DETAILED ACTION
Brief Summary
This is a non-final Office action regarding reissue U.S. Application 18/430,910 (hereafter the “reissue ‘910 Application”), which is a reissue application of U.S. Patent 8,879,095, with the inventor of Tadahiko Ikegaya et al. (hereafter “the ‘095 Patent”).
As noted above, the ‘910 Application is a reissue of the ‘095 Patent, whereby the ‘095 Patent originally issued on November 4, 2014 with original claims 1-6. The ‘095 Patent was filed as U.S. Application 13/299,947 (hereafter “the original ‘947 Application”), being filed on November 18, 2011, whereby the original ‘947 Application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application 2011-125368, filed June 3, 2011.
As noted above, the ‘095 Patent issued with original claims 1-6. A preliminary amendment was filed on February 2, 2024, which cancels claims 1-6, and adds new claims 7 and 8. Thus, with the preliminary amendment dated February 2, 2024, claims 7 and 8 are currently pending, with both claims 7 and 8 being independent.
Additionally, the Examiner notes that this reissue ‘910 Application was filed as a continuation reissue application of the prior reissue application of U.S. Application 15/340,223 (noted as “the ‘223 Reissue”), which concluded with the issuance of U.S. Patent RE049,898. There also was an additional continuation reissue application, being U.S. Application 15/341,336 (noted as “the ‘336 Reissue”), which was also filed as a continuation of the’223 Reissue, whereby the ‘336 Reissue concluded as being abandoned.
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Reissue
Applicant is reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.178(b), to timely apprise the Office of any prior or concurrent proceed-ing in which Patent No. 8,879,095 is or was involved. These proceedings would include interferences, reissues, reexaminations, and litigation.
Applicant is further reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.56, to timely apprise the Office of any information which is mate-rial to patentability of the claims under consideration in this reissue appli-cation.
These obligations rest with each individual associated with the filing and prosecution of this application for reissue. See also MPEP §§ 1404, 1442.01 and 1442.04.
Applicant is notified that any subsequent amendment to the specification and/or claims must comply with 37 CFR 1.173(b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 7 and 8 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0149572, with the inventor of St. Jacques, JR. et al. (hereafter “St. Jacques‘572”, being cited in the Information Disclosure Statement dated March 5, 2024) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0243029, with the inventor also of St. Jacques, JR. et al. (hereafter “St. Jacques‘029”, being cited in the Information Disclosure Statement dated March 5, 2024).
Regarding claim 7, St. Jacques‘572 discloses an image forming system [see Abstract], comprising:
a plurality of image forming apparatuses [see Abstract; also see paragraphs 0010-0011] including:
a first image forming apparatus [see Abstract; also see paragraphs 0010-0011, wherein “The present disclosure provides a printing system for storing, accessing, and retrieving data, the printing system including a plurality of multifunction devices (MFDs) in operable communication with a network, the plurality of MFDs configured to be positioned in different geographical locations; and a memory device for automatically storing the data generated by the plurality of MFDs; wherein an authorized user is enabled to print a document via a print request from a first MFD of the plurality of MFDs and then retrieve the document at any of the other MFDs on the network without re-sending another print request from the first MFD.”; here, the claimed “first image forming apparatus” would be seen as one of the “other MFDs”; also see paragraphs 0019-0022; also see paragraph 0027]; and
a second image forming apparatus [see Abstract; also see paragraphs 0010-0011 wherein “The present disclosure provides a printing system for storing, accessing, and retrieving data, the printing system including a plurality of multifunction devices (MFDs) in operable communication with a network, the plurality of MFDs configured to be positioned in different geographical locations; and a memory device for automatically storing the data generated by the plurality of MFDs; wherein an authorized user is enabled to print a document via a print request from a first MFD of the plurality of MFDs and then retrieve the document at any of the other MFDs on the network without re-sending another print request from the first MFD.”; here, the claimed “second image forming apparatus” would be seen as one of the “other MFDs”; also see paragraphs 0019-0022; also see paragraph 0027]; and
a client apparatus [see paragraphs 0010-0011, wherein “…an authorized user is enabled to print a document via a print request from a first MFD of the plurality of MFDs …”; also see Fig. 1, being one of the shown MFDs 14 or 16; also see paragraphs 0019-0022; also see paragraph 0027] comprising a first processor programmed to:
accept a designation by a user of a ranked storage priority that ranks a plurality of image forming devices in the image forming system in order of priority [see paragraph 0025, wherein “Furthermore, within corporate accounts for example, this service could help users to print out at extra copy of a document or perform other document operations on a previously printed document even when the user (e.g., who is not carrying the printout) is not near his primary or preferred printer. In essence, the document digitally moves along with the user without the user exuding any effort to store the document. In the interest of security, the document resides on the MFD(s) only for a small time-period set by the user and is transferred to other devices that hold security certificates through the secure-socket layer (SSL).”; also see paragraph 0085, wherein “The users do not set up a server, much less think out a storage service that has to be bought and installed on the server. Device failures (soft or hard) are not relevant (e.g., in office environments with multiple printers and non-concurrent failures which is mostly the case) when the aforementioned service is present because in facilities where multiple printers are present, alternate printers would have the printed document even though the document was not primarily directed to them.”; also see paragraphs 0036-0041, wherein “The ‘follow-me’ document service can be architected using MFDs 14, 16, a document cloud 12 that resides atop the MFDs 14, 16 (and/or other devices), a portal service to bridge MFDs 14, 16 (and/or other devices), and a number of clients that can serve as ‘on ramps’ and ‘off ramps’ that carry documents into and out of the document portal(s). … With such a document cloud 12, users may store or retrieve documents 13, 15 from anywhere, using any available protocol. …Specifically the function of the portal is to provide the ability to store a document, and a set of properties describing the document (such as the document (such as the document owner and the lifecycle of the document (e.g., the number of times that the document may be accessed before it is removed, how long the document should be available, etc.)), the ability to search for documents that match a set of properties (e.g., find documents by owner), the ability to retrieve a specific document given sufficient identifying criteria (at minimum owner and document name), and the ability to delete a document from the system.”];
determine to transmit first image data to the first image forming apparatus based on the determination [see paragraph 0019-0021; also see Figs. 3 and 4; also see paragraphs 0057-0060; also see paragraph 0083]; and
transmit the first image data to the first image forming apparatus based on the ranked storage priority [see paragraph 0083, wherein “In step 102, data is received from the one or more MFDs in operable communication with the printing system. In step 104, information generated by the one or more MFDs is automatically stored in a temporary storage station.”];
in a case that the transmission of the first image data to the first image forming apparatus fails, transmit the first image data to the second image forming apparatus based on the ranked storage priority [see paragraphs 0021-0024, wherein “As a result, the present disclosure enables the following exemplary scenarios: (a) if a print operation failed, an individual can walk to the next nearest printer to retrieve the document … The term "print" is overloaded to mean sending the document to the printer through any one of a multitude of ways.”; also see paragraph 0025, wherein “Furthermore, within corporate accounts for example, this service could help users to print out at extra copy of a document or perform other document operations on a previously printed document even when the user (e.g., who is not carrying the printout) is not near his primary or preferred printer. In essence, the document digitally moves along with the user without the user exuding any effort to store the document. In the interest of security, the document resides on the MFD(s) only for a small time-period set by the user and is transferred to other devices that hold security certificates through the secure-socket layer (SSL).”; also see paragraph 0085, wherein “The users do not set up a server, much less think out a storage service that has to be bought and installed on the server. Device failures (soft or hard) are not relevant (e.g., in office environments with multiple printers and non-concurrent failures which is mostly the case) when the aforementioned service is present because in facilities where multiple printers are present, alternate printers would have the printed document even though the document was not primarily directed to them.”];
wherein the second image forming apparatus [see paragraphs 0025-0027] includes
a memory [see paragraphs 0027-0029];
a display [see paragraphs 0027-0029]; and
a second processor programmed to:
accept login information of the user [see steps 62, 64, and 66 in Fig. 4; also see paragraph 0064, wherein “In step 64, the user enters a username and password. In step 66, the user presses a login button in the EIP user interface (IU).”; also see paragraph 0068, wherein “Using the soft keyboard in the MFD touch screen UI, the user enters a username and password before pressing the "login" button in the "Follow-Me Out" UI.”];
in a case that the transmission of the first image data to the first image forming apparatus does not fail:
display on the display an attribute of the first image data associated with the login information of the user [see steps 76, 78, and 80 in Fig. 4; also see paragraph 0064, wherein “In step 76, the FMD service returns a list of matching files. In step 78, the "follow-me" EIP application displays a list of files. In step 80, the user selects a file from the list of files.”; also see paragraphs 0071-0072; also see paragraphs 0083-0085] that is remotely stored in the first image forming apparatus [see paragraph 0042, wherein “At least one MFD is configured with a file repository that transfers scanned images to a nearby node via hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) or SSL. The MFD can also be configured with a scan template that uses the file repository to transfer scanned images to one or more nearby nodes as a single, multi-page tagged image file format (TIFF).”; also see paragraphs 0083-0084, wherein “In step 102, data is received from the one or more MFDs in operable communication with the printing system. In step 104, information generated by the one or more MFDs is automatically stored in a temporary storage station.”], the attribute of the first image data being displayed in the same manner as if it were locally stored in the memory [see paragraph 0037, wherein “The proposed "follow-me document" service uses a document cloud 12 which is basically distributed replicated storage for documents that are processed at MFDs 14, 16. With such a document cloud 12, users may store or retrieve documents 13, 15 from anywhere, using any available protocol. The physical location (or locations) at which the documents 13, 15 are stored is not relevant. However, what is relevant is that the documents 13, 15 or their replicated copies are accessible wherever the user is, as illustrated in FIG. 1.”; also see paragraph 0045, wherein “The second is called the "Follow-me Out Service" which retrieves the document from the document cloud through a portal from the document cloud (described in detail below with reference to FIG. 4). The actual copy of the document retrieved may be a replica or a transformed version as this choice is dictated by the user.”; also see steps 78 and 80 in Fig. 4, and paragraph 0064, wherein “In step 78, the "follow-me" EIP application displays a list of files. In step 80, the user selects a file from the list of files.”; also see paragraphs 0071-0072, wherein “6. The "Follow-Me Out" application displays the list in the MFD UI. … 7. The user scrolls through the list and chooses the name for the document that he or she wishes to print locally.”; also see paragraphs 0077-0080; also see paragraphs 0010-0011, and 0024-0025]; and
accept a print command for printing the first image data on the second image forming apparatus instead of the first image forming apparatus [see steps 82, 88, and 90 of Fig. 4; also see paragraph 0064, wherein “In step 82, the user presses the MFD green button. …In step 88, the FMD service sends print jobs to the MFD. In step 90, the MFD produces an output.”; also see paragraphs 0073-0076].
Here, however, St. Jacques‘572 lacks the specific teaching of the function at the client device that requires “accept a designation by a user of a ranked storage priority that ranks the plurality of image forming apparatuses in order of priority by:
accepting a first designation by the user of a first storage priority ranking for a first one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses in the image forming system;
accepting a second designation by the user of a second storage priority ranking for a second one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, the first storage priority ranking indicating a preference if the user to see the first one of the image forming apparatuses over the second one of the image forming apparatuses”.
But St. Jacques‘029 discloses an image forming system [see Abstract; also see Figs. 1 and 2] comprising:
a plurality of image forming apparatuses [see Fig. 1, with one multi-function printer MFP 18 shown, and also see Fig. 2, with a plurality of multi-function printers 26 shown; also see paragraph 0015, wherein “FIG. 2 illustrates a system diagram including a plurality of multi-function devices in electrical communication with a plurality of mobile devices connected via a network, each of the plurality of the plurality of mobile devices having at least one custom mobile EIP UI, in accordance with the present disclosure”; also see paragraphs 0025-0026] including:
a first image forming apparatus [see Fig. 2, being one of the multi-function printers MFPs]; and
a second image forming apparatus [see Fig. 2, being another different one of the plurality of multi-function printers MFPs]; and
a client apparatus [see Fig. 1, via the cell phone having display 16; also see paragraph 0039] comprising a first processor [see paragraphs 0039-0041, wherein “Additionally, the customized mobile EIP UI and the MFP 18 may each include or be associated with at least one processor. The processor may include at least one conventional processor or microprocessor that interprets and executes instructions.”] programmed to:
accept a designation by a user of a ranked storage priority that ranks the plurality of image forming apparatuses in order of priority [see paragraphs 0051-0063] by:
accepting a first designation by the user of a first storage priority ranking for a first one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses in the image forming system [see paragraphs 0051-0055; also see paragraphs 0059-0060, wherein “Prioritizing, sorting and ranking MFPs may be based on a number of factors or options or services. …For example, one MFP may be loaded with paper containing 15% recycled material where another printer may contain paper with 50% recycled material. As such, a user may prioritize or rank an MFP based on such criteria.”; also see paragraph 0061, wherein “In some embodiments availability is based on the amount of print jobs stored and ready for processing and/or printing within a given print queue for an individual MFP or an associated network print spooler. As such, a user may prioritize or rank an MFP based on such criteria. In some embodiments, print jobs may also be balanced between MFPs based on queue magnitude as well as MFPs energy and resource weighted attributes. For example, a first MFP may consume less energy and resources for a selected print operation, however there are several documents in that MFP’s queue. In such a scenario, a second less-preferred MFP, which consumes more energy and resources, may nonetheless be selected as the MFP destination because its queue contains, for instance, only two documents (to prevent an excessive wait time for the print operation).”; also see paragraph 0065, wherein “In step 36, the plurality of EIP options and services are prioritized, sorted, and ranked based on user preferences so as to create a customized mobile EIP UI. …In other words, the steps of the process may repeat for a number of cycles or iterations, where at least the registering, accessing, prioritizing, sorting, ranking, and communicating steps are constantly and continuously repeated.”];
accepting a second designation by the user of a second storage priority ranking for a second one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses [ee paragraphs 0051-0055; also see paragraphs 0059-0060, wherein “Prioritizing, sorting and ranking MFPs may be based on a number of factors or options or services. …For example, one MFP may be loaded with paper containing 15% recycled material where another printer may contain paper with 50% recycled material. As such, a user may prioritize or rank an MFP based on such criteria.”; also see paragraph 0061, wherein “In some embodiments availability is based on the amount of print jobs stored and ready for processing and/or printing within a given print queue for an individual MFP or an associated network print spooler. As such, a user may prioritize or rank an MFP based on such criteria. In some embodiments, print jobs may also be balanced between MFPs based on queue magnitude as well as MFPs energy and resource weighted attributes. For example, a first MFP may consume less energy and resources for a selected print operation, however there are several documents in that MFP’s queue. In such a scenario, a second less-preferred MFP, which consumes more energy and resources, may nonetheless be selected as the MFP destination because its queue contains, for instance, only two documents (to prevent an excessive wait time for the print operation).”; also see paragraph 0065, wherein “In step 36, the plurality of EIP options and services are prioritized, sorted, and ranked based on user preferences so as to create a customized mobile EIP UI. …In other words, the steps of the process may repeat for a number of cycles or iterations, where at least the registering, accessing, prioritizing, sorting, ranking, and communicating steps are constantly and continuously repeated.”], the first storage priority ranking indicating a preference of the user to use the first one of the image forming apparatuses over the second one of the image forming apparatuses [see paragraphs 0059-0060, wherein “Prioritizing, sorting and ranking MFPs may be based on a number of factors or options or services. …For example, one MFP may be loaded with paper containing 15% recycled material where another printer may contain paper with 50% recycled material. As such, a user may prioritize or rank an MFP based on such criteria.”; also see paragraphs 0061-0062, wherein “In some embodiments, print jobs may also be balanced between MFPs based on queue magnitude as well as MFPs energy and resource weighted attributes. For example, a first MFP may consume less energy and resources for a selected print operation, however there are several documents in that MFP’s queue. In such a scenario, a second less-preferred MFP, which consumes more energy and resources, may nonetheless be selected as the MFP destination because its queue contains, for instance, only two documents (to prevent an excessive wait time for the print operation).”]; and
determine to transmit first image data to the first image forming apparatus based the ranked storage priority [see step 38 in Fig. 3; also see paragraph 0065, wherein “In step 36, the plurality of EIP options and services are prioritized, sorted, and ranked based on user preferences so as to create a customized mobile EIP UI. In steps 38, the customized mobile EIP UI of at least one mobile device is enabled to communicate with and to be executed on at least one MFP. …In other words, the steps of the process may repeat for a number of cycles or iterations, where at least the registering, accessing, prioritizing, sorting, ranking, and communicating steps are constantly and continuously repeated.”; also see paragraphs 0061-0062, wherein “In some embodiments, print jobs may also be balanced between MFPs based on queue magnitude as well as MFPs energy and resource weighted attributes. For example, a first MFP may consume less energy and resources for a selected print operation, however there are several documents in that MFP’s queue. In such a scenario, a second less-preferred MFP, which consumes more energy and resources, may nonetheless be selected as the MFP destination because its queue contains, for instance, only two documents (to prevent an excessive wait time for the print operation).”];
transmit the first image data to the first image forming apparatus based on the determination [see paragraph 0065, wherein “In step 36, the plurality of EIP options and services are prioritized, sorted, and ranked based on user preferences so as to create a customized mobile EIP UI. In steps 38, the customized mobile EIP UI of at least one mobile device is enabled to communicate with and to be executed on at least one MFP. …In other words, the steps of the process may repeat for a number of cycles or iterations, where at least the registering, accessing, prioritizing, sorting, ranking, and communicating steps are constantly and continuously repeated.”; also see paragraphs 0061-0062, wherein “In some embodiments, print jobs may also be balanced between MFPs based on queue magnitude as well as MFPs energy and resource weighted attributes. For example, a first MFP may consume less energy and resources for a selected print operation, however there are several documents in that MFP’s queue. In such a scenario, a second less-preferred MFP, which consumes more energy and resources, may nonetheless be selected as the MFP destination because its queue contains, for instance, only two documents (to prevent an excessive wait time for the print operation).”].
With this, St. Jacques‘572 and St. Jacques‘029 are combinable because they are both from the same field of endeavor, sharing some of the same inventors, with both references describing network printing systems, having a plurality of image forming apparatuses, which allow users to send image data to a selected first multifunction device. At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have the system described in St. Jacques‘572 further have the functions that require “accepting a first designation by the user of a first storage priority ranking for a first one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses in the image forming system” and “accepting a second designation by the user of a second storage priority ranking for a second one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, the first storage priority ranking indicating a preference if the user to see the first one of the image forming apparatuses over the second one of the image forming apparatuses”, as taught in St. Jacques‘029. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been that the method of St. Jacques’572 would become more user friendly with the features described in St. Jacques‘029, as the user would be able to prioritize, sort and rank MFPs based on various criterion, as recognized by St. Jacques’029 in paragraphs 0059-0061. Here, the system of St. Jacques‘572 would easily be implemented with this well-known functionality, as exemplified by St. Jacques‘029, and would yield predictable results. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of St. Jacques‘029 with the image forming system and method of St. Jacques‘572 to obtain the invention specified in independent claim 7.
Regarding claim 8, St. Jacques’572 discloses a method for printing image data [see Abstract], comprising:
by a client apparatus [see paragraphs 0010-0011, wherein “…an authorized user is enabled to print a document via a print request from a first MFD of the plurality of MFDs …”; also see Fig. 1, being one of the shown MFDs 14 or 16; also see paragraphs 0019-0022; also see paragraph 0027]:
accepting a designation by a user of a ranked storage priority that ranks a plurality of image forming apparatuses in an image forming system in order of priority [see paragraph 0025, wherein “Furthermore, within corporate accounts for example, this service could help users to print out at extra copy of a document or perform other document operations on a previously printed document even when the user (e.g., who is not carrying the printout) is not near his primary or preferred printer. In essence, the document digitally moves along with the user without the user exuding any effort to store the document. In the interest of security, the document resides on the MFD(s) only for a small time-period set by the user and is transferred to other devices that hold security certificates through the secure-socket layer (SSL).”; also see paragraph 0085, wherein “The users do not set up a server, much less think out a storage service that has to be bought and installed on the server. Device failures (soft or hard) are not relevant (e.g., in office environments with multiple printers and non-concurrent failures which is mostly the case) when the aforementioned service is present because in facilities where multiple printers are present, alternate printers would have the printed document even though the document was not primarily directed to them.”; also see paragraphs 0036-0041, wherein “The ‘follow-me’ document service can be architected using MFDs 14, 16, a document cloud 12 that resides atop the MFDs 14, 16 (and/or other devices), a portal service to bridge MFDs 14, 16 (and/or other devices), and a number of clients that can serve as ‘on ramps’ and ‘off ramps’ that carry documents into and out of the document portal(s). … With such a document cloud 12, users may store or retrieve documents 13, 15 from anywhere, using any available protocol. …Specifically the function of the portal is to provide the ability to store a document, and a set of properties describing the document (such as the document (such as the document owner and the lifecycle of the document (e.g., the number of times that the document may be accessed before it is removed, how long the document should be available, etc.)), the ability to search for documents that match a set of properties (e.g., find documents by owner), the ability to retrieve a specific document given sufficient identifying criteria (at minimum owner and document name), and the ability to delete a document from the system.”] …
determining to transmit first image data to the first image forming apparatus based on the ranked storage priority [see paragraph 0019-0021; also see Figs. 3 and 4; also see paragraphs 0057-0060; also see paragraph 0083];
transmitting the first image data to the first image forming apparatus based on the determination [see paragraph 0083, wherein “In step 102, data is received from the one or more MFDs in operable communication with the printing system. In step 104, information generated by the one or more MFDs is automatically stored in a temporary storage station.”]; and
in a case that transmission of the first image data to the first image forming apparatus fails, transmitting the first image data to the second image forming apparatus based on the ranked storage priority ranking [see paragraphs 0021-0024, wherein “As a result, the present disclosure enables the following exemplary scenarios: (a) if a print operation failed, an individual can walk to the next nearest printer to retrieve the document … The term "print" is overloaded to mean sending the document to the printer through any one of a multitude of ways.”; also see paragraph 0025, wherein “Furthermore, within corporate accounts for example, this service could help users to print out at extra copy of a document or perform other document operations on a previously printed document even when the user (e.g., who is not carrying the printout) is not near his primary or preferred printer. In essence, the document digitally moves along with the user without the user exuding any effort to store the document. In the interest of security, the document resides on the MFD(s) only for a small time-period set by the user and is transferred to other devices that hold security certificates through the secure-socket layer (SSL).”; also see paragraph 0085, wherein “The users do not set up a server, much less think out a storage service that has to be bought and installed on the server. Device failures (soft or hard) are not relevant (e.g., in office environments with multiple printers and non-concurrent failures which is mostly the case) when the aforementioned service is present because in facilities where multiple printers are present, alternate printers would have the printed document even though the document was not primarily directed to them.”];
accepting login information of the user [see steps 62, 64, and 66 in Fig. 4; also see paragraph 0064, wherein “In step 64, the user enters a username and password. In step 66, the user presses a login button in the EIP user interface (IU).”; also see paragraph 0068, wherein “Using the soft keyboard in the MFD touch screen UI, the user enters a username and password before pressing the "login" button in the "Follow-Me Out" UI.”] at the second image forming apparatus [see paragraphs 0025-0027]; and
in a case that transmission of the first image data to the first image forming apparatus does not fail:
storing the first image data in the first image forming apparatus [see paragraph 0042, wherein “ At least one MFD is configured with a file repository that transfers scanned images to a nearby node via hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) or SSL. The MFD can also be configured with a scan template that uses the file repository to transfer scanned images to one or more nearby nodes as a single, multi-page tagged image file format (TIFF).”; also see paragraphs 0083-0084, wherein “In step 102, data is received from the one or more MFDs in operable communication with the printing system. In step 104, information generated by the one or more MFDs is automatically stored in a temporary storage station.”]; and
displaying on the display of the second image forming apparatus:
an attribute of the first image data associated with the login information of the user [see steps 76, 78, and 80 in Fig. 4; also see paragraph 0064, wherein “In step 76, the FMD service returns a list of matching files. In step 78, the "follow-me" EIP application displays a list of files. In step 80, the user selects a file from the list of files.”; also see paragraphs 0071-0072; also see paragraphs 0083-0085], the attribute of the first image data being displayed in the same manner as if the first image data were locally stored in the second image forming apparatus [see paragraph 0037, wherein “The proposed "follow-me document" service uses a document cloud 12 which is basically distributed replicated storage for documents that are processed at MFDs 14, 16. With such a document cloud 12, users may store or retrieve documents 13, 15 from anywhere, using any available protocol. The physical location (or locations) at which the documents 13, 15 are stored is not relevant. However, what is relevant is that the documents 13, 15 or their replicated copies are accessible wherever the user is, as illustrated in FIG. 1.”; also see paragraph 0045, wherein “The second is called the "Follow-me Out Service" which retrieves the document from the document cloud through a portal from the document cloud (described in detail below with reference to FIG. 4). The actual copy of the document retrieved may be a replica or a transformed version as this choice is dictated by the user.”; also see steps 78 and 80 in Fig. 4, and paragraph 0064, wherein “In step 78, the "follow-me" EIP application displays a list of files. In step 80, the user selects a file from the list of files.”; also see paragraphs 0071-0072, wherein “6. The "Follow-Me Out" application displays the list in the MFD UI. … 7. The user scrolls through the list and chooses the name for the document that he or she wishes to print locally.”; also see paragraphs 0077-0080; also see paragraphs 0010-0011, and 0024-0025]; and
a print command for printing the first image data on the second image forming apparatus instead of the first image forming apparatus [see steps 82, 88, and 90 of Fig. 4; also see paragraph 0064, wherein “In step 82, the user presses the MFD green button. …In step 88, the FMD service sends print jobs to the MFD. In step 90, the MFD produces an output.”; also see paragraphs 0073-0076].
Here, however, St. Jacques‘572 lacks the specific teaching of the function at the client device that requires “accepting a designation by a user of a ranked storage priority that ranks the plurality of image forming apparatuses in order of priority by:
accepting a first designation by the user of a first storage priority ranking for a first one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses in the image forming system; and
accepting a second designation by the user of a second storage priority ranking for a second one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, the first storage priority ranking indicating a preference of the user to use the first one of the image forming apparatuses over the second one of the image forming apparatuses”.
But St. Jacques‘029 discloses a method for printing image data [see Abstract; also see Figs. 1-3], comprising:
by a client apparatus [see Fig. 1, via the cell phone having display 16; also see Fig. 2, via one of the mobile devices 22; also see paragraphs 0038-0039 and 0044-0045]:
accepting a designation by a user of a ranked storage priority that ranks a plurality of image forming devices in the image forming system in order of priority [see paragraphs 0051-0063] by:
accepting a first designation by the user of a first storage priority ranking for a first one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses in the image forming system [see paragraphs 0051-0055; also see paragraphs 0059-0060, wherein “Prioritizing, sorting and ranking MFPs may be based on a number of factors or options or services. …For example, one MFP may be loaded with paper containing 15% recycled material where another printer may contain paper with 50% recycled material. As such, a user may prioritize or rank an MFP based on such criteria.”; also see paragraph 0061, wherein “In some embodiments availability is based on the amount of print jobs stored and ready for processing and/or printing within a given print queue for an individual MFP or an associated network print spooler. As such, a user may prioritize or rank an MFP based on such criteria. In some embodiments, print jobs may also be balanced between MFPs based on queue magnitude as well as MFPs energy and resource weighted attributes. For example, a first MFP may consume less energy and resources for a selected print operation, however there are several documents in that MFP’s queue. In such a scenario, a second less-preferred MFP, which consumes more energy and resources, may nonetheless be selected as the MFP destination because its queue contains, for instance, only two documents (to prevent an excessive wait time for the print operation).”; also see paragraph 0065, wherein “In step 36, the plurality of EIP options and services are prioritized, sorted, and ranked based on user preferences so as to create a customized mobile EIP UI. …In other words, the steps of the process may repeat for a number of cycles or iterations, where at least the registering, accessing, prioritizing, sorting, ranking, and communicating steps are constantly and continuously repeated.”]; and
accepting a second designation by the user of a second storage priority ranking for a second one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses [see paragraphs 0051-0055; also see paragraphs 0059-0060, wherein “Prioritizing, sorting and ranking MFPs may be based on a number of factors or options or services. …For example, one MFP may be loaded with paper containing 15% recycled material where another printer may contain paper with 50% recycled material. As such, a user may prioritize or rank an MFP based on such criteria.”; also see paragraph 0061, wherein “In some embodiments availability is based on the amount of print jobs stored and ready for processing and/or printing within a given print queue for an individual MFP or an associated network print spooler. As such, a user may prioritize or rank an MFP based on such criteria. In some embodiments, print jobs may also be balanced between MFPs based on queue magnitude as well as MFPs energy and resource weighted attributes. For example, a first MFP may consume less energy and resources for a selected print operation, however there are several documents in that MFP’s queue. In such a scenario, a second less-preferred MFP, which consumes more energy and resources, may nonetheless be selected as the MFP destination because its queue contains, for instance, only two documents (to prevent an excessive wait time for the print operation).”; also see paragraph 0065, wherein “In step 36, the plurality of EIP options and services are prioritized, sorted, and ranked based on user preferences so as to create a customized mobile EIP UI. …In other words, the steps of the process may repeat for a number of cycles or iterations, where at least the registering, accessing, prioritizing, sorting, ranking, and communicating steps are constantly and continuously repeated.”],
the first storage priority ranking indicating a preference of the user to use the first one of the image forming apparatuses over the second one of the image forming apparatus [see paragraphs 0059-0060, wherein “Prioritizing, sorting and ranking MFPs may be based on a number of factors or options or services. …For example, one MFP may be loaded with paper containing 15% recycled material where another printer may contain paper with 50% recycled material. As such, a user may prioritize or rank an MFP based on such criteria.”; also see paragraphs 0061-0062, wherein “In some embodiments, print jobs may also be balanced between MFPs based on queue magnitude as well as MFPs energy and resource weighted attributes. For example, a first MFP may consume less energy and resources for a selected print operation, however there are several documents in that MFP’s queue. In such a scenario, a second less-preferred MFP, which consumes more energy and resources, may nonetheless be selected as the MFP destination because its queue contains, for instance, only two documents (to prevent an excessive wait time for the print operation).”]; and
determining to transmit first image data to the first image forming apparatus based on the ranked storage priority [see step 38 in Fig. 3; also see paragraph 0065, wherein “In step 36, the plurality of EIP options and services are prioritized, sorted, and ranked based on user preferences so as to create a customized mobile EIP UI. In steps 38, the customized mobile EIP UI of at least one mobile device is enabled to communicate with and to be executed on at least one MFP. …In other words, the steps of the process may repeat for a number of cycles or iterations, where at least the registering, accessing, prioritizing, sorting, ranking, and communicating steps are constantly and continuously repeated.”; also see paragraphs 0061-0062, wherein “In some embodiments, print jobs may also be balanced between MFPs based on queue magnitude as well as MFPs energy and resource weighted attributes. For example, a first MFP may consume less energy and resources for a selected print operation, however there are several documents in that MFP’s queue. In such a scenario, a second less-preferred MFP, which consumes more energy and resources, may nonetheless be selected as the MFP destination because its queue contains, for instance, only two documents (to prevent an excessive wait time for the print operation).”]; and
transmitting the first image data to the first image forming apparatus based on the ranked storage priority [see paragraph 0065, wherein “In step 36, the plurality of EIP options and services are prioritized, sorted, and ranked based on user preferences so as to create a customized mobile EIP UI. In steps 38, the customized mobile EIP UI of at least one mobile device is enabled to communicate with and to be executed on at least one MFP. …In other words, the steps of the process may repeat for a number of cycles or iterations, where at least the registering, accessing, prioritizing, sorting, ranking, and communicating steps are constantly and continuously repeated.”; also see paragraphs 0061-0062, wherein “In some embodiments, print jobs may also be balanced between MFPs based on queue magnitude as well as MFPs energy and resource weighted attributes. For example, a first MFP may consume less energy and resources for a selected print operation, however there are several documents in that MFP’s queue. In such a scenario, a second less-preferred MFP, which consumes more energy and resources, may nonetheless be selected as the MFP destination because its queue contains, for instance, only two documents (to prevent an excessive wait time for the print operation).”].
With this, St. Jacques‘572 and St. Jacques‘029 are combinable because they are both from the same field of endeavor, sharing some of the same inventors, with both references describing network printing systems, having a plurality of image forming apparatuses, which allow users to send image data to a selected first multifunction device. At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have the system described in St. Jacques‘572 further have the functions that require “accepting a first designation by the user of a first storage priority ranking for a first one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses in the image forming system” and “accepting a second designation by the user of a second storage priority ranking for a second one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, the first storage priority ranking indicating a preference if the user to see the first one of the image forming apparatuses over the second one of the image forming apparatuses”, as taught in St. Jacques‘029. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been that the method of St. Jacques’572 would become more user friendly with the features described in St. Jacques‘029, as the user would be able to prioritize, sort and rank MFPs based on various criterion, as recognized by St. Jacques’029 in paragraphs 0059-0061. Here, the system of St. Jacques‘572 would easily be implemented with this well-known functionality, as exemplified by St. Jacques‘029, and would yield predictable results. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of St. Jacques‘029 with the image forming system and method of St. Jacques‘572 to obtain the invention specified in independent claim 8.
Conclusion
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/JOSEPH R POKRZYWA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992
Conferees:
/ROBERT J HANCE/Reexamination Specialist, Art Unit 3992
/M.F/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3992
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