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 Objections
Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites “the image former” but there is no antecedent. Claims 1-20 recite “expected value information” but this limitation is not clear as to what the interpretation of expected value is. Claims 1-20 recite “wherein the printing job includes printing options that require installation options to be installed in the image former to execute the printing job”, “specify the installation option required to execute the printing option included in the printing job” . However in Specification the specified installation option related to option instructed in job but that is NOT installed at the printer so claims need to be amended to indicate that the options are not installed.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20040006552 to Kakigi.
Regarding claim 1, Kakigi discloses an image forming system (paragraph 53; Fig. 1 shows system including printer) comprising:
an image forming unit configured to form an image according to a printing job based on installed functions (paragraph 53, 174; printer 103 forms images based on job in step s1201; paragraph 173, 175; if print job includes stapling then printing is performed using the installed stapler if installed), wherein the printing job includes printing options that require installation options to be installed in the image former to execute the printing job(paragraph 173, 175-176; print instruction can includes stapling option that requires installed stapling in case printer is incapable of stapling ); and
a processor configured to (paragraph 266; CPU):
specify the installation option required to execute the printing option included in the printing job after the image is formed by the image forming unit (paragraph 173, 175-176; if printer cannot staple and if print instructions requires stapling, then stapling option is specified as required to execute printing after printing of image starts in s1202), collect expected value information indicating a user's expected value related to the specified installation option (paragraph 103-105; Fig. 6 display a proposal which proposes user to attach 7-bin sorter by selecting either Plan A or Plan B below (inquiry item) to install sorter option; user selection of the PLAN is collected as expected value information related to specified installation such as sorter/stapler; if user selects Plan a that is associated with sorter having 7-bin (user’s expected value)), generate report information on the installation option based on the collected user's expected value information, and output notification of the generated report information (paragraph 103-105, 184-186; when user makes selection on Plan in Fig. 6, a purchase request (report information) regarding installing of sorter based on selected plan is generated in step 1208 and is sent to the server as notification).
Regarding claim 2, Kakigi discloses the image forming system according to claim 1, wherein, when the processor collects the expected value information (paragraph 103-105; Fig. 6 display a proposal which proposes user to attach 7-bin sorter by selecting either Plan A or Plan B below (inquiry item) to install sorter option; user selection of the PLAN is collected as expected value information related to specified installation such as sorter/stapler; if user selects Plan a that is associated with sorter having 7-bin (user’s expected value)),
the processor is configured to (paragraph 61; CPU 1):
generate an inquiry screen including an inquiry item related to the installation option (paragraph 103-106; Fig. 6 display a proposal (inquiry screen) which proposes user to attach 7-bin sorter by selecting either Plan A or Plan B below (inquiry item) to install sorter option),
present the inquiry screen to the user (paragraph 103-106; Fig. 6 is display of proposal), and
acquire a an answer from the user to the inquiry item, the answer being the expected value information (paragraph 103-106; user can respond by selecting either plan A or plan B below on screen; plan selection is expected value info).
Regarding claim 3, Kakigi discloses the image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the inquiry item includes a requirement for installation of the installation option (paragraph 103-106; see Fig. 6 showing proposal for purchasing/installing the sorter devices (requirement) such as sorter (installation option) required to achieve the possible operations listed 1-4 in Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 4, Kakigi discloses the image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the inquiry item includes a future user action with respect to an image formation result using the installed functions of the image forming unit (paragraph 103-106; Fig. 6 displays inquiry item for selecting plans as future action of purchasing optional devices such as sorter with respect to providing sorted output result that use sorter functions in installed).
Regarding claim 5, Kakigi discloses the image forming system according to claim 2, further comprising: an image forming apparatus that comprises:
the image forming unit (paragraph 53; printer 103), a communication interface for communicating with an external device via a network (paragraph 53; printer 103 has LAN interface for communicating with host 101 (external device)), a user interface for presenting information to the user and receiving an instruction from the user (paragraph 214, 216; display screen (user interface) presenting proposed method and receives instruction via button click), and the processor (paragraph 266; CPU), and a server device that includes a communication interface for communicating with an external device via the network and a server device processor (paragraph 60-61; server includes CPU 1, network I/F 6 for communicating with HOST ).
Regarding claim 6, Kakigi discloses the image forming system according to claim 5, wherein the processor of the image forming apparatus (paragraph 266;CPU)
displays the inquiry screen through the user interface (Paragraph 103-106, 219; Fig. 6, Fig. 16 shows displayed proposal (inquiry) on display),
receives the user's answer to the inquiry item through the user interface (paragraph 103-106; user can respond by selecting Plan a or b on bottom),
generates the report information based on the acquired answer (paragraph 96-98, 105; based on user selection of plan a, b on Fig. 6 a purchase request including order content is generated (report information)), and
outputs notification of the generated report information through the communication interface (paragraph 105; purchase request including order content is output to server to notify of purchase requested by user; paragraph 53; printer having LAN interface (communication interface)).
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.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20040006552 to Kakigi in view of US 20230195391 to Murayama.
Regarding claim 7, Kakigi discloess the image forming system according to claim 5, wherein:
the processor of the image forming apparatus is configured to transmit log information related to the formed image to the server device through the communication interface after the image formation performed by the image forming unit (paragraph 175-177; when judged impossible to print in s1202, it sends unprocessable print processing notification (log) to server via interface after print execution starts in s1202), and
the processor of the server device is configured to:
specify the installation option required to execute the printing option included in the printing job, which is a source of the image formation in the image forming apparatus, based on the log information transmitted from the image forming apparatus and received through the communication interface (paragraph 177-181, 183-184; see Fig. 15 showing installation option specified by server as proposal to purchase sorter for installation required to print based on receiving the information from the printer),
generate the inquiry based on the specified installation option, and
transmit the generated inquiry to the image forming apparatus (paragraph 183; the proposed operation method shown as inquiry in Fig. 15/16 is generated based determination of optimal method and sent to the printer).
However Kakigi does not disclose to generate the inquiry screen, and transmit the generated inquiry screen to the image forming apparatus.
Murayama discloses to generate the inquiry screen, and transmit the generated inquiry screen to the image forming apparatus (paragraph 109-110, 113-114; when error occurs in printer it sends error information to server which analyzes this error and generate screen information of the timeline (inquiry) and sends the screen to the printer ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Kakigi as taught by Murayama to provide generation of inquiry screen at server.
The motivation to combine the references is to reduce the workload on the printer of generating the screen and letting the server generate the screen and transmit it to the printer.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20040006552 to Kakigi in view of US 20200310934 to Shibata.
Regarding claim 9, Kakigi does not disclose the image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the processor generates the report information based on the collected expected value information each time a certain period of time elapses, and outputs notification of the report information.
Shibata discloses wherein the processor (paragraph 39; CPU 301) generates the report information based on the collected expected value information each time a certain period of time elapses, and outputs notification of the report information (paragraph 151; period of time elapses from “previous malfunction diagnosis” in step s1001; paragraph 80, 110, 155; collecting in s1004 malfunction diagnosis information including setting value info (expected value information); paragraph 157-158; in s1007 it generates notification (report) based on collected information ; paragraph 159; in s1008 notification (report) is transmitted to admin.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Kakigi as taught by Shibata to provide generation of report based on time elapsing.
The motivation to combine the references is to reduce the number of time of generation of report information by only generating it at specific time intervals such as time from last execution of report generation being a certain time period (paragraph 151).
6. Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20040006552 to Kakigi in view of US 20070268510 to Wushour.
Regarding claim 10, Kakigi does not disclose the image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the processor generates the report information based on the collected expected value information each time the expected value information is collected.
Wushour discloses wherein the processor (paragraph 20; PC processor) generates the report information based on the collected expected value information each time the expected value information is collected (paragraph 24, 27, 33-34; during error in printing, each time printer settings (expected value information) are collected in temporary file in step 220, an error report is generated in 230 based on temporary file that includes collected printer settings).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Kakigi as taught by Wushour to provide generation of report each collection time.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide at timing of every print error automatic storing of the print environment setting information file that includes complete setting information including OS information and driver information and notifying the error immediately including the stored print environment setting information (paragraph 24, 27, 33-34).
Claim(s) 11, 12-15, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20040006552 to Kakigi in view of US 20040006552 to Kakigi (second embodiment) further in view JP 2022034204 to Matsuura.
Regarding claim 11, Kakigi discloses an image forming apparatus comprising (paragraph 53; printer 103):
a communication interface configured to communicate with a server device (paragraph 53, 176; printer has LAN communication interface to server 105 for notification);
a user interface that presents information to a user and receives an instruction from the user (paragraph 214, 216; display screen (user interface) presenting proposed method and receives instruction via button click);
an image forming unit configured to (paragraph 50; image forming unit):
receive the printing job through the communication interface (paragraph 53, 174; print data received from host 101 via LAN interface), and
form an image in response to the user's instruction to form the image according to the printing job (paragraph 173-175; in response to user instruction, print data sent to printer to print image of the job in s1202), wherein the image forming unit forms the image according to the printing job based on installed functions (paragraph 173, 175; if print job includes stapling then printing is performed using the installed stapler if installed), wherein the printing job includes printing options that require installation options to be installed in the image forming unit to execute the printing job (paragraph 173, 175-176; print instruction can includes stapling option that requires installed stapling if printer is incapable of stapling ); and
a processor configured to (paragraph 266; CPU):
specify the installation option required to execute the printing option included in the printing job after the image is formed by the image forming unit (paragraph 173, 175-176; if printer cannot staple and if print instructions requires stapling, then stapling option is specified as required to execute printing after printing of image starts in s1202),
However Kakigi does not disclose collect expected value information indicating the user's expected value related to the specified installation option using the user interface, output the collected user's expected value information.
Kakigi (second embodiment) discloses
collect expected value information indicating the user's expected value related to the specified installation option using the user interface (paragraph 103-105; Fig. 6 display a proposal which proposes user to attach 7-bin sorter by selecting either Plan A or Plan B below (inquiry item) to install sorter option; user selection of the PLAN is collected as expected value information related to specified installation such as sorter/stapler; if user selects Plan a that is associated with sorter having 7-bin (user’s expected value)), output the collected user's expected value information (paragraph 103-105, 184-186; when user makes selection on Plan in Fig. 6, a purchase request regarding installing of sorter based on selected plan is generated in step 1208 and is sent/output to the server as notification).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Kakigi as taught by Kakigi (second embodiment) to provide collection of expected value related to installation option.
The motivation to combine the references is to display screen that lets user select specific plan for addressing the installation option required to perform the print job (paragraph 103-105).
However Kakigi does not disclose the server device that temporarily stores a printing job received from a user terminal via a network;
receive the printing job from the server device
form an image in response to the user's instruction to form the image according to the printing job stored in the server device with respect to the user interface.
Matsuura discloses the server device that temporarily stores a printing job received from a user terminal via a network; receive the printing job from the server device; form an image in response to the user's instruction to form the image according to the printing job stored in the server device with respect to the user interface (paragraph 49, 105; server 2000 stores received print jobs from terminal via network; MFP 1000 receives print job stored in server when user inputs password on the MFP display interface; MFP prints the received print job).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Kakigi as taught by Matsuura to provide job storage at server until requested by user at printer.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide security for print jobs by storing them at the server that requires user input of credentials to access the jobs for printing and further reduce storage space requirement at the printer by having the server store the jobs (paragraph 105).
Regarding claim 18, Kakigi discloses a method of forming an image that is executed by a processor of an image forming apparatus (paragraph 53; printer 103 forms image; paragraph 266; CPU) that includes a communication interface configured to communicate with a server device (paragraph 53, 176; printer has LAN communication interface to server 105 for notification), a user interface that presents information to a user (paragraph 214, 216; display screen (user interface) presenting proposed method and receives instruction via button click), the image forming unit forms the image according to the printing job based on installed functions(paragraph 173, 175; if print job includes stapling then printing is performed using the installed stapler if installed), wherein the printing job includes printing options that require installation options to be installed in the image forming unit to execute the printing job(paragraph 173, 175-176; print instruction can includes stapling option that requires installed stapling if printer is incapable of stapling ), the method comprising:
specifying the installation option required to execute the printing option included in the printing job after the image is formed by the image forming unit(paragraph 173, 175-176; if printer cannot staple and if print instructions requires stapling, then stapling option is specified as required to execute printing after printing of image starts in s1202);
However Kakigi does not disclose collecting expected value information indicating the user's expected value related to the specified installation option using the user interface, outputting the collected user's expected value information.
Kakigi (second embodiment) discloses
collect expected value information indicating the user's expected value related to the specified installation option using the user interface (paragraph 103-105; Fig. 6 display a proposal which proposes user to attach 7-bin sorter by selecting either Plan A or Plan B below (inquiry item) to install sorter option; user selection of the PLAN is collected as expected value information related to specified installation such as sorter/stapler; if user selects Plan a that is associated with sorter having 7-bin (user’s expected value)), output the collected user's expected value information (paragraph 103-105, 184-186; when user makes selection on Plan in Fig. 6, a purchase request regarding installing of sorter based on selected plan is generated in step 1208 and is sent/output to the server as notification).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Kakigi as taught by Kakigi (second embodiment) to provide collection of expected value related to installation option.
The motivation to combine the references is to display screen that lets user select specific plan for addressing the installation option required to perform the print job (paragraph 103-105).
However Kakigi does not disclose a server device that temporarily stores a printing job received from a user terminal via a network; a user interface that receives an instruction from the user, an image forming unit that receives the printing job from the server device through the communication interface and forms an image in response to the user's instruction to form the image according to the printing job stored in the server device with respect to the user interface.
Matsuura discloses a server device that temporarily stores a printing job received from a user terminal via a network; a user interface that receives an instruction from the user, an image forming unit that receives the printing job from the server device through the communication interface and forms an image in response to the user's instruction to form the image according to the printing job stored in the server device with respect to the user interface (paragraph 49, 105; server 2000 stores received print jobs from terminal via network; MFP 1000 receives print job stored in server when user inputs password (user instruction) on the MFP display interface; MFP prints the received print job; paragraph 39; MFP includes network interface).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Kakigi as taught by Matsuura to provide job storage at server until requested by user at printer.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide security for print jobs by storing them at the server that requires user input of credentials to access the jobs for printing and further reduce storage space requirement at the printer by having the server store the jobs (paragraph 105).
Regarding claim 12, Kakigi discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein, when the processor collects the expected value information (paragraph 214-216, 219; collecting purchase request including order content (expected value information)), the processor is further configured to:
generate an inquiry screen including an inquiry item related to the installation option (paragraph 103-106; Fig. 6 display a proposal (inquiry screen) which proposes user to attach 7-bin sorter by selecting either Plan A or Plan B below (inquiry item) to install sorter option),
present the generated inquiry screen to the user through the user interface (paragraph 103-106; Fig. 6 is display of proposal), and
acquire an answer from the user to the inquiry item, the answer being the expected value information, from the user interface (paragraph 103-106; user can respond by selecting either plan A or plan B below on screen; plan selection is expected value info).
Regarding claim 13, Kakigi discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the inquiry item includes requirement for installation of the installation option in the image forming apparatus (paragraph 103-106; see Fig. 6 showing proposal for purchasing/installing the sorter devices (requirement) such as sorter (installation option) in printer that is required to achieve the possible operations listed 1-4 in Fig. 6), and wherein the inquiry item includes a future user action with respect to an image formation result using only the functions that are able to be handled by its own machine (paragraph 103-106; Fig. 6 displays inquiry item for selecting plans as future action of purchasing optional devices such as sorter with respect to providing sorted output result that use sorter functions in installed; if user selects “NO” on bottom that indicates future action using functions available in own machine without ordering the sorter device).
Regarding claim 14, Kakigi discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein, when the processor outputs the expected value information, the processor transmits the collected user's expected value information to the server device through the communication interface (paragraph 214-216, 219; purchase request including order content (expected value information) that indicates request to purchase optional device such as 7-bin sorter; paragraph 198, 216; purchase request is sent to service center 1309 including server 1305; paragraph 53; printer having LAN interface).
Regarding claim 15, Kakigi discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein, when the processor outputs the expected value information, the processor is further configured to:
generate report information on the installation option in the image forming apparatus based on the collected user's expected value information (paragraph 214-216; based on user operation of button click to order the optional device (user's expected value information) on Fig. 16 a purchase request (report information) including order content is generated), and
output a notification of the generated report information through the communication interface (paragraph 214-216; purchase request (report information) including order content is output to server to notify of purchase requested by user; paragraph 53; printer having LAN interface (communication interface)).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20040006552 to Kakigi in view of US 20040006552 to Kakigi (second embodiment) further in view JP 2022034204 to Matsuura in view of US 20200310934 to Shibata.
Regarding claim 16, Kakigi does not disclose the image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the processor is configured to: generate the report information based on the collected expected value information each time a period of time elapses, and provide a notification of the report information.
Shibata discloses wherein the processor is configured to: generate the report information based on the collected expected value information each time a period of time elapses, and provide a notification of the report information (paragraph 151; period of time elapses from “previous malfunction diagnosis” in step s1001; paragraph 80, 110, 155; collecting in s1004 malfunction diagnosis information including setting value info (expected value information); paragraph 157-158; in s1007 it generates notification (report) based on collected information ; paragraph 159; in s1008 notification (report) is transmitted to admin.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Kakigi as taught by Shibata to provide generation of report based on time elapsing.
The motivation to combine the references is to reduce the number of time of generation of report information by only generating it at specific time intervals such as time from last execution of report generation being a certain time period (paragraph 151).
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20040006552 to Kakigi in view of US 20040006552 to Kakigi (second embodiment) further in view JP 2022034204 to Matsuura in view of US 20200310934 to Shibata further in view of US 20070268510 to Wushour.
Regarding claim 17, Kakigi does not disclose the image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the processor is configure to:
generate the report information based on the collected expected value information each time the processor collects the expected value information, and
provide a notification of the report information.
Wushour discloses wherein the processor (paragraph 20; PC processor) is configure to: generate the report information based on the collected expected value information each time the processor collects the expected value information, and
provide a notification of the report information (paragraph 24, 27, 33-34; during error in printing, each time printer settings (expected value information) are collected in temporary file in step 220, an error report is generated in 230 based on temporary file that includes collected printer settings).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Kakigi as taught by Wushour to provide generation of report each collection time.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide at timing of every print error automatic storing of the print environment setting information file that includes complete setting information including OS information and driver information and notifying the error immediately including the stored print environment setting information (paragraph 24, 27, 33-34).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 19-20 are 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 and all above objections to claims are overcome.
Other Prior Art Cited
14. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20230195391 to Murayama discloses system that process print errors.
US 20060082802 to Furuya discloses printer having display of disabled functions setting
US 20180139343 to Igawa discloses system that stores manages print history.
JP 2009094581 to Takeuchi discloses printer that displays error after printing.
Conclusion
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Patent Examiner
Beniyam Menberu
/BENIYAM MENBERU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681
07/10/2026
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