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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(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.
Claims 1-3 and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wiegand’367 (US 2013/0230367).
With respect to claim 1, Wiegand’367 teaches a printing control apparatus [regarding to the system shown in Fig.1] comprising circuitry configured to:
receive an input of a print job for an image forming apparatus (Fig.4);
refer to, for each of a plurality of processes identified based on the print job, unit information stored in a memory and indicating a unit of a quantity for a corresponding one of the plurality of processes (Fig.4); and
associate the quantity for each of the plurality of processes identified based on the print job with the unit of the quantity for the corresponding one of the plurality of processes (Fig.4).
With respect to claim 2, which further limits claim 1, Wiegand’367 teaches wherein the circuitry is configured to, for each of the plurality of processes, associate an actual quantity indicating an execution result of the corresponding one of the plurality of processes when the print job is executed with information indicating a unit corresponding to the actual quantity (Fig.4), and
output the actual quantity and the information indicating the unit that are associated to an input source of the print job (Fig.4).
With respect to claim 3, which further limit claim 2, Wiegand’367 teaches wherein the circuitry is configured to: refer to a plurality of pieces of process pattern information each including a plurality of processes and stored in the memory in association with a plurality of printing conditions indicated by a plurality of print jobs [as shown in Fig.4, the processing steps for each copy of the book are being repeated until all of the number of copies of the book being finished. Therefore, a plurality of pieces of process pattern information associated with the processing steps for printing each copy of the book are considered being stored in a memory in order to repeatedly perform the processing steps for printing each copy of the book];
identify, based on the printing condition indicated by the print job that is input, particular process pattern information including the plurality of processes associated with the printing condition indicated by the print job among the plurality of pieces of process pattern information [as shown in Fig.4, the processing steps for each copy of the book are being repeated until all of the number of copies of the book being finish]; and
calculate, for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information, a quantity for a corresponding one of the plurality of processes based on a quantity included in the printing condition indicated by the print job [as shown in Fig.4, the processing steps for each copy of the book are being repeated until all of the number of copies of the book being finished. Therefore, the number of copies of the book and the processing steps for printing book are considered being calculated in order to allow only the desired number of copies of the book is being produced].
With respect to claim 4, which further limits claim 3, Wiegand’367 teaches wherein the quantity for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information includes: a planned input quantity determined based on the quantity included in the printing condition indicated by the print job [as shown in Fig.2, the number of copies of the book is being defined by user, and as shown in Fig.4, the processing steps for each copy of the book are being repeated until all of the number of copies of the book being finished. Therefore, a planned input quantity is considered being determined according the number of copies of the book is being defined by user]; and
a planned actual quantity indicating an execution result of the corresponding one of the plurality of processes when the print job is executed [as shown in Fig.2, the number of copies of the book is being defined by user, as shown in Fig.4, the processing steps for each copy of the book are being repeated until all of the number of copies of the book being finished. Therefore, the number of copies of the book is being defined by user indicates the number of copies of the book is being printed (an execution result)].
With respect to claim 7, which further limits claim 1, Wiegand’367 teaches a printing system (Fig.1) comprising: the printing control apparatus (Fig.1, item 101) according to claim 1; and the image forming apparatus (Fig.1, item to print an image based on the print job (paragraph 25).
With respect to claim 8, it is a method claim and it is analyzed and rejected for the same reason set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
With respect to claim 9, it is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing thereon a computer program and it is analyzed and rejected for the same reason set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
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.
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wiegand’367 (US 2013/0230367), and further in view of Sakuraba’328 (US 2010/0118328)
.
With respect to claim 5, which further limits claim 4, Wiegand’367 teaches wherein the circuitry is configured to: acquire the actual quantity for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information and store the acquired actual quantity in the memory [as shown in Fig.2, the number of copies of the book is being defined by user, and as shown in Fig.4, the processing steps for each copy of the book are being repeated until all of the number of copies of the book being finished. Therefore, the actual quantity is considered being determined according the number of copies of the book is being defined by user];
Wiegand’367 does not teach calculate the planned actual quantity for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information using a calculation formula for calculating the planned actual quantity, the calculation formula for calculating the planned actual quantity being stored in the memory for each of the plurality of processes; and store, in the memory, the calculated planned actual quantity in association with the actual quantity for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information.
Sakuraba’328 teaches calculate the planned actual quantity for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information using a calculation formula for calculating the planned actual quantity, the calculation formula for calculating the planned actual quantity being stored in the memory for each of the plurality of processes [the remaining number of copies (the planned actual quantity) to be printed is acquired by subtracting the number of copies thus calculated from the number of copies of the document set up by the user (paragraph 69)]; and
store, in the memory, the calculated planned actual quantity in association with the actual quantity for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information [the remaining number of copies (the planned actual quantity) to be printed is acquired by subtracting the number of copies thus calculated from the number of copies of the document set up by the user (paragraph 69). Therefore, the remaining number of copies (the planned actual quantity) is considered being stored in the memory either temporarily or permanently].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wiegand’367 according to the teaching of Sakuraba’328 to calculate the remaining number of copy of books because this will allow the desired number of copy of books to be printed more effectively.
With respect to claim 6, which further limits claim 5, Wiegand’367 teaches acquire, when the print job is executed, an input quantity input for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information (Fig.2 and Fig.4);
Wiegand’367 teaches wherein the circuitry is configured to: calculate the planned input quantity for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information using a calculation formula for calculating the planned input quantity, the calculation formula for calculating the planned input quantity being stored in the memory for each of the plurality of processes; and store, in the memory, the calculated planned input quantity in association with the input quantity for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information.
Sakuraba’328 teaches wherein the circuitry is configured to: calculate the planned input quantity for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information using a calculation formula for calculating the planned input quantity, the calculation formula for calculating the planned input quantity being stored in the memory for each of the plurality of processes [the remaining number of copies (the planned actual quantity) to be printed is acquired by subtracting the number of copies thus calculated from the number of copies of the document set up by the user (paragraph 69)]; and
store, in the memory, the calculated planned input quantity in association with the input quantity for each of the plurality of processes indicated by the particular process pattern information [the remaining number of copies (the planned actual quantity) to be printed is acquired by subtracting the number of copies thus calculated from the number of copies of the document set up by the user (paragraph 69). Therefore, the remaining number of copies (the planned actual quantity) is considered being stored in the memory either temporarily or permanently].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wiegand’367 according to the teaching of Sakuraba’328 to calculate the remaining number of copy of books because this will allow the desired number of copy of books to be printed more effectively.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUO LONG CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3759. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9am - 5pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tieu, Benny 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.
/HUO LONG CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682
Prosecution Insights