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 .
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The claims are generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform with current U.S. practice. They appear to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document and are replete with grammatical and idiomatic errors.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kanno (US 2018/0063374).
(1) regarding claims 1 and 9:
Kanno ‘374 discloses an image forming apparatus (Fig. 1) comprising:
a display (paragraph [0130]); and
one or more controllers (CPU 1801 in Fig. 18),
wherein the one or more controllers
refer to first information associating user identification information identifying a user with print history information indicating presence or absence of print histories related to print jobs held by the image forming apparatus (paragraph [0055], where the print history is associated with a particular logged-in user, and presents the history table associated with each user), and
control, on a basis of whether the print history information corresponding to the user identification information of a logged-in user who is logged in to the image forming apparatus indicates the presence of a print history of some of the print jobs (paragraph [0055], where print history table is associated with a logged-in user), whether to cause a first confirmation screen including information indicating at least one print job other the some of the print jobs to appear on the display (This limitation is not clear, thus the examiner is interpreting this limitation as directed to presenting a screen with confirmed jobs associated with the logged in user; in paragraph [0055] and [0093], where a screen is presented with associated jobs with a particular user).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
A. Claim 2 discloses the unique and distinct limitations of “wherein the some of the print jobs are resident jobs residing in the image forming apparatus”, either alone or in combination, the applied prior art does not teach the claimed subject matter. Claim 3 depends on claim 2, therefore a similar analysis applies.
B. Claim 4 discloses the unique and distinct limitations of “wherein the one or more controllers refer to the first information, and cause, when the print history information corresponding to the user identification information of the logged-in user indicates that no print history is present for all of the print jobs and the number of print jobs corresponding to the user identification information of the logged-in user held by the image forming apparatus is fewer than a predetermine number, a second confirmation screen including information indicating one or more print jobs satisfying a predetermined condition among the print jobs fewer than the predetermined number to appear on the display”, either alone or in combination, the applied prior art does not teach the claimed subject matter. Claims 5-8 depend on claim 4, therefore a similar analysis applies.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LENNIN R RODRIGUEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-1678. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9:00am-7:00pm.
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, Abderrahim Merouan can be reached at 571-270-5254. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LENNIN R RODRIGUEZGONZALEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
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