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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/26/24 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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) 1-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yagiura US 20180084140 in view of Sato US 20120120438.
Regarding claim 1, Yagiura teaches A cloud server for providing a cloud print service (paragraph 0003), the cloud server comprising:
at least one memory that stores instructions (paragraph 0039); and
at least one processor that executes the instructions (CPU (paragraph 0039) to:
receive a login request from an image forming apparatus remotely operated by an information processing terminal (a login screen D3 illustrated in FIG. 10, a message prompting the user to input their user ID and password (paragraph 0105);
acquire a file list from a cloud storage service based on user information acquired in response to the received login request (the connection controller 108 receives a file list containing file names of print-target files contained in the specified folder (paragraph 0109);
transmit the acquired file list to the information processing terminal (he connection controller 108 also transmits a print setting file acquisition request to the file server 300 together with the folder name of the specified folder and receives the print setting file in the specified folder indicated by the folder name (paragraph 0109);
provide the information processing terminal with a setting screen for changing print settings regarding a printing target file selected from the file list (display controller 102 performs control to display various screens, such as a setting screen, and various kinds of information on the operation panel 27 (paragraph 0095);
download the printing target file from the cloud storage service in a case where a printing execution instruction for printing the printing target file is received from the information processing terminal (MFP 200b at the second branch store 2 download a print-target file (paragraph 0031);
Yagiura fails to teach generate a print job based on the downloaded printing target file and the print settings changed in the setting screen;
transmit the generated print job to the image forming apparatus;
Sato teaches generate a print job based on the downloaded printing target file and the print settings changed in the setting screen (UI 800 displays the pull print setting screen. (paragraph 0082). he MFP 110 transmits a request for a print job selected by the server 130 (paragraph 0085) ; and
transmit the generated print job to the image forming apparatus (the MFP 110 transmits a request for a print job selected by the server 130 (paragraph 0085).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art to have modified Yagiura with: generate a print job based on the downloaded printing target file and the print settings changed in the setting screen;
transmit the generated print job to the image forming apparatus;
The reason of doing so would be to allow a user to view and select target files to print
Regarding claim 2, Yagiura in view of Sato teaches wherein, when a user of the information processing terminal selects the printing target file from the file list and issues an editing instruction, the setting screen is provided to the information processing terminal (Yagiura: input receiver 101 also receives selection of a print-target file to be printed and an instruction to start printing the print-target file on a file section screen D1 (paragraph 0091).
Regarding claim 3, Yagiura in view of Sato teaches wherein at least one processor stores the print settings changed in the setting screen, in association with the printing target file, in a case where changes of the print settings in the setting screen are completed (Yagiura: the selected print-target file is printed if print settings are successfully set (stored) in accordance with the print setting file received from the file server 300.
Regarding claim 4, Yagiura in view of Sato teaches wherein the print job is generated in a case where the user of the information processing apparatus issues a printing execution instruction (Sato: MFP 110 transmits a request for a print job selected by the server 130. The transmission/reception data processing unit 403 sends a request for the selected print data to the server 130 (paragraph 0085)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art to have modified Yagiura with: wherein the print job is generated in a case where the user of the information processing apparatus issues a printing execution instruction
The reason of doing so would be to allow a user to view and select target files to print
Regarding claim 5, Yagiura in view of Sato teaches wherein the print job is generated by rendering the printing target file downloaded from the cloud storage, according to the print settings changed in the setting screen (Yagiura: MFP 200b at the second branch store 2 download a print-target file (Word, PDF, or JPEG file, for example) stored in a folder (Google Drive (registered trademark) or Dropbox (registered trademark), for example) of the file server 300 to acquire the print-target file. The MFP 200a at the first branch store 1 and the MFP 200b at the second branch store 2 then print the acquired print-target file (paragraph 0031).
Regarding claim 6, Yagiura in view of Sato teaches wherein, in a case where the user of the information processing apparatus operates a button for causing the image forming apparatus to access the cloud print service in a screen for remotely operating the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus issues the login request (Yagiura: The display controller 102 also displays, in the file selection screen, a print setting button that is pressed to input a print setting input instruction indicating that the setting information is to be input. In response to pressing of this print setting button, the displayed screen changes to the print setting screen. (paragraph 0095).
Regarding claim 7, Yagiura teaches A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for providing a cloud print service (paragraph 0162), wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor of a cloud server (paragraph 0003), cause the cloud server to:
receive a login request from an image forming apparatus remotely operated by an information processing terminal (a login screen D3 illustrated in FIG. 10, a message prompting the user to input their user ID and password (paragraph 0105);
acquire a file list from a cloud storage service based on user information acquired in response to the received login request (the connection controller 108 receives a file list containing file names of print-target files contained in the specified folder (paragraph 0109);
transmit the acquired file list to the information processing terminal (he connection controller 108 also transmits a print setting file acquisition request to the file server 300 together with the folder name of the specified folder and receives the print setting file in the specified folder indicated by the folder name (paragraph 0109);
provide the information processing terminal with a setting screen for changing print settings regarding a printing target file selected from the file list (display controller 102 performs control to display various screens, such as a setting screen, and various kinds of information on the operation panel 27 (paragraph 0095);
download the printing target file from the cloud storage service in a case where a printing execution instruction for printing the printing target file is received from the information processing terminal (MFP 200b at the second branch store 2 download a print-target file (paragraph 0031);
Yagiura fails to teach generate a print job based on the downloaded printing target file and the print settings changed in the setting screen;
transmit the generated print job to the image forming apparatus;
Sato teaches generate a print job based on the downloaded printing target file and the print settings changed in the setting screen (UI 800 displays the pull print setting screen. (paragraph 0082). he MFP 110 transmits a request for a print job selected by the server 130 (paragraph 0085) ; and
transmit the generated print job to the image forming apparatus (the MFP 110 transmits a request for a print job selected by the server 130 (paragraph 0085).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art to have modified Yagiura with: generate a print job based on the downloaded printing target file and the print settings changed in the setting screen; transmit the generated print job to the image forming apparatus;
The reason of doing so would be to allow a user to view and select target files to print
Regarding claim 8, Yagiura in view of Sato teaches wherein, in a case where a user of the information processing terminal selects the printing target file from the file list and issues an editing instruction, the setting screen is provided to the information processing terminal (Yagiura: input receiver 101 also receives selection of a print-target file to be printed and an instruction to start printing the print-target file on a file section screen D1 (paragraph 0091)..
Regarding claim 9, Yagiura in view of Sato teaches wherein the instructions further cause any of the at least one processor to store the print settings changed in the setting screen, in association with the printing target file, in a case where changes of the print settings in the setting screen are completed (Yagiura: the selected print-target file is printed if print settings are successfully set (stored) in accordance with the print setting file received from the file server 300..
Regarding claim 10, Yagiura in view of Sato teaches wherein the print job is generated in a case where the user of the information processing apparatus issues a printing execution instruction (Sato: MFP 110 transmits a request for a print job selected by the server 130. The transmission/reception data processing unit 403 sends a request for the selected print data to the server 130 (paragraph 0085)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art to have modified Yagiura with: wherein the print job is generated in a case where the user of the information processing apparatus issues a printing execution instruction
The reason of doing so would be to allow a user to view and select target files to print
.
Regarding claim 11, Yagiura in view of Sato teaches wherein the print job is generated by rendering the printing target file downloaded from the cloud storage, according to the print settings changed in the setting screen (Yagiura: MFP 200b at the second branch store 2 download a print-target file (Word, PDF, or JPEG file, for example) stored in a folder (Google Drive (registered trademark) or Dropbox (registered trademark), for example) of the file server 300 to acquire the print-target file. The MFP 200a at the first branch store 1 and the MFP 200b at the second branch store 2 then print the acquired print-target file (paragraph 0031).
Regarding claim 12, Yagiura in view of Sato teaches wherein, in a case where the user of the information processing apparatus operates a button for causing the image forming apparatus to access the cloud print service in a screen for remotely operating the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus issues the login request (Yagiura: The display controller 102 also displays, in the file selection screen, a print setting button that is pressed to input a print setting input instruction indicating that the setting information is to be input. In response to pressing of this print setting button, the displayed screen changes to the print setting screen. (paragraph 0095).
Regarding claim 13, Yagiura teaches A method executed by a cloud server for providing a cloud print service, the method comprising:
receiving a login request from an image forming apparatus remotely operated by an information processing terminal (a login screen D3 illustrated in FIG. 10, a message prompting the user to input their user ID and password (paragraph 0105);
acquiring a file list from a cloud storage service based on user information acquired in response to the received login request (the connection controller 108 receives a file list containing file names of print-target files contained in the specified folder (paragraph 0109);
transmitting the acquired file list to the information processing terminal (he connection controller 108 also transmits a print setting file acquisition request to the file server 300 together with the folder name of the specified folder and receives the print setting file in the specified folder indicated by the folder name (paragraph 0109);
providing the information processing terminal with a setting screen for changing print settings regarding a printing target file selected from the file list (display controller 102 performs control to display various screens, such as a setting screen, and various kinds of information on the operation panel 27 (paragraph 0095);
downloading the printing target file from the cloud storage service in a case where a printing execution instruction for printing the printing target file is received from the information processing terminal (MFP 200b at the second branch store 2 download a print-target file (paragraph 0031);
Yagiura fails to teach generating a print job based on the downloaded printing target file and the print settings changed in the setting screen;
transmitting the generated print job to the image forming apparatus;
Sato teaches generating a print job based on the downloaded printing target file and the print settings changed in the setting screen (UI 800 displays the pull print setting screen. (paragraph 0082). he MFP 110 transmits a request for a print job selected by the server 130 (paragraph 0085) ; and
transmitting the generated print job to the image forming apparatus (the MFP 110 transmits a request for a print job selected by the server 130 (paragraph 0085).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art to have modified Yagiura with: generating a print job based on the downloaded printing target file and the print settings changed in the setting screen; transmitting the generated print job to the image forming apparatus;
The reason of doing so would be to allow a user to view and select target files to print
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Michael Burleson whose telephone number is (571) 272-7460 and fax number is (571) 273-7460. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30p.m. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Akwasi Sarpong can be reached at (571) 270- 3438.
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.
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.
Michael Burleson
Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2683
Michael Burleson
June 27, 2026
/MICHAEL BURLESON/
/AKWASI M SARPONG/ SPE, Art Unit 2681 7/1/2026
Prosecution Insights