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 .
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimers filed on 12/29/2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of Patent No. 11616893 and Patent No. 12143548 have been reviewed and are accepted. The terminal disclaimers have been recorded.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claims 1 and 5, Sugita teaches that “user 3” is the specified as the intended user to receive the image data (¶ 0049) and “user 3” can acquire the file by selecting the file icon (¶ 0050). Thus, given the claim its broadest reasonable interpretation, Sugita teaches the claimed limitation.
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, 2, 5, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishida (US 2021/0092253) Ishida (US 2021/0092253) in view of Sugita et al. (US 2021/0160393; hereinafter Sugita).
Regarding claim 1, Ishida teaches a communication method for a first terminal device that receives, from a server device, a communication result of a first image communicated between a first communication device and a second communication device by that communicate with the server device, the server device providing a service enabling message exchange among a plurality of terminal devices (terminal 30, image forming device 10, and notification server 40; ¶¶ 0089-0092, Fig. 7 and ¶¶ 0096-0110, Fig. 8), the communication method comprising:
But Ishida does not explicitly teach receiving a first instruction for sending a second image from the first communication device to the second communication device; and receiving a second instruction for sending a message to a second terminal device, wherein the first instruction and the second instruction are received via a user interface of a first application that are executed on the first terminal device.
However, Sugita teaches receiving a first instruction for sending a second image from the first communication device to the second communication device (user replies to chat; ¶¶ 0037-0038 and ¶¶ 0047-0050, Fig. 12); and receiving a second instruction for sending a message to a second terminal device (chat message can be sent to specific user with “@” attached to comment; ¶¶ 0037-0038 and ¶¶ 0047-0050, Fig. 12), wherein the first instruction and the second instruction are received via a user interface of a first application that are executed on the first terminal device (message screen 1200; ¶ 0037, Fig. 12).
Ishida and Sugita are in the same field of a terminal device that performs image transmission with a server device. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the terminal device of Ishida to include a server device which provides a service enabling message exchange as taught by Sugita. The combination improves the terminal device by providing a simple means of image transmission that saves a user time and effort (¶ 0122; Sugita).
Regarding claim 2, Ishida in view of Sugita teach the communication method for the first terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the first communication device receives the first image from the second communication device by using a first communication method (processor 31 displays message indicating image forming device 10 has received facsimile data from transmission source and displays a thumbnail 302 of the facsimile data; ¶¶ 0143-0147, Fig. 10), but Ishida does not explicitly teach the first communication device sends the second image to the second communication device by using the first communication method, and the message is sent to the second terminal device by a second communication method different from the first communication method.
However, Sugita teaches the first communication device sends the second image to the second communication device by using the first communication method (user replies to chat; ¶¶ 0037-0038 and ¶¶ 0047-0050, Fig. 12), and the message is sent to the second terminal device by a second communication method different from the first communication method (¶ 0035).
The motivation applied in claim 1 is incorporated herein.
Claim 5 recites similar limitation as claim 1 thus, arguments similar to that presented above.
Regarding claim 6, Ishida in view of Sugita teach the image formation device according to claim 5, wherein the message contains text data (¶¶ 0146-0147, Ishida).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 4 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yamamoto et al. (11750757) teaches an information processing apparatus that handles facsimile.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/KENT YIP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681
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