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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/5/2024 was considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 12/5/2024 are acceptable for examination by the examiner.
Title
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 § 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 and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KIKUNO (US 5,548,376) teaches, regarding claim 1, a method of determining whether a printing interruption time for each printing interruption exceeds a reference time based (column 2, lines 13-25; column 8, lines 7-27; measures the time of the jam condition, column 8, lines 46-65); a non-transitory recording medium storing a computer-readable program, the program causing the computer to execute: acquiring a log from an image forming apparatus; determining whether a printing interruption time for each printing interruption exceeds a reference time based on the log acquired in the acquiring (column 3, lines 4-15 and column 8, lines 7-27); creating display data in a display manner that allows recognition of a proportion of the printing interruption determined to exceed the reference time (column 8, lines 32-39) in the determining; and outputting the display data created in the creating (figures 1-3 and 7-8; column 2, lines 13-25, column 3, lines 4-15, column 8, lines 7-27 and 32-39).
Regarding claim 10, KIKUNO teaches a method comprising: acquiring a log from an image forming apparatus; determining whether a printing interruption time for each printing interruption exceeds a reference time based on the log acquired in the acquiring; creating display data in a display manner that allows recognition of a proportion of the printing interruption determined to exceed the reference time in the determining; and outputting the display data created in the creating (figures 1-3 and 7-8; column 2, lines 13-25, column 3, lines 4-15, column 8, lines 7-27 and 32-39).
Regarding claim 11, KIKUNO teaches an image forming system comprising an image forming apparatus; an information processing apparatus including a hardware processor that: acquires a log from an image forming apparatus; determines whether a printing interruption time for each printing interruption exceeds a reference time based on the log acquired; creates display data in a display manner that allows recognition of a proportion of the printing interruption determined to exceed the reference time; and outputs the display data created; and a display device that displays the display data output from the information processing apparatus (figures 1-3 and 7-8; column 2, lines 13-25, column 3, lines 4-15, column 8, lines 7-27 and 32-39).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 2-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KIKUNO (US 5,548,376 B2) in view of YAMAGUCHI et al. (US 2006/0291871 A1).
KIKUNO does not teach a listing.
YAMAGUCHI teaches regarding claim 2, the creating includes creating a list of the printing interruption time for each printing interruption, and, among the printing interruption time in the list, displaying data of the printing interruption time exceeding the reference time in a manner distinguishable from data of the printing interruption time not exceeding or equal to the reference time (figures 1, 6, and 8-10).
Regarding claim 3, the creating include highlighting the data of the printing interruption time exceeding the reference time [0071; the alarm is for the data that exceeded references].
Regarding claim 4, the creating include rearranging data in the list in a descending or ascending order of the printing interruption time (figure 9; [0082, managed by the host; also, bar chart 657]; [0130-0132; technique are not limited]).
KIKUNO does not teach a non-transitory recording medium acquiring a log.
YAMAGUCHI teaches a non-transitory recording medium acquiring a log [for example, paragraph 0138].
KIKUNO and YAMAGUCHI are concerned with image forming management systems.
The rationale for combining the teachings of YAMAGUCHI with the teachings of KIKUNO relates to the rationale of combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains to use the teaching of YAMAGUCHI with the teaching of KIKUNO to obtain increase monitoring of the image forming condition.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9 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.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. TACHIBANA (US 2018/0091666 A1) teaches a messaging display format for an image forming apparatus.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANA GRAINGER whose telephone number is (571)272-2135. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday, 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, Walter Lindsay can be reached on 571-272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/QUANA GRAINGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
QG