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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 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, 9 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takamatsu (JP 2013166294).
With regard to claim 1, Takamatsu discloses a printing apparatus (20) [Para. 0015] capable of operating with electric power supplied through a USB cable (60) [Para. 0015], the printing apparatus comprising:
an obtaining unit (55) [Para. 0021] configured to obtain information on a value of electric power supplied through the USB cable; and
a control unit (30) [main controller; Para. 0022] configured to control execution of a first process and a second process based on the information obtained by the obtaining unit [Para. 0012], the first process being a process to be implemented by a plurality of operations that are executed using a driving force from a driving source transmitted through a mechanical mechanism [normal mode; acceleration of carriage is started during line feeding operation of the paper feed roller and ink ejection operation of print head is started during acceleration operation of carriage; Para. 0028], the second process being a process related to a setting [print mode is set to normal mode, a first low-speed mode or a second low- speed mode; Para. 0027].
With regard to claim 9, Takamatsu discloses further comprising an electric power storage unit [battery; Para. 0034] configured to be capable of storing electric power supplied through the USB cable, wherein the printing apparatus is further capable of operating with electric power stored in the electric power storage unit [Para. 0034].
With regard to claim 15, Takamatsu discloses a method of controlling a printing apparatus (20) [Para. 0015] capable of operating with electric power supplied through a USB cable (60) [Para. 0015], the method comprising:
obtaining a value of electric power supplied through the USB cable (55) [Para. 0021]; and
controlling execution of a first process and a second process based on the value of electric power obtained in the obtaining [main controller (30); Para. 0012; 0022], the first process being a process to be implemented by a plurality of operations that are executed using a driving force from a driving source transmitted through a mechanical mechanism [normal mode; acceleration of carriage is started during line feeding operation of the paper feed roller and ink ejection operation of print head is started during acceleration operation of carriage; Para. 0028], the second process being a process related to a setting [print mode is set to normal mode, a first low-speed mode or a second low- speed mode; Para. 0027].
With regard to claim 16, Takamatsu discloses a non-transitory computer readable storage medium (32) [ROM; Para. 0019] storing a program for causing a computer (31) [CPU] to perform a control method, the control method being a method of controlling a printing apparatus (20) [Para. 0015] capable of operating with electric power supplied through a USB cable (60) [Para. 0015], the control method comprising:
obtaining information on a value of electric power supplied through the USB cable (55) [Para. 0021]; and
controlling execution of a first process and a second process based on the value of electric power obtained in the obtaining [main controller (30); Para. 0012; 0022], the first process being a process to be implemented by a plurality of operations that are executed using a driving force from a driving source transmitted through a mechanical mechanism [normal mode; acceleration of carriage is started during line feeding operation of the paper feed roller and ink ejection operation of print head is started during acceleration operation of carriage; Para. 0028], the second process being a process related to a setting [print mode is set to normal mode, a first low-speed mode or a second low- speed mode; Para. 0027].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takamatsu (JP 2013166294) as applied to claim 1 above, and in view of Kwak (US 20200373834).
With regard to claim 2, Takamatsu does not disclose wherein based on the information, the control unit switches between first control in which the first process and the second process are simultaneously executed, and second control in which the second process is executed after the first process is finished.
Kwak teaches operation performed by the module, the program or another component may be carried out sequentially, in parallel or one or more of the operations may be executed in a different order or omitted. [Para. 0058]
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize a control unit to switch between a first control and second control since it is known in the art that executable instructions can perform or execute recited functions in any order.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 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.
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claims 3-8 is the inclusion of the limitations of wherein the information is a value of electric power, and the control unit is capable of simultaneously executing the first process and the second process in a case where the value of electric power is more than or equal to a threshold value, and executes the second process after finishing the first process in a case where the value of electric power is less than the threshold value. It is these limitation(s) found in the claims, as they are claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACEY M MCMILLION whose telephone number is (571)270-5193. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6AM-2:30PM EST.
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.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricardo Magallanes can be reached at 571-272-5960. The fax phone 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.
/TRACEY M MCMILLION/ Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/RICARDO I MAGALLANES/ Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Prosecution Insights