DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-7 are presented for examination.
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.
Claims 1, 2, and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tonegawa (U.S. 2006/0192990) and further in view of Judge et al. (U.S. 8,621,638).
Tonegawa was cited on the IDS filed 22 August 2024.
With respect to Claim 1, Tonegawa teaches a communication apparatus (Multi Function Peripheral 100 – see Tonegawa, Fig. 1, element 100; page 2, paragraph 37) comprising: a display that displays an operation screen (an operation unit 233 includes hard keys such as an LCD display panel, start key, and ten-key pad. The operation unit 233 may include, e.g., a circuit which displays a software button on the LCD, detects that the user has touched the button with his finger, and smoothly executes user operation – see Tonegawa, Fig. 2, element 233; page 3, paragraph 52) for transmitting (in step S907, the created email data is transmitted to the mail server 103 by using the SMTP protocol – see Tonegawa, Fig. 9, element S907; page 6, paragraph 103) an email (FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a transmission setting window displayed in transmitting image data by email. A destination column 703 is used to designate an email destination, details of which will be described later. A subject column 704 is used to input a subject for email. A text column 705 is used to input a mail text (mail body). When these setting columns are touched, a software keyboard is displayed to enable inputting a character string – see Tonegawa, Fig. 7; page 5, paragraphs 86 and 89) using a distribution service (a plurality of modes are prepared for image data transmission. For example, there are provided the E-mail transmission mode which assumes transmission using a general email address as a destination. In the E-mail transmission mode, image data of the JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) file format or PDF (Portable Document Format) is created, attached to email, and transmitted. For example, when email with a color image is transmitted to a client PC having syain1@xyz.co.jp, the general-purpose email software of the PC 104 can receive the email and display the JPEG image in a general-purpose image viewer. Note that the present invention is not limited to JPEG and PDF, and may use another format – see Tonegawa, page 3, paragraphs 47-48); and one or more controllers that control transmission of an email on a basis of an input content input via the operation screen (in step S900, the CPU 230 detects that a transmission start button is operated in the operation unit 233 – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 96), wherein in a case where an email address for logging into the distribution service (the email address of a user which has been acquired from the authentication server 102 and sets the read email address in the Sender field. For example, when the user logs in by syain1, syain1@xyz.co.jp which is an email address corresponding to syain1 is set in the Sender field. In this manner, setting of the Sender field is completed – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 99).
Tonegawa does not explicitly teach an email address of a sender of the email are different, before the email is transmitted, the one or more controllers display on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email and an operation option for checking arrival of the email.
However, Judge teaches an email address of a sender of the email (the mail server can rewrite the from address as <first-party><token>@example.com vs. <first-party>@example.com – see Judge, col. 7, lines 46-56) are different (<first-party><token>@example.com vs. <first-party>@example.com – see Judge, col. 7, lines 46-56), before the email is transmitted, the one or more controllers display on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email (if the message was spoofed, the bounced message will not include the BATV token, and the mail server an notify an administrator – see Judge, col. 7, lines 38-41) and an operation option for checking arrival of the email.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tonegawa in view of Judge in order to enable an email address of a sender of the email are different, before the email is transmitted, the one or more controllers display on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email and an operation option for checking arrival of the email. One would be motivated to do so in order to enable classifying messaging entities and filtering communications with respect to a spam classification process (Judge, col. 1, lines 16-17 and 28).
With respect to claim 2, the combination of Tonegawa and Judge teaches the invention described in claim 1, including the communication apparatus wherein the one or more controllers execute handling processing on a basis of the operation option selected by a user (either of the E-mail transmission mode for transmission on the assumption that the destination is a general email address, and the IFAX transmission mode assuming transmission to an apparatus of the same type copying with the IFAX function can be designated as the transmission mode 801. In the E-mail transmission mode, either of the JPEG and PDF formats can be selected as an attached-file format. In the IFAX transmission mode, email can be transmitted in only the TIFF format. The E-mail transmission mode may be regarded as a mode for transmission to an apparatus of a different type which does not cope with the IFAX function, unlike the MFPs 100 and 101 – see Tonegawa, page 5, paragraph 93).
The combination of references is made under the same rationale as claim 1 above.
With respect to claim 5, the combination of Tonegawa and Judge teaches the invention described in claim 1, including the communication apparatus further comprising an authenticator (the authenticator 102 – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 99) that authenticates a user to log into (CPU 230 reads out the email address of a user which has been acquired from the authentication server 102 – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 99) the communication apparatus (CPU 230 of Multi Function Peripheral 100 – see Tonegawa, Fig. 2, elements 100 and 230; page 3, paragraph 51), wherein the email address of the sender is an email address of an authenticated user authenticated by the authenticator (the email address of a user which has been acquired from the authentication server 102 and sets the read email address in the Sender field. For example, when the user logs in by syain1, syain1@xyz.co.jp which is an email address corresponding to syain1 is set in the Sender field. In this manner, setting of the Sender field is completed – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 99).
The combination of references is made under the same rationale as claim 1 above.
With respect to claim 6, Tonegawa teaches a communication apparatus (Multi Function Peripheral 100 – see Tonegawa, Fig. 1, element 100; page 2, paragraph 37) comprising: one or more controllers that control transmission of an email (in step S900, the CPU 230 detects that a transmission start button is operated in the operation unit 233 – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 96) in either a first mode (a plurality of modes are prepared for image data transmission. For example, there are provided the E-mail transmission mode which assumes transmission using a general email address as a destination – see Tonegawa, page 3, paragraph 47) or a second mode (and the IFAX transmission mode which assumes transmission to an apparatus complying with the IFAX standard – see Tonegawa, page 3, paragraph 47) selected by a user (in step S900, the CPU 230 detects that a transmission start button is operated in the operation unit 233 – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 96) when transmitting the email (either of the E-mail transmission mode for transmission on the assumption that the destination is a general email address, and the IFAX transmission mode assuming transmission to an apparatus of the same type copying with the IFAX function can be designated as the transmission mode 801 – see Tonegawa, page 5, paragraph 93), the first mode being a mode in which an email is transmitted with an email address for logging into a distribution service being a display address (the email address of a user which has been acquired from the authentication server 102 and sets the read email address in the Sender field. For example, when the user logs in by syain1, syain1@xyz.co.jp which is an email address corresponding to syain1 is set in the Sender field. In this manner, setting of the Sender field is completed – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 99) and the second mode being a mode in which (IFAX mode – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 106) an email (FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a transmission setting window displayed in transmitting image data by email. A destination column 703 is used to designate an email destination, details of which will be described later. A subject column 704 is used to input a subject for email. A text column 705 is used to input a mail text (mail body). When these setting columns are touched, a software keyboard is displayed to enable inputting a character string – see Tonegawa, Fig. 7; page 5, paragraphs 86 and 89) is transmitted with (when email with attached image data is exchanged between a plurality of image communication apparatuses having the IFAX function, the email address of the user who is the sender is described in the Sender field, and then email is transmitted. The recipient can easily specify the sender – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 112) an email address of a sender (the sender email address 103 – see Tonegawa, Fig. 10, element 1003; page 6, paragraph 109) input in an operation screen being a display address (an operation unit 233 includes hard keys such as an LCD display panel, start key, and ten-key pad. The operation unit 233 may include, e.g., a circuit which displays a software button on the LCD, detects that the user has touched the button with his finger, and smoothly executes user operation – see Tonegawa, Fig. 2, element 233; page 3, paragraph 52); and a transmitter that transmits the email on a basis of control by the one or more controllers (in step S900, the CPU 230 detects that a transmission start button is operated in the operation unit 233 – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 96), wherein in a case where the second mode has been selected by the user (the IFAX transmission mode is selected, the email address of the user who is the sender is described in the Sender field, and then email is transmitted – see Tonegawa, page 7, paragraph 114), the one or more controllers, in a case where an email address for logging into the distribution service (the email address of a user which has been acquired from the authentication server 102 and sets the read email address in the Sender field. For example, when the user logs in by syain1, syain1@xyz.co.jp which is an email address corresponding to syain1 is set in the Sender field. In this manner, setting of the Sender field is completed – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 99).
Tonegawa does not explicitly teach an email address of a sender of the email are different, before the email is transmitted, displays on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email and an operation option for checking arrival of the email.
However, Judge teaches an email address of a sender of the email (the mail server can rewrite the from address as <first-party><token>@example.com vs. <first-party>@example.com – see Judge, col. 7, lines 46-56) are different (<first-party><token>@example.com vs. <first-party>@example.com – see Judge, col. 7, lines 46-56), before the email is transmitted, displays on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email (if the message was spoofed, the bounced message will not include the BATV token, and the mail server an notify an administrator – see Judge, col. 7, lines 38-41) and an operation option for checking arrival of the email.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tonegawa in view of Judge in order to enable an email address of a sender of the email are different, before the email is transmitted, displays on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email and an operation option for checking arrival of the email. One would be motivated to do so in order to enable classifying messaging entities and filtering communications with respect to a spam classification process (Judge, col. 1, lines 16-17 and 28).
With respect to claim 7, Tonegawa teaches an email transmission control method comprising: displaying an operation screen (an operation unit 233 includes hard keys such as an LCD display panel, start key, and ten-key pad. The operation unit 233 may include, e.g., a circuit which displays a software button on the LCD, detects that the user has touched the button with his finger, and smoothly executes user operation – see Tonegawa, Fig. 2, element 233; page 3, paragraph 52) for transmitting (in step S907, the created email data is transmitted to the mail server 103 by using the SMTP protocol – see Tonegawa, Fig. 9, element S907; page 6, paragraph 103) an email (FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a transmission setting window displayed in transmitting image data by email. A destination column 703 is used to designate an email destination, details of which will be described later. A subject column 704 is used to input a subject for email. A text column 705 is used to input a mail text (mail body). When these setting columns are touched, a software keyboard is displayed to enable inputting a character string – see Tonegawa, Fig. 7; page 5, paragraphs 86 and 89) using a distribution service (a plurality of modes are prepared for image data transmission. For example, there are provided the E-mail transmission mode which assumes transmission using a general email address as a destination. In the E-mail transmission mode, image data of the JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) file format or PDF (Portable Document Format) is created, attached to email, and transmitted. For example, when email with a color image is transmitted to a client PC having syain1@xyz.co.jp, the general-purpose email software of the PC 104 can receive the email and display the JPEG image in a general-purpose image viewer. Note that the present invention is not limited to JPEG and PDF, and may use another format – see Tonegawa, page 3, paragraphs 47-48); and controlling transmission of an email on a basis of an input content input via the operation screen (in step S900, the CPU 230 detects that a transmission start button is operated in the operation unit 233 – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 96); and in a case where an email address for logging into the distribution service (the email address of a user which has been acquired from the authentication server 102 and sets the read email address in the Sender field. For example, when the user logs in by syain1, syain1@xyz.co.jp which is an email address corresponding to syain1 is set in the Sender field. In this manner, setting of the Sender field is completed – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 99).
Tonegawa does not explicitly teach an email address of a sender of the email are different, before the email is transmitted, displaying on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email and an operation option for checking arrival of the email
However, Judge teaches an email address of a sender of the email (the mail server can rewrite the from address as <first-party><token>@example.com vs. <first-party>@example.com – see Judge, col. 7, lines 46-56) are different (<first-party><token>@example.com vs. <first-party>@example.com – see Judge, col. 7, lines 46-56), before the email is transmitted, displaying on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email (if the message was spoofed, the bounced message will not include the BATV token, and the mail server an notify an administrator – see Judge, col. 7, lines 38-41) and an operation option for checking arrival of the email.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tonegawa in view of Judge in order to enable an email address of a sender of the email are different, before the email is transmitted, the one or more controllers display on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email and an operation option for checking arrival of the email. One would be motivated to do so in order to enable classifying messaging entities and filtering communications with respect to a spam classification process (Judge, col. 1, lines 16-17 and 28).
Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tonegawa in view of Judge and further in view of Kavacheri et al. (U.S. 6,557,036).
With respect to claim 3, Tonegawa teaches the invention described in claim 2, including a communication apparatus (Multi Function Peripheral 100 – see Tonegawa, Fig. 1, element 100; page 2, paragraph 37) comprising: a display that displays an operation screen (an operation unit 233 includes hard keys such as an LCD display panel, start key, and ten-key pad. The operation unit 233 may include, e.g., a circuit which displays a software button on the LCD, detects that the user has touched the button with his finger, and smoothly executes user operation – see Tonegawa, Fig. 2, element 233; page 3, paragraph 52) for transmitting (in step S907, the created email data is transmitted to the mail server 103 by using the SMTP protocol – see Tonegawa, Fig. 9, element S907; page 6, paragraph 103) an email (FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a transmission setting window displayed in transmitting image data by email. A destination column 703 is used to designate an email destination, details of which will be described later. A subject column 704 is used to input a subject for email. A text column 705 is used to input a mail text (mail body). When these setting columns are touched, a software keyboard is displayed to enable inputting a character string – see Tonegawa, Fig. 7; page 5, paragraphs 86 and 89) using a distribution service (a plurality of modes are prepared for image data transmission. For example, there are provided the E-mail transmission mode which assumes transmission using a general email address as a destination. In the E-mail transmission mode, image data of the JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) file format or PDF (Portable Document Format) is created, attached to email, and transmitted. For example, when email with a color image is transmitted to a client PC having syain1@xyz.co.jp, the general-purpose email software of the PC 104 can receive the email and display the JPEG image in a general-purpose image viewer. Note that the present invention is not limited to JPEG and PDF, and may use another format – see Tonegawa, page 3, paragraphs 47-48); and one or more controllers that control transmission of an email on a basis of an input content input via the operation screen (in step S900, the CPU 230 detects that a transmission start button is operated in the operation unit 233 – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 96), wherein in a case where an email address for logging into the distribution service (the email address of a user which has been acquired from the authentication server 102 and sets the read email address in the Sender field. For example, when the user logs in by syain1, syain1@xyz.co.jp which is an email address corresponding to syain1 is set in the Sender field. In this manner, setting of the Sender field is completed – see Tonegawa, page 6, paragraph 99).
Tonegawa does not explicitly teach an email address of a sender of the email, before the email is transmitted, the one or more controllers display on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email and an operation option for checking arrival of the email.
However, Judge teaches an email address of a sender of the email (the mail server can rewrite the from address as <first-party><token>@example.com vs. <first-party>@example.com – see Judge, col. 7, lines 46-56) are different (<first-party><token>@example.com vs. <first-party>@example.com – see Judge, col. 7, lines 46-56), before the email is transmitted, the one or more controllers display on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email (if the message was spoofed, the bounced message will not include the BATV token, and the mail server an notify an administrator – see Judge, col. 7, lines 38-41) and an operation option for checking arrival of the email.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Tonegawa in view of Judge in order to enable an email address of a sender of the email, before the email is transmitted, the one or more controllers display on the operation screen one or both of a warning of a possibility of non-delivery of the email and an operation option for checking arrival of the email. One would be motivated to do so in order to enable classifying messaging entities and filtering communications with respect to a spam classification process (Judge, col. 1, lines 16-17 and 28).
The combination of Tonegawa and Judge does not explicitly teach the communication apparatus wherein the handling processing includes test-transmission of the email to the sender, transmission of an email to the sender in addition to a recipient of the email, or notification to the recipient.
However, Kavacheri teaches the communication apparatus wherein the handling processing includes test-transmission of the email to the sender (the mail monitoring system 702 may be invoked by a local system administer who desires to identify a problem with the mail services provided by the mail server 714. In this way, the mail monitoring system can be configured to automatically check the status of an email system by measuring actual response values and comparing them with the corresponding threshold values. If a problem is detected, for example, when an actual response time is slower than the excepted threshold value, the comparator 708 can send a signal with appropriate information to the notifier 706. An error notification with the appropriate information can be displayed on a monitoring screen 722 that is connected to the notifier 706. In this way, a human operator can be expeditiously notified of an isolated problem with the mail services – see Kavacheri, col. 10, lines 1-15), transmission of an email to the sender in addition to a recipient of the email, or notification to the recipient.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Tonegawa and Judge in view of Kavacheri in order to enable the communication apparatus wherein the handling processing includes test-transmission of the email to the sender, transmission of an email to the sender in addition to a recipient of the email, or notification to the recipient. One would be motivated to do so in order to enable a method for monitoring electronic mail systems (Kavacheri, col. 1, lines 35-36).
With respect to claim 4, the Tonegawa, Judge, and Kavacheri teaches the invention described in claim 3, including the communication apparatus wherein the one or more controllers check a transmission history of the email by the sender (in addition to determining the responsiveness of the mail servers 604, the mail monitoring system 602 is capable of providing notification when a problem is identified. In one embodiment, a measured response time is compared with threshold values that indicate what the normal response time should be. By way of example, these threshold values can be the expected times for LDAP response, POP/IMAP retrieval time, total round trip for test emails, etc. FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary mail monitoring system 702, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The mail monitoring system 702 includes a test/monitor 704, a notifier 706, and a comparator 708. As shown in FIG. 6, the mail monitoring system is coupled to a data storage device 710 where threshold values T1, T2, and T3 can be stored. As mentioned earlier, the threshold values T1, T2, and T3 could represent the expected response times under normal conditions for an e-mail system. It should be noted that the threshold values may vary for different configurations and there may be different expected values for the same configuration depending on other factors. For example, the response time during business hours may have a longer threshold than the response times expected during weekends. In any case, appropriate threshold values can be can be selected and stored in data storage device 710 – see Kavacheri, col. 9, lines 27-50) and performs a test-transmission to the sender in a case where the email has not been transmitted via the distribution service within a predetermined time period (the mail monitoring system 702 may be invoked by a local system administer who desires to identify a problem with the mail services provided by the mail server 714. In this way, the mail monitoring system can be configured to automatically check the status of an email system by measuring actual response values and comparing them with the corresponding threshold values. If a problem is detected, for example, when an actual response time is slower than the excepted threshold value, the comparator 708 can send a signal with appropriate information to the notifier 706. An error notification with the appropriate information can be displayed on a monitoring screen 722 that is connected to the notifier 706. In this way, a human operator can be expeditiously notified of an isolated problem with the mail services – see Kavacheri, col. 10, lines 1-15).
The combination of references is made under the same rationale as claim 3 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alicia Baturay whose telephone number is (571) 272-3981. The examiner can normally be reached at 7am – 4pm, Mondays – Thursdays, Eastern Time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in person, or 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) form at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wing Chan can be reached on (571) 272-7493. The fax 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.
/Alicia Baturay/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2441
November 10, 2025
Prosecution Insights