Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 30, 2026
Application No. 18/672,725

NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM, CONTROL METHOD, AND MOBILE TERMINAL

Final Rejection §103
Filed
May 23, 2024
Priority
May 19, 2017 — JP 2017-100156 +2 more
Examiner
AJAYI, JOEL
Art Unit
2646
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Canon Inc.
OA Round
2 (Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
6m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
502 granted / 650 resolved
+15.2% vs TC avg
Strong +47% interview lift
Without
With
+46.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
42 currently pending
Career history
680
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.3%
-36.7% vs TC avg
§103
54.5%
+14.5% vs TC avg
§102
38.7%
-1.3% vs TC avg
§112
2.0%
-38.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 650 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
CTNF 18/672,725 CTNF 82210 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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 of this title, 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakayama et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2011/0216361) in view of Kawaguchi (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2017/0339735) . Consider claim 1 ; Nakayama discloses a method that is performed by executing an application of an information processing apparatus, the method comprising: causing the information processing apparatus to perform a search for a printing apparatus [“Upon accepting the selection of the search execute button 310, the settings acceptance unit 120 requests the printer search unit 130 to execute a search process for printers that can be used by the host computer 1.” (par. 45, lines 1-4)]; causing the information processing apparatus to display identification information of at least one printing apparatus found by the search [“…the settings acceptance unit 120 obtains the search results from the printer search unit 130 and displays those results in the search result display region 320.” (par. 46, lines 2-5)]; causing the information processing apparatus to transmit print data to a printing apparatus of which identification information is selected from among the identification information of the at least one printing apparatus found by the search [“…the settings acceptance unit 120 specifies a printer corresponding to the entry selected in the search result display region 320 as the printer that is to execute printing (that is, the port through which print data is outputted). The print data generation unit 140 is then instructed to send the print data to the specified printer.” (par. 49, lines 2-7)]. Nakayama discloses the claimed invention except: causing the information processing apparatus to obtain a Service Set Identifier of an access point to which the information processing apparatus is connected; and causing the information processing apparatus to display guidance information for a wireless communication between the information processing apparatus and another printing apparatus which has not been found by the search, the guidance information including the obtained Service Set Identifier and information about operation to be performed by a user for the wireless communication using the Service Set Identifier. In an analogous art Kawaguchi discloses causing the information processing apparatus to obtain a Service Set Identifier of an access point to which the information processing apparatus is connected [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)]; and causing the information processing apparatus to display guidance information for a wireless communication between the information processing apparatus and another printing apparatus which has not been found by the search [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)], the guidance information including the obtained Service Set Identifier [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)] and information about operation to be performed by a user for the wireless communication using the Service Set Identifier [“When the MFP 100 is set with the direct connection mode, the SSID of the MFP is displayed on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420…” (par. 62, lines 1-3) “When the terminal apparatus 200 is directly connected to the MFP 100, a check mark indicating the direct connection is displayed at the left side of the connected apparatus… (par. 62, lines 9-12) “When the user selects to-be-printed data…from the print data selection screen 440…a preview screen 450…is displayed. When the user taps a print button 451 on the preview screen 450… the print job of the selected data is transmitted to the MFP 100.” (par. 63, lines 8-14)]. It is an object of Nakayama’s invention to provide a method of searching out printing apparatuses. It is an object of Kawaguchi’s invention to provide a method of connecting printing apparatuses. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Nakayama by including a SSID, as taught by Kawaguchi, for the purpose of efficiently providing services in a telecommunications network. Consider claim 2, as applied in claim 1 ; Nakayama discloses the search is performed in accordance with selection of a search object [“Upon accepting the selection of the search execute button 310, the settings acceptance unit 120 requests the printer search unit 130 to execute a search process for printers that can be used by the host computer 1.” (par. 45, lines 1-4)]. Consider claim 3, as applied in claim 1 ; Nakayama discloses causing a user to select [“The settings acceptance unit 120 accepts, through user operations, the selection of one of the entries in the printer list displayed in the search result display region 320 as described above. The selection of an entry can be carried out by moving a cursor…” (par. 48, lines 1-5)], from among the identification information of the at least one printing apparatus found by the search [“The settings acceptance unit 120 accepts, through user operations, the selection of one of the entries in the printer list displayed in the search result display region 320 as described above. The selection of an entry can be carried out by moving a cursor…” (par. 48, lines 1-5)], identification information of a printing apparatus as a destination to which the print data is transmitted [“…the settings acceptance unit 120 specifies a printer corresponding to the entry selected in the search result display region 320 as the printer that is to execute printing (that is, the port through which print data is outputted). The print data generation unit 140 is then instructed to send the print data to the specified printer.” (par. 49, lines 2-7)]. Consider claim 4, as applied in claim 1 ; Nakayama discloses the information about the operation is information about a wireless setting of the printing apparatus [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7) “When the MFP 100 is set with the direct connection mode, the SSID of the MFP is displayed on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420…” (par. 62, lines 1-3)]. Consider claim 5, as applied in claim 1 ; Nakayama discloses causing, in case where no printing apparatus is found by the search, the information processing apparatus to display information indicating that no printing apparatus is found and an object for causing the information processing apparatus to display the Service Set Identifier [“…the settings acceptance unit 120 obtains the search results from the printer search unit 130 and displays those results in the search result display region 320.” (par. 46, lines 2-5)]. Consider claim 6, as applied in claim 1 ; Nakayama discloses an object for causing the information processing apparatus to display manual information about a wireless setting of the printing apparatus is displayed [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)]. Consider claim 7, as applied in claim 1 ; Nakayama discloses causing the information processing apparatus to display an error in a case where an operation for causing the information processing apparatus to display the Service Set Identifier is received and the information processing apparatus connects to no access point [“…the information processing apparatus such as the MFP 100 can be used as the group owner…” (par. 30, lines 5-7) “…the group owner can be … any apparatus not connected to the network N or unconnectable to the network N…” (par. 30, lines 9-12) “When the user selects a connection apparatus switching setting unit 232 of the application control unit 230 calls the network switching unit 242 of the OS unit 240. Then, the network switching unit 242 displays a Wi-Fi setting screen 420…by using the UI unit 231.” (par. 59, lines 10-15) “…”pre-connect=OFF” means that the MFP 100 is a stand-alone apparatus, which means the MFP 100 is not connected to the network.” (par. 100, lines 6-8)]. Consider claim 8, as applied in claim 1 ; Nakayama discloses the Service Set Identifier is obtained from an operating system of the information processing apparatus [“When the user selects a connection apparatus switching setting unit 232 of the application control unit 230 calls the network switching unit 242 of the OS unit 240. Then, the network switching unit 242 displays a Wi-Fi setting screen 420…by using the UI unit 231.” (par. 59, lines 10-15) “When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)]. Consider claim 9 ; Nakayama discloses a non-transitory computer readable storage medium for storing an application that, when executed, causes an information processing apparatus [“… The printer driver program may also be read from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM by the media reading device 16 or read from a storage medium such as a flash ROM or the like by the USB interface 15, an installed in the host computer 1 or updated.” (par. 31 lines 4-8)] to: perform a search for a printing apparatus [“Upon accepting the selection of the search execute button 310, the settings acceptance unit 120 requests the printer search unit 130 to execute a search process for printers that can be used by the host computer 1.” (par. 45, lines 1-4)]; display identification information of at least one printing apparatus found by the search [“…the settings acceptance unit 120 obtains the search results from the printer search unit 130 and displays those results in the search result display region 320.” (par. 46, lines 2-5)]; transmit print data to a printing apparatus of which identification information is selected from among the identification information of the at least one printing apparatus found by the search [“…the settings acceptance unit 120 specifies a printer corresponding to the entry selected in the search result display region 320 as the printer that is to execute printing (that is, the port through which print data is outputted). The print data generation unit 140 is then instructed to send the print data to the specified printer.” (par. 49, lines 2-7)]. Nakayama discloses the claimed invention except: obtain a Service Set Identifier of an access point to which the information processing apparatus is connected; and display guidance information for a wireless communication between the information processing apparatus and another printing apparatus which has not been found by the search, the guidance information including the obtained Service Set Identifier and information about operation to be performed by a user for the wireless communication using the Service Set Identifier. In an analogous art Kawaguchi discloses obtain a Service Set Identifier of an access point to which the information processing apparatus is connected [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)]; and display guidance information for a wireless communication between the information processing apparatus and another printing apparatus which has not been found by the search [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)], the guidance information including the obtained Service Set Identifier [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)] and information about operation to be performed by a user for the wireless communication using the Service Set Identifier [“When the MFP 100 is set with the direct connection mode, the SSID of the MFP is displayed on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420…” (par. 62, lines 1-3) “When the terminal apparatus 200 is directly connected to the MFP 100, a check mark indicating the direct connection is displayed at the left side of the connected apparatus… (par. 62, lines 9-12) “When the user selects to-be-printed data…from the print data selection screen 440…a preview screen 450…is displayed. When the user taps a print button 451 on the preview screen 450… the print job of the selected data is transmitted to the MFP 100.” (par. 63, lines 8-14)]. It is an object of Nakayama’s invention to provide a method of searching out printing apparatuses. It is an object of Kawaguchi’s invention to provide a method of connecting printing apparatuses. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Nakayama by including a SSID, as taught by Kawaguchi, for the purpose of efficiently providing services in a telecommunications network. Consider claim 10, as applied in claim 9 ; Nakayama discloses the search is performed in accordance with selection of a search object [“Upon accepting the selection of the search execute button 310, the settings acceptance unit 120 requests the printer search unit 130 to execute a search process for printers that can be used by the host computer 1.” (par. 45, lines 1-4)]. Consider claim 11, as applied in claim 9 ; Nakayama discloses causing a user to select [“The settings acceptance unit 120 accepts, through user operations, the selection of one of the entries in the printer list displayed in the search result display region 320 as described above. The selection of an entry can be carried out by moving a cursor…” (par. 48, lines 1-5)], from among the identification information of the at least one printing apparatus found by the search [“The settings acceptance unit 120 accepts, through user operations, the selection of one of the entries in the printer list displayed in the search result display region 320 as described above. The selection of an entry can be carried out by moving a cursor…” (par. 48, lines 1-5)], identification information of a printing apparatus as a destination to which the print data is transmitted [“…the settings acceptance unit 120 specifies a printer corresponding to the entry selected in the search result display region 320 as the printer that is to execute printing (that is, the port through which print data is outputted). The print data generation unit 140 is then instructed to send the print data to the specified printer.” (par. 49, lines 2-7)]. Consider claim 12, as applied in claim 9 ; Nakayama discloses the information about the operation is information about a wireless setting of the printing apparatus [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7) “When the MFP 100 is set with the direct connection mode, the SSID of the MFP is displayed on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420…” (par. 62, lines 1-3)]. Consider claim 13, as applied in claim 9 ; Nakayama discloses display, in case where no printing apparatus is found by the search, the information processing apparatus to display information indicating that no printing apparatus is found and an object for causing the information processing apparatus to display the Service Set Identifier [“…the settings acceptance unit 120 obtains the search results from the printer search unit 130 and displays those results in the search result display region 320.” (par. 46, lines 2-5)]. Consider claim 14, as applied in claim 9 ; Nakayama discloses an object for causing the information processing apparatus to display manual information about a wireless setting of the printing apparatus is displayed [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)]. Consider claim 15, as applied in claim 9 ; Nakayama discloses display an error in a case where an operation for causing the information processing apparatus to display the Service Set Identifier is received and the information processing apparatus connects to no access point [“…the information processing apparatus such as the MFP 100 can be used as the group owner…” (par. 30, lines 5-7) “…the group owner can be … any apparatus not connected to the network N or unconnectable to the network N…” (par. 30, lines 9-12) “When the user selects a connection apparatus switching setting unit 232 of the application control unit 230 calls the network switching unit 242 of the OS unit 240. Then, the network switching unit 242 displays a Wi-Fi setting screen 420…by using the UI unit 231.” (par. 59, lines 10-15) “…”pre-connect=OFF” means that the MFP 100 is a stand-alone apparatus, which means the MFP 100 is not connected to the network.” (par. 100, lines 6-8)]. Consider claim 16, as applied in claim 9 ; Nakayama discloses the Service Set Identifier is obtained from an operating system of the information processing apparatus [“When the user selects a connection apparatus switching setting unit 232 of the application control unit 230 calls the network switching unit 242 of the OS unit 240. Then, the network switching unit 242 displays a Wi-Fi setting screen 420…by using the UI unit 231.” (par. 59, lines 10-15) “When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)]. Consider claim 17 ; Nakayama discloses an information processing apparatus that has an application, comprising: a controller [“The printing system 3 includes a host computer 1 that functions as a printing control apparatus…” (par. 23, lines 1-2)] that perform a search for a printing apparatus [“Upon accepting the selection of the search execute button 310, the settings acceptance unit 120 requests the printer search unit 130 to execute a search process for printers that can be used by the host computer 1.” (par. 45, lines 1-4)]; a display [“a display device 17, such as an LCD or the like, that displays user interface (UI) windows and the like…” (par. 25, lines 12-14)], wherein the display identification information of at least one printing apparatus found by the search [“…the settings acceptance unit 120 obtains the search results from the printer search unit 130 and displays those results in the search result display region 320.” (par. 46, lines 2-5)], wherein the information processing apparatus to transmit print data to a printing apparatus of which identification information is selected from among the identification information of the at least one printing apparatus found by the search [“…the settings acceptance unit 120 specifies a printer corresponding to the entry selected in the search result display region 320 as the printer that is to execute printing (that is, the port through which print data is outputted). The print data generation unit 140 is then instructed to send the print data to the specified printer.” (par. 49, lines 2-7)]. Nakayama discloses the claimed invention except: wherein the information processing apparatus obtains a Service Set Identifier of an access point to which the information processing apparatus is connected; and wherein the information processing apparatus displays guidance information for a wireless communication between the information processing apparatus and another printing apparatus which has not been found by the search, the guidance information including the obtained Service Set Identifier and information about operation to be performed by a user for the wireless communication using the Service Set Identifier. In an analogous art Kawaguchi discloses the information processing apparatus obtains a Service Set Identifier of an access point to which the information processing apparatus is connected [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)]; and wherein the information processing apparatus displays guidance information for a wireless communication between the information processing apparatus and another printing apparatus which has not been found by the search [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)], the guidance information including the obtained Service Set Identifier [“When Wi-Fi is set “ON,” the network switching unit 242 searches a connectable network (e.g. access point) in the Wi-Fi setting screen 420, and displays a SSID of the connectable network (e.g. access point) on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420.” (par. 61, lines 3-7)] and information about operation to be performed by a user for the wireless communication using the Service Set Identifier [“When the MFP 100 is set with the direct connection mode, the SSID of the MFP is displayed on the Wi-Fi setting screen 420…” (par. 62, lines 1-3) “When the terminal apparatus 200 is directly connected to the MFP 100, a check mark indicating the direct connection is displayed at the left side of the connected apparatus… (par. 62, lines 9-12) “When the user selects to-be-printed data…from the print data selection screen 440…a preview screen 450…is displayed. When the user taps a print button 451 on the preview screen 450… the print job of the selected data is transmitted to the MFP 100.” (par. 63, lines 8-14)]. It is an object of Nakayama’s invention to provide a method of searching out printing apparatuses. It is an object of Kawaguchi’s invention to provide a method of connecting printing apparatuses. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Nakayama by including a SSID, as taught by Kawaguchi, for the purpose of efficiently providing services in a telecommunications network. Yokoyama is another reference that discloses the inventive concept. Conclusion Any response to this Office Action should be faxed to (571) 273-8300 or mailed to : Commissioner for Patents P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 Hand-delivered responses should be brought to Customer Service Window Randolph Building 401 Dulany Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Joel Ajayi whose telephone number is (571) 270-1091. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7:30am to 5:00pm. If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Jeanette Parker can be reached on (571) 270-3647. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free) or 703-305-3028. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist/customer service whose telephone number is (571) 272-2600. /JOEL AJAYI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646 Application/Control Number: 18/672,725 Page 2 Art Unit: 2646 Application/Control Number: 18/672,725 Page 3 Art Unit: 2646
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 23, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 08, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
May 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Aug 12, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 26, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
77%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+46.6%)
2y 10m (~6m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 650 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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