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 Species A in the reply filed on 01 June 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 2 and 4-6 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species B, there being no allowable generic or linking claim at this time.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(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.
Claims 1 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) / 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Murata (US 6750987 B1).
Referring to claim 1:
Murata discloses an image processing apparatus, comprising circuitry configured to:
set a setting value for each of a plurality of setting items regarding an input image generation process (col. 12, lines 20-38 / col. 16, line 46 to col. 17, line 3);
receive designation of one or more setting items on which determination is to be performed as to whether the setting value matches a characteristic of an input image obtained by imaging a medium from among the plurality of setting items (col. 12, lines 39-53 / col. 16, line 63 to col. 17, lines 4-18);
acquire the input image (col. 13, lines 1-8 / col. 17, lines 31-42);
perform determination of whether the setting value matches the characteristic of the input image for each of the designated one or more setting items; and
notify information regarding a result of the determination or control an apparatus that generated the input image to stop an image generation process when the result of the determination indicates that the setting value does not match the characteristic of the input image (col. 12, lines 54-64 / col. 17, lines 19-30).
Referring to claim 7:
Murata discloses an image processing system (Fig. 8 or Fig. 16) including an image reading apparatus (image scanner section 100 or image reader 120) and an information processing apparatus as set forth in claim 1 comprising circuitry configured to perform the operations as set forth in claim 1. Therefore, the same reasoning and rejection that applied to claim 1 above also applies mutatis mutandis to corresponding claim 7.
Referring to claim 8:
This claim is the method for performing the corresponding functions of the apparatus as set forth in claim 1. Therefore, same reasoning and rejection that applied to claim 1 above applies mutatis mutandis to corresponding claim 8.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Referring to this claim, the prior art searched and of record neither anticipates nor suggests the limitations added in the claimed combinations.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07 June 2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Applicant has not provided an explanation of relevance of cited document(s) summarized below.
Ko (JP 2012222764 A) discloses an apparatus (100) that has a reading unit that reads the image of an original document according to the original document size detected by a detection unit. An output unit outputs the image data of the original document read by image reading unit. An estimation unit estimates that the original document size detection unit is not detecting original document size correctly. A display unit (1a) displays the screen for an original document size, when original document detection state estimation unit estimates that original document size is not detected correctly. The image processing apparatus can perform a usable efficient image reading process by demanding an accurate size setting from a user.
Nakatsuji (JP 2005012700 A) discloses an alert unit in a multi-function device that alerts the user, when the image classification of the original document differs from user preset image classification. The alert prevents reading an original document image as a different classification from an actual image classification.
Cited Art
The prior art and other references made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hayashi et al (US 20240412483 A1), filed by the assignee, disclose an image processing apparatus that includes circuitry to set a profile including setting values of setting items regarding at least one of imaging processing or conveyance processing. The circuitry acquires an input image in which a medium is imaged. The circuitry identifies characteristic information pieces respectively relating to the setting items in the input image. The circuitry determines whether the profile matches a characteristic of the input image by comparing the characteristic information pieces in the input image with information based on the setting value of each setting items included in the profile. The circuitry notifies information regarding a determination result or stops an image generation process by an apparatus that generated the input image in a case where the determination result indicates that the profile does not match the characteristic of the input image.
Tsuda (US 20240414275 A1), filed by the assignee, discloses an image processing method includes setting first setting information regarding an input image generation process; acquiring an input image in which a medium is imaged according to the first setting information; determining, based on the input image, whether the first setting information matches a feature of the input image; identifying second setting information matching the feature of the input image based when determining that the first setting information does not match the feature of the input image; processing the input image according to the second setting information to generate a processed image when processing the input image according to the second setting information is feasible; and outputting display data for displaying the processed image on a display.
Yokogawa (US 20250078452 A1), filed by the assignee, discloses an image processing apparatus includes a memory that stores a profile including a setting value of each of a plurality of setting items relating to imaging processing or image processing and circuitry. The circuitry acquires a plurality of input images obtained by imaging media. The circuitry identifies a plurality of pieces of characteristic information respectively relating to the plurality of setting items in each of the plurality of input images. The circuitry calculates, for each of the setting items, a degree of matching of each of the plurality of pieces of characteristic information with respect to the setting value in the plurality of input images. The circuitry outputs information regarding one or more setting items having the degree of matching equal to or higher than a predetermined value or a predetermined number of setting items in descending order of the degree of matching, among the plurality of setting items.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Scott Rogers whose telephone number is 571-272-7467. The examiner can normally be reached 8 am to 7 pm flex.
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 on 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.
/Scott A Rogers/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
13 June 2026
Prosecution Insights