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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed on 2/19/25, the requirements 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) are met.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited on a Form PTO 1449 have been considered.
Specification
The specification has been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. However, the applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oguchi et al. (U.S. 2021/0060964 A1).
Oguchi et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding independent Claim 10, a printed object production method comprising: a first identifier acquisition step (§§0134-0136) of acquiring a first identifier indicating a type of a first ink set in a first ink receiving unit (67, §0126 and Fig. 11);
a second identifier acquisition step (§§0134-0136) of acquiring a second identifier indicating a type of a second ink set in a second ink receiving unit (67, §0126 and Fig. 11);
a control data acquisition step (§§0134-0136, 0154) of acquiring control data corresponding to a combination of the first identifier and the second identifier, from a database; and
a printing step of causing a printing mechanism to perform printing corresponding to image data, using the first ink and the second ink, in accordance with the control data, and thus producing a printed object (§§0140, 0148, 0154).
Regarding independent Claim 11, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (120, §0035 and Fig. 5) storing a program, the program causing a computer to execute:
a first identifier acquisition step (§§0134-0136) of acquiring a first identifier indicating a type of a first ink set in a first ink receiving unit (67, §0126 and Fig. 11);
a second identifier acquisition step (§§0134-0136) of acquiring a second identifier indicating a type of a second ink set in a second ink receiving unit (67, §0126 and Fig. 11);
a control data acquisition step (§§0134-0136, 0154) of acquiring control data corresponding to a combination of the first identifier and the second identifier, from a database; and
a print processing step of causing a printing mechanism to execute printing corresponding to image data, using the first ink and the second ink, in accordance with the control data (§§0140, 0148, 0154).
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) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oguchi et al. (U.S. 2021/0060964 A1).
Oguchi et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding independent Claim 1, a printing system (10, §§0020, 0189-0195 and Fig. 1) comprising:
a first ink receiving unit (67, §0126 and Fig. 11);
a second ink receiving unit (67, §0126 and Fig. 11);
a first identifier acquisition unit (“cartridge management section” including “a first electrode provided on an inner surface of the cartridge holder 62a”, §§0134-0136) configured to acquire a first identifier indicating a type of a first ink set in the first ink receiving unit;
a second identifier acquisition unit (“cartridge management section” including “a first electrode provided on an inner surface of the cartridge holder 62a”, §§0134-0136) configured to acquire a second identifier indicating a type of a second ink set in the second ink receiving unit;
a control data acquisition unit (130, §§0034-0035, 0066, 0136, 0139, 0154 and Figs. 5-7) configured to request a database to provide control data corresponding to a combination of the first identifier and the second identifier;
a storage unit (120, §§0074, 0136 and Figs. 5-7) storing the control data acquired from the database in response to the request;
a printing unit (63, §0129 and Fig. 11) configured to perform printing corresponding to the image data, using the first ink and the second ink, in accordance with the control data (i.e. the first or second mode, §§0138-0140 and Fig. 7).
Oguchi et al. do not disclose (in the second embodiment) the following claimed limitations:
Regarding independent Claim 1, an image data acquisition unit configured to acquire image data. However, Oguchi et al. disclose an image data acquisition unit (13, §0021 and Fig. 2) configured to acquire image data in a different embodiment. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply an image data acquisition unit of Oguchi et al. to the printing system of Oguchi et al. to provide a source of image data to be printed.
Claim(s) 2-3 and 6-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oguchi et al. (U.S. 2021/0060964 A1) in view of Miyachi et al. (U.S. 2022/0032628 A1).
Oguchi et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claims 2-3 and 6-9, all limitations of Claim 1 (from which these Claims depend).
Regarding Claim 2, wherein the first ink receiving unit fixes a first ink cartridge containing the first ink, the second ink receiving unit fixes a second ink cartridge containing the second ink, the first identifier acquisition unit acquires the first identifier from the first ink cartridge, and the second identifier acquisition unit acquires the second identifier from the second ink cartridge (§§0134-0136).
Regarding Claim 6, wherein the control data acquisition unit acquires the control data that is one of a plurality of the control data according to the combination of the first identifier and the second identifier (§0154).
Regarding Claim 7, wherein the control data acquisition unit acquires the control data that is one of a plurality of the control data according to a selection by a user (§§0034-0035, 0066, 0136, 0139, 0154 and Figs. 5-7; please note that the user makes the selection of the ink cartridge 67 to install).
Regarding Claim 8, wherein the control data acquisition unit acquires the control data from an external recording medium (§§0139, 0142 and Fig. 8).
Regarding Claim 9, wherein the control data acquisition unit acquires the control data from the external recording medium when the control data cannot be acquired from the database (§§0139, 0142 and Fig. 8).
Oguchi et al. do not disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claim 3, wherein the first ink receiving unit is a first ink tank in which the first ink is poured from a first ink bottle, the second ink receiving unit is a second ink tank in which the second ink is poured from a second ink bottle, the first identifier acquisition unit acquires the first identifier read from an exterior of the first ink bottle by a first reading unit, and the second identifier acquisition unit acquires the second identifier read from an exterior of the second ink bottle by a second reading unit.
Miyachi disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claim 3, wherein the first ink receiving unit is a first ink tank (600, §§0069-0070and Figs. 3-5) in which the first ink is poured from a first ink bottle (800, §§0069-0070and Figs. 6-9), the second ink receiving unit (600, §§0069-0070and Figs. 3-5) is a second ink tank in which the second ink is poured from a second ink bottle (800, §§0069-0070and Figs. 6-9), the first identifier acquisition unit (602, §§0081-0096 and Figs. 13-16) acquires the first identifier read from an exterior of the first ink bottle by a first reading unit, and the second identifier acquisition unit (602, §§0081-0096 and Figs. 13-16) acquires the second identifier read from an exterior of the second ink bottle by a second reading unit. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the identifier acquisition units of Miyachi et al. to the printing system of Oguchi et al. to provide a reliable readout for the identifier.
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oguchi et al. (U.S. 2021/0060964 A1) in view of Xu et al. (U.S. 2019/0020787 A1).
Oguchi et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claims 4-5, all limitations of Claim 1 (from which these Claims depend).
Oguchi et al. do not disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claim 4, wherein the control data includes color conversion data to convert a color space of the image data from an RGB color space to a color space including a color of the first ink and a color of the second ink.
Regarding Claim 5, wherein the control data includes waveform data to eject the first ink and the second ink.
Xu et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
Regarding Claims 4, wherein the control data includes color conversion data (Abstract, §§0037, 0048, 0059, 0071 and Fig. 6; please note that the data transmitted to the printer includes at least the data on the color space of the image data to be printed) to convert a color space of the image data from an RGB color space to a color space including a color of the first ink and a color of the second ink. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the color conversion data of Xu et al. to the printing system of Oguchi et al. to provide correct colors for the printed image.
Regarding Claim 5, wherein the control data includes waveform data to eject the first ink and the second ink (Abstract, §0067). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the waveform data of Xu et al. to the printing system of Oguchi et al. to provide correct colors for the printed image while minimizing local computational burden.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER D SHENDEROV whose telephone number is (571)270-7049. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodrigues can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER D SHENDEROV/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/JASON S UHLENHAKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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