Prosecution Insights
Last updated: September 20, 2026
Application No. 18/941,938

INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Nov 08, 2024
Priority
May 20, 2024 — JP 2024-082089
Examiner
ZHANG, FAN
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Fujifilm Holdings Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
55%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 5m
Est. Remaining
71%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 55% of resolved cases
55%
Career Allowance Rate
335 granted / 606 resolved
-4.7% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
641
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.8%
-32.2% vs TC avg
§103
70.7%
+30.7% vs TC avg
§102
11.7%
-28.3% vs TC avg
§112
2.4%
-37.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 606 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION Notice of AIA Status 1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 2. 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 of this title, 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. 3. Claims 1-3 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obara et al (US Pub: 2017/0185469) and in further view of Endo (JP Pub: 2009276919) (Applicant submitted reference). Regarding claim 1, Obara et al teaches: An information processing system comprising: a storage unit configured to store information recognized as image information [p0027, p0068], outside an image forming apparatus configured to execute image forming processing of forming an image based on the image information [p0049, p0051]. Obara et al does not generate pseudo information. In the same field of endeavor, Endo teaches: a processor configured to generate pseudo information including recognition information causing recognition as the image information by the storage unit and information other than the image information, and transmit the pseudo information to the storage unit [page 4: p03, page 7: p03]. Therefore, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of the two to generate a pseudo job to cover information for future backup and recovery. Regarding claim 2, the rationale applied to the rejection of claim 1 has been incorporated herein. Obara et al in view of Endo further teaches: The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to generate the pseudo information including retained information retained by the image forming apparatus as the other information [Obara: claim 1; Endo: page 4: p01-p03]. Regarding claim 3, the rationale applied to the rejection of claim 2 has been incorporated herein. Obara et al in view of Endo further teaches: The information processing system according to claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to generate, when the image forming apparatus changes a setting, the pseudo information including setting information before the change as the retained information [p0098]. Therefore, given Obara et al’s teaching on retaining setting data before a replacement and data is backed up before a storage is replace; and Endo’s teaching on generating and store pseudo data with additional information before print process, the combined teaching would have made adding setting information to pseudo data stored as retained information obvious to a skilled in the art for future data backup. Regarding claim 5, the rationale applied to the rejection of claim 1 has been incorporated herein. Endo further teaches: The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to generate the pseudo information including image information [page 1: p08; page 2: p01]. Regarding claim 6, the rationale applied to the rejection of claim 1 has been incorporated herein. Endo further teaches: The information processing system according to claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to generate the pseudo information including image information having a notification content to be notified to a user [page 6: p01]. Claim 7 has been analyzed and rejected with regard to claim 1 and in accordance with Obara et al’s further teaching on: A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process for information processing [p0038, p0039]. Claim 8 has been analyzed and rejected with regard to claim 1. 4. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Obara et al (US Pub: 2017/0185469) and Endo (JP Pub: 2009276919) (applicant submitted reference); and in further view of Michishita (US Pub: 2018/0267864). Regarding claim 4, the rationale applied to the rejection of claim 3 has been incorporated herein. Obara et al in view of Endo’s teaching would have made rolling back to previous setting obvious. In the same field of endeavor, Michishita teaches: The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to cause, when the change of the setting in the image forming apparatus is inappropriate, the storage unit to transmit the setting information before the change to the image forming apparatus [abstract, fig. 5]. Therefore, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of all to roll back previous setting information upon detection of abnormality for data preservation. Contact 5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FAN ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3751. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9:00-5:00. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. 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. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Fan Zhang/ Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2682
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 08, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12739333
IMAGE READING DEVICE WITH DOCUMENT LIFT MOVING UP AND DOWN
2y 4m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12711788
CLASSIFICATION MODELS FOR ANALYZING A SAMPLE
4y 2m to grant Granted Aug 18, 2026
Patent 12708331
METHOD, SYSTEM AND/OR COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR CHARACTERIZING MOTION OF TISSUE BASED ON ACQUIRED PET DATA
3y 1m to grant Granted Aug 18, 2026
Patent 12705692
TRAINING OF A MACHINE LEARNING SYSTEM FOR OBJECT-LEVEL IMAGE SYNTHESIS WITH LABELED-SLOT CONDITIONING
2y 9m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12700150
INPAINTING DISPATCH TECHNIQUES FOR DIGITAL IMAGES
3y 1m to grant Granted Aug 04, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
55%
Grant Probability
71%
With Interview (+16.0%)
3y 3m (~1y 5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 606 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month