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) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by CANON FINETECH NISCA INC (JP 2019-181893 A; herein after “CANON”).
Regarding claim 9, CANON teaches an inkjet printing device of printing an image on a printing medium by a scanning system (Fig. 2), the inkjet printing device comprising:
a print head (101) having a nozzle row (402) constituted of an array of a plurality of nozzles;
a feeder (603, 605) configured to sequentially feed the printing medium n times by a predetermined distance in a secondary scanning direction, assuming that a direction of the nozzle row in the print head is the secondary scanning direction, and that a direction substantially perpendicular to the secondary scanning direction is a primary scanning direction;
a receiver (704) configured to receive a signal of one constituent part or a plurality of constituent parts of an image that are extracted from image data of the image; and a scan controlling unit configured to cause the print head to scan across a printing pass region in the primary scanning direction in accordance with the number of times of actual feeding of the printing medium that is fed by the feeder,
the scan controlling unit (705) causing the printing device to execute to print all of a constituent part of an image received by the receiver by discharging ink during scan, when the constituent part of the image is present in a printing pass region (1201, 1202,1203) that is scannable by the print head passing over the printing medium, and in a case where all of the constituent part of the image is present in the printing pass region (see Figs. 4b & Fig. 7).
As for claim 10, CANON further teaches wherein the scan controlling unit causes the printing device to execute not to discharge ink during scan to a constituent part of an image received by the receiver, when the constituent part of the image is present in a printing pass region that is scannable by the print head passing over the printing medium, and in a case where all of the constituent part of the image is not present in the printing pass region ([0028]; Figs. 7).
As for claim 11, CANON further teaches wherein the scan controlling unit causes the printing device to execute to print all of the constituent part of the image during at least single scan, in a case where all of the constituent part of the image is printable during a plurality of times of scan ([0029]).
As for claim 12, CANON further teaches wherein the scan controlling unit causes the printing device to execute to individually and randomly print all of a plurality of the constituent parts of the image during each round of scan, in a case where all of the plurality of constituent parts of the image are present in a printing pass region that is scannable, and in a case where all of the plurality of constituent parts of the image are also present in a printing pass region during subsequent scan ([0032]-[0034]).
As for claim 13, CANON further teaches wherein extraction processing of the constituent part of the image is performed inside or outside the printing device ([0029]).
As for claim 15, CANON further teaches wherein in a constituent part of an image received by the receiver, a maximum value and a minimum value of a length in the secondary scanning direction of the constituent part of the image are acquired, and a constituent part length in the secondary scanning direction of the constituent part of the image is derived from the maximum value and the minimum value, and is less than or equal to a nozzle row length in the secondary scanning direction of the nozzle row of the print head (Fig 4(b)).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CANON FINETECH NISCA INC (JP 2019-181893 A; herein after “CANON”) in view of BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA (JP 2021-53895 A; hereinafter “Brother”).
Regarding claim 14, Brother teach all the limitations to the claim invention as discussed above, however, fail to teach wherein extraction processing of the constituent part of the image is performed by at least one selected from the group consisting of a blob labeling method, an edge detection method, a threshold method, and a method of extracting a region specified in advance.
In the same field of endeavor, Brother teaches an inkjet printing method comprising extracting one constituent part or a plurality of constituent parts of an image is performed by edge detection method (see [0042]). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art at the time of the effective filing of the Applicant’s invention to modify the inkjet printing device as taught by CANON with further applying the edge detection method, as taught by Brother, for the benefit of suppressing deterioration thereby providing efficient printing.
Claim(s) 16 – 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CANON FINETECH NISCA INC (JP 2019-181893 A; herein after “CANON”) in view of Okajima et al. (US 2016/0288490 A1).
Regarding claims 16-17, CANON teaches all the limitation to the claim invention as discussed above, however, fail to teach wherein the ink includes curable ink, and the printing device comprises a curing unit configured to cure ink discharged after printing; including construction in which at least one of the printing medium and the print head is movable in a z-direction.
In the same field of endeavor, pertaining to printing, Okajima teaches wherein the ink includes curable ink, and the printing device comprises a curing unit configured to cure ink discharged after printing (see [0052] [0053] discloses “in the present embodiment, the ultraviolet-light irradiation units 20 are installed on both sides of the head unit 12 in the main scan direction. Further, in a main scan operation which is performed while the head unit moves in each of the outward direction and the homeward direction, an ultraviolet-light irradiation unit 20 positioned on the rear side from the head unit 12 in the movement direction of the head unit 12 radiates ultraviolet light onto ink on the medium 50.”, [0048] In the present embodiment, the printing device 10 is an inkjet printer which performs printing in an inkjet scheme, and includes a head unit 12, a main scan driver 14, a sub scan driver 16, a platen 18, ultraviolet-light irradiation units 20, and a controller 22. Also, the printing device 10 may have the same or similar configuration as or to that of a known inkjet printer, except for points to be described below. For example, the individual components described above may have the same or similar features as or to those of a known inkjet printer, except for points to be described below. Also, the printing device 10 may further include any other component which is the same as or similar to that of a known inkjet printer, besides the individual components described above.)). Okajima further teaches including construction in which at least one of the printing medium and the print head is movable in a z-direction (see col 4 lines 35 to col 5 lines 40; additionally see Fig. 3; move of he carriage 200 in a Z-axis direction (a height direction Z) and the X-axis direction (the main scanning direction X) is controlled based on drive signals from the CPU 33 (the unit control circuit 31) that functions as a move control unit).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing of the applicant’s invention to modify ink-jet printing device as taught by CANON with including UV-light irradiation unit and movable print head, as taught by Okaijma, for the benefit of efficiently printing desired material, thereby, providing desired patterns (see [0004]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US 2021/0300031 A1; US 9,254,692 B2; and US 8,356,882 B2.
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NAHIDA SULTANA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1743
/NAHIDA SULTANA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1743