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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/07/2024 is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1- are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sato et al.(US 2015/0224761).
Regarding claim 1, Sato et al teaches an image forming apparatus (figs.3,4), comprising:
an image former (1 figs.3,4) that causes a head unit (60) having a plurality of nozzles (64) arranged in a row to eject a color material onto a recording medium (400) conveyed in a conveyance direction to generate dots (figs.3,4);
a mover that relatively moves the recording medium (400) and the head unit (60) in a direction intersecting an arrangement direction of the plurality of nozzles (64) in the head unit (fig.4); and
a hardware processor (10 fig.3),
wherein the hardware processor (10)
detects a first adhesion amount of a color material in a first peripheral region around a nozzle-missing region corresponding to a malfunctioning nozzle (LN) (figs.2,7,8,9,19; paragraphs 0084-0098,0130-0133,0057-0059),
sets an allocation region having an area corresponding to the first adhesion amount (figs.2,7,8,9; paragraphs 0057-0059,0088-0097), and
allocates dot data corresponding to the malfunctioning nozzle to a normal nozzle in the allocation region (figs.19,20; paragraphs 0097,0130-0133).
Regarding claim 5, Sato et al further teaches wherein the hardware processor (10 fig.3) sets the area of the allocation region to be large in a case where the first adhesion amount is large (figs.2,8,9-17,19; paragraphs 0084-0098,0130-0133).
Regarding claim 6, Sato et al further teaches wherein the hardware processor (10 fig.3) sets a length in the conveyance direction of the allocation region according to the first adhesion amount (figs.8,9-17,19).
Regarding claim 7, Sato et al further teaches the method step limitations of claim 7 are inherently performed by the device claimed in claim 1.
Regarding claim 8, Sato et al further teaches a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program causing a computer of an image forming apparatus (figs.3,4) that comprises:
an image former (1 figs.3,4) that causes a head unit (60) having a plurality of nozzles (64) arranged in a row to eject a color material onto a recording medium (400) conveyed in a conveyance direction to generate dots (figs.3,4);
a mover that relatively moves the recording medium (400) and the head unit (60) in a direction intersecting an arrangement direction of the plurality of nozzles (64) in the head unit (fig.4); and
a hardware processor (10 fig.3),
wherein the hardware processor (10)
detects a first adhesion amount of a color material in a first peripheral region around a nozzle-missing region corresponding to a malfunctioning nozzle (LN) (figs.2,7,8,9,19; paragraphs 0084-0098,0130-0133,0057-0059),
sets an allocation region having an area corresponding to the first adhesion amount (figs.2,7,8,9; paragraphs 0057-0059,0088-0097), and
allocates dot data corresponding to the malfunctioning nozzle to a normal nozzle in the allocation region (figs.19,20; paragraphs 0097,0130-0133).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HENOK D LEGESSE whose telephone number is (571)270-1615. The examiner can normally be reached General Schedule 9:00 am- 5:00 pm, IFP.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas Rodriguez can be reached at (571)431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HENOK D LEGESSE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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