DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1 – 7 are pending.
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 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.
Claims 1,2,4-7 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Michishita (US Publication 20200401688).
Regarding claim 1, Michishita discloses an image processing apparatus comprising:
one or more storages that store a firmware, a verification program verifying whether
the firmware has been tampered with, and one or more instructions [0009-0011: verification functions (program) and one or more instructions]; and
one or more controllers electrically coupled to the one or more storages and configured to execute the one or more instructions to cause the image processing apparatus [0009-0011] to:
set one of a first security setting [rewriting control enabled] and a second security setting [rewriting control disabled], different from the first security setting, in the image processing apparatus, the first security setting being designed to set a higher level of security than the second security setting [0048: As a result of rewriting control being disabled, the security level temporarily decreases][0043-0054], and
control an execution of rewrite protection for a part of a storage area, that stores
the verification program, in a case that the first security setting is set [0043: With a rewriting control function, rewriting into files stored in designated regions in the ROM 112 and the HDD 114 is monitored to prevent the files from being edited by an unauthorized program or a malicious user] [0055: if rewriting control has been kept enabled, the routine directly proceeds to step S409. In step S409, the CPU 111 reboots the system][0048-0054][Fig. 4] [0004: a hash value that is created using a hash function from binary data of each file in which firmware is stored is usually used as verification data, to confirm uniqueness of the firmware …a hash value of an entire file when firmware is to be executed or the file is to be opened and checking whether or not the hash value matches verification data of the file that is stored in a white list (the files contain the verification data)].
Regarding claim 2, Michishita discloses the image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to execute the one or more instructions to cause the image processing apparatus to: restrict the execution of rewrite protection in a case that the second security setting is set [0048-0054: rewrite control is disabled].
Regarding claim 4, Michishita discloses the image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more storages further store setting information that decides to enable or disable a verification by the verification program stored in the part of the storage area [Fig. 4, 0056-0057: verification functions].
Regarding claim 5, Michishita discloses the image processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a processor that executes boot processing of the firmware, wherein during the boot processing, the processor: executes the verification by the verification program in a case that the verification is enabled by the setting information, and omits the verification by the verification program and boots the firmware in a case that the verification is disabled by the setting information [Fig. 4, 0056-0057: enable/disable the verification (steps S410-S413].
Regarding claim 6, Michishita discloses the image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the firmware is related to the one or more controllers and to an image inputter or an image former [0020][0023-0027].
Regarding claim 7, this claim is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 1 above.
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 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 of this title, 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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michishita (US Publication 20200401688) and in view of Spangler (US 20220179960 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Michishita does not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to execute the one or more instructions to cause the image processing apparatus to set the second security setting during a period starting from a time at which the image processing apparatus is shipped by a vendor until a time at which the first security setting is set.
Spangler discloses the one or more controllers are further configured to execute the one or more instructions to cause the image processing apparatus to set the second security setting during a period starting from a time at which the image processing apparatus is shipped by a vendor until a time at which the first security setting is set [0043][0050-0052: The private half may be controlled at a remote entity, such as a with a hardware manufacturer, operating system developer, or other entity that works to ensure the computing system 100 only executes verifiable firmware. [0051: The expected values for control registers of the memory 106 that control what portion of the memory 106 that is write-protected when write-protection of the memory 106 is enabled].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Michishita and Spangler together because they both directed to control the write protection firmware in the memory. Spangler’s disclosing of executing the one or more instructions to cause the image processing apparatus to set the second security setting during a period starting from a time at which the image processing apparatus is shipped by a vendor until a time at which the first security setting is set would allow Michishita to prevent the write-protected firmware region from being modified after shipment.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 06/10/2026 have been fully considered but are moot in view of new ground(s) of rejection because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
Examiner's note: Examiner has cited particular paragraphs and columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner (see MPEP § 2123).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHIL K NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3356. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 a.m - 5 p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jaweed Abbaszadeh can be reached at (571)270-1640. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PHIL K NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2176
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