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
Foreign priority papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or 35 U.S.C. § 365(a)-(c) are acknowledged.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Claim(s) 1-9 in the reply filed on 11/04/2025 is acknowledged. Claim(s) 10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected method/apparatus, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement(s) submitted by applicant on 09/27/2023 has/have been considered. The submission(s) is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.97.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 102
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.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
1. Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Publication No. 20170063646 to Kawai (hereinafter “Kawai”).
With respect to claim 1, Kawai discloses a consumable consuming device (image-recording device, printer 10 FIG. 1) comprising: a consumable holder (10, 38 FIG. 1); and a controller switchable between a first state in which no agreement for delivery of a consumable is in effect and a second state in which an agreement for delivery of the consumable is in effect (status of a service agreement, central processing unit 12 FIG. 1), the controller being configured to perform: a first determination process to determine a first remaining life, the first remaining life being a remaining life of the consumable that is provided to the consumable holder during a time when no agreement for delivery of the consumable is in effect (central processing unit 12, sensors 27 FIG. 1); a consumption process to perform a prescribed operation while consuming the consumable in the second state (printed pages FIG.s 6-11); and a billing control process in which the controller performs a billing-related process after the first remaining life is decreased to a predetermined quantity through execution of the consumption process but does not perform the billing-related process until the first remaining life is decreased to the predetermined quantity (“deliver the specific type of cartridge when remaining quantity of recording material contained in the specific type of cartridge in use has reached a predetermined minimum” Claims 1-9 and [0079]-[0113], FIG.s 6-11).
With respect to claim 2, Kawai discloses wherein a plurality of consumables can be provided to the consumable holder (38 FIG. 1), wherein, in the first determination process, the controller determines the first remaining life for each of the plurality of consumables (central processing unit 12, sensors 27 FIG. 1), and wherein, in the billing control process, the billing-related process is performed after the first remaining life of at least one of the plurality of consumables is decreased to the predetermined quantity (“deliver the specific type of cartridge when remaining quantity of recording material contained in the specific type of cartridge in use has reached a predetermined minimum” Claims 1-9 and [0079]-[0113], FIG.s 6-11).
With respect to claim 3, Kawai discloses wherein types of the consumption process include the consumption process for which billing is to be conducted and the consumption process for which billing is not to be conducted, and wherein, in the billing control process, the billing-related process is performed after the consumption process for which billing is to be conducted is performed and the first remaining life is decreased to the predetermined quantity (“deliver the specific type of cartridge when remaining quantity of recording material contained in the specific type of cartridge in use has reached a predetermined minimum” Claims 1-9 and [0079]-[0113], FIG.s 6-11).
With respect to claim 4, Kawai discloses wherein the controller is configured to further perform: a second determination process to determine a second remaining life, the second remaining life being a remaining life of the consumable that is provided to the consumable holder during a time when an agreement for delivery of the consumable is in effect (“deliver the specific type of cartridge when remaining quantity of recording material contained in the specific type of cartridge in use has reached a predetermined minimum” Claims 1-9 and [0079]-[0113], FIG.s 6-11).
With respect to claim 5, Kawai discloses wherein, in the second determination process performed after the consumable is provided to the consumable holder during a time when an agreement for delivery of the consumable is in effect, the controller determines, as the second remaining life, a difference between a maximum remaining life of the consumable and the first remaining life (“deliver the specific type of cartridge when remaining quantity of recording material contained in the specific type of cartridge in use has reached a predetermined minimum” Claims 1-9 and [0079]-[0113], FIG.s 6-11).
With respect to claim 6, Kawai discloses wherein, both in the first determination process performed after the consumption process is performed and in the second determination process performed after the consumption process is performed, the controller prioritizes decreasing the first remaining life over decreasing the second remaining life (S156 FIG. 9 and S174 FIG. 10, Claims 1-9 and [0079]-[0113], FIG.s 6-11).
With respect to claim 7, Kawai discloses wherein the controller includes a storage, and wherein the controller is configured to further perform: in response to the consumable being provided to the consumable holder during a time when no agreement for delivery of the consumable is in effect, a storage process to store the second remaining life in the storage; and in response to the consumable being provided to the consumable holder during a time when an agreement for delivery of the consumable is in effect and prior to performing the second determination process, a correction process to correct the first remaining life on the basis of the second remaining life stored in the storage (storage 14, 32, 30 FIG. 1, Claims 1-9 and [0079]-[0113]).
With respect to claim 8, Kawai discloses further comprising a user interface, wherein the controller is configured to perform: in response to performing the billing-related process in the billing control process, a notification process to control the user interface to notify that billing has been conducted (display 76 FIG.s 12-24).
With respect to claim 9, Kawai discloses further comprising a printing engine (printer 10 FIG. 1), wherein the consumable is a printing agent (38 FIG. 1), wherein the consumable holder is a tank including an inlet port, the tank configured to store the printing agent injected thereinto through the inlet port (38 FIG. 1), wherein the first remaining life is a remaining amount of the printing agent injected into the tank during a time when no agreement for delivery of the consumable is in effect, and wherein the prescribed operation is a printing operation in which the controller controls the printing engine to perform printing while consuming the printing agent stored in the tank (“deliver the specific type of cartridge when remaining quantity of recording material contained in the specific type of cartridge in use has reached a predetermined minimum” Claims 1-9 and [0079]-[0113], FIG.s 6-11).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record, whether or not relied upon, is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20220171576 to Yamada discloses a printing device configured to operate in contract mode or normal mode with multiple types of attachable consumables.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bradley W Thies whose telephone number is (571)270-5667. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:30 am -6:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BRADLEY W THIES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853