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 .
Claims 1 – 14 are pending in this application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/17/2023 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Applicant has provided an explanation of relevance of cited document(s) JP-5081885B on page 1 of the specification.
Applicants have not provided an explanation of relevance of cited document(s) discussed below.
Miyahara (JP 6869035 B2) provides an image reading device for reading the image of a document by using a line sensor where multiple reading elements are arranged in a second direction different from the first direction, and having a predetermined readable length in the second direction, while transporting the inserted document inward in the first direction, following control is performed. Based on the information obtained by pre-scanning the tip of the document in the first direction by means of the line sensor, width and inclination of the document are acquired. Next, based on the width and inclination of the document thus acquired and the width of the internal transfer path of the image reading device, transportable length of the document in the first direction is calculated. The transportable length thus calculated and the length of the document in the first direction are then compared, and execution of image reading of the document is controlled based on the comparison results.
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.
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 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claims 1 - 4 and 11 - 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshida et al. (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2012/00099128 A1, hereinafter ‘Yoshida’) in view of Nomura (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2017/0104888 A1, hereinafter ‘Nomura’).
With respect to claim 1, Yoshida teaches an image processing system (e.g., an image forming apparatus as a structure, Fig. 1), wherein, in an operation mode in which a document image scanned from a document being transported by a transport mechanism is displayed as a preview on a display unit (e.g., Yoshida discloses a feeder in which is configured to feed paper/sheet, in which a document can be transported (conveyed) and then display a preview on a display unit, ¶0085 with ¶0107, Figs. 2, 11 & 13),
the preview of the document image Under interpretation: e.g., while said preview is displayed, a borderline (as intermediate portion) is found between end bottom (from 2 pages) of said document in a direction crossing the direction of transport (convey) by a transport means is momentarily excluded (left out intentionally), Figs. 14 – 20 & 34 with ¶0216, ¶0272), but fails to teach that said document is displayed by a transport mechanism in a direction intersecting a direction of transport by the transport mechanism.
However, the aforementioned claimed limitations are well-known in the art as evidenced by Nomura. In particular, Nomura teaches a document is displayed by a transport mechanism in a direction intersecting a direction of transport by the transport mechanism (e.g. a document is visually inspected by a conveyance unit in a direction intersecting a direction of conveyance by the conveyance unit, ¶0080 with ¶0158, Fig. 9 & Fig. 13).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the system of Yoshida as taught by Nomura since Nomura suggested within ¶0080 with ¶0158 and Figs. 9 & 13 that such modification would visually inspect and manipulate, with the preview of Yoshida, the document in the conveyance prior performing another operation such printing; thereby saving or reducing time and costs.
With respect to claim 2, Yoshida in view of Nomura teaches the image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the form of the preview display is a form including the end portions (e.g., these corresponds to the 2 pages of said document as shown in Fig. 17 or 18).
With respect to claim 3, Yoshida in view of Nomura teaches the image processing system according to claim 2, wherein the form including the end portions displays a ratio of the end portion of the document and an area outside the document in the intersecting direction with a predetermined value (Under interpretation: e.g., the user can manipulate/edit values even with magnification (ratio) for the pages, Figs. 20 - 25).
With respect to claim 4, Yoshida in view of Nomura teaches the image processing system according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined value is changeable by setting (Under interpretation: e.g., the user can manipulate/edit values as desired, Figs. 20 – 25, ¶0187).
With respect to claim 11, Yoshida in view of Nomura teaches the image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the form of the preview display is a form of displaying a document image of a portion of the document, which has been scanned first, and displaying the document image by scanning in the direction of the transport (see Figs. 9 – 20; document is scanned and displayed or visually inspected toward the same direction of the convey).
With respect to claim 12, Yoshida in view of Nomura teaches the image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is able to change a display range of the document image after scanning is ended (e.g., upon scanning, the image or preview that is displayed, can be modified using the setting 3118C, so display range is modified by the user, Fig. 6, ¶0202).
With respect to claim 13, Yoshida notes that the invention may be realized through the execution by a CPU (Fig. 3 - CPU 300, ¶0125 - ¶0126) of instruction codes (e.g., program stored, ¶0125 - ¶0128) stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium (e.g., stored in a ROM 306, ¶0125 - ¶0128). The further limitations are met by the teachings as previously discussed with respect to claim 1.
With respect to claim 14, this is a method claim corresponding to the system claim 1. Therefore, this is rejected for the same reasons as the system claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 - 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
With respect to claim 5, none of the cited references teaches the image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the form of the preview display is a form in which an additional image for understanding a movement of the document due to transport in the intersecting direction is added.
Claims 6 – 10 are also objected because these depend on claim 5, 7 and 9.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Yoshida (U.S PG Publication No. 2012/0249597 A1)1
1This reference teaches an image display application program 152 in which a display range of a background image on a display screen is set according to the position of an object in the background image. In the virtual desktop function, still image data of a background image is read out upon occurrence of an event such as a start of execution of the virtual desktop function, a change of the background image of the virtual desktop, or a change of the display range with respect to the entire background image. The background image display range is set or changed upon occurrence of such an event.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUAN M GUILLERMETY whose telephone number is (571)270-3481. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00AM - 5:00PM.
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, Benny Q TIEU can be reached at 571-272-7490. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JUAN M GUILLERMETY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682
Prosecution Insights