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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP 2023-051106, filed on March 28th, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on March 26th, 2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 7 objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding Claim 1, “…acquires an unevenness position… occurs in a print result of the test pattern” should be “…acquires an unevenness position… occurring in a print result of the test pattern.”
Regarding Claim 7, “… acquiring an unevenness position… occurs in a print result of the test pattern” should be “…acquiring an unevenness position… occurring in a print result of the test pattern.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoshikawa, JP 2017148943 A.
Regarding claim 1,
A printing device (Paragraph 0001, "The present invention relates to control of a printing apparatus")
a print head including a plurality of nozzles configured to eject liquid onto a medium (Paragraph 0002, " A printing head having a large number of nozzles for ejecting ink… forming an image composed of many dots on a printing medium...")
a carriage on which the print head is mounted (Paragraph 0011, "...the printing apparatus includes a print head having the nozzle row and a carriage configured to be movable in the second direction with the print head attached") and which is configured to reciprocate along a predetermined main scanning direction (Paragraph 0002, "A printing head having a large number of nozzles for ejecting ink is moved in the main scanning direction...")
a control section that controls ejection of liquid by the print head (Paragraph 0027, "In response to a control signal from the control unit 300, the printing unit 231 ejects ink droplets onto the printing medium P to print an image")
the control section prints a test pattern on the medium by main scanning, which is an ejection operation of liquid by the print head in accordance with movement of the carriage along the main scanning direction, acquires an unevenness position (Paragraph 0019, "The inspection program 40 includes a density acquisition unit 41 and a correction value calculation unit 42. By executing the inspection program 40, the test pattern TP is printed by the printing apparatus 200 via the printer driver 30, and the density correction value 37 is acquired based on the printed test pattern TP"), which is a position in the main scanning direction where density unevenness in an intersecting direction, which intersects the main scanning direction (Paragraph 0066, "In the above embodiment, the density correction processing can suppress the unevenness of the dot density in the raster line due to the application of the mask MS, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The same effect can be obtained for the unevenness of the dot density along the main scanning direction D1..."), occurs in a print result of the test pattern, and corrects an ejecting amount of liquid for the unevenness position by the print head in accordance with the density unevenness (Paragraph 0043, "The density correction module 33 executes density correction processing (step S110)... The correction of the density is performed by adjusting the discharge amount of ink from the nozzle").
Regarding claim 7
A printing method (Paragraph 0001, "The present invention relates to control of a printing apparatus") for performing printing by controlling a print head including a plurality of nozzles configured to eject liquid onto a medium (Paragraph 0002, " A printing head having a large number of nozzles for ejecting ink… forming an image composed of many dots on a printing medium..."),
a test pattern printing step of printing a test pattern on the medium by main scanning which is an ejection operation of liquid by the print head in accordance with movement of the print head along a predetermined main scanning direction (Paragraph 0019, "The inspection program 40 includes a density acquisition unit 41 and a correction value calculation unit 42. By executing the inspection program 40, the test pattern TP is printed by the printing apparatus 200 via the printer driver 30...");
an unevenness position acquiring step of acquiring an unevenness position which is a position in the main scanning direction where density unevenness facing an intersecting direction intersecting the main scanning direction (Description, Paragraph 0066, "In the above embodiment, the density correction processing can suppress the unevenness of the dot density in the raster line due to the application of the mask MS, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The same effect can be obtained for the unevenness of the dot density along the main scanning direction D1...") occurs in a print result of the test pattern (Paragraph 0019, "...the density correction value 37 is acquired based on the printed test pattern TP")
a correcting step of correcting an ejecting amount of liquid for the unevenness position by the print head in accordance with the density unevenness (Paragraph 0043, "The density correction module 33 executes density correction processing (step S110)... The correction of the density is performed by adjusting the discharge amount of ink from the nozzle").
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 through 6 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMI ALSHOROOGI whose telephone number is (571)272-8946. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8am-5pm.
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/RAMI A ALSHOROOGI//R.A.A./Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/DOUGLAS X RODRIGUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853