of recording media that constitute the recording medium bundle is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, make the advancing velocity lower (see S213,S214 in fig.12) and/or make the transport velocity higher than in a case where the number of recording media that constitute the recording medium bundle is larger than the predetermined threshold value.
Regarding claim 20, An image forming system (1000; fig.1) comprising:
an image forming apparatus (600) that forms an image on a recording medium; and
a recording medium processing apparatus (200) that performs processing on a recording medium on which an image has been formed by the image forming apparatus,
wherein the recording medium processing apparatus includes the recording medium processing apparatus according to claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 3,5-10 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
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Osada (USP 9,823,611) discloses setting the folding speed depending on whether a sheet bundle is staple bound or adhesive bound (see at least fig.21).
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESLIE A. NICHOLSON III whose telephone number is (571)272-5487. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4.
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, Michael C McCullough can be reached at 571-272-7805. 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.
/LESLIE A NICHOLSON III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 3/23/2026
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