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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/16/2024 and 09/25/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Status of Claims
4. Claims 1-12 are pending in this application.
Oath/Declaration
The receipt of Oath/Declaration is acknowledged.
Drawings
6. The receipt of Drawings is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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 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.
8. 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.
9. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
10. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
11. Claims 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okada (US PG. Pub. 2017/0371607 A1) in view of Yamaguchi (US PG. Pub. 2009/0021777 A1).
Referring to Claim 1, Okada teaches a printing system (See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0038], FIG. 1 shows the image processing system 2 is configured of a plurality of the image forming apparatuses 1, a plurality of terminals 31, a communication line 39) comprising:
a processor (See Okada, Fig. 1, Embodied within Terminals 31) configured to:
obtain a first number of sessions (See Okada, Fig. 5, the first session establishing portion 121), which indicates an upper limit to a number of sessions for simultaneously transmitting print jobs to a plurality of printing apparatuses (See Okada, Sect. [0093], the first session establishing portion 121 of the member list distribution processing portion 102 performs processing for establishing a session with each of the other image forming apparatuses 1 of the group 4A, namely, each of the nine image forming apparatuses 1Ab-1Aj.);
obtain a second number of sessions (See Okada, Sect. [0106] and [0110], The second session establishing portion 125 performs processing for establishing a session with each of the group managers of the other groups 4 (4B-4J).);
obtain a third number of sessions (See Okada, Fig. 5, the third session establishing portion 131), which indicates a number of sessions of each of the plurality of printing apparatus where the printing apparatus is communicating print jobs (See Okada, Sect. [0094], the third session establishing portion 131 of the attribute reply processing portion 103 of each of the image forming apparatus 1Ab-1Aj performs processing for establishing a session in coordination with the first session establishing portion 121 of the image forming apparatus 1Aa.);
select (See Okada, Sect. [0164], Where the tab is selected, the user 8 touches the tab 7A1 to select the same. In response to the selection, the other end of connection determination portion 162 determines the image forming apparatus 1 that is in a group 4 different from that of the subject image forming apparatus 1Cj),
on a basis of the first number of sessions, the second number of sessions, and the third number of sessions (See Okada, Sect. [0077] and [0080], In FIG. 5, the member list distribution processing portion 102 is configured of a first session establishing portion 121, an attribute data obtaining portion 122, a first session disconnecting portion 123, a list generating portion 124, a second session establishing portion 125, a list transmission. portion 126, a second session disconnecting portion 127, a transfer mode starting portion 128, a table updating portion 129, and third session establishing portion 131.),
one of a plurality of print jobs for which transmission preparation has been completed (See Okada, Sect. [0181], The image forming apparatus 1 establishes a session with another image forming apparatus 1 of the group 4 of the subject image forming apparatus 1 (Step #714) and transfers the print job (i.e. data) thereto (Step #715). Every time the data is completely transferred, the subject image forming apparatus 1 disconnects the session (Step: #716). Together with the transfer, the subject image forming apparatus 1 instructs that another image forming apparatus 1 to transfer the data to all of the members of the group 4 in which that another image forming apparatus 1 is.); and
transmit the selected print job to one of the plurality of printing apparatuses (See Okada, Sect. [0156], The job list transmission portion 173 transmits data on the job list 5C to the image forming apparatus 1Cj.).
Okada fails to explicitly teaches
which indicates an upper limit to a number of sessions of each of the plurality of
printing apparatuses for simultaneously receiving print jobs.
However, Yamaguchi teaches
which indicates an upper limit to a number of sessions of each of the plurality of
printing apparatuses for simultaneously receiving print jobs (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0131], using an upper limit of amount or upper limit indicating a number of print jobs received for printing).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have obvious to
a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate which indicates an upper limit to a number of sessions of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses for simultaneously receiving print jobs. The motivation for doing so would have been to present a print system capable of accepting print requests via the Internet, in particular, a print system simpler in structure, and easier to use (See Sect. [0009] of the Yamaguchi reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Okada and Yamaguchi to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
Referring to Claim 2, the combination of Okada in view of Yamaguchi teaches
the printing system according to claim 1 (See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0038], image processing system 2).
Okada fails to explicitly teach
wherein the processor is configured to obtain estimated printing completion time,
which is estimated time taken to complete printing based on print jobs waiting to be executed, for each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and
wherein the processor is configured to preferentially transmit the selected print job to a printing apparatus whose estimated printing completion time is the shortest among printing apparatuses whose third number of sessions is smaller than the second number of sessions.
However, Yamaguchi teaches
wherein the processor is configured to obtain estimated printing completion time (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0013], an estimation of print time, prior to formal placing of print order may be obtained. The information device may send information instructing creation of print information specifying the print content, to the order reception server with which the communication is established. The order reception server may create an estimation according to the received print information, and sends the estimation to the information device. By acquiring an estimation before ordering, the user can decide whether or not to order printing according to the estimation result.),
which is estimated time taken to complete printing based on print jobs waiting to be executed, for each of the plurality of printing apparatuses (See Yamaguchi, Fig. 6, Step S11, Sect. [0119] lines 2-6, When placing a print order of images, the user first specifies the images to be printed and the print information, and requests creation of an estimation to the print service company 200 (S11 in FIG. 6).), and
wherein the processor is configured to preferentially transmit the selected print job to a printing apparatus whose estimated printing completion time is the shortest (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0014] and [0022] lines 5-8, The information device, after receiving the estimation from the order reception server, may send information instructing a formal print order and image data to be printed to the order reception server when placing a formal print order, sends the image data with converted data size wherein, the transmission time can be shortened.) among
printing apparatuses whose third number of sessions is smaller than the second number of sessions (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0187], The order reception server 104, after confirming authentication of the digital camera 10 receives the order information from the digital camera 10. In this case the both sessions must be related with each other. For example, in order to realize communication between the digital camera 10 and order reception server 104 in CGI method of HTTP, the authentication confirmation session and the order session can be related with each other.).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have obvious to
a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the processor is configured to obtain estimated printing completion time, which is estimated time taken to complete printing based on print jobs waiting to be executed, for each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and wherein the processor is configured to preferentially transmit the selected print job to a printing apparatus whose estimated printing completion time is the shortest among printing apparatuses whose third number of sessions is smaller than the second number of sessions. The motivation for doing so would have been to present a print system capable of accepting print requests via the Internet, in particular, a print system simpler in structure, and easier to use (See Sect. [0009] of the Yamaguchi reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Okada and Yamaguchi to obtain the invention as specified in claim 2.
Referring to Claim 3, the combination of Okada in view of Yamaguchi teaches the printing system according to claim 2(See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0038], image processing system 2).
Okada fails to explicitly teach
wherein the processor is configured to update the estimated printing completion time of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses in accordance with changes in the third number of sessions.
However, Yamaguchi teaches
wherein the processor is configured to update the estimated printing completion time of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses in accordance with changes in the third number of sessions (See Yamaguchi, Fig. 10, Sect. [0176], FIG. 40 is a description example of a POST request transmitted from the digital camera 10 when placing a formal order with the order number. The order number applied on estimation is specified in the description P9. The WWW server 500 receiving the POST request of this formal order creates a POST response for notifying completion of acceptance of the order with the order number ("order-number") stored in the entity body, and transmits it to the digital camera 10.).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have obvious to
a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the processor is configured to update the estimated printing completion time of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses in accordance with changes in the third number of sessions. The motivation for doing so would have been to present a print system capable of accepting print requests via the Internet, in particular, a print system simpler in structure, and easier to use (See Sect. [0009] of the Yamaguchi reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Okada and Yamaguchi to obtain the invention as specified in claim 3.
Referring to Claim 4, the combination of Okada in view of Yamaguchi teaches the printing system according to claim 3 (See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0038], image processing system 2),
wherein a total number of sessions that is a sum of the third number of sessions of the plurality of printing apparatuses is smaller than or equal to the first number of sessions (See Okada, Sect. [0092], It is assumed that, at the start of the member information management program 10P, the image forming apparatus 1 that is a group manager of each of the groups 4 establishes no sessions. It is also assumed that, at the start of the member information management program 10P, the other image forming apparatuses 1 establish eight or smaller sessions, namely, keeps eight or smaller sessions active.).
Referring to Claim 5, the combination of Okada in view of Yamaguchi teaches
the printing system according to claim 1 (See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0038], image processing system 2).
Okada fails to explicitly teach
wherein the processor is configured to select a first print job, which is a job whose data size is the smallest.
However, Yamaguchi teaches
wherein the processor is configured to select a first print job, which is a job whose data size is the smallest (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0022], The information device converts data size of original image data according to print size when placing a formal print order, and sends the image data with converted data size to the order reception server. As a result, while suppressing deterioration of image quality of print image, image data of small data size can be transmitted).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have obvious to
a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the processor is configured to select a first print job, which is a job whose data size is the smallest. The motivation for doing so would have been to present a print system capable of accepting print requests via the Internet, in particular, a print system simpler in structure, and easier to use (See Sect. [0009] of the Yamaguchi reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Okada and Yamaguchi to obtain the invention as specified in claim 5.
Referring to Claim 6, the combination of Okada in view of Yamaguchi teaches
the printing system according to claim 5 (See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0038], image processing system 2),
wherein each of the plurality of print jobs is associated in advance with one of the plurality of printing apparatuses (See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0101], The foregoing processing is performed, so that the sessions of the image forming apparatus 1Aa with the individual image forming apparatuses 1Ab-1Aj are established around the same time as shown in FIG. 7. This enables the image forming apparatus 1Aa to gather the attribute data 6B on each of the image forming apparatuses 1Ab-1Aj.).
Okada fails to explicitly teach
wherein the processor is configured to obtain estimated printing completion time, which is estimated time taken to complete printing based on print jobs waiting to be executed, for each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and
wherein the processor is configured to transmit the first print job, whose data size is the smallest among print jobs associated with a printing apparatus whose estimated printing completion time is the shortest, to the associated printing apparatus.
However, Yamaguchi teaches
wherein the processor is configured to obtain estimated printing completion time (See Yamaguchi, Fig. 16A, Sect. [0125], FIG. 16A shows a print estimation time instruction for creating the estimation at the print service company 200, and sending it to the digital camera in reply to the request.), which is estimated time taken to complete printing based on print jobs waiting to be executed, for each of the plurality of printing apparatuses (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0132], When the estimation of the print service (S12 in FIG. 6) is over, the step advances to the process for placing a formal print order (S13 in FIG. 6). First, to place a formal print order, a print order mail is created. FIG. 19 shows the procedure of creating a print order mail for placing a formal print order.), and
wherein the processor is configured to transmit the first print job, whose data size is the smallest among print jobs associated with a printing apparatus whose estimated printing completion time is the shortest, to the associated printing apparatus (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0022], The information device converts data size of original image data according to print size when placing a formal print order, and sends the image data with converted data size to the order reception server. As a result, while suppressing deterioration of image quality of print image, image data of small data size can be transmitted, and the transmission time can be shortened.).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the processor is configured to obtain estimated printing completion time, which is estimated time taken to complete printing based on print jobs waiting to be executed, for each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and wherein the processor is configured to transmit the first print job, whose data size is the smallest among print jobs associated with a printing apparatus whose estimated printing completion time is the shortest, to the associated printing apparatus. The motivation for doing so would have been to present a print system capable of accepting print requests via the Internet, in particular, a print system simpler in structure, and easier to use (See Sect. [0009] of the Yamaguchi reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Okada and Yamaguchi to obtain the invention as specified in claim 6.
Referring to Claim 7, the combination of Okada in view of Yamaguchi teaches the printing system according to claim 6 (See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0038], image processing system 2).
Okada fails to explicitly teach
wherein the processor is configured to obtain the estimated printing completion time of the printing apparatus associated with the first print job,
wherein the processor is configured to obtain estimated printing completion time at a time when the associated printing apparatus executes the first print job, and
wherein the processor is configured to add the estimated printing completion time of the first print job to the estimated printing completion time of the associated printing apparatus and update the estimated printing completion time of the associated printing apparatus.
However, Yamaguchi teaches
wherein the processor is configured to obtain the estimated printing completion time of the printing apparatus associated with the first print job (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0014], The information device, after receiving the estimation from the order reception server, may send information instructing a formal print order and image data to be printed to the order reception server when placing a formal print order.),
wherein the processor is configured to obtain estimated printing completion time at a time when the associated printing apparatus executes the first print job (See Yamaguchi, Fig. 16A, Sect. [0125], FIG. 16A shows a print estimation time instruction for creating the estimation at the print service company 200, and sending it to the digital camera in reply to the request.), and
wherein the processor is configured to add the estimated printing completion time of the first print job to the estimated printing completion time of the associated printing apparatus and update the estimated printing completion time of the associated printing apparatus (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0013], The information device, prior to formal placing of print order, may send information instructing creation of an estimation and print information specifying the print content, to the order reception server with which the communication is established. The order reception server may create an estimation according to the received print information, and sends the estimation to the information device. By acquiring an estimation before ordering, the user can decide whether or not to order printing according to the estimation result.).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the processor is configured to obtain the estimated printing completion time of the printing apparatus associated with the first print job, wherein the processor is configured to obtain estimated printing completion time at a time when the associated printing apparatus executes the first print job, and wherein the processor is configured to add the estimated printing completion time of the first print job to the estimated printing completion time of the associated printing apparatus and update the estimated printing completion time of the associated printing apparatus. The motivation for doing so would have been to present a print system capable of accepting print requests via the Internet, in particular, a print system simpler in structure, and easier to use (See Sect. [0009] of the Yamaguchi reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Okada and Yamaguchi to obtain the invention as specified in claim 7.
Referring to Claim 8, the combination of Okada in view of Yamaguchi teaches the printing system according to claim 7 (See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0038], image processing system 2).
a printing apparatus whose estimated printing completion time is the shortest among printing apparatuses whose third number of sessions is smaller than the second number of sessions (See Okada, Sect. [0199], as shown in FIGS. 7, 9, and 10, the sessions are established in the three stages. This shortens the time taken to send information to all of the image forming apparatuses 1 of the image processing system 2.).
Okada fails to explicitly teach
wherein the processor is configured to obtain, after the update of the estimated printing completion time, the estimated printing completion time for each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and
wherein the processor is configured to transmit a first print job, whose data size is the smallest among print jobs associated with a printing apparatus.
However, Yamaguchi teaches
wherein the processor is configured to obtain, after the update of the estimated printing completion time, the estimated printing completion time for each of the plurality of printing apparatuses (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0175], when placing a formal order, the order number is applied to the digital camera 10 (see step S122 in FIG. 23), but the order number may be applied to the estimation request, and the order number may be returned in the response to the estimation request. In this case, the POST response is, for example, as shown in FIG. 39B. The order number is specified in the description Q6. The order number is a unique number assigned in each estimation by the WWW server 500 of the print service company 200. Afterwards, the order number applied on the estimation can be used for placing a formal order.), and
wherein the processor is configured to transmit a first print job, whose data size is the smallest among print jobs associated with a printing apparatus (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0022], The information device converts data size of original image data according to print size when placing a formal print order, and sends the image data with converted data size to the order reception server. As a result, while suppressing deterioration of image quality of print image, image data of small data size can be transmitted, and the transmission time can be shortened.).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the processor is configured to obtain, after the update of the estimated printing completion time, the estimated printing completion time for each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and wherein the processor is configured to transmit a first print job, whose data size is the smallest among print jobs associated with a printing apparatus. The motivation for doing so would have been to present a print system capable of accepting print requests via the Internet, in particular, a print system simpler in structure, and easier to use (See Sect. [0009] of the Yamaguchi reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Okada and Yamaguchi to obtain the invention as specified in claim 8.
Referring to Claim 9, the combination of Okada in view of Yamaguchi teaches the printing system according to claim 8 (See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0038], image processing system 2).
Okada fails to explicitly teach
wherein the processor is configured to transmit, if no print job is associated with the printing apparatus whose estimated printing completion time is the shortest, a first print job that is associated with another printing apparatus and whose data size is the smallest.
However, Yamaguchi teaches
wherein the processor is configured to transmit, if no print job is associated with the printing apparatus whose estimated printing completion time is the shortest (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0022], The information device converts data size of original image data according to print size when placing a formal print order, and sends the image data with converted data size to the order reception server. As a result, while suppressing deterioration of image quality of print image, image data of small data size can be transmitted, and the transmission time can be shortened.),
a first print job that is associated with another printing apparatus and whose data size is the smallest (See Yamaguchi, Sect. [0170] lines 1-16, The entity body in the response includes the estimation amount, delivery schedule date, order number and others, and the data size of the entity body is small.).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the processor is configured to transmit, if no print job is associated with the printing apparatus whose estimated printing completion time is the shortest, a first print job that is associated with another printing apparatus and whose data size is the smallest. The motivation for doing so would have been to present a print system capable of accepting print requests via the Internet, in particular, a print system simpler in structure, and easier to use (See Sect. [0009] of the Yamaguchi reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Okada and Yamaguchi to obtain the invention as specified in claim 9.
Referring to Claim 10, the combination of Okada in view of Yamaguchi teaches the printing system according to claim 1 (See Okada, Fig. 1, Sect. [0038], image processing system 2).
Okada fails to explicitly teach
wherein the processor is configured to detect a status of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses and exclude a printing apparatus whose status indicates an error as a candidate to which a print job is to be transmitted.
However, Yamaguchi teaches
wherein the processor is configured to detect a status of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses and exclude a printing apparatus whose status indicates an error as a candidate to which a print job is to be transmitted (See Yamaguchi, Fig. 46B, Sect. [0189], An error response is acquired when a print apparatus is not registered, the order reception server 104 returns an error response. The registration center server 300, when receiving a URL from the order reception server 104, notifies the digital camera 10 of it. On the other hand, when receiving no URL from the order reception server 104 because of absence of order reception server or unregistered device ID, the registration center server 300 returns an error response to the digital camera 10.).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have obvious to
a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate wherein the processor is configured to detect a status of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses and exclude a printing apparatus whose status indicates an error as a candidate to which a print job is to be transmitted. The motivation for doing so would have been to present a print system capable of accepting print requests via the Internet, in particular, a print system simpler in structure, and easier to use (See Sect. [0009] of the Yamaguchi reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Okada and Yamaguchi to obtain the invention as specified in claim 10.
Referring to Claim 11, arguments analogous to claim 1 are applicable herein. Thus, a non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 is explicitly/inherently taught as evidenced by (See Okada, Fig. 2, CPU 10a, Ram, 10b, ROM 10c, Auxilary Storage 10d, and Okada, Claims 10-18, A non-transitory recording medium storing a computer readable program for controlling an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus being used in a system having a first group and one or more second groups into which a plurality of second image forming apparatuses are classified and being classified into the first group together with a third image forming apparatus, the computer readable program controlling the image forming apparatus to execute processing comprising: first transmission processing for sending target data to be shared to the plurality of second image forming apparatuses, one by one, classified into the second groups; and second transmission processing for sending the target data to the third image forming apparatus.) and various memories stored therein.
Referring to Claim 12, arguments analogous to claim 1 are applicable herein. The structural elements of “A printing system” in claim 1 perform all of the functions of “A printing method” in claim 12. Thus, “A printing method” in claim 12 is rejected for the same reasons as discussed in the rejection of claim 1.
Cited Art
12. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure Tian et al. (US PG. PUB. No. 2007/0165266 A1) discloses Approaches for optimized printing of electronic documents. The approaches are applicable to a wide variety of contexts and implementations and include generating an estimated processing time for an electronic document and reporting the estimated processing time back to a client device. Generating an estimated time to process includes processing at least a portion of the print data. Further, the approaches include re-ordering a processing queue based on the estimated processing time for the electronic document, and additionally based on an in-queue time for each print data in the processing queue. Further, any user-designated priority may be factored into the re-ordering of print data in the processing queue, or in the alternative, bypass the optimization process entirely. These approaches may be implemented on a printing device, a print server, a client device or any other device capable of utilizing these approaches.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARRYL V DOTTIN whose telephone number is (571)270-5471. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abderrahim Merouan can be reached on 571-270-5254. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DARRYL V DOTTIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
/DARRYL V DOTTIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
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