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 .
Application, submitted on 10/09/2024, has been received, entered, and made of record. Currently, claims 22-36 remain pending in the application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/11/2024 and 06/30/2026 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner as indicated. However, Applicant has not provided an explanation of relevance of cited document(s).
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 22-24, 27-28, and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ichikawa et al. US 2021/0127017 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Ichikawa).
Referring to claim 22, Ichikawa discloses a reference image forming apparatus (fig.2, image forming apparatus 101) comprising:
a controller (fig.2, CPU 222), wherein the controller is configured to:
form multiple copies of images of multiple pages for a print job printing multiple copies of images of each page (figs.4A-B and [0065]-[0067]) (Note: when a print instruction for an N-copy print job is received from the external controller, the printer prints a job (print data on N copies));
read a sheet with the image formed thereon to obtain multiple copies of scanned images for each page of the print job (fig.5 and [0069]-[0071]) (Note: the image forming apparatus reads printed sheet to obtain multiple copies of scanned images for each page);
select the scanned images at a copy to be used as a reference image from among the multiple copies of the scanned images for each page ([0003], figs.5, 7-13, and [0070]-[0071]) (Note: the image forming apparatus selects scanned images at a copy to be used as a correct answer image (master image or reference image) for each page based on user instruction); and
form on a basis of the scanned image selected for each page the reference image to be used for inspecting an inspection image formed on a sheet by executing the print job (figs.11A-B and [0070]-[0071) (Note: the image forming apparatus forms on a basis of the scanned image selected for each page the correct answer image to be used for inspecting image formed on a sheet);
wherein when selecting one copy from among the multiple copies for each page, the controller is configured to form a group of reference images across copy order in each page ([0070]) (Note: If all the read images are accepted, the verification apparatus 109 generates correct answer images by averaging the pixel values of pixels located at corresponding positions on the plurality of printed pages).
Referring to claim 23, Ichikawa discloses the reference image forming apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the controller is configured to select multiple scanned images from among the multiple copies of scanned images for each page and form a reference image for each page based on the multiple scanned images selected (fig.19 and [0110]-[0111]) (Note: If the instruction buttons (to-use buttons) 1904, 1906, and/or 1908 are pressed, the corresponding read images are averaged to generate a correct answer image).
Referring to claim 24, Ichikawa discloses the reference image forming apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the controller is configured to form the reference image based on an average of pixel values of the multiple scanned images selected for each page ([0069]) (Note: The setting values include the number of sheets per copy, the side(s) to be verified, and the number of images per sheet to average the pixel values in generating a correct answer image).
Referring to claim 27, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 22 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 28, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 23 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 29, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 24 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 32, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 22 is applicable herein. Ichikawa further discloses a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium storing a program executed by a computer ([0114]).
Referring to claim 33, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 23 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 34, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 24 is applicable herein.
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.
Claims 25-26, 30-31, and 35-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ichikawa in view of Kambegawa et al. US 2021/0241447 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Kambegawa).
Referring to claim 25, Ichikawa discloses the reference image forming apparatus according to claim 22, except wherein the controller is configured to compare the multiple copies of the scanned images obtained for each page to each other and select the scanned image at the copy to be used as the reference image based on a comparison result.
However, in the same field of endeavor of reference image forming apparatus art, Kambegawa discloses wherein the controller is configured to compare the multiple copies of the scanned images obtained for each page to each other and select the scanned image at the copy to be used as the reference image based on a comparison result ([0058]-[0060]) (Note: the image forming apparatus compares the multiple copies of the scanned images obtained for each page to each other and select the scanned image at the copy to be used as the correct answer image).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention by the applicant to modify the reference image forming apparatus of Ichikawa with the concept Kambegawa to obtain the claimed invention. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to improve image quality evaluation by making it possible to detect a defect such as density unevenness.
Referring to claim 26, Ichikawa of Kambegawa discloses the reference image forming apparatus according to claim 25. Ichikawa further discloses wherein the controller is configured to exclude an image from a candidate for the reference image among the multiple copies of the scanned images of each page ([0101] and [0104]) (Note: Correct answer images from which a reading failure is detected are automatically excluded from a preview display).
Kambegawa discloses the excluded image having a difference from other scanned images exceeding a threshold (fig.5 and [0055]-[0060]) (Note: the CPU 238 detects an image having a large difference as an exclusion candidate image from among a plurality of candidate correct answer images).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention by the applicant to modify the reference image forming apparatus of Ichikawa with the concept wherein the excluded image has a difference from other scanned images exceeding a threshold as taught by Kambegawa. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to improve image quality evaluation by making it possible to detect a defect such as density unevenness.
Referring to claim 30, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 25 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 31, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 26 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 35, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 25 is applicable herein.
Referring to claim 36, the same ground of rejection provided for claim 26 is applicable herein.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOUSTAPHA DIABY whose telephone number is (571)270-1669. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9AM-6PM.
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/MOUSTAPHA DIABY/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
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