DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Specification
2. 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
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Claims 1-4, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokoyama U.S. Patent Application No. 2015/0201091 (hereinafter Yokoyama) in view of HORIKIRI et al. U.S. Patent Application No. 2006/0259490 (hereinafter HORIKIRI).
Regarding claim 1, Yokoyama discloses an information processing system (System of image forming apparatus detects proximity of mobile information terminal; paragraph 58, Figure 3) comprising:
one or more processors (CPU 104/CPU 204, Figures 1-2) configured to:
notify a terminal (Figure 1), in a case where a document to be subjected to reading processing by an image processing apparatus (Figure 2) remotely connected to the terminal is set in the image processing apparatus (A token which is sent and received between the image forming apparatus and the mobile information terminal, for uniquely identifying the scanning process; paragraphs 24, 58-60, Figures 9-10 and see the rest of reference), that the document has been set and a user who has set the document is not identified (CPU 204 of an image forming device just acquires a unique ID for uniquely identifying the mobile information terminal 101 but not user ID; paragraph 58).
Yokoyama does not explicitly disclose notifying the terminal, in a case where the document is set in the image processing apparatus when the image processing apparatus acquires identification information for identifying the user, of the identification information.
However, HORIKIRI et al. (US 20060259490) working in the same field of endeavor teaches notifying the terminal (to scan a document, the user allows the card reader 3 connected to the multifunction device 10, Figure 1), in a case where the document is set in the image processing apparatus when the image processing apparatus acquires identification information for identifying the user, of the identification information (When the card reader 3 reads the user ID recorded in the IC card 5, the reader sends the user ID to the multifunction device 10. The user ID acquisition processing unit 11 of the multifunction device 10 acquires the user ID sent from the card reader 3 in this manner; paragraph 41 and see the rest of reference). Such an arrangement provides user convenience.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of Applicant’s invention to have combined the system of Yokoyama as taught by HORIKIRI, since doing so would have predictably and advantageously provided user convenience (paragraph 0007 of HORIKIRI).
Regarding claim 2, Yokoyama discloses the information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information is information provided to the image processing apparatus by a direct operation of the user on the image processing apparatus (A touch-scanning process for starting the scanning process in accordance with connection of short-range wireless communication is permitted; paragraph 64, Figure 3).
Regarding claim 3, Yokoyama discloses the information processing system according to claim 2.
Yokoyama does not explicitly disclose wherein the direct operation of the user is an operation of causing the image processing apparatus to read the identification information associated with a predetermined medium, or an operation of inputting the identification information to a user interface of the image processing apparatus.
However, HORIKIRI teaches wherein the direct operation of the user is an operation of causing the image processing apparatus to read the identification information associated with a predetermined medium, or an operation of inputting the identification information to a user interface of the image processing apparatus (When the card reader 3 reads the user ID recorded in the IC card 5, the reader sends the user ID to the multifunction device 10. The user ID acquisition processing unit 11 of the multifunction device 10 acquires the user ID sent from the card reader 3; paragraph 41 and see the rest of reference).
Regarding claim 4, Yokoyama discloses the information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the image processing apparatus to start the reading processing in a case where an instruction to execute the reading processing is performed on the image processing apparatus from the terminal (Processing for generating image data by reading an original, and wherein said transmission unit transmits the image data to the mobile terminal by using the wireless communication as the processing result; see abstract , paragraphs 14, 66-67, and see the rest of reference).
Regarding claim 9, claim 9 is directed to a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, and recites identical features as claim 1. Thus, claim 9 is rejected for the same reasons discussed in claim 1 above.
6. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokoyama and HORIKIRI in view of MOROTA et al. U.S. Patent Application No. 2016/0182744 (hereinafter MOROTA).
Regarding claim 6, Yokoyama discloses the information processing system according to claim 4.
The combination of Yokoyama and HORIKIRI does not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to stop the reading processing in a case where a number of sheets of the document when the document is set in the image processing apparatus is different from a number of sheets of the document counted in the reading processing.
However, MOROTA teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to stop the reading processing in a case where a number of sheets of the document when the document is set in the image processing apparatus is different from a number of sheets of the document counted in the reading processing (Proof print manager 137 is associated with proof print manager 224 of PC 200A, and manages executing and stopping of proof print of a document with multiple pages; at least paragraphs 56-58, 62, Figures 8A-8B and see the rest of reference). Such an arrangement provides user convenience.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of Applicant’s invention to have combined the system of Yokoyama and HORIKIRI as taught by MOROTA, since doing so would have predictably and advantageously provided user convenience (paragraph 0009 of MOROTA).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 5, 7 and 8 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.
Information Disclosure Statement
8. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/29/2024 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.
Cited Art
9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
MIGISHIMA (2025/0071216) discloses an image processing apparatus comprising: a user interface that accepts an operation by a user; a communicator that receives a scan instruction; a scanner that scans a document based on the scan instruction to generate image data, wherein the communicator transmits the generated image data; one or more controllers including one or more processors and one or more memories, the one or more controllers is configured to: enable a setting requiring the operation by the user to cause the document to be scanned based on the scan instruction; perform registration processing to register the image processing apparats to transmit the generated image data to a cloud server; and wherein the user interface displays information that urges the user to enable the setting when the registration processing is being performed, wherein the user interface displays the information that uses the user to enable the setting based on that the registration processing being performed in a state where the setting is not previously enabled, and wherein the user interface does not display the information that urges the user to enable the setting even when the registration processing is being performed in a state where the setting is previously enabled, wherein, in the registration processing, processing to transmit identification information about the image processing apparatus to the cloud server is performed, and wherein the image processing apparatus is registered as a candidate for a transmission destination of the scan instruction by the identification information being transmitted to the cloud server, wherein the information for urging the user to enable the setting is a message to urge the user to enable the setting.
Yamaguchi (US 2020/0288024) discloses an image reading device that connects to a network, the image reading device comprising: an operation panel that has a display; a document reader that generates scan data by reading a document placed on a document plate, when a scan instruction specifying a save destination is received from an information terminal via the network; and a controller that (i) causes display of the save destination on the display, which is ready to receive a panel operation via the operation panel to execute a process for transmitting the scan data to the save destination, and, (ii) upon receiving the panel operation, executes the process for transmitting the scan data to the save destination. wherein a document is set, if identification information of a portable terminal in the vicinity of the image reading device matches identification information of the terminal that provided the remote scan instruction, it is determined that the set document is a document of the user of the terminal that provided the remote scan instruction. As another method, when a time of detection of setting the document and a time of reception of the remote scan instruction are within a defined time period, it is determined that the set document is a document of the user of the terminal that provided the remote scan instruction. According to the former method, terminals that can execute remote scanning are limited to terminals that can execute direct wireless communication with the image reading device. Further, there is a possibility than scan data could be acquired when a malicious user possesses a terminal that can execute direct wireless communication with the image reading device and waits in advance in the vicinity of the image reading device. The latter method also allows the possibility that a malicious user can acquire scan data by transmitting the remote scan instruction to the image reading device at the same timing as the setting of the document.
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLEN H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1229. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7 am-4 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ABDERRAHIM MEROUAN can be reached at (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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/ALLEN H NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
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