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 .
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 § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 9-14, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishida (US 2021/0377418).
(1) regarding claims 1 and 17:
Ishida ‘418 discloses an image forming apparatus (paragraph [0027], image forming apparatus 1), comprising:
a printer configured to print images on media (image forming device 100 in Fig. 1 and paragraph [0027]);
a tag reader-writer configured to communicate with wireless tags on the media (RFID reader and writer 400 and paragraphs [0037] and [0038]);
a communication interface configured to communicate with an external apparatus (communication unit 530 and paragraph [0083]); and
a processor (controller 500 in Fig. 8) configured to:
receive print data via the communication interface from the external apparatus (paragraph [0083] and [0094]-[0095], where image data is received from a personal computer),
extract a tag reader-writer command from the received print data (paragraph [0094]-[0095], where the reader-writer command is acquired from the image data received from the PC),
control the printer to print an image on a medium according to drawing data in the received print data (paragraph [0105]-[0106], where the printer performs the printing operation based on the obtained data), and
control the tag reader-writer according to the extracted tag reader-writer command to perform an operation on a wireless tag on the medium (paragraph [0106], where the data read from the RFID tag is written into the RFID tag of the printed image).
(2) regarding claim 9:
Ishida ‘418 discloses a multifunctional peripheral device (paragraph [0027], image forming apparatus 1 having multiple units comprising a multifunctional device), comprising:
a scanner configured to scan documents (image reading unit 200 in Fig 1 and paragraph [0027]);
a printer configured to print images on sheets of paper (image forming device 100 in Fig. 1 and paragraph [0027]);
a tag reader-writer configured to communicate with wireless tags on the sheets (RFID reader and writer 400 and paragraphs [0037] and [0038]);
a communication interface configured to communicate with an external apparatus (communication unit 530 and paragraph [0083]); and
a processor (controller 500 in Fig. 8) configured to:
receive print data via the communication interface from the external apparatus (paragraph [0083] and [0094]-[0095], where image data is received from a personal computer),
extract a tag reader-writer command from the received print data (paragraph [0094]-[0095], where the reader-writer command is acquired from the image data received from the PC),
control the printer to print an image on a sheet according to drawing data in the received print data (paragraph [0105]-[0106], where the printer performs the printing operation based on the obtained data), and
control the tag reader-writer according to the extracted tag reader-writer command to perform an operation on a wireless tag on the sheet (paragraph [0106], where the data read from the RFID tag is written into the RFID tag of the printed image).
(3) regarding claims 2, 10, and 18:
Ishida ‘418 further discloses wherein the tag reader-writer is an RFID tag reader-writer device (RFID reader and writer 400 in Fig. 1).
(4) regarding claims 3, 11, and 19:
Ishida ‘418 further discloses wherein the wireless tag is an RFID tag (RFID tag 300G in Fig. 1).
(5) regarding claims 4, 12, and 20:
Ishida ‘418 further discloses a memory unit for storing data (paragraph [0080], where memories are used to store data), wherein
the media is sheets of paper (paragraph [0027], sheet of paper),
the print data includes drawing data for multiple sheets (paragraph [0083] and [0094]-[0095], where image data is for printing on sheets), and
the processor is configured to store, in the memory unit, drawing data for each sheet in the print data in association with the extracted tag reader-writer command for the sheet (paragraphs [0080]-[0081], where image data for all sheets is stored).
(6) regarding claims 5 and 13:
Ishida ‘418 further discloses wherein the extracted tag reader-writer command is a command to write page-specific data to the wireless tag on the sheet (paragraph [0037], where unique numbers are recorded into the RFID tag to identify different sheets).
(7) regarding claims 6 and 14:
Ishida ‘418 further discloses wherein the extracted tag reader-writer command is a command to write data to the wireless tag on the medium (paragraph [0106], where the data read from the RFID tag is written into the RFID tag of the printed image).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8, and 15-16 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
A. Claims 7 and 15 disclose the unique and distinct limitations of “wherein the tag-reader writer command is encoded in the print data, and the processor is configured to identify the tag reader-writer command in the received print data according to a coding of the tag reader-writer command”, either alone or in combination, the applied prior art does not teach the claimed subject matter.
B. Claims 8 and 16 disclose the unique and distinct limitations of “wherein the tag-reader writer command is represented as a character string in the print data, and the processor is configured to identify the tag reader-writer command in the received print data according to detection of the character string in the print data”, either alone or in combination, the applied prior art does not teach the claimed subject matter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LENNIN R RODRIGUEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-1678. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9:00am-7:00pm.
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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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/LENNIN R RODRIGUEZGONZALEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
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