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 .
Claims 1 – 13 are pending in this application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 10/28/2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Applicant has provided an explanation of relevance of cited document(s) JP-2008-44129 on page 1 of the specification.
Applicants have not provided an explanation of relevance of cited document(s) discussed below.
Yamauchi (U.S Patent No. 11868069 B2) teaches an image forming system includes the following. An image former forms an image on a recording medium. A laminator performs lamination in which a film is laminated on a surface of the recording medium on which the image is formed by the image former. A hardware processor obtains information regarding image forming by the image former and that determines a condition of the lamination by the laminator based on the obtained information regarding the image forming.
Sumi et al. (U.S Patent No. 4909891) teaches a laminator for bonding a film onto a substrate is disclosed which comprises a film supply plate for supplying the film along a supply path, a film temporary bonding body and a film temporary bonding edge member for temporarily bonding the film in pressing contact with the substrate. The film temporary bonding edge member is detachably provided on the film temporary bonding body. A first heat insulator is interposed between the film temporary bonding body and the film temporary bonding edge member. The temporary bonding body is detachably provided at a leading end of the film supply path of the film supply plate. A second insulator is interposed between the film supply plate and the film temporary bonding body.
Ishihara (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2004/0161257 A1) discloses an image forming apparatus that has two operation panel: a standard operation panel and an optional operation panel. The image forming apparatus has a standard mode and a professional mode which provide different displays on the operation panels. In addition, custom displays may be stored and recalled by the users.
Yoshino (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2019/0095146 A1) provides an image forming apparatus includes an image forming section capable of forming an image on a sheet of paper based on an input image, a display section for displaying the input image, an operation section which receives a user's input operation to designate three or more arbitrary number of points inside the input image displayed on the display section as adjustment points, and designates at least one destination of the three or more adjustment points, and an image processing section which calculates each moving amount of the adjustment points from position information on the destinations of the adjustment points designated by the operation section so as to adjust a position of an image of a region enclosed by the three or more adjustment points.
Hatanaka (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 20200298592 A1) teaches a liquid discharge apparatus includes a liquid discharge head, a stimulation imparting unit, and a control unit. The liquid discharge head discharges stimulation hardening resin. The stimulation imparting unit imparts hardening stimulation to the discharged stimulation hardening resin. The control unit: controls the liquid discharge head based on lamination print data; forms a plurality of print layers each having a contour part; and changes a distance from the contour part in each of the print layers, based on data representing a correction amount with respect to a distance from the contour part in each of the print layers and a number of the print layers.
Tsuchiya et al. (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2020/0301336 A1) teaches an image forming apparatus includes: an image former that divides a first image into a plurality of second images and forms the second images on an image carrier; a test image reader that reads the second images formed on the image carrier; and a hardware processor that: selects a number of the second images from among the second images read by the test image reader, the number of the second images being smaller than a number of division of the first image; combines the selected second images into a combined image; and detects an image defect in the combined image.
Takahashi et al. (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2020/0344374 A1) teaches an image scanning apparatus includes: a reading unit that reads image data, which includes an image of a document transported along a transport path and an image at a scanning position of the image, from a storage area in synchronization with a reading synchronization signal; a detection unit that detects a dirt at the scanning position by processing the image data; and a delay unit that delays and outputs a period, during which the synchronization signal to be provided to the detection unit is valid, until reading of data of a document part included in the image data starts.
Imanishi (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2021/0014380 A1) provides an image processing device capable of correcting an image formation position page by page. The image processing device has: an obtaining unit obtaining a print job corresponding to a plurality of pages; a determination unit obtaining a read image of a sheet in which an image is formed for at least two pages in the plurality of pages and determining a deviation amount in the at least two pages; a calculation unit calculating at least two correction values on the basis of the deviation amount in the at least two pages; and a correction unit performing image correction on each of the plurality of pages on the basis of a corresponding correction value in the at least two correction values.
Suzuki et al. (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2023/0079216 A1) teaches an image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a fixing unit, first and second rotating members, and a discharge unit to discharge a recording material to an outside. The fixing unit fixes an image from the image forming unit onto the recording material. The first rotating member comes into contact with and guides the image bearing recording material, and is driven to rotate by conveyance of the recording material. The second rotating member comes into contact with the image bearing recording material more on a downstream side than the first rotating member in a conveyance direction of the recording material, guides the recording material, and is driven to rotate by conveyance of the recording material. The first rotating member does not perform swinging motion by coming into contact with the recording material, and the second rotating member performs swinging motion by coming into contact with the recording material.
Kitaguchi et al. (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2024/0083158 A1) teaches a laminating system includes: a laminator that performs a laminating process by overlaying a film on a plurality of sheets conveyed; and a hardware processor that, before the laminating process, adjusts an interval between sheets, the interval varying in an image former, such that a leading end and a trailing end of the sheets conveyed from the image former are superposed or the interval between the sheets conveyed from the image former is reduced.
Nagato (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2024/0163377 A1) corresponds to the parent application.
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.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to
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Claims 1, 5, 6, 8 and 12 of instant application are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 7, 1*, 8 and 9 (Patent No. 12,192,416 B2) in view of Kimura et al. (U.S PreGrant Publication No. 2011/0085125 A1, hereinafter ‘Kimura’).
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because: The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is covered by the patent since the patent and the application are claiming common subject matter, as follows:
It is clear that all the elements of the parent claims 1, 7, 1*, 8 and 9 are to be found in instant claims 1, 5, 6, 8 and 12 (e.g., as the parent claim 1 fully encompasses the instant claim 1).
The difference between the instant application claim 1 and the patent claim 1 lies in the fact that the instant claim 1 include an additional element (e.g., detects a defect based on the laminated image) and is thus much more specific. Thus, the invention of instant claim 1 is in effect a “species” of the “generic” invention of the parent application claim 1.
It has been held that the generic invention is “anticipated” by the “species”. See In re Goodman, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993). Since parent application claim 1 is anticipated by claim 1 of the instant, it is not patentably distinct from claim 1 the instant claims.
Below is a side-by-side comparison (bolded where significant different, and underlined where limitation is mentioned somewhere):
Instant Application 18/928,704
Patent No. 12,192,416 B2
Claim 1
An image forming system comprising:
an image former that forms an image on paper based on image data,
a laminator that laminates by superimposing a film on an image surface of the paper on which the image has been formed,
an image reader that reads the paper laminated by the laminator from a side of the film to obtain a laminated image, and
a first hardware processor that detects a defect based on the laminated image.
Claim 1
An image processing system comprising:
an image former that is disposed upstream of a laminator in the paper transport direction and forms an image on paper,
the laminator that laminates by superimposing a film on an image surface of the paper on which the image has been formed,
an image reader that is disposed downstream of the laminator in the paper transport direction and reads the image surface of the paper after the lamination by the laminator,
a first hardware processor that corrects a color of the image formed by the image former based on the image read by the image reader before and after the lamination.
Claim 2
The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the first hardware processor detects the defect by comparing the laminated image with a comparative image.
Not in claims, but mentioned somewhere in the specification.
Claim 3
The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the comparative image is an image based on print data.
Claim 4
The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the comparative image is an image read in advance.
Claim 5
The image forming system according to claim 1, further comprising a second hardware processor that controls the image former based on the defect.
Claim 7
The image processing system of claim 5, wherein the second hardware processor that compares the image read by the image reader after the lamination with print data or an image read by the image reader in advance to detect a defect of the image.
Claim 6
The image forming system according to claim 5, wherein the second hardware processor corrects a color of an image formed by the image former.
Limitations in claim 1, hereinafter 1*
Claim 7
The image forming system according to claim 6, wherein the first hardware processor detects the defect by comparing the laminated image with the image before the lamination.
Not in claims, but mentioned somewhere in the specification.
Claim 8
The image forming system according to claim 1, further comprising a third hardware processor that controls the laminator based on the defect.
Claim 8
The image processing system of claim 7, further comprising a third hardware processor, wherein the third hardware processor corrects a laminating condition based on the detected defect of the image so that occurrence of the defect is suppressed.
Claim 9
The image forming system according to claim 8, wherein the third hardware processor controls a laminating condition.
Not in claims, but mentioned somewhere in the specification and claim 8.
Claim 10
The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the defect is a change in hue.
Not in claims, but mentioned somewhere in the specification.
Claim 11
The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the defect is occurrence of a wrinkle.
Not in claims, but mentioned somewhere in the specification.
Claim 12
The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the paper is discharged to one paper ejection tray when the defect is detected or to another paper ejection tray when the defect is not detected.
Claim 9
The image processing system according to claim 6, further comprising: a plurality of paper ejection trays that are disposed downstream of the image reader in the paper transport direction and serve as discharge destinations of the paper, and a fourth hardware processor that switches a discharge destination of the paper among the discharge destinations of the paper based on the image read by the image reader.
Claim 13
An image forming method comprising: forming an image on paper based on image data, performing a lamination using a laminator by superimposing a film on an image surface of the paper on which the image has been formed, obtaining a laminated image using an image reader that reads the paper laminated by the laminator from a side of the film to form the laminated image, and performing a defect detection process using a first hardware processor that detects a defect based on the laminated image.
Not in claims, but this is a method on which the system can be performed.
Claim 1 of the Patent No. 12,192,416 does not disclose “detects a defect based on the laminated image”.
However, the aforementioned limitations are well-known in the art as evidenced by Kimura. In particular, Kimura teaches detecting a defect based on a laminated image (e.g., detecting a defect based on a laminated image (slits, etc.), ¶0034 - ¶0036, ¶0148, Fig. 7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention was made to combine claim 1 of Patent No. 18/928,704with the additional feature of Kimura since Kimura suggested within ¶0034 - ¶0036, ¶0148 and/of Fig. 7 that such modification of detecting defect based on laminated image would correct parameters/values in order to improve production efficiency of manufacturing individualized sheets.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Yamashita et al. (U.S PG Publication No. 2021/0063922 A1)1
1This reference teaches an image forming apparatus forming a pattern image on a measurement sheet; laminate layers on said pattern image; read (inspect) laminated layers and at least detecting image defects by reading the toner image formed on the sheet PP. This reference may cover many of the dependent claims from the instant application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUAN M GUILLERMETY whose telephone number is (571)270-3481. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00AM - 5:00PM.
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/JUAN M GUILLERMETY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682
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