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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 04/24/2025, 09/24/2025, 03/31/2026, and 07/09/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim 3 is 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.
Claim 3 recites the limitations "the number of the color forming member images determined in the imaging order" and “the number of the color forming member images stored in the database” in lines 2 and 3, respectively. There is insufficient antecedent basis for each of these limitations in the claim. For the prior art purposes, the limitations are interpreted as “a number of the color forming member images determined in the imaging order" and “a number of the color forming member images stored in the database”.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 6, and 8-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO patent application publication no. 2021/235364 to Sasahara et al. (hereinafter Sasa).
For claim 1, Sasa as applied discloses an information processing system (see, e.g., FIG. 1, which teaches a surface pressure analysis system) comprising:
a first information processing apparatus that includes at least one first processor (see, e.g., pars. 42-44 and 114 and FIGS. 1 and 10, which teach using a user terminal, such as a smartphone and personal computer); and
a second information processing apparatus that includes at least one second processor (see, e.g., pars. 42-45, 123 and 124 and FIGS. 1 and 10, which teach using a server),
wherein the first processor is configured to:
acquire a color forming member image obtained by imaging a color forming member, which forms a color with density distribution corresponding to an amount of energy applied thereto (see, e.g., pars. 14, 28, 48-54, 84, 117-118, 130-131, and 185-186 and FIGS. 1, 7, 10, 11-12, and 20, which teach using the user terminal to capture an inspection image of a pressure measurement sheet that is disposed on the inspection surface of the measurement object and color-developed with a density distribution according to the intensity of the pressure applied to the inspection surface); and
transmit the color forming member image to the second information processing apparatus (see, e.g., pars. 36, 51, 55, 85, 119, 130, and 187 and FIGS. 1, 7, 10, 11, and 20, which teach acquiring the inspection image of the pressure measurement sheet from the user terminal),
the second processor is configured to store, in a database, the color forming member image received from the first information processing apparatus (see, e.g., pars. 33, 49, 125, 134, and 137 and FIGS. 10-12, which teach using the processor of the surface pressure analysis device to store the inspection image in a database), and
the first processor or the second processor is configured to determine whether or not the color forming member image stored in the database satisfies a predetermined condition (see, e.g., pars. 12, 13, 16, 17, 23, 25, 90-96, 100, 132, 138-139, and 189 and FIGS. 8, 11, 12, and 20, which teach using the server to determine whether the pressure value in the inspection image satisfies a preset condition, e.g., the preset reference information including the allowable ranges/threshold values and the pass/fail threshold).
For claim 4, Sasa as applied discloses that the imaging order includes an item related to accessory information related to the color forming member image (see, e.g., pars. 80, 82 and 106, which teach inputting and registering the accessory information when imaging the inspection object).
For claim 6, Sasa as applied discloses that the accessory information includes information related to at least one of an object to be examined by means of the color forming member, a type of the color forming member, a type of energy applied to the color forming member, an imaging environment for the color forming member, a person who images the color forming member, the amount of energy applied to the color forming member, which is derived based on the color forming member image, or an evaluation for the amount of energy (see, e.g., pars. 34 and 105-107, which teach that the accessory information includes one or more of identification information of the measurement object, a type of the pressure measurement sheet, an inspection condition, a pressure type, and information on an inspector who has instructed the pass/fail determination result, in addition to the pass/fail determination result).
For claim 8, Sasa as applied discloses that the first processor is configured to perform notification indicating that the color forming member image stored in the database does not satisfy the condition in a case where the first processor or the second processor determines that the color forming member image stored in the database does not satisfy the condition (see, e.g., pars. 103-105, 133, and 177 and FIGS. 8 and 18, which teach displaying the primary determination result, which includes the result of “fail”).
For claim 9, Sasa as applied discloses that the first processor or the second processor is configured to derive the amount of energy applied to the color forming member based on the color forming member image by using characteristic data in which a relationship between the amount of energy applied to the color forming member and a color of the color forming member included in the color forming member image is determined in advance (see, e.g., pars. 28, 29 and 139 and FIG. 12, which teach developing colors of the pressure values by setting colors and pressure ranges thereof in advance).
For claim 10, Sasa as applied discloses that the first processor or the second processor is configured to evaluate the derived amount of energy based on predetermined reference information (see, e.g., pars. 37, 38, 113, and 117 and FIG. 8, which teach evaluating the inspection image based on the reference information defined in advance).
For claims 11 and 12, Sasa as applied discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (see, e.g., par. 195) storing an information processing program causing a computer to execute processing of:
acquiring a color forming member image obtained by imaging a color forming member, which forms a color with density distribution corresponding to an amount of energy applied thereto (see, e.g., pars. 14, 28, 48-54, 84, 117-118, 130-131, and 185-186 and FIGS. 1, 7, 10, 11-12, and 20, which teach using the user terminal to capture an inspection image of a pressure measurement sheet that is disposed on the inspection surface of the measurement object and color-developed with a density distribution according to the intensity of the pressure applied to the inspection surface);
transmitting the color forming member image to an external device(see, e.g., pars. 36, 51, 55, 85, 119, 130, and 187 and FIGS. 1, 7, 10, 11, and 20, which teach acquiring the inspection image of the pressure measurement sheet from the user terminal); and
determining whether or not the color forming member image stored in a database by the external device satisfies a predetermined condition (see, e.g., pars. 12, 13, 16, 17, 23, 25, 90-96, 100, 132, 138-139, and 189 and FIGS. 8, 11, 12, and 20, which teach using the server to determine whether the pressure value in the inspection image satisfies a preset condition, e.g., the preset reference information including the allowable ranges/threshold values and the pass/fail threshold).
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.
Claim(s) 2 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sasa in view of us patent application publication no. 2009/0087099 to Nakamura.
For claim 2, while Sasa does not explicitly teach, Nakamura in the analogous art teaches that the first processor or the second processor is configured to determine whether or not the color forming member image stored in the database is compliant with a predetermined imaging order (see, e.g., pars. 28-31, 91-93, 107, and 118 of Nakamura, which teach, when instructed to capture images, determining whether the stored number of images has reached the preset number of images).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sasa to ensure that a preset number of images is stored as taught by Nakamura because doing so would provide a customized operation (see, e.g., par. 31 of Nakamura) and improve the usability (see, e.g., par. 179 of Nakamura).
For claim 3, while Sasa as applied does not explicitly teach, Nakamura in the analogous art teaches that the first processor or the second processor is configured to determine whether or not the number of the color forming member images determined in the imaging order and the number of the color forming member images stored in the database coincide with each other (see, e.g., pars. 28-31, 91-93, 107, and 118 of Nakamura, which teach, when instructed to capture images, determining whether the stored number of images has reached the preset number of images).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sasa to ensure that a preset number of images is stored as taught by Nakamura because doing so would provide a customized operation (see, e.g., par. 31 of Nakamura) and improve the usability (see, e.g., par. 179 of Nakamura).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sasa in view of us patent application publication no. 2011/0043642 to Yu et al. (hereinafter Yu).
For claim 7, while Sasa as applied does not explicitly teach, Yu in the analogous art teaches that the first processor is configured to re-transmit the color forming member image to the second information processing apparatus in a case where the first processor or the second processor determines that the color forming member image stored in the database does not satisfy the condition (see, e.g., pars. 54 and 73 of Yu, which teach re-transmitting an image when a condition fails).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sasa to re-transmit an image as taught by Yu because doing so would yield predictable results of preventing a failure of a condition based on a transmission related issue (see, e.g., MPEP 2143(I)(D)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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.
In regard to claim 5, when considered as a whole, prior art of record fails to disclose or render obvious, alone or in combination:
“the first processor or the second processor is configured to determine whether or not the item that is related to the accessory information and that is determined in the imaging order and the accessory information of the color forming member image stored in the database coincide with each other.”
Additional Citations
The following table lists several references that are relevant to the subject matter claimed and disclosed in this Application. The references are not relied on by the Examiner, but are provided to assist the Applicant in responding to this Office action.
Citation
Relevance
Hatta et al. (us pat. pub. 2021/0341345)
Describes a pressure measuring material having a substrate and a pressure-sensitive layer, wherein the pressure-sensitive layer contains a polymer matrix containing a polymer compound having a molecular weight of 1,000 or more, and microcapsules encapsulating an electron-donating dye precursor and a solvent, and an electron-accepting compound. Also described is a method for manufacturing the pressure measuring material.
Watanabe et al. (2010/0184233)
Describes a material for pressure measurement which utilizes a color forming reaction between a colorless electron-donating dye precursor and an electron-accepting compound to form color, and having a color density differenceof 0.02 or more before and after pressurization at 0.05 MPa. When the colorless electron-donating dye precursor is included in microcapsules and the median diameter of the microcapsules on a volume basis is A .mu.m, 5000 to 30000 microcapsules having a diameter of (A+5) .mu.m or more are present per 2 cm.times.2 cm area.
Hilman (us pat. pub. 2022/0020176)
Describes automated detection of a calibration object within a recorded image. In some implementations, a system receives an original image from a camera, wherein the original image includes at least a portion of a calibration chart. The system further derives a working image from the original image. The system further determines regions in the working image, wherein the regions include groups of pixels having values within a predetermined criterion. The system further analyzes two or more of the regions to identify a candidate calibration chart in the working image. The system further identifies at least one region within the candidate calibration chart as a patch, where the identifying of the at least one region is based on a color of the patch. The system further predicts a location of one or more additional patches based on at least the identified patch.
Table 1
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See table 1 and form 892.
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/WOO C RHIM/Examiner, Art Unit 2676
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