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 .
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.
Claim 1 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tokuda (US 20170171422 A1) in view of the well-known prior art (MPEP 2144.03).
Referring to claim 1:
Tokuda disclose an image processing system comprising a camera (par. 25: reading section 2 or 3 which may be a CCD), and a processor (61) configured to analyze a captured image of a document, the captured image being captured with the camera, and extract storage-location information from the document and save a read image of the document to a storage location specified by the storage-location information (par. 52-61), the read image being acquired through image capturing in response to a reading instruction from a user (par.32).
While Tokuda does not disclose capturing the image of the document on a document glass, Tokuda discloses an MFP (par. 16), such as that generally disclosed in the present application. Such MFPs are well-known in the prior art to include a document glass upon which images of documents can be captured. It would have been prima facie obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the MFP in Tokuda to have included a document glass in view of the well-known prior art in order to provide the advantages and versatility associated with the ability to capture images of a document on the document glass rather than using an ADF.
Referring to claim 5:
This claim is the product or article of manufacture (i.e., a non-transitory computer readable medium) storing a program causing a computer to execute a process corresponding to the functions of the apparatus as set forth in claim 1. Tokuda discloses such a product for this purpose (par. 29). Therefore, this claim is rejected for the same reasons as presented above.
Referring to claim 6:
This claim is the method for performing the corresponding functions of the apparatus as set forth in claim 1 and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as presented above.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tokuda in view of well-known prior art as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kato et al (US 20160006900 A1).
Referring to claims 2-4:
Tokuda does not disclose the following is disclosed by with respect to a display screen for setting document reading attributes and providing information indicating a designated storage folder. However, Kato et al disclose an image processing system, wherein a processor (211) is configured to display a screen transmitted from the storage location in response to connecting to a selected storage location to save a read image transmitted thereto before transmitting the read image, wherein said screen is a setting screen for setting a reading attribute for the document, prompting the user to set the reading attribute for the document in the setting screen, and generate the read image of the document in accordance with the reading attribute that has been set for the document (95, Fig. 9-11: when a folder is selected as the storage location of the file, read settings based on a setting file stored in the folder is obtained at S807 and displayed). Kato also discloses said screen provides information indicating a folder designated as the storage location (par. 77-78).
It would have been prima facie obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further configured the processor in Tokuda, in view of Kato et al, when saving the read image by transmitting the read image after connecting to the storage location, before transmitting the read image, to display a screen transmitted from the storage location in response to connecting to the storage location, wherein the screen is a setting screen for setting a reading attribute for the document, prompt the user to set the reading attribute for the document in the setting screen; and generate the read image of the document in accordance with the reading attribute that has been set for the document, and wherein the screen provides information indicating a folder designated as the storage location. Such a modification, according to Kato et al, advantageously provides users with the ability to, without users having to perform document read settings irrespective of the folder, read an image of an original, generate image data of the original, designate a folder to store the generated image data, acquire a read settings corresponding to the designated folder, and cause the reading unit to read the image of the original in accordance with the acquired read settings (background/summary).
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 (i.e., a descriptive title that distinguishes the invention and is not a generic or general description). The new title should take into account any amendments to the claims to best indicate the claimed invention.
The title must be as short and specific as possible (see 37 CFR 1.72(a)). Applicant should distill a description of the claimed invention into as few words as possible to capture the essence of the claimed invention. Rather than reciting statutory categories (apparatus, method, product) and some generic descriptor (e.g., information processing), a title that is specific, but characterizes the essence or key aspect(s) of the claimed invention, should be submitted.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 14 February 2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the statement has been considered by the examiner as indicated below.
Applicant has provided an explanation of relevance of cited document JP 2019-176422 A (US 10,637,999) on page 1 of the specification.
Cited Art
The prior art and other references made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lemay et al (US 10474922 B1) disclose a camera-equipped computing device (par. 32, 34) that captures a page and processes an image associated with the page, detecting and decoding the folio identifier representation (e.g., QR code) to provide a page identifier for the page, and if the image has not been previously captured, then capturing the image of the page and saving the image in an image store (first par. of summary in col. 2).
Kanada et al (US 20220286573 A1 / US 11622056 B2) disclose a personal computer 1 includes a first communication interface mechanism 16 that communicates with a first scanner 2A, and a first memory 13 that stores first reading setting information 131A in a first folder 131. The first scanner 2A includes a reception unit 221 that receives instruction data CM instructing reading of an image for which the first folder 131 is specified as the storage destination for read data, an acquisition unit 222 that, when the reception unit 221 receives the instruction data CM, accesses to the first folder 131 of the personal computer 1 and acquires the first reading setting information 131A from the first folder 131, a setting unit 223 that sets a reading condition based on the first reading setting information 131A, and a reading unit 224 that reads out an image and generates read data under the reading condition.
Ohara et al (US 20080201617 A1) disclose placing a document to be scanned in a ScanStart folder that initiates a scanner to scan a document based on parameters in a configuration file stored in the ScanStart folder (par. 60-61 and 65-67).
Otsuka (US 20080239387 A1) disclose a scanner that is capable of communicating with an information processing device by utilizing a file sharing protocol. The scanner taught in the present specification may comprise a scan setting folder storage area, a data sending device, a data receiving device, and a scan device. The scan setting folder storage area may be capable of storing a plurality of scan setting folders. Each scan setting folder may be an association of scan setting data and a scan setting folder address. The data sending device may be capable of sending the scan setting folder address of each scan setting folder stored in the scan setting folder storage area to the information processing device. The information processing device can consequently display a folder object corresponding to each scan setting folder. The user can perform a predetermined operation on the folder object (for example, the user can copy a file within the folder to another location). A predetermined command may thus be sent from the information processing device to the scanner. This predetermined command may include the scan setting folder address corresponding to the folder object on which the operation was performed. The data receiving device may be capable of receiving the predetermined command that includes the scan setting folder address. In the case where the predetermined command is received by the data receiving device, the scan device may perform scanning in accordance with the scan setting data associated with the scan setting folder address included in the predetermined command. With this technique, it is possible for the information processing device to order the scanner to perform scanning utilizing a file sharing protocol. The user can easily utilize desired scan setting data from among the plurality of patterns of scan setting data that are being stored in the scanner.
Li et al (US 20110240740 A1and US 20180032777 A1) disclose an image reader and/or methods of operating an image reader can capture an image, identify a bar code or IBI form within the captured image, and store or display the captured image responsive to an orientation of the bar code.
Gajula et al (US 20180077136 A1) disclose an apparatus such as a camera that receives a code (e.g., QR code) for a common storage mode, whereby photos or videos taken under the common storage mode are uploaded to a common storage location based on the code. The common storage location may be shared by a plurality of cameras, the code allowing access to the common storage location.
Ito (US 20210409554 A1) discloses an image processing apparatus to communicate with a cloud service via a network includes a reading unit configured to read an image on a document, a transmission unit configured to transmit the read image to the cloud service, a request unit configured to request the cloud service to generate information for downloading the transmitted image, a reception unit configured to, based on the request, receive the information transmitted from the cloud server, and a notification unit configured to notify a user of the received information. See par. 65-68 and 89-116 and Fig. 9-10 describing the scan to cloud function.
Sasagawa (US 20240098207 A1) discloses a management apparatus (10) that has a processor for causing a camera (120) of an image reading apparatus (110) to capture and read an image of a document bed (112) in which a document is placed. The processor indicates the brightness of the read image in a notification to the image reading apparatus. A brightness of a read image obtained by reading the document bed differs from a brightness acquired in advance by a threshold value. The processor treats an average of brightness of multiple portions at four corners of the document bed in the read image as the brightness. The processor is configured to cause the camera to capture an image of the document bed on a predetermined interval.
Yamada (US 20250130746 A1) discloses a system that includes an operation device and an information storing apparatus, which are connected via a network. The operation device determines, based on information input from the outside of the operation device in response to an operation performed on the operation device, an electronic device among a plurality of electronic devices connected to the system, for causing the electronic device to input electronic data to the information storing apparatus, and sends, to the information storing apparatus, a first request to cause the determined electronic device to input the electronic data to the information storing apparatus. The information storing apparatus sends, to the determined electronic device, a second request based on the first request sent from the operation device, and stores the electronic data that has been sent from the determined electronic device based on the second request sent.
Ushinohama (US 20250247480 A1) discloses an image processing apparatus that can sort image data into storage locations using a generative AI service. An image of a document and generate image data is read, a prompt for causing generative AI to execute image analysis for extracting a predetermined character string from the image data is received, the image data and the prompt are transmitted to the generative AI, the character string extracted through the image analysis performed by the generative AI is acquired, and control to store the image data in a folder indicated by a folder path including the character string that has been acquired is performed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Scott Rogers whose telephone number is 571-272-7467. The examiner can normally be reached 8 am to 7 pm flex.
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/Scott A Rogers/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
05 September 2026
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