To a 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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/21/2023 and 4/9/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 8/21/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-10 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) and 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Sakatani (United States Patent Application Publication US 2023/0132446 A1).
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 9 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, the recited “instruction information for an image forming apparatus and an inspection result, the inspection result being obtained by an inspection apparatus which inspects an image formed on a recording medium by the image forming apparatus on a basis of the instruction information” seems circular and confusing. The claimed recitation suggests instruction information “for” an inspection result, but then later also suggests inspection result being obtained on a basis of the instruction information. In other words, the former suggests inspection result already exists, but the latter suggests otherwise an contingent upon the instruction information. Independent claim 9 has the same issue.
For purpose of examination, the claimed recitation is being construed as the latter scenario.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahiro et. al. (Japanese Patent JP 2007271638 A) in view of Kobayashi et. al. (United States Patent Application Publication US 2023/0153041 A1) and Sakatani (United States Patent Application Publication US 2023/0132446 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Takahiro et. al. discloses an information processing system comprising: a processor configured to: the inspection result being obtained by an inspection apparatus which inspects an image formed on a recording medium by the image forming apparatus on a basis of the instruction information (Takahiro et. al. see abstract, “solder inspection for inspecting the printing state of the solder printed in a substrate, determination results obtained by inspections are accumulated and stored); and output an abnormality monitoring result (Takahiro et. al. see abstract, “faulty positions and frequency of faults are displayed, on the solder printing position map of a screen 34” and figure 7).
However, Takahiro et. al. fails to disclose obtain, within a range of a number of jobs or number of days which has been set in advance, instruction information for an image forming apparatus and an inspection result obtained in accordance with division-by-division-basis counts of abnormalities in an inspection, the divisions being the plurality of divisions.
Kobayashi et. al. teaches obtain instruction information for an image forming apparatus and an inspection result within a range of a setting condition which has been set in advance (Kobayashi et. al. [0048], Fig. 6C, management unit of the calculation unit sets the condition for executing the analysis and are stored in the storage apparatus. Note that, although the initial value of an execution condition is arbitrary, it can be a condition with the highest execution frequency, for example, “every day”. Furthermore, rather than setting the execution condition based on only the latest analysis result, configuration so as to set the execution condition based on the analysis results of the past several times is also possible).
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Sakatani teaches an inspection result obtained in accordance with division-by-division-basis counts of abnormalities in an inspection, the divisions being the plurality of divisions (Sakatani Abstract, [0161]-[0162]).
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This is important to the claimed invention because setting the range of a setting condition in advance allows for a more streamlined inspection process that identifies printing defects at a much earlier step, and division of the image that improves accuracy which allows for optimal adjustment for calibrated equipment. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al., and Sakatani so that this feature is included in the solution for defect detection.
Regarding claim 9, which is a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process corresponding to the information processing system according to claim 1, which the rejection analysis is incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 10, which is an information processing method corresponding to the information processing system according to claim 1, which the rejection analysis is incorporated herein.
Regarding claim 2, Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al., Sakatani disclose the information processing system according to claim 1, and Takahiro et. al. further discloses wherein the processor is configured to: when a division-by-division-basis count among the division-by-division-basis counts of abnormalities in the inspection is greater than or equal to a specified number of inspections performed by the inspection apparatus, notify, as the abnormality monitoring result, possibility of an abnormality of the inspection apparatus (Takahiro et. al. [0021] Inspection threshold data is data indicating an allowable range of variation in the positional deviation with respect to the regular position of each solder printed part, and if the threshold determined as the allowable range is outside a NG (no-good) determination is made).
Regarding claim 3, Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al., and Sakatani disclose the information processing system according to claim 1, and Takahiro et. al. further discloses wherein the processor is configured to: when a ratio of a division-by-division-basis count among the division-by-division-basis counts of abnormalities in the inspection with respect to a count of inspections performed by the inspection apparatus is greater than or equal to a threshold, notify possibility of an abnormality of the inspection apparatus (Takahiro et. al. [0021] Inspection threshold data is data indicating an allowable range of variation in the positional deviation with respect to the regular position of each solder printed part, and if the threshold determined as the allowable range is outside a NG (no-good) determination is made).
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahiro et. al. (Japanese Patent JP 2007271638 A) in view of Kobayashi et. al. (United States Patent Application Publication US 2023/0153041 A1) and Sakatani (United States Patent Application Publication US 2023/0132446 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamamoto (United States Patent US 11513745 B2).
Regarding claim 5, Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al. and Sakatani disclose the information processing system according to claim 1. However, Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al. and Sakatani fail to disclose wherein the processor is configured to: even in the middle of the number of jobs or in the middle of the number of days, notify possibility of an abnormality of the inspection apparatus on a basis of the division-by-division-basis counts of abnormalities in the inspection.
Yamamoto teaches wherein the processor is configured to: even in the middle of the number of jobs or in the middle of the number of days, notify possibility of an abnormality of the inspection apparatus on a basis of the division-by-division-basis counts of abnormalities in the inspection (Yamamoto col 15, lines 14-25, the presence or absence of a state abnormality of a printed material is determined, grouping is executed on a print-job basis, the detailed checking result information that is uniformly managed in a databased is associated, and then search is conducted). This is important because it allows a quantifiable means of tracking the activities done by the system and allows for adequate comparisons to be made in the methodology for detecting abnormalities. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al., Sakatani and Yamamoto so that the setting condition is a number of jobs so that the abnormality instance can be tracked from the numbering.
Regarding claim 6, Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al. and Sakatani disclose the information processing system according to claim 1. However, Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al. and Sakatani fail to disclose wherein the processor is configured to: when abnormalities occur in an identical division across jobs whose number is within the number of jobs, or when abnormalities occur in an identical division across days whose number is within the number of days, notify possibility of an abnormality of the inspection apparatus.
Yamamoto teaches wherein the processor is configured to: when abnormalities occur in an identical division across jobs whose number is within the number of jobs, or when abnormalities occur in an identical division across days whose number is within the number of days, notify possibility of an abnormality of the inspection apparatus (Yamamoto col 15, lines 14-25, the presence or absence of a state abnormality of a printed material is determined, grouping is executed on a print-job basis, the detailed checking result information that is uniformly managed in a databased is associated, and then search is conducted). This is important because it allows a quantifiable means of tracking the activities done by the system and allows for adequate comparisons to be made in the methodology for detecting abnormalities. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al., Sakatani and Yamamoto so that the setting condition is a number of jobs so that the abnormality instance can be tracked from the numbering.
Claim(s) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahiro et. al. (Japanese Patent JP 2007271638 A) in view of Kobayashi et. al. (United States Patent Application Publication US 2023/0153041 A1) and Sakatani (United States Patent Application Publication US 2023/0132446 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Vandenbussche et. al. (International Publication WO 2022/079064 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al., and Sakatani disclose the information processing system according to claim 1. However, Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al. and Sakatani fail to disclose wherein the processor is configured to: generate a heat map as the abnormality monitoring result on a basis of the division-by-division-basis counts of abnormalities in the inspection, and notify possibility of an abnormality of the inspection apparatus.
Vandenbussche et. al. teaches wherein the processor is configured to: generate a heat map as the abnormality monitoring result on a basis of the division-by-division-basis counts of abnormalities in the inspection, and notify possibility of an abnormality of the inspection apparatus (Vandenbussche et. al. [40], “heatmap” of printing errors). This is important to the claimed invention because it allows a more efficient and easily identifiable defect visualization. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al., Sakatani and Vandenbussche et. al. so that this feature is included within the system for inspecting defects.
Regarding claim 8, Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al., Sakatani and Vandenbussche et. al. discloses the information processing system according to claim 7, and Vandenbussche et. al. further discloses wherein the heat map is formed of divisions, each of which is larger than each division obtained by dividing the inspection area (Vandenbussche et. al. [40]-[43], “heatmap” of printing errors. In some embodiments, the defect overlays have individual layers to show different types of defects (color variance, streak, spot, barcode) and these defect layers can be switched on and off in the heatmap per need). This is important to the claimed invention because it allows a more efficient and easily identifiable defect visualization. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Takahiro et. al., Kobayashi et. al. and Vandenbussche et. al. so that this feature is included within the system for inspecting defects.
Conclusion
Response to Amendment
Examiner has carefully considered applicants amendments to the claims and performed an updated search. New prior art has been found to reject claims 1-3, and 5-10.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA YIFANG LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-6435. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00am-6:15pm, with optional day off.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vu Le can be reached at 571-272-7332. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JESSICA YIFANG LIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2668 September 10, 2026
/VU LE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2668
