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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claim 15 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/28/2026.
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-14 in the reply filed on 4/28/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-10 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Morinaga et al. [US2021/0325808].
Morinaga discloses a laminating system comprising: an image former (300) that forms an image on a sheet (paragraph 0153-156); a laminator (200) that is provided on a downstream side of the image former and performs a lamination process of laminating the sheet with a film (paragraph 0150-154); and a hardware processor (controller 50) that is capable of performing, before execution of a job, a test lamination process of causing the laminator to laminate a sheet with no image formed or a sheet with a test image formed by the image former, the test image being different from an image of the job (paragraph 0193). It is noted the claims disclose the function of the of the hardware processor, the function of claim feature does not patentably distinguish the claimed feature from the prior art feature if the prior art feature includes all the required structure of the feature. Morinaga’s disclosed controller (processor, general-purpose computer including a processing unit) includes all of the structure required by the claim, and that would be capable of performing in the manner disclosed in the claim.
With respect to claim 2, Morinaga discloses the hardware processor (50; paragraph 0193) that would be capable of performing in the manner recited in the claim.
With respect to claim 3, Morinaga discloses the hardware processor (50; paragraph 0193) that would be capable of performing in the manner recited in the claim.
With respect to claim 4, the claim is directed toward the material worked upon, and the system of Morinaga would be capable of working upon such a material and in a manner disclosed by the claim.
With respect to claim 5, Morinaga discloses the hardware processor (50; paragraph 0193) that would be capable of performing in the manner recited in the claim.
With respect to claim 6, Morinaga discloses a sheet feeder (106) that feeds a sheet to the image former (paragraph 0106), and Morinaga discloses the hardware processor (50; paragraph 0193) that would be capable of performing in the manner recited in the claim.
With respect to claim 7, Morinaga discloses a medium detector (1400) that detects a characteristic of the sheet stored in the sheet feeder (detects the size of the medium; paragraph 0224), and Morinaga discloses the hardware processor (50; paragraph 0193) that would be capable of performing in the manner recited in the claim.
With respect to claim 8, Morinaga discloses the hardware processor (50; paragraph 0193) that would be capable of performing in the manner recited in the claim.
With respect to claim 9, Morinaga discloses the hardware processor (50; paragraph 0193) that would be capable of performing in the manner recited in the claim.
With respect to claim 10, Morinaga discloses the laminator includes a film detector (sheet sensor) that detects fitting of a film to the laminator (paragraph 0107-109, 0326), and Morinaga discloses the hardware processor (50; paragraph 0193) that would be capable of performing in the manner recited in the claim.
With respect to claim 14, Morinaga discloses the hardware processor (50; paragraph 0193) that would be capable of performing in the manner recited in the claim. Morinaga also discloses a display capable of performing in a manner disclosed in the claim (paragraph 0006-7).
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 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morinaga in view of Kimura [US2021/0389702].
Morinaga discloses a laminating system. Applicant is referred to paragraph 5 for a detailed discussion of Morinaga. With respect to claims 11-13 Morinaga discloses an image former but fails to disclose a fixer. It is noted claims 11-13 also recite details of the material worked upon (sheet) and the manner of operation of the hardware processor. Morinaga discloses the hardware processor (50; paragraph 0193) that would be capable of performing in the manner recited in the claims.
Kimura discloses an image forming apparatus. Kimura discloses the image forming apparatus includes a fixer (paragraph 0011, 0027-29) which fixes a toner image to a sheet.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the system of Morinaga to include a fixer as taught by Kimura in order to improve the quality of the final product by ensuring the toner is heated and fixed into its correct position on the sheet.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL MCNALLY whose telephone number is (571)272-2685. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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, Michael Orlando can be reached at 571-270-5038. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL MCNALLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
DPM
July 16, 2026
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