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 .
The action is responsive to the following communication: an application filed on 10/11/2024 where:
Claims 1-15 are currently pending.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10 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.
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 1 and 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe et al. (US 2016/0077687, hereinafter Watanabe) in view of Kobayashi et al. (US 2019/0379821, hereinafter Kobayashi).
Regarding claim 1, Watanabe teaches: A control apparatus ([0046], electronic apparatus), comprising at least one memory and at least one processor ([0065], memory, CPU) and/or at least one circuit which function as:
a display control unit ([0048], A display monitor 101 is a display device) that performs control to display either of a first menu screen (fig. 3B2, my menu tab 306) and a second menu screen (fig. 3B2, my menu small tabs 320), on each of which a plurality of menu items are arranged (fig. 3B2, menu items 331 to 334, [0079], Upon selection of the my menu tab 306, the my menu small tabs 320 and the my menu settings tab 326 are displayed on the same screen (in the same row).);
a reception unit that receives an instruction to initialize the second menu screen on a setting screen via the first menu screen ([0085], “Add my menu tab” 331 is a menu item for performing a function of adding a my menu small tab 320. “Delete all my menu tabs” 332 is a menu item for performing a function of deleting all of the my menu small tabs that have been added. “Delete all items” 333 (first menu item) is a menu item for performing a function of deleting all of the menu items registered on the my menu small tabs 320. The “setting screen” reached on through the first menu screen);
an editing unit that performs editing related to the second menu screen based on an editing operation by a user on the second menu screen ([0135], In contrast, functions that are effective only for a my menu small tab 320 being selected, such as “select item to register” 1501, is a menu item for performing a function of selecting and registering a my menu item that the user wants to register in a my menu small tab 320).
Watanabe does not explicitly teach: a control unit that initializes contents of the second menu screen edited by the edit unit to restore to a state before the editing, based on the reception of the instruction of the initialization.
However, Kobayashi teaches: a control unit that initializes contents of the second menu screen edited by the edit unit to restore to a state before the editing, based on the reception of the instruction of the initialization (fig. 30A-30C and [0213]] FIG. 30B shows a confirmation screen 3020 displayed when the menu item “delete all items” on the menu screen 520 (FIG. 5B) is selected, and the SET button 75 is pressed in this state. An OK button 3021 is a button configured to execute deletion of all setting items laid out on the customized setting screen. The user can execute deletion of all objects on the setting screen by selecting the OK button 3021 and pressing the SET button 75. FIG. 30C shows an editing screen corresponding to the customizable setting screen after execution of deletion of all items. Since deletion of all items is executed, no object is laid out on the customizable setting screen. The editing screen only has display of layout boxes, as shown in FIG. 30C.).
Therefore, the Applicant's claimed invention would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Watanabe to include a control unit that initializes contents of the second menu screen edited by the edit unit to restore to a state before the editing, based on the reception of the instruction of the initialization as taught by Kobayashi. The motivation/suggestion would have been to further enhance/improve the control apparatus since doing so would allow for deleting of items setting in a menu; therefore, allowing the user to reset/starts new settings without having to delete each item.
Regarding claim 11, Watanabe and Kobayashi teach: The control apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising: a printer that prints an image on a sheet (Kobayashi, [0228], That is, the present invention is applicable to a personal computer, a PDA, a portable telephone terminal, a portable image viewer, a printer apparatus including a display, a digital photo frame, a music player, a game machine, an electronic book reader, and the like. ).
Regarding claim 12, Watanabe and Kobayashi teach: The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein menu items of the first menu screen and menu items of the second menu screen are displayed in different forms of display (Watanabe, fig. 3b2, menu 306 and menu 320 are displayed in different forms of display).
Regarding claim 13, Watanabe and Kobayashi teach: The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first menu screen (Watanabe, menu screen 306, [0083], In a default state (at the time of default settings), the my menu settings tab 326 is the only small tab 307 belonging to the my menu tab 306.) is a default home screen and the second menu screen is a custom home screen (Watanabe, [0087], A menu (first-type menu) in a lower layer below the layer of the my menu small tabs 320 has the following menu items: “settings” 342 (second menu item), and my menu items (customized menu items, registered items) 341 that have been customized by the user.).
Claims 14 and 15 are rejected for reasons similar to claim 1 above
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW H LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7969 and fax number is 571-270-8969. The examiner can normally be reached on 9AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benny Tieu can be reached on 571-272-7490. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW H LAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682
Prosecution Insights