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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 9-10, 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190004751 to Ikeda in view of US 20090015857 to Tsurumi.
Regarding claim 1, Ikeda discloses an information processing apparatus operable to communicate with a server providing contents (paragraph 24; image processing apparatus 100 (information processing apparatus) acquires contents (communicates) from content server 120), the information processing apparatus comprising:
at least one processor (paragraph 25; CPU 201); and
at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to act as (paragraph 25, 36; CPU 201 executes program stored in ROM 202 to execute control program):
a first setting unit configured to set timing of displaying contents (paragraph 59, 61, 63, 75; content management unit 305 (first setting unit) sets user selected setting such as timing to display signage (content) at “after login”);
a controller configured to (paragraph 25; control unit 200):
receive the contents provided from the server (paragraph 120-121; in s407; CPU 201 acquires “web content” provided by content server); and
display the contents on an operation unit at the set timing (paragraph 122; in s408 the display displays the acquired web content on operation unit 209; paragraph 116; in s411 if set timing for display is “after login” it goes to step s408 after acquiring content and displays acquired content in s408 on operation unit); and
an identifying unit configured to identify a user operating the information processing apparatus (paragraph 79, 91; on authentication screen user inputs user ID and password and if authentication is successful by the authentication processing unit 308 (identifying unit) the user ID is identified as operating the image processing apparatus),
wherein the first setting unit is operable to set multiple timings for each of the contents to be displayed (paragraph 101-104; user can set multiple timings such as “after login” or “after auto-clear processing” as timing to display contents).
However Ikeda does not disclose a controller configured to transmit a request for the contents to the server; receive the contents provided from the server based on the request; wherein the controller is further configured to add information of the user identified by the identifying unit to the request.
Tsurumi discloses a controller (paragraph 30; CPU 16) configured to transmit a request for the contents to the server (paragraph 54-55; in s106 advertising information acquiring part 51 transmits request for advertising information (content) to server 30);
receive the contents provided from the server based on the request (paragraph 54-55; image forming apparatus receives the advertising information from server 30 based on request);
wherein the controller is further configured to add information of the user identified by the identifying unit to the request (paragraph 26, 53-54; personal info such as user ID is acquired by authentication device 12 (identifying unit) thereby identifying the user; the user ID is added as header in the request).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Ikeda as taught by Tsurumi to provide request transmission including adding user information to request.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide personalization of requested contents by adding user information such as names to the contents and provide the changed contents to the user for display and further allow users to send he content to the user’s email address (paragraph 67-68).
Regarding claim 2, Tsurumi discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to receive contents based on the information of the user (paragraph 55, 67-68; the received content includes the personal information (based on the information of the user) as shown in Fig. 9a and email button sends info to the user address).
Regarding claim 3, Ikeda discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the at least one processor to act as:
a second setting unit configured to set contents providable by the server in advance as contents to be displayed at the set timing (paragraph 51, 61, 68; the path for the content is set in advance in the textbox 505 by content management unit 305 (second setting unit); paragraph 122; in s411 if set timing for display is “after login” it goes to step s408 after acquiring content and displays acquired content in s408 on operation unit),
wherein the request for the contents set by the second setting unit (paragraph 61, 120-121; web content display unit 302 sets request for content based on the setting of the path). Further Tsurumi discloses wherein the controller is further configured to transmit a request for the contents (paragraph 54-55; in s106 advertising information acquiring part 51 transmits request for advertising information (content) to server 30).
Regarding claim 9, Ikeda discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the set timing includes at least one of:
timing of the user logging in the information processing apparatus (paragraph 59, 61, 63, 75; content management unit 305 (first setting unit) sets user selected setting such as timing to display signage (content) at “after login” to image processing apparatus);
timing of the user logging out the information processing apparatus;
timing of initializing a setting parameter for a screen displayed on the operation unit to an initial value in response to no operation to the operation unit for a predetermined period of time; and
timing of starting printing based on a print job received under a status of displaying a print screen on the operation unit.
Regarding claim 10, Tsurumi discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request is an HTTP request (paragraph 50, 54; HTTP request),
the controller is further configured to add the information of the user to a header of the HTTP request (Paragraph 54; user ID/password (user information) is added to HTTP header in step 106).
Regarding claim 14, Ikeda discloses a system including an information processing apparatus and a server providing contents for the information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus and the server being operable to communicate with each other (paragraph 24; system including image processing apparatus 100 (information processing apparatus) that acquires contents (communicates) from content server 120 (provider)),
the information processing apparatus comprising:
first at least one processor (paragraph 25; CPU 201); and
first at least one memory coupled to the first at least one processor and storing instructions, which when executed by the first at least one processor, cause the first at least one processor to act as (paragraph 25, 36; CPU 201 executes program stored in ROM 202 (first at least one memory) to execute control program):
a setting unit configured to set timing of displaying contents (paragraph 59, 61, 63, 75; content management unit 305 (setting unit) sets user selected setting such as timing to display signage (content) at “after login”);
a controller configured to (paragraph 25; control unit 200):
receive the contents provided from the server (paragraph 120-121; in s407; CPU 201 acquires “web content” provided by content server); and
display the contents on an operation unit at the set timing (paragraph 122; in s408 the display displays the acquired web content on operation unit 209; paragraph 116; in s411 if set timing for display is “after login” it goes to step s408 after acquiring content and displays acquired content in s408 on operation unit); and
an identifying unit configured to identify a user operating the information processing apparatus (paragraph 79, 91; on authentication screen user inputs user ID and password and if authentication is successful by the authentication processing unit 308 (identifying unit) the user ID is identified as operating the image processing apparatus),
wherein the setting unit is operable to set multiple timings for each of the contents to be displayed (paragraph 101-104; user can set multiple timings such as “after login” or “after auto-clear processing” as timing to display contents).
However Ikeda does not disclose
the server comprising:
second at least one processor; and
second at least one memory coupled to the second at least one processor and storing instructions, which when executed by the second at least one processor, cause the second at least one processor to act as:
a provision unit configured to change the requested contents based on information of the user, and provide the changed contents for the information processing apparatus if the request includes information of the user identified as a user operating the information processing apparatus,
wherein the controller is further configured to:
transmit a request for the contents to the server;
receive the contents provided from the server in response to the request;
add information of the user identified by the identifying unit to the request; and
receive contents that is based on the information of the user from the server.
Tsurumi discloses the server comprising (paragraph 31; server 30):
second at least one processor; and second at least one memory coupled to the second at least one processor and storing instructions, which when executed by the second at least one processor, cause the second at least one processor to act as (paragraph 31; server has CPU 16 (second at least one processor) memory 17 (second at least one memory) that stores program instructions that are executed by CPU):
a provision unit configured to change the requested contents based on information of the user (paragraph 55, 66-68; advertising information providing server 60 (provision unit) changes the advertisement information (coupon) by embedding the received user ID into the coupon as shown in Fig. 9a), and provide the changed contents for the information processing apparatus if the request includes information of the user identified as a user operating the information processing apparatus (paragraph 53, 54, 55, 66-68; the coupon (advertisement) with user name added to it (changed content) is provided to the image forming apparatus 10 (information processing apparatus); in step s106 a request is sent including personal information (user Id) when user is identified in step s104 as operating user),
wherein the controller is further configured to (paragraph 30; CPU 16):
transmit a request for the contents to the server (paragraph 54-55; in s106 advertising information acquiring part 51 transmits request for advertising information (content) to server 30);
receive the contents provided from the server in response to the request (paragraph 54-55; image forming apparatus receives the advertising information from server 30 based on request);
add information of the user identified by the identifying unit to the request (paragraph 26, 53-54; personal info such as user ID is acquired by authentication device 12 (identifying unit) thereby identifying the user; the user ID is added as header in the request); and
receive contents that is based on the information of the user from the server (paragraph 53, 54, 55, 66-68; the coupon (content) with user name added to it (based on user information) is received from server).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Ikeda as taught by Tsurumi to provide request transmission to the server including adding user information to request.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide personalization of requested contents by adding user information such as names to the contents and provide the changed contents to the user for display and further allow users to send he content to the user’s email address or print the contents (paragraph 67-68).
Regarding claim 15, Ikeda discloses a method for an information processing apparatus operable to communicate with a server providing contents, the method comprising (paragraph 24; image processing apparatus 100 (information processing apparatus) acquires contents (communicates) from content server 120):
setting timing of displaying contents (paragraph 59, 61, 63, 75; content management unit 305 (first setting unit) sets user selected setting such as timing to display signage (content) at “after login”);
receiving the contents provided from the server (paragraph 120-121; in s407; CPU 201 acquires “web content” provided by content server);
displaying the contents on an operation unit at the set timing (paragraph 122; in s408 the display displays the acquired web content on operation unit 209; paragraph 116; in s411 if set timing for display is “after login” it goes to step s408 after acquiring content and displays acquired content in s408 on operation unit);
identifying a user operating the information processing apparatus (paragraph 79, 91; on authentication screen user inputs user ID and password and if authentication is successful by the authentication processing unit 308 (identifying unit) the user ID is identified as operating the image processing apparatus); and
wherein the setting includes setting multiple timings for each of the contents to be displayed (paragraph 101-104; user can set multiple timings such as “after login” or “after auto-clear processing” as timing to display contents).
However Ikeda does not disclose transmitting a request for the contents to the server;
receiving the contents provided from the server in response to the request;
adding information of the user identified in the identifying to the request.
Tsurumi discloses transmitting a request for the contents to the server (paragraph 54-55; in s106 advertising information acquiring part 51 transmits request for advertising information (content) to server 30);
receiving the contents provided from the server in response to the request (paragraph 54-55; image forming apparatus receives the advertising information from server 30 based on request);
adding information of the user identified in the identifying to the request (paragraph 26, 53-54; personal info such as user ID is acquired by authentication device 12 (identifying unit) thereby identifying the user; the user ID is added as header in the request).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Ikeda as taught by Tsurumi to provide request transmission including adding user information to request.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide personalization of requested contents by adding user information such as names to the contents and provide the changed contents to the user for display and further allow users to send he content to the user’s email address (paragraph 67-68).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190004751 to Ikeda in view of US 20090015857 to Tsurumi further in view US Patent 10158657 to Bray.
Regarding claim 4, Tsurumi discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:
add the information of the user identified by the identifying unit to the request if the identifying unit succeeds in identifying the user (paragraph 53-54; if personal info is obtained from IC card (user is identified) in s106 advertising information acquiring part 51 adds the user ID/password (information of the user) to the request).
However Ikeda in view of Tsurumi does not disclose wherein the controller is further configured to not add the information of the user to the request if the identifying unit fails in identifying the user.
Bray discloses wherein the controller is further configured to (column 11, lines 46-50 processor 504) not add the information of the user to the request if the identifying unit fails in identifying the user (column 6, line 40-47; column 7, line 6-35; when user fails to log in (not logged in) the user account identifier will have no value therefore user account identifier is NOT added to the HTTP request since it is absent from the request).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Ikeda as taught by Bray to control the adding or not adding of user information to the request.
The motivation to combine the references is to deny request for content based on whether the user is logged in or not such that unauthenticated users are prohibited from accessing the contents resulting in secure content distribution system (column 8, lines 60-67).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190004751 to Ikeda in view of US 20090015857 to Tsurumi further in view of US 20130291123 to Rajkumar.
Regarding claim 5, Ikeda does not disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the at least one processor to act as:
a second setting unit configured to set restriction on notifying the server of information,
wherein, in a case that the restriction on the notification of the information is set by the second setting unit, the controller is further configured not to add the information of the user to the request even if the user operating the information processing apparatus is identified.
Rajkumar discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the at least one processor to act as (paragraph 156-157; program stored in memory for processor):
a second setting unit configured to set restriction on notifying the server of information, wherein, in a case that the restriction on the notification of the information is set by the second setting unit (paragraph 26-27, 33, 36; privacy setting set (second setting unit) to restrict PII information such as user information such that request for content includes anonymous info), the controller is further configured not to add the information of the user to the request even if the user operating the information processing apparatus is identified (paragraph 26, 33, 36-37, 53; privacy setting set to restrict PII information such as user information from being added such that request for content includes anonymous info (no user information) even though the user identified via login request on first device).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Ikeda as taught by Rajkumar to provide restriction of notifying user information.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide contents based on request without storing PII information of users to enhance security of the user information (paragraph 7, 114).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190004751 to Ikeda in view of US 20090015857 to Tsurumi further in view of US 20150012616 to Pearl.
Regarding claim 6, Ikeda discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the at least one processor to act as:
a management unit configured to manage information of contents displayed on the operation unit through the control by the controller (paragraph 61; content management unit 305 manages the storing of “path of the web content” (information of contents) that is displayed in the content setting management table 306; paragraph 36-38; CPU 201 (controller) implements the signal application 300). Further Ikeda discloses contents to be displayed when a specific event has occurred (paragraph 122; in s408 the display displays the acquired web content on operation unit 209; paragraph 116; in s411 if set timing for display is “after login” (specific event) it goes to step s408 after acquiring content and displays acquired content in s408 on operation unit).
However Ikeda does not disclose wherein the controller is further configured not to transmit a request for the contents to the server if determined that contents to be displayed satisfy a predetermined condition that is based on the management by the management unit.
Pearl discloses wherein the controller is further configured not to transmit a request for the contents to the server if determined that contents to be displayed satisfy a predetermined condition that is based on the management by the management unit (paragraph 36; content server 130; paragraph 30; contents can be displayed; paragraph 51, 53, 76, 77, 78; content management system 100 is configured not to transmit request (see step 820) for content if in step 810 it determines that the content is present and valid (satisfies condition) wherein presence and valid (period) of content is managed by management system 100).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Ikeda as taught by Pearl to provide condition for transmitting request.
The motivation to combine the references is to reduce unnecessary transmission of content request by only sending request when the content is not present or it is in the invalid state based on managed data of the contents (paragraph 76-77).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190004751 to Ikeda in view of US 20090015857 to Tsurumi further in view of JP 2010224620 to Miyazaki.
EXAMINER NOTE: THE LIMITATION OF CLAIM 7 BELOW HAS NO PATENTABLE WEIGHT BECAUSE IT IS LIMITATION PERFORMED BY THE SERVER AND CLAIM 1 DISCLOSES AN INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND THEREFORE THIS LIMITATION DOES NOT FURTHER LIMIT THE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS.
“wherein the server is configured to manage information of contents displayed by the information processing apparatus, and is operable to respond to the information processing apparatus with information indicating that the requested contents satisfy a predetermined condition that is based on the management if the requested contents satisfy the predetermined condition”
Regarding claim 7, Ikeda does not disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured not to display the contents if the information indicating that the requested contents satisfy the predetermined condition is received from the server as a response to the request.
Miyazaki discloses wherein the controller (paragraph 37; CPU) is further configured not to display the contents if the information indicating that the requested contents satisfy the predetermined condition is received from the server as a response to the request (paragraph 25, 32, 73; continuation flag information is received in response to request for advertisement; flag indicates whether or not web page after transition displays the advertisement content; if flag is off then web page after transition is NOT displayed; flag is information on a condition related to previous web page and transition page displaying or not displaying same advertisement).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Ikeda as taught by Miyazaki to provide control for displaying contents based on condition received from server.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide control of displaying advertisement contents when user transitions between web pages so as to increase chance of user interacting with the content even when changing pages by either changing contents by not displaying old contents or keeping older contents same (paragraph 5-10).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190004751 to Ikeda in view of US 20090015857 to Tsurumi further in view of JP 2010224620 to Miyazaki further in view of JP H0951522 to Takiyasu.
Regarding claim 8, Ikeda in view of Miyazaki does not disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied if the server stores information indicating that the information processing apparatus has displayed the contents.
Takiyasu discloses wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied if the server stores information indicating that the information processing apparatus has displayed the contents (paragraph 17, 24, 42, 44; server stores in table 155 viewed flag 158; paragraph 40; condition satisfied in step 904 based on the viewed flag stored).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Ikeda as taught by Takiyasu to provide condition based on stored information at the server.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide freedom to user regarding viewing of contents such as advertisement by controlling distribution of content based on viewed flag information (paragraph 39-40, 46).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190004751 to Ikeda in view of US 20090015857 to Tsurumi further in view of JP 2006139613 to Ideno.
Regarding claim 11, Ikeda does not disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured not to add the information of the user identified by the identifying unit to the request at timing of displaying a screen for user logout.
Ideno discloses wherein the controller is further configured not to add the information of the user identified by the identifying unit to the request at timing of displaying a screen for user logout (paragraph 13, 16-17, 23; browser displayed provide screen for logout; at timing of logout being executed the request for page content is generated without adding authentication header that includes user ID).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Ikeda as taught by Ideno to not add user information based on logout event.
The motivation to combine the references is to automatically send previous user login information if request without user information is transmitted and specific response is received so that user does not have to provide the login information after logout (paragraph 30-32).
Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190004751 to Ikeda in view of US 20090015857 to Tsurumi further in view of JP 2019136888 to Mori.
Regarding claim 12, Ikeda does not disclose the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the set timing is print execution timing.
Mori discloses wherein the set timing is print execution timing (paragraph 78-79; in s1613-s1614 the set timing 1103 is when print setting screen event is notified as print execution timing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Ikeda as taught by Mori to provide print execution timing as time for displaying contents.
The motivation to combine the references is to display contents at time when user is present at the printer device to perform printing such that chance of user viewing the content will be high.
Regarding claim 13, Mori discloses the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request is sent when printing occurs (paragraph 58, 80, 92, 95; when timing is related print setting screen it goes to step s1608 shown in Fig. 18 wherein in s1802 request for content via HTTP sent to server 105).
Conclusion
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Patent Examiner
Beniyam Menberu
/BENIYAM MENBERU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681
09/17/2026
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