CTNF 18/680,416 CTNF 82508 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority 02-26 AIA 2. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 3. 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 4. 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15 AIA 5. Claim s 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1)/(a)(2 ) as being anticipated by KAMIJIMA et al. U.S. Patent Application No. (US 2018/0268493) (hereinafter KAMIJIMA) . Regarding claim 1, KAMIJIMA discloses an image formation apparatus ( Printer 20 , Figures 1-2) subjected to being set as a target of a service in which use of an apparatus main body of the image formation apparatus and a consumable product to be used for printing is made available to a user for a specific sum of money the consumable product to include up to a predetermined number of printed sheets, (i.e., acquiring information on the amount of a consumable consumed for printing and a carried-forward amount calculation, which calculates the carried-forward amount of a consumable on the basis of the consumed amount and the base amount of a consumable for printing on the basis of the carried-forward amount ; paragraph 42, Figures 1-2), and the image formation apparatus comprising: at least one memory ( Storage unit 23 , Figure 1) that stores instructions; and at least one processor that executes the instructions to perform operations ( Control unit 21 acquires the most-recent-update consumable information written in the storage unit 23, generates printer information containing the acquired consumable information ; paragraph 43, Figure 1) comprising: processing for providing the service is executed in the image formation apparatus based on contract information of the service which is received from a management server configured to manage the service in accordance with conclusion of a contract of the service which is made after the image formation apparatus is purchased by the user ( Control unit 21 reads, out of the storage unit 23, the carried-forward amount of a consumable that was calculated through the execution of carried-forward amount calculation for contract printing ; paragraphs 73-75). Regarding claim 2, KAMIJIMA discloses the image formation apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the processing for providing the service is processing of recording, in the image formation apparatus, the contract information that is received, and the contract information recorded in the image formation apparatus is displayed on a display unit of the image formation apparatus (UI screen 50 shows a plurality of display items such as, for example, “Number of sheets printed this month”, “Contracted number of print sheets”; paragraphs 72-74, Figure 6 ). Regarding claim 3, KAMIJIMA discloses the image formation apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the processing for providing the service is processing of controlling the image formation apparatus in a manner that the management server configured to manage the service is notified of a number of printed sheets or a remaining amount of a recording material (Content of the agreement is transmitted from the server 30 to the printer 20 to notify the printer 20 of a change in the content of the agreement, for example, a change in the base amount of a consumable. For example, if it is agreed to change the base amount of a consumable regarding the printer 20 of a user as a result of negotiation; paragraphs 76-77, 80-81 ). Regarding claim 4, KAMIJIMA discloses the image formation apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the processing for providing the service is processing of controlling the image formation apparatus in a manner that use of the image formation apparatus is restricted when the image formation apparatus is not communicable with the management server configured to manage the service (A charge calculation apparatus (system) may restrictively apply the carried-forward amount of a consumable, only to charge calculation for the next calculation target period that follows the carryover-occurring calculation target period; paragraph 82). Regarding claim 5, KAMIJIMA discloses the image formation apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein when it is determined based on an operation state of the image formation apparatus that provision of the service is available in the image formation apparatus, information indicating that the provision of the service is available is displayed on a display unit of the image formation apparatus (The control unit 21 causes the display unit 24 to display, as “Number of print sheets left available this month”, a value calculated by adding “Number of print sheets carried forward from the last month” to “Contracted number of print sheets”; paragraph 74, Figure 6 ). Regarding claim 6, KAMIJIMA discloses the image formation apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein information related to an acquisition price of the image formation apparatus which is calculated based on an operation state of the image formation apparatus is displayed on a display unit of the image formation apparatus (“Number of print sheets” corresponds to an amount, of a consumable, wherein this amount is calculated on the basis of the amount of a consumable consumed for printing ; paragraphs 74-75, Figure 6 ). Claims 7 and 8 are directed to a method and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, and recite identical features as claim 1. Thus, claims 7 and 8 are rejected for the same reasons discussed in claim 1 above . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 6. 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. 07-20-aia AIA 7. 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. 07-21-aia AIA 8. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KAMIJIMA in view of MINAMIYAMA U.S. Patent Application No. (US 2021/0303238) (hereinafter MINAMIYAMA) . Regarding claim 9, KAMIJIMA discloses an image formation apparatus ( Printer 20 , Figure 1) subjected to being set as a target of a service ( Acquiring information on the amount of a consumable consumed for printing and a carried-forward amount calculation, which calculates the carried-forward amount of a consumable on the basis of the consumed amount and the base amount of a consumable for printing on the basis of the carried-forward amount ; paragraph 42, Figures 1-2), the image formation apparatus comprising: at least one memory ( Storage unit 23 , Figure 1) that stores instructions; and at least one processor that executes the instructions to perform operations ( Control unit 21 acquires the most-recent-update consumable information written in the storage unit 23, generates printer information containing the acquired consumable information ; paragraph 43, Figure 1) comprising: in accordance with conclusion of a contract of the service which is made after the image formation apparatus is purchased by a user ( Control unit 21 reads, out of the storage unit 23, the carried-forward amount of a consumable that was calculated through the execution of carried-forward amount calculation corresponding to the printing target ; paragraph 73), contract information of the service is received from a management server configured to manage the service ( Content of the agreement is transmitted from the server 30 to the printer 20 to notify the printer 20 of a change in the content of the agreement, for example, a change in the base amount of a consumable to change the base amount of a consumable regarding the printer 20 ; paragraphs 76-77, 80-81 ). KAMIJIMA does not explicitly discloses when a predetermined failure is detected in the image formation apparatus in which an apparatus main body is replaced when the image formation apparatus malfunctions, information of the predetermined failure is sent to the management server. However, MINAMIYAMA working in the same field teaches when a predetermined failure is detected in the image formation apparatus in which an apparatus main body is replaced when the image formation apparatus malfunctions (a case in which an error notification indicating that the sending of the start request to the server 200 has failed; paragraph 70 ), information of the predetermined failure is sent to the management server (in a case where the server 200 has not started the flat-rate service after the URL 50 and the query string 52 were outputted, the server 200 can start the flat-rate service; paragraph 71 ). Such an arrangement provides user convenience. Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of Applicant’s invention to have combined the system of KAMIJIMA as taught by MINAMIYAMA, since doing so would have predictably and advantageously provided user convenience . Information Disclosure Statement 9. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/31/2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner as indicated below. 10. Applicant has provided an explanation of relevance of cited document(s) JP2017-54155 in para. 0007 (or on pg. 2) of the original specification and also provided a copy of English abstract. Cited Art 07-96 AIA 11. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yamada (US 2004/0250203) discloses the operation terminal inputs sales data (contents of the agreement with the client such as slip classification, an edition code, a manuscript label, a format number code, the number of times of agreement, the number of issues according to agreement (normal), the number of issues according to agreement (service), an advertisement fee, a consumption tax, a publication period (agreement), mail classification, payment classification, agreement date, payment date, a bill issuing post, a section to which a person in charge belongs, the person in charge) to the sales new registration page. If executing a registration instruction, the operation terminal transmits a sales new data registration request with the page having the above-mentioned contents to the Web application server. The Web application server receives the sales new data registration request from the operation terminal, fetches data with the above-mentioned sales (agreement) contents, conducts consistency checks including the automatic calculation of the advertisement fee to a sales table, the automatic calculation of the number of issues according to agreement and a check whether the same sales exist, numbers the sales slip from a sales slip numbering table, registers the sales data in a sales table, and transmits the automatically numbered sales slip number and the registered sales data to the operation terminal. 12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLEN H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1229. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7 am-4 pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. 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. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ALLEN H NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683 Application/Control Number: 18/680,416 Page 2 Art Unit: 2683 Application/Control Number: 18/680,416 Page 3 Art Unit: 2683 Application/Control Number: 18/680,416 Page 4 Art Unit: 2683 Application/Control Number: 18/680,416 Page 5 Art Unit: 2683 Application/Control Number: 18/680,416 Page 6 Art Unit: 2683 Application/Control Number: 18/680,416 Page 7 Art Unit: 2683 Application/Control Number: 18/680,416 Page 8 Art Unit: 2683 Application/Control Number: 18/680,416 Page 9 Art Unit: 2683 Application/Control Number: 18/680,416 Page 10 Art Unit: 2683
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