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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-12, 20 in the reply filed on 04/27/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Regarding claims 1, 20, the term “magnification level” in claims 1, 20 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “magnification level” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claims 2-12 are rejected because they depend on independent claims 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 1-12, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Narita (US 2024/0272850 A1) in view of Stevenson (US 2009/0147297 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Narita discloses a method for managing printing operations (e.g., provides a printer including a reception unit configured to receive a print job in which an execution time period for executing printing is designated, paragraph 7), the method comprising:
defining a time period to process a plurality of print jobs within a user interface at a printing device (e.g., FIG. 5 is a view showing a configuration example of a printing system including the terminal apparatuses 100 and the printer 200. As shown in FIG. 5, the printing system 500 includes the first, second, and third terminal apparatuses 100 and the printer 200, paragraph 44);
determining an estimated production time for each print job of the plurality of print jobs, wherein the production time is related to parameters for the respective print job used by a digital front end (DFE) for the printing device (e.g., the “designated time period 505” is a time having a width (an execution time period) and is expressed by selecting one of keywords, such as “evening”, “night”, “second shift”, and “third shift”, paragraph 46);
displaying the plurality of print jobs for the time period within the user interface,
wherein the magnification level determines how the respective print job is displayed in the time period by the user interface (e.g., The printer 200 stores time period information 506 in a storage unit, such as the ROM 202 or the disk device 210. The “time period information 506” is information relating to a printable time period in which the printer 200 can perform printing and corresponds to the designated time period 505 set in the print job, paragraph 47);
processing the plurality of print jobs within the DFE of the printing device (e.g., The printer 200 can communicate with the terminal apparatus 100 via the communication unit 204. This enables the printer 200 to receive a print job (print document) from the terminal apparatus 100 (a reception step). As described above, in this embodiment, the communication unit 204 functions as a reception unit configured to receive a print job, paragraph 31);
moving a current job indicator within the user interface for the time period (e.g., The printer 200 is communicably connected to the terminal apparatuses 100. As a result, the print job 1 is transmitted from the first terminal apparatus 100 to the printer 200, the print job 2 is transmitted from the second terminal apparatus 100 to the printer 200, and the print job 3 is transmitted from the third terminal apparatus 100 to the printer 200, paragraph 45);
for a current print job of the plurality of print jobs, adjusting a visual display within the user interface for the current print job when the current job indicator reaches the current print job within the time period. 47, 49
Narita does not specifically disclose generating a magnification level for each print job of the plurality of print jobs, wherein the magnification level is related to the estimated production time for the respective print job.
Stevenson discloses generating a magnification level for each print job of the plurality of print jobs, wherein the magnification level is related to the estimated production time for the respective print job (e.g., The location of the slider 431 along the slide 432 indicates and determines the degree of magnification of the image content in the selected image container 302. In an embodiment, the range of magnification ranges from full negative cropping to a maximum magnification of 100 dots per inch (DPI), paragraph 56).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have modified Narita to include generating a magnification level for each print job of the plurality of print jobs, wherein the magnification level is related to the estimated production time for the respective print job as taught by Stevenson. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have modified Narita by the teaching of Stevenson to use for particular applications.
Regarding claim 2, Stevenson discloses further comprising wherein adjusting the visual display includes determining whether the magnification level is above a minimum height threshold for displaying within the user interface (e.g., The location of the slider 431 along the slide 432 indicates and determines the degree of magnification of the image content in the selected image container 302. In an embodiment, the range of magnification ranges from full negative cropping to a maximum magnification of 100 dots per inch (DPI), paragraph 56, figure 3).
Regarding claim 3, Stevenson discloses wherein adjusting the visual display further includes expanding the visual display for the current print job within the user interface if the magnification level is below the minimum height threshold (e.g., the product design template 301 displayed to the user is the result of the combination of various separately stored template component elements including the text containers 306, 308, 310, 312, the image container 302, and the layout describing the size and position of the containers. The initial product design template 301 is the starting point for the user's customized product design. The user can not only add the user's personalized text and additional images, but can also, as discussed below, modify the scaling, placement, sizing, magnification, and cropping of images in the product design template, paragraph 25).
Regarding claim 4, Stevenson discloses wherein adjusting the visual display further includes displaying the visual display for the current print job at a minimum size within the user interface (e.g., the product design template 301 displayed to the user is the result of the combination of various separately stored template component elements including the text containers 306, 308, 310, 312, the image container 302, and the layout describing the size and position of the containers. The initial product design template 301 is the starting point for the user's customized product design. The user can not only add the user's personalized text and additional images, but can also, as discussed below, modify the scaling, placement, sizing, magnification, and cropping of images in the product design template, paragraph 25).
Regarding claim 5, Narita discloses further comprising determining the estimated production time is below an aggregation threshold (e.g., the printer 200 finds the end times of the print job 2 and the print job 3 (other print jobs) after the print job 1 received first so as to fall within the time period before the reference time “18:00” or the time period after the reference time “18:00” while giving priority to the time period after the reference time. Next, the end times at which the remaining print job 4 and print job 5 end are determined so as to fall within the time period before the reference time “18:00” (which is below an aggregation threshold), paragraph 77).
Regarding claim 6, Narita discloses further comprising placing the visual display for the respective print job into a compact aggregated display having at least one other visual display for at least one other print job (e.g., The printer 200 is communicably connected to the terminal apparatuses 100. As a result, the print job 1 is transmitted from the first terminal apparatus 100 to the printer 200, the print job 2 is transmitted from the second terminal apparatus 100 to the printer 200, and the print job 3 is transmitted from the third terminal apparatus 100 to the printer 200, paragraph 45, figure 5).
Regarding claim 7, Narita discloses further comprising detecting a delay for an actual production time with the DFE of the printing device for the current print job (e.g., the execution of the print job 5 is ended at “17:45” that is later than the start of the execution by the required time “30 minutes”, paragraph 62).
Regarding claim 8, Narita discloses further comprising adjusting the visual display for the current print job within the user interface according to the actual production time (e.g., The print setting screen 300 shown in FIG. 3A is displayed on the display unit 106 of the terminal apparatus 100. The print setting screen 300 includes a setting display switching menu 301, a sheet size selection 302, a drop-down 303, a sheet type setting 304, a drop-down 305, a sheet feed unit setting 306, and a drop-down 307, paragraph 36).
Regarding claim 9, Narita discloses further comprising reordering the plurality of print jobs within the time period based on the actual production time (e.g., FIG. 3B is a view showing a modification of the print setting screen in the terminal apparatus. The print setting screen 300 shown in FIG. 3B includes a designated end time setting 310B. In the designated end time setting 310B, the end time at which the print job is ended in the printer 200 can be set or changed by selecting the drop-down 311, paragraph 41).
Regarding claim 10, Narita discloses further comprising determining the estimated production time for the respective print job is greater than a maximum job threshold (e.g., The print setting screen 300 shown in FIG. 3B includes a designated end time setting 310B. In the designated end time setting 310B, the end time at which the print job is ended in the printer 200 can be set or changed by selecting the drop-down 311 (which can be set more than threshold), paragraph 41).
Regarding claim 11, Narita discloses further comprising adjusting the visual display for the respective print job to include a break in the visual display (e.g., reference time and production time period, block 506, figure 5).
Regarding claim 12, Narita discloses wherein adjusting the visual display for the current print job when the break is reached within the time period by the current job indicator (e.g., reference time and time period production, block 506, figure 5).
Regarding claim 20, Narita discloses a printing device (e.g., FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a printer, paragraph 11) comprising;
a digital front end (DFE) to process a plurality of print jobs for printing operations; a user interface to display information generated by the DFE; a processor; and a memory connected to the processor, the memory storing instructions that, when executed on the processor, configure the printing device (e.g., As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 200 includes a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, a communication unit 204, an operation unit 205, a print unit 207, a sheet feed unit 208, a finishing unit 209, and a disk device 210, which are communicably connected to each other via a bus 211. The CPU 201 is a computer that executes a program stored in the ROM 203. Thus, the CPU 201 can read and write data according to an instruction of the program. The ROM 202 is a nonvolatile memory. The RAM 203 is a volatile memory, paragraph 29).
The remaining limitations of claim 20 are similar of limitation of claim 1. Therefore claim 20 is rejected as set forth above as claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANG N VO whose telephone number is (571)270-1121. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7AM-4PM, EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mohammad K Ghayour can be reached at 571-272-3021. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/QUANG N VO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
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