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 1-4 and 7-15 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miura (US 20200065087) in view of Fujiwara et al. (US 20080007486).
Regarding claim 1, Miura teaches
An image forming apparatus comprising:
a main power supply switch that turns on and off a main power supply; ([0030], “when the power supply position of the vehicle 1 is in the accessory position or in the off position, the power is not supplied from the main battery to the TCU 11.”)
a battery (Fig. 1 (21-backup battery)) that is a power source different from the main power supply; ([0029], “ the backup battery 21 supplies power to the LPWA communication unit 22 included in the TCU 11.”)
a detector that detects switching of the main power supply switch; ([0032], “power supply position may be switched by an ignition switch. When the power supply position is switched by the ignition switch, the power supply position comes to be in the on position with the ignition on.”)
a first hardware processor that: operates with power supplied from the battery, continuously issues an external warning notification to a user of the image forming apparatus to indicate that the main power supply switch has been turned off in response to the detector detecting the switching of the main power supply switch from on to off, and ([0029], “The backup battery 21 is a battery for operating the TCU 11 even when power supply from the main battery provided in the vehicle 1 is not performed.” And [0070-72], “In S36, it is determined whether the power supply position has become the off position. …If the determination in S36 is YES, the processing proceeds to S37. In S37, the FOTA request information stored in the FW temporary storage unit 25 is written to the FW temporary storage unit 2202. In addition, the firmware update program in the middle of downloading, which is repeatedly written in S22, is also written to the FW temporary storage unit 2202. In S38, the server 2 is notified that the communication unit for downloading the firmware update program should be switched to the LPWA communication unit 22.”)
Miura teaches issuing a notification when the power is switched off but does not teach issuing a continuous external warning notification which indicates power has been turned off. Fujiwara teaches
continuously issues an external warning notification for a predetermined time to a user of the image forming apparatus to indicate that the main power supply switch has been turned off in response to the detector detecting the switching of the main power supply switch from on to off and ([0141], “the camera achieved in the embodiment is capable of sustaining the display continuously via the character display module 20, without consuming power except when updating the display. In other words, the display is continuously provided via the character display module 20 even in the power OFF state. … as the power switch 91 is turned off … the CPU 331 automatically switches to the display mode shown in FIG. 6 to bring up display contents set-in advance and then turns off the power.” And [0163], “the display at the character display module 20 may be disabled during a time block corresponding to nighttime and, during this period of time, all displays may be provided via the image display module 10 (in the display mode shown in FIG. 5). Since this time block is bound to vary with different users, it is desirable to allow the user to preset this time block.” Where the continuously issues … for a predetermined time is the time that when the display is not preset to turn off. )
in response to the detector detecting the switching of the main power supply switch from off to on while the external warning notification is being issued, stops issuing the external warning notification. ([0142], “As the camera in the power OFF state reenters the power ON state, it is automatically switched to the power on display mode explained earlier.” Where switching to the power on display mode is interpreted as stopping issuing the external warning notification)
Fujiwara is cited to teach a similar concept of notifications related to powering on/off. Fujiwara teaches that a continuous notification can be made when the main power switch has been turned off to notify the user and disabling the notification when power is turned back on. Based on Fujiwara, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Miura to provide a notification when the power switch has been turned off. Furthermore, being able to provide notification based on power being turned off improves on Miura by being able to improve user control and satisfaction. To one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the invention it would have been advantageous to make this modification because “ since information that cannot be read without turning on the power in the related art, can be checked in the power OFF state, the operability of the camera improves.”, [0141]
Regarding claim 2, Miura teaches wherein in response to a predetermined processing being scheduled to be performed with power supplied from the main power supply, the first hardware processor provides the notification based on a detection result of the detector. ([0041], “Based on the ECU-ID and the firmware version included in the FOTA request information, the TCU 11 checks the version of the firmware stored in the ECU 12 specified by the ECU-ID, and determines the firmware update necessity.” And [0070-72], “In S36, it is determined whether the power supply position has become the off position. …If the determination in S36 is YES, the processing proceeds to S37. In S37, the FOTA request information stored in the FW temporary storage unit 25 is written to the FW temporary storage unit 2202. In addition, the firmware update program in the middle of downloading, which is repeatedly written in S22, is also written to the FW temporary storage unit 2202. In S38, the server 2 is notified that the communication unit for downloading the firmware update program should be switched to the LPWA communication unit 22.”)
Regarding claim 3, Miura teaches further comprising:
a second hardware processor (FW download processor unit 2204) that: operates with power supplied from the main power supply, and updates firmware by executing a firmware update instruction provided from an external server, ([0042], “The FW download processor unit 2204, which is an example of the software download processor unit, executes processing related to downloading of firmware, which is determined based on the FOTA request information. Specifically, this processing includes the processing of determining whether or not to download the firmware, determining the communication unit to be used for downloading the firmware, and downloading the firmware using the determined communication unit. Also, the processing may include the processing of determining when to start downloading the firmware.”)
wherein the first hardware processor (FW update information processor unit 2203) provides the notification in response to the detector detecting the switching of the main power supply switch from on to off within a predetermined time period before an update timing of the firmware. (Figs. 6-7, [0066], “the FW update information processor unit 2203 executes the processing shown in FIG. 6. … the FW update information processor unit 26 executes S37 and S38.” And [0070-72], “In S36, it is determined whether the power supply position has become the off position … If the determination in S36 is YES, the processing proceeds to S37. … In S38, the server 2 is notified that the communication unit for downloading the firmware update program should be switched to the LPWA communication unit 22.”)
Regarding claim 4, Miura teaches further comprising: a storage (Fig. 1 (25 – firmware temporary storage) that: operates by the power supplied from the battery, and stores update information designating the update timing. ([0035], “The FW temporary storage unit 2202 is a storage unit that temporarily stores the firmware downloaded from the server 2 using the LPWA communication module 2201.” And [0038-39], “the LPWA communication module 2201 is operated to communicate with the server 2 so that the LPWA communication module 2201 downloads the FOTA request information from the server 2. The FOTA request information is information requesting to update the firmware by wireless communication. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the FOTA request information is information including an ECU-ID, a firmware version, a firmware size, and a checksum. … determines the firmware update necessity.”)
Regarding claim 5, Miura teaches wherein the first hardware processor continuously provides the notification for a predetermined time. ([0058], “a notification is transmitted from the LPWA communication module 2201 to the server 2; such a notification indicates that the firmware update program is to be downloaded by the LPWA communication unit 22.”)
Regarding claim 14, Miura teaches
A control method for an image forming apparatus that comprises:
a main power supply switch that turns on and off a main power supply; ([0030], “when the power supply position of the vehicle 1 is in the accessory position or in the off position, the power is not supplied from the main battery to the TCU 11.”)
a battery (Fig. 1 (21-backup battery)) that is a power source different from the main power supply; and ([0029], “ the backup battery 21 supplies power to the LPWA communication unit 22 included in the TCU 11.”)
a detector that detects switching of the main power supply switch, ([0032], “power supply position may be switched by an ignition switch. When the power supply position is switched by the ignition switch, the power supply position comes to be in the on position with the ignition on.”)
the method comprising:
acquiring update information designating an update timing of firmware; ([0056], “the communication time required when downloading the firmware using the LPWA communication unit 22 is calculated. In this calculation, the communication speed when the LPWA communication unit 22 and the LPWA base station 4 communicate with each other is a predetermined constant value.”)
continuously issuing an external warning notification for a predetermined time to a user of the image forming apparatus to indicate that the main power supply switch has been turned off in response to the detector detecting the switching of the main power supply switch from on to off within a predetermined time before the update timing; and (Fig. 7, ([0070-72], “In S36, it is determined whether the power supply position has become the off position. … If the determination in S36 is YES, the processing proceeds to S37. In S37, the FOTA request information stored in the FW temporary storage unit 25 is written to the FW temporary storage unit 2202. … In S38, the server 2 is notified that the communication unit for downloading the firmware update program should be switched to the LPWA communication unit 22.”)
with power supplied from the main power supply, updating the firmware by executing a firmware update instruction at the update timing. (Fig. 4, [0057-58], “Then, by dividing the size of the firmware update program that needs to be downloaded by the communication speed of the LPWA communication unit 22, the communication time required for the download can be calculated. In S5, a notification is transmitted from the LPWA communication module 2201 to the server 2; such a notification indicates that the firmware update program is to be downloaded by the LPWA communication unit 22.”)
Miura teaches issuing a notification when the power is switched off but does not teach issuing an external warning notification which indicates power has been turned off. Fujiwara teaches
continuously issues an external warning notification for a predetermined time to a user of the image forming apparatus to indicate that the main power supply switch has been turned off in response to the detector detecting the switching of the main power supply switch from on to off and ([0141], “the camera achieved in the embodiment is capable of sustaining the display continuously via the character display module 20, without consuming power except when updating the display. In other words, the display is continuously provided via the character display module 20 even in the power OFF state. … as the power switch 91 is turned off … the CPU 331 automatically switches to the display mode shown in FIG. 6 to bring up display contents set-in advance and then turns off the power.” And [0163], “the display at the character display module 20 may be disabled during a time block corresponding to nighttime and, during this period of time, all displays may be provided via the image display module 10 (in the display mode shown in FIG. 5). Since this time block is bound to vary with different users, it is desirable to allow the user to preset this time block.” Where the continuously issues … for a predetermined time is the time that when the display is not preset to turn off. )
in response to the detector detecting the switching of the main power supply switch from off to on while the external warning notification is being issued, stops issuing the external warning notification. ([0142], “As the camera in the power OFF state reenters the power ON state, it is automatically switched to the power on display mode explained earlier.” Where switching to the power on display mode is interpreted as stopping issuing the external warning notification)
Fujiwara is cited to teach a similar concept of notifications related to powering on/off. Fujiwara teaches that a continuous notification can be made when the main power switch has been turned off to notify the user and disabling the notification when power is turned back on. Based on Fujiwara, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Miura to provide a notification when the power switch has been turned off. Furthermore, being able to provide notification based on power being turned off improves on Miura by being able to improve user control and satisfaction. To one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the invention it would have been advantageous to make this modification because “ since information that cannot be read without turning on the power in the related art, can be checked in the power OFF state, the operability of the camera improves.”, [0141]
As to claims 13 and 15, Miura and Fujiwara teaches these claims according to the reasoning provided in claim 1.
Claim(s) 1, 7-11 and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lombardi et al. (US 20150042572) in view of Inoue (US 20150188609) and Ogawa (US 20220261236).
Regarding claim 1, Lombardi teaches
An image forming apparatus comprising:
a main power supply switch (Fig. 1 (107)) that turns on and off a main power supply; (Fig. 2, [0029], “the internal components 200 include a power source or supply 217”, [0015], “even though the mobile device (or at least the mobile device application processor) is powered-down or off, the display can still be activated to display notifications when appropriate.”)
a detector that detects switching of the main power supply switch; and ([0017], “the device comes alive while still in the "off" mode (e.g., where the application processor is still dormant) by showing incoming notifications as they occur”
a first hardware processor that: operates with power supplied from the battery, and issues an external warning notification to a user of the image forming apparatus to indicate that the main power supply switch has been turned off in response to the detector detecting the switching of the main power supply switch from on to off. ([0015], “it is possible to allow for ongoing activation of a mobile device display, even while the mobile device application processor and display are technically in a powered-down or "off" state … a sensor hub (or other auxiliary processing device) for controlling a display using such technology, rather than using the mobile device application processor, so as to achieve the displaying of notifications in a low-power (or lower-power) manner … operating in this manner can be considered as providing "always-on" operation insofar as, even though the mobile device (or at least the mobile device application processor) is powered-down or off, the display can still be activated to display notifications when appropriate.” And [0017], “the device comes alive while still in the "off" mode (e.g., where the application processor is still dormant) by showing incoming notifications as they occur”)
Lombardi teaches a power source but does not teach a battery different from the main supply
Inoue teaches
a battery that is a power source different from the main power supply; ([0070], “The multifunction peripheral 1 of the present embodiment has an OFF mode as an operational mode. Specifically, after startup, when a particular OFF mode condition is satisfied, supplying of the first power supply voltage Vcc from the power supply circuit 9 is completely stopped, which shifts the operational mode to the OFF mode. In the OFF mode, however, operations of requisite minimum functions such as ON-OFF detection of the power switch and OFF-mode cancel condition detection are continued by a backup power supply (not shown) such as a secondary battery and a supercapacitor.”)
Lombardi teaches supplying power to provide notifications when the rest of the device is powered off (i.e. a minimum set of functions). Inoue teaches supplying a backup battery to guarantee that power can be supplied to a minimum set of functions while the main power supply is turned off. Based on Inoue, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Lombardi to use a backup/secondary battery to provide power to minimum functions in the system. Furthermore, being able to use a backup/secondary battery improves on Lombardi by being able to provide minimum functions when the rest of the system is off whether the main power is run by being plugged into a socket or a first main battery. To one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the invention it would have been advantageous to make this modification because “operations of requisite minimum functions … are continued by a backup power supply”, [0070]
Lombardi and Inoue teach issuing a notification when the power is switched off but does not teach issuing an external warning notification which indicates power has been turned off. Fujiwara teaches
continuously issues an external warning notification for a predetermined time to a user of the image forming apparatus to indicate that the main power supply switch has been turned off in response to the detector detecting the switching of the main power supply switch from on to off and ([0141], “the camera achieved in the embodiment is capable of sustaining the display continuously via the character display module 20, without consuming power except when updating the display. In other words, the display is continuously provided via the character display module 20 even in the power OFF state. … as the power switch 91 is turned off … the CPU 331 automatically switches to the display mode shown in FIG. 6 to bring up display contents set-in advance and then turns off the power.” And [0163], “the display at the character display module 20 may be disabled during a time block corresponding to nighttime and, during this period of time, all displays may be provided via the image display module 10 (in the display mode shown in FIG. 5). Since this time block is bound to vary with different users, it is desirable to allow the user to preset this time block.” Where the continuously issues … for a predetermined time is the time that when the display is not preset to turn off. )
in response to the detector detecting the switching of the main power supply switch from off to on while the external warning notification is being issued, stops issuing the external warning notification. ([0142], “As the camera in the power OFF state reenters the power ON state, it is automatically switched to the power on display mode explained earlier.” Where switching to the power on display mode is interpreted as stopping issuing the external warning notification)
Fujiwara is cited to teach a similar concept of notifications related to powering on/off. Fujiwara teaches that a continuous notification can be made when the main power switch has been turned off to notify the user and disabling the notification when power is turned back on. Based on Fujiwara, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Miura to provide a notification when the power switch has been turned off. Furthermore, being able to provide notification based on power being turned off improves on Miura by being able to improve user control and satisfaction. To one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the invention it would have been advantageous to make this modification because “ since information that cannot be read without turning on the power in the related art, can be checked in the power OFF state, the operability of the camera improves.”, [0141]
Regarding claim 7, Lombardi teaches further comprising: a notification unit that operates by the power supplied from the battery, wherein the first hardware processor activates the notification unit to provide the notification. ([0015], “Embodiments operating in this manner can be considered as providing "always-on" operation insofar as, even though the mobile device (or at least the mobile device application processor) is powered-down or off, the display can still be activated to display notifications when appropriate.”, [0033], “the output device(s) 207 can include one or more visual output devices such as a cathode ray tube, liquid crystal display, plasma display, video screen, incandescent light, fluorescent light, front or rear projection display, and light emitting diode indicator, one or more audio output devices such as a speaker, alarm, or buzzer, or one or more mechanical output devices such as a vibrating mechanism or motion-based mechanism.”)
Regarding claim 8, Lombardi teaches wherein the notification unit includes a speaker that outputs a sound. ([0033], “the output device(s) 207 can include one or more visual output devices such as a cathode ray tube, liquid crystal display, plasma display, video screen, incandescent light, fluorescent light, front or rear projection display, and light emitting diode indicator, one or more audio output devices such as a speaker, alarm, or buzzer, or one or more mechanical output devices such as a vibrating mechanism or motion-based mechanism.”)
Regarding claim 9, Lombardi teaches wherein the notification unit includes a speaker that outputs a sound prompting a user to turn on the main power switch. ([0033], “the output device(s) 207 can include one or more visual output devices such as a cathode ray tube, liquid crystal display, plasma display, video screen, incandescent light, fluorescent light, front or rear projection display, and light emitting diode indicator, one or more audio output devices such as a speaker, alarm, or buzzer, or one or more mechanical output devices such as a vibrating mechanism or motion-based mechanism.”)
Regarding claim 10, Lombardi teaches wherein the notification unit includes a light emitter that emits light. ([0033], “the output device(s) 207 can include one or more visual output devices such as a cathode ray tube, liquid crystal display, plasma display, video screen, incandescent light, fluorescent light, front or rear projection display, and light emitting diode indicator, one or more audio output devices such as a speaker, alarm, or buzzer, or one or more mechanical output devices such as a vibrating mechanism or motion-based mechanism.”)
Regarding claim 11, Lombardi teaches wherein the notification unit includes a vibrator that generates vibration and transmits a vibration sound. ([0033], “the output device(s) 207 can include one or more visual output devices such as a cathode ray tube, liquid crystal display, plasma display, video screen, incandescent light, fluorescent light, front or rear projection display, and light emitting diode indicator, one or more audio output devices such as a speaker, alarm, or buzzer, or one or more mechanical output devices such as a vibrating mechanism or motion-based mechanism.”)
As to claims 13 and 15, Lombardi and Inoue teach these claims according to the reasoning provided in claim 1.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miura and Fujiwara further in view of Koujiro (US 20240231716).
Regarding claim 12, Miura and Fujiwara teach notifications but do not specifically teach notifying a pre-specified external device at power off.
Koujiro teaches wherein the notification unit includes a communication interface that notifies a pre-specified external device that the main power supply switch has been turned off. ([0149], “in a case where the multifunction peripheral 10, 50 is in a power off state, processing related to firmware update is not performed, and firmware update fails. In this case, the multifunction peripheral 10, 50 transmits, to the firmware providing device 30, an update error notification indicating that firmware update has failed, and an instruction to update again.” )
Koujiro is cited to teach a similar concept of notifications related to firmware updates. Koujiro teaches that an external device can be notified when the main power switch has been turned off to notify of a potential firmware update failure. Based on Koujiro, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Miura and Fujiwara to provide a notification of a potential firmware update failure to an external device. Furthermore, being able to provide a firmware update failure notification based on power being turned off improves on Miura and Fujiwara by being able to improving operability. To one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the invention it would have been advantageous to make this modification because “an image forming apparatus capable of improving operability and convenience of a user by displaying a confirmation screen related to whether firmware update can be executed on an operation screen”, [0042]
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lombardi and Fujiwara further in view of Koujiro (US 20240231716).
Regarding claim 12, Lombardi and Fujiwara teach notifications but do not specifically teach notifying a pre-specified external device.
Koujiro teaches wherein the notification unit includes a communication interface that notifies a pre-specified external device that the main power supply switch has been turned off. ([0149], “in a case where the multifunction peripheral 10, 50 is in a power off state, processing related to firmware update is not performed, and firmware update fails. In this case, the multifunction peripheral 10, 50 transmits, to the firmware providing device 30, an update error notification indicating that firmware update has failed, and an instruction to update again.”)
Koujiro is cited to teach a similar concept of notifications related to power being on or off in the system. Koujiro teaches that an external device can be notified when the main power switch has been turned off to notify of a potential firmware update failure. Based on Koujiro, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to have modified Lombardi and Fujiwara to provide a notification of a potential firmware update failure to an external device. Furthermore, being able to provide a firmware update failure notification based on power being turned off improves on Lombardi and Fujiwara by being able to improving operability. To one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the invention it would have been advantageous to make this modification because “an image forming apparatus capable of improving operability and convenience of a user by displaying a confirmation screen related to whether firmware update can be executed on an operation screen”, [0042]
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pgs. 6-7, filed 01/14/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-4 and 7-15 under 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 Miura and Fujiwara or Lombardi and Fujiwara.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHERI L. HARRINGTON whose telephone number is (571)270-0468. The examiner can normally be reached Generally, M-F, 7:30a-4p.
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/CHERI L HARRINGTON/Examiner, Art Unit 2176 February 20, 2026
/JAWEED A ABBASZADEH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2176