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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) for failing to satisfy the written description requirement.
Regarding claims 1-3 and 8-14, Claims 1, 13, and 14, recite the limitation: the “sheet having first sheet information is a sheet for which adjustment of a first print control parameter is performable”. The term “first sheet information” is a generic term limited only by such information informing whether “adjustment of a first print control parameter is performable”.
Applicant has failed to disclose a “sufficient description of a representative number of species by actual reduction to practice, reduction to drawings, or by disclosure of relevant, identifying characteristics, i.e., structure or other physical and/or chemical properties, by functional characteristics coupled with a known or disclosed correlation between function and structure, or by a combination of such identifying characteristics, sufficient to show the inventor was in possession of the claimed genus”. MPEP 2163 (II)(A)(3)(a)(ii) (internal citations omitted). As such, Applicant has failed to show possession of the entire scope of the claimed genus.
Here, the unlimited “first control parameter” attempts to limit the “first sheet information”. Whereas Applicant has disclosed “sheet type” or “sheet size”, “sheet type” itself is a generic term, which includes scent, color, and whether the sheet has been previously used (hereinafter “the undisclosed”). Applicant only discloses a “media sensor 14 [that] detects surface property, a thickness, and the like of the conveyed sheet, and [from which] the CPU 10 determines a sheet type from a result of the detection,” Specification at ¶ 45. Applicant, however, claims any and all “first sheet information” as any and all information for determining sheets for which “adjustment of a first print control parameter is performable”. Applicant, however, has made no attempt to describe controlling a first print parameter based on the undisclosed. As such, Applicant has failed to show possession of the entire scope of the claimed genus.
Applicant is invited: to show with particularity where the Specification discloses controlling a first print parameter based on the undisclosed; or, to limit the scope of the claims to only that which was disclosed.
Regarding claims 5-7, Applicant attempts to limit the “first sheet information” to “sheet type”. However, as used in the Specification, and assuming arguendo, without conceding, that such use is a special definition, Applicant only discloses a “media sensor 14 [that] detects surface property, a thickness, and the like of the conveyed sheet, and [from which] the CPU 10 determines a sheet type from a result of the detection,” Specification at ¶ 45. The term “and the like” renders the construction open ended, and as such, fails to satisfy the written description requirement. Applicant has failed to show any possession of anything that could constitute “and the like”. Should Examiner not assume that such is a specific definition, “sheet type” includes the undisclosed above. As such, Applicant has failed to show possession of the entire scope of the claimed genus.
Applicant is invited: to show with particularity either where the Specification discloses controlling a first print parameter based on the undisclosed, or where Applicant discloses possession of “and the like”; or, to limit the scope of the claims to only that which was disclosed.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) for failing to satisfy the written description requirement.
Regarding claims 1-14, the claims recite the limitation: the “print control parameter” as both a “first print control parameter” and a “second print control parameter”. The term “print control parameter” is a generic term with no limitations whatsoever.
Applicant has failed to disclose a “sufficient description of a representative number of species by actual reduction to practice, reduction to drawings, or by disclosure of relevant, identifying characteristics, i.e., structure or other physical and/or chemical properties, by functional characteristics coupled with a known or disclosed correlation between function and structure, or by a combination of such identifying characteristics, sufficient to show the inventor was in possession of the claimed genus”. MPEP 2163 (II)(A)(3)(a)(ii) (internal citations omitted). As such, Applicant has failed to show possession of the entire scope of the claimed genus.
Here, Applicant has disclosed: “the CPU 10 can perform adjustment of print control parameters, such as an adjustment value for the secondary transfer voltage and an adjustment value for the image position, and stores their optimum adjustment values as print control parameters of the user-defined sheet,” Specification at ¶ 114. Applicant also discloses the “CPU 10 optimally controls an image forming speed and the target [fixing] temperature of the fixing unit 201E based on the detected sheet type”, Specification at ¶ 54, however, it is not clear whether these are “print control parameters”. Nonetheless, the term “print control parameter” includes: dark potential; cleaning bias; and sheet timing as opposed to mere speed (hereinafter “the undisclosed”). As such, Applicant has failed to show possession of the entire scope of the claimed genus.
Applicant is invited: to show with particularity where the Specification discloses the undisclosed as print control parameters; or, to limit the scope of the claims to only that which was disclosed.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) for failing to satisfy the enablement requirement.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) because the specification, while being enabling for a “sheet information” including a sheet type or a sheet size, and a “print control parameter” including a secondary transfer voltage or an image position, does not reasonably provide enablement for other combinations of “sheet information” including a scent, color, and whether the sheet has been previously used, or a “print control parameter” including dark potential; cleaning bias; and sheet timing as opposed to mere speed (hereinafter “the unenabled”). Note that although each of claims 4-7 attempt to limit the “sheet information”, and claim 9 attempts to limit the “print control parameter”, they do so individually without limiting the other, and thus permit combinations that are not enabled.
The specification does not enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make or use the invention commensurate in scope with these claims. The level of ordinary skill of one having ordinary skill in the art of electrophotography, to which the Specification pertains, at the time of effective filing is that of one having a Bachelor’s degree in engineering. The level of ordinary skill of one having ordinary skill in the art of the unenabled, to which the broad Claims pertain, is the same. Nonetheless, due to the broad claimed applicability, the state of the prior art is largely undeveloped for vast swaths of the Claims’ scope. The predictability thus cannot be said to have any degree of certainty. Applicant has provided no guidance to those having ordinary skill in the art of the unenabled at the time of effective filing for making or using the claimed invention. There are no working examples in the art of the unenabled. Applicant has left the entire onus of experimentation on those who wish to make or use the claimed invention in the art of the unenabled. Applicant did not enable the full scope of the claimed invention at the time of effective filing.
Applicant is invited: to show with particularity where the Specification enables sheet information as a sheet size and a print control parameter as a cleaning bias for claim 4, for example, and where the Specification enables sheet information as a scent and a print control parameter as a cleaning bias for claim 1, for example; or, to limit the scope of the claims to only that which was enabled.
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.
Claims 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 4-7 recite the limitation “sheet type”.
Examiner assumes arguendo, without conceding, that the Specification contains a special definition for the term “sheet type” contained in: a “media sensor 14 detects surface property, a thickness, and the like of the conveyed sheet, and the CPU 10 determines a sheet type from a result of the detection,” Specification at ¶ 45.
Because of the term “and the like”, the special definition is rendered indefinite. It is unclear what other properties are included in the term “and the like”. As such, there is no reasonable certainty as to the metes and bounds of the claims.
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)(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.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Kasuya et al., U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2021/0084192.
Regarding independent claim 1, an image forming apparatus, comprising:
one or more memories (all electrical wiring and storage devices shown in fig 1) that store a set of instructions (whether transitory through the wiring, or less than transitory through the storage devices);
one or more processors that execute the set of instructions to:
determine whether a sheet having first sheet information is a sheet for which adjustment of a first print control parameter (¶ 141, one of (A) to (V), which includes several kinds of image position, for example) is performable (either through paper detection sensors 311 and line sensors 312, ¶ 51, or through the table of registered sheet information informing fig 5);
perform, in a case where the sheet having the first sheet information is a sheet for which the adjustment of the first print control parameter is performable, control to print a first adjustment chart (the element in fig 7 corresponding to the one of (A) to (V), ¶ 138-141) and control to scan the printed first adjustment chart (¶ 146), and acquire an adjustment value for the first print control parameter based on a result of a scan (¶ 142-146); and
register, in a case where the adjustment value for the first print control parameter is acquired, second sheet information obtained by reflecting the adjustment value for the first print control parameter in the first sheet information (¶ 146, having determined all of (A) to (V), and ¶ 160, utilizing those values in subsequent prints).
Regarding claim 2, which depends from claim 1, wherein the first sheet information is sheet information selected from registered sheet information (at least the paper size, so that the image forming apparatus knows where to print the test images without dirtying the rest of the image forming apparatus).
Regarding claim 3, which depends from claim 1, wherein the first sheet information is sheet information acquired by detection of a sheet placed on a sheet feeding unit (through paper detection sensors 311 and line sensors 312).
Regarding claim 4, which depends from claim 1, wherein the first sheet information includes a sheet type or a sheet size (the sheet size follows from the paper detection sensor, and the “type” of the sheet is broad enough to include whether it responds to the paper detection sensor).
Regarding claim 5, which depends from claim 1, wherein the first sheet information includes a sheet type and a sheet size (the sheet size follows from the paper detection sensor, and the “type” of the sheet is broad enough to include whether it responds to the paper detection sensor).
Regarding claim 6, which depends from claim 1, wherein the one or more processors execute the set of instructions to
detect, as the first sheet information, a sheet type of a sheet on a conveyance path conveyed from a sheet feeding unit when the first adjustment chart is printed (¶ 114, the first adjustment chart can be read along the conveyance path at the reading device 160, which includes the paper detection sensors 311 and line sensors 312, ¶ 50, 146).
Regarding claim 7, which depends from claim 1, wherein the one or more processors execute the set of instructions to
detect, as the first sheet information, at least one of a sheet type or a sheet size of a sheet placed on a sheet feeding unit (along the conveyance path, when utilizing the reading device 160, which was once “placed on a sheet feeding unit”).
Regarding claim 8, which depends from claim 1, wherein the one or more processors execute the set of instructions to
determine whether the sheet having the first sheet information is a sheet for which adjustment of a second print control parameter (¶ 141, another one of (A) to (V)) is performable (either through paper detection sensors 311 and line sensors 312, ¶ 51, or through the table of registered sheet information informing fig 5);
perform, in a case where the sheet having the first sheet information is a sheet for which the adjustment of the second print control parameter is performable, control to print a second adjustment chart (the element in fig 7 corresponding to the another one of (A) to (V), ¶ 138-141) and control to scan the printed second adjustment chart (¶ 146), and acquire an adjustment value for the second print control parameter based on a result of a scan (¶ 142-146); and
register, in a case where the adjustment value for the second print control parameter is acquired, the second sheet information obtained by reflecting the adjustment value for the second print control parameter in the first sheet information (¶ 146, having determined all of (A) to (V), and ¶ 160, utilizing those values in subsequent prints).
Regarding claim 9, which depends from claim 1, wherein the first print control parameter is a secondary transfer voltage (¶ 77, providing a column for the optimal secondary transfer voltage, although not detailing description of its adjustment as with image position) or an image position (¶ 141, several kinds of image position are included in (A) to (V)).
Regarding claim 10, which depends from claim 1, wherein the one or more processors execute the set of instructions to control, in a case where the sheet having the first sheet information is a sheet for which the adjustment of the first print control parameter is not performable, not to print the first adjustment chart and not to scan the first adjustment chart (¶ 161, in the desire to not be wasteful, when “the print position deviation amount cannot be registered [or] should not be registered”).
Regarding claim 11, which depends from claim 1, wherein the one or more processors execute the set of instructions to:
perform printing on a sheet based on the first print control parameter after registration (¶ 160).
Regarding claim 12, which depends from claim 1, wherein the one or more processors execute the set of instructions to:
determine, when placement of a sheet on a sheet feeding unit is detected, whether the sheet having the first sheet information is a sheet for which the adjustment of the first print control parameter is performable (¶ 114, determining at a later time when the sheet is conveyed along the conveyance path past the reading device 160, which includes the paper detection sensors 311 and line sensors 312, ¶ 50, 146, where the placement of a sheet on a sheet feeding unit is detected by a sheet actually passing by the paper detection sensor after having been conveyed out of the sheet feeding unit; additionally and alternatively, the conveyance path in the region around the reading device is the sheet feeding unit that feeds sheets farther down the conveyance path).
Regarding independent claim 13, a method for controlling an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:
determining whether a sheet having first sheet information is a sheet for which adjustment of a first print control parameter is performable;
performing, in a case where the sheet having the first sheet information is a sheet for which the adjustment of the first print control parameter is performable, control to print a first adjustment chart and control to scan the printed first adjustment chart, and acquiring an adjustment value for the first print control parameter based on a result of a scan; and
registering, in a case where the adjustment value for the first print control parameter is acquired, second sheet information obtained by reflecting the adjustment value for the first print control parameter in the first sheet information.
The apparatus of claim 1, in its normal and usual operation, necessarily performs the method claimed. Claim 13 is thus anticipated. MPEP 2112.02 (I).
Regarding independent claim 14, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing an image forming apparatus to execute a method, the method comprising:
determining whether a sheet having first sheet information is a sheet for which adjustment of a first print control parameter is performable;
performing, in a case where the sheet having the first sheet information is a sheet for which the adjustment of the first print control parameter is performable, control to print a first adjustment chart and control to scan the printed first adjustment chart, and acquiring an adjustment value for the first print control parameter based on a result of a scan; and
registering, in a case where the adjustment value for the first print control parameter is acquired, second sheet information obtained by reflecting the adjustment value for the first print control parameter in the first sheet information.
The apparatus of claim 1, in its normal and usual operation, necessarily stores the instructions to perform the method claimed on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Claim 14 is thus anticipated. MPEP 2112.02 (I).
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references similarly teach utilizing prior known sheet settings to form patches that determine settings for new sheets: Kawamura et al., U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2022/0227150; An et al., U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2023/0418188; Omata, U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2020/0242426; Ichimi, U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2026/0036933; and, Mutsuno et al., U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2025/0102988. Ikeda, U.S.P.G. Pub. No. 2025/0110436, similarly applies such to secondary transfer voltages for a sheet.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEVAN A AYDIN whose telephone number is (571)270-3209. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9AM-6PM PT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Lindsay can be reached at (571) 272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SEVAN A AYDIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852