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 .
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) 1-3, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Murugan et al. (US 10,990,333).
Regarding claims 1, 13, and 14, Murugan discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program(col 16 lines 50-62) for causing a processor to execute a method of controlling an information processing apparatus, a method of controlling an information processing apparatus, and an information processing apparatus comprising: one or more controllers including one or more processors (col 15 lines 59-67, computing device 102) and one or more memories (memory 306), the one or more controllers configured to:
update device capability information stored in advance in an operating system with capability information obtained from a printer (see col 5 lines 12-52 and col 7 line 53-col 8 line 20, print driver 104 receives updated alternative media size information from printer 110);
allow setting of print setting information based on the updated device capability information (see Fig. 5A and col 7 line 53-col 8 line 36, a user can select a primary media size and an alternative media size based on the received updated capability information);
obtain intermediate data generated by the operating system based on the print setting information (see col 5 lines 12-31, col 6 lines 26-30, and col 12 line 55-col 13 line 7, a print job ticket is created with all the parameters set by the user via the print driver 104); and
generate print data based on the intermediate data, wherein in the update, the one or more controllers add an output paper size capability based on a paper size capability in the capability information obtained from the printer to the device capability information and, regarding the paper size capability, update the device capability information using predetermined information including a paper size not included in the capability information obtained from the printer (see col 5 line 12-col 6 line 15, after updating the alternative media size information, print data is generated based on the selected print parameters, paper size, set by a user via a UI of the print driver 104).
Regarding claim 2, Murugan further discloses wherein the one or more controllers are configured to: execute the update of the device capability information based on an event notification registered in the operating system of the information processing apparatus (see col 5 line 12-col 6 line 15 and col 7 line 53-col 8 line 65, after updating the alternative media size information, print data is generated based on the selected print parameters, paper size, set by a user via a UI of the print driver 104).
Regarding claim 3, Murugan further discloses wherein in the setting, the one or more controllers are configured to: display a print setting screen based on the updated device capability information and prompt a user to set the print setting information via the print setting screen (see Fig. 5A and col 7 line 53-col 8 line 36, a user can select a primary media size and an alternative media size based on the received updated capability information).
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.
Claims 4-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Murugan as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Saigusa (US 2021/0240415).
Regarding claim 4, Murugan does not disclose expressly wherein in the update, the one or more controllers further update the device capability information so as to include, as the output paper size capability, an option for performing printing using a paper size set for each page, in the setting, the one or more controllers allow the option to be selected as the output paper size in the print setting screen, and in the generation, the one or more controllers, in a case where a setting of the output paper size included in the intermediate data is the option, generate print data for which each page of the intermediate data is printed in a size of paper set for that page and, in a case where the setting of the output paper size included in the intermediate data is information indicating a paper size, generate print data for which each page of the intermediate data is printed in the size of paper set in the output paper size.
Saigusa discloses wherein in the update, the one or more controllers further update the device capability information so as to include, as the output paper size capability, an option for performing printing using a paper size set for each page, in the setting, the one or more controllers allow the option to be selected as the output paper size in the print setting screen, and in the generation, the one or more controllers, in a case where a setting of the output paper size included in the intermediate data is the option, generate print data for which each page of the intermediate data is printed in a size of paper set for that page and, in a case where the setting of the output paper size included in the intermediate data is information indicating a paper size, generate print data for which each page of the intermediate data is printed in the size of paper set in the output paper size (see paras 45, 70-71, and 74-75, mixed sheet printing can be performed).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the mixed sheet printing, as described by Saigusa, and which is well known in the art, with the system of Murugan.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to provide appropriate media based on the selected sheet information thereby increasing user friendliness and avoiding waste by decreasing the need for re-printing.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Saigusa with Murugan to obtain the invention as specified in claim 4.
Regarding claim 5, Saigusa further discloses wherein in the generation, the one or more controllers, in a case where the option is set as the output paper size and a setting of handling size-mixed printing in a single job is not made, divide the intermediate data at a page at which a paper size changes in a print order of pages, the paper size being set for each page included in the intermediate data, and generate print data based on the divided intermediate data (see paras 45, 70-71, and 74-75, mixed sheet printing can be performed).
Regarding claim 6, Saigusa further discloses wherein in the generation, the one or more controllers, in a case where the option is set as the output paper size and a setting of handling size-mixed printing in a single job is made, generate print data including a paper size set for each page of the intermediate data and a setting of performing the size-mixed printing (see paras 45, 70-71, and 74-75, mixed sheet printing can be performed).
Regarding claim 7, Saigusa further discloses wherein in the update, the one or more controllers, in a case where the capability information obtained from the printer does not include the setting of handling size-mixed printing in a single job, delete the setting of handling size-mixed printing in a single job included in the device capability information stored in the operating system (see paras 45, 70-71, and 74-75, mixed sheet printing can be performed).
Regarding claim 8, Saigusa further discloses wherein a setting according to the option includes a setting of matching the output paper size to a document size of a page (see paras 45, 70-71, and 74-75, mixed sheet printing can be performed).
Regarding claim 9, Murugan further discloses wherein in the generation, the one or more controllers, in a case where it is detected that the obtained intermediate data is intermediate data for generating print data for which output is performed in a paper size not supported by the printer, cancel printing or display a screen for accepting a change of the output paper size (see Fig. 5B and col 5 line 58-col 6 line 45, col 7 line 53-col 8 line 26, and col 9 lines 41-47, if printing cannot be performed with the selected primary media size a screen is displayed to a user to select an alternative media size).
Regarding claim 10, Murugan further discloses wherein in the generation, the one or more controllers, in a case where it is detected that the obtained intermediate data is intermediate data for generating print data for which output is performed in a paper size not supported by the printer, automatically change a size of paper to be outputted (see col 5 line 58-col 6 line 45, if printing cannot be performed with the selected primary media size the alternative media size is automatically used).
Regarding claim 11, Murugan further discloses wherein in the generation, the one or more controllers change the size of paper to be outputted to a paper size supported by the printer (see col 5 line 58-col 6 line 45, if printing cannot be performed with the selected primary media size the alternative media size is automatically used).
Regarding claim 12, Saigusa further discloses wherein in the generation, the one or more controllers, in a case where a setting of handling size-mixed printing in a single job is included, when a paper size set to a page included in the intermediate data matches a paper size of a previous page, generate print data in which pages are consecutive and, when the paper size set to the page included in the intermediate data is different from the paper size of the previous page, generate print data that starts with one page (see paras 45, 70-71, and 74-75, mixed sheet printing can be performed).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. To further show the state of the art please refer to the attached Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARK R MILIA whose telephone number is (571) 272-7408. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm.
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/MARK R MILIA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681