Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 19/040,393

PRINTING SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR ENHANCED PAPER SELECTION

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jan 29, 2025
Priority
Oct 25, 2023 — divisional of 12/248,828
Examiner
CRUZ, IRIANA
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Kyocera Document Solutions Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 1m
Est. Remaining
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allowance Rate
628 granted / 768 resolved
+21.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+9.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
783
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.0%
-30.0% vs TC avg
§103
55.7%
+15.7% vs TC avg
§102
22.9%
-17.1% vs TC avg
§112
9.3%
-30.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 768 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maeda (US 2015/0002862) in view of Kimura (US 2019/0114519 A1). With respect to Claim 1, Maeda’862 shows a method for managing printing operations for papers printable at a printing device (printer 100), the method comprising: receiving a print job for the printing device (figure 5 receive print job S1000), wherein the print job includes a print ticket having a parameter (figure 5 S1001 type of print target data extracted from print job in S1001); determining dimensions of a sheet of the print job (figure 5 identify set paper size and type of print target data in S1001, paragraph [0064]-[0066] ); accessing a plurality of papers available to print at the printing device (paragraphs [0044]-[0045] shows a paper size table that specify paper sizes supported by the printer, Figures 4A-B); determining a first group of papers from the plurality of papers based on the dimensions of the sheet, wherein the first group of papers includes at least one paper (paragraph [0077] refers to the paper width information stored in step S1004 and the paper size table illustrated in FIG. 4A or 4B, and specifies one or a plurality of paper sizes as candidate print medium sizes from among typical paper sizes supported by the printing apparatus 100, figure 5 S1005); [ ]. Maeda’862 does not specifically show refining the first group of papers using the parameter of the print ticket for the print job; and displaying the refined first group having the at least one paper within a user interface accessible to the printing device, wherein the parameter and the dimensions are indicated within the user interface. Kimura’519 shows refining the first group of papers using the parameter of the print ticket for the print job (figure 6B S604 operator selects a desired paper, paragraph [0049]); and displaying the refined first group having the at least one paper within a user interface accessible to the printing device, wherein the parameter and the dimensions are indicated within the user interface (figure 6B S606 display filtered paper list). At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claim invention to modify Maeda’862 to include refining the first group of papers using the parameter of the print ticket for the print job; and displaying the refined first group having the at least one paper within a user interface accessible to the printing device, wherein the parameter and the dimensions are indicated within the user interface method taught by Kimura’519. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to improve the system’s ability to be able to update user interface and improved convenience (paragraph [0063]). With respect to Claim 2, the combination Maeda’862 and Kimura’519 shows the method of claim 1, wherein the parameter is a specified attribute for the sheet of the print job (in Kimura’519: paragraph [0049] paper information parameters grammage and a size of a paper to be displayed on an paper information input area 751, set values for adjustment of glossiness/black quality to be displayed on an adjustment item list 754), favorite IDs, usage logs, settable paper-feed stage IDs, figure 7A showing the paper trays and the papers in each tray). With respect to Claim 3, the combination Maeda’862 and Kimura’519 shows the method of claim 1, wherein the parameter is a paper tray configured on the printing device (in Kimura’519: figure 7A papers in trays). With respect to Claim 4, the combination Maeda’862 and Kimura’519 shows the method of claim 3, further comprising determining whether the paper tray includes a paper tray configuration for the dimensions of the sheet of the print job (in Kimura’519: figure 7A paper trays). With respect to Claim 5, the combination Maeda’862 and Kimura’519 shows the method of claim 1, further comprising indicating the dimensions for the sheet of the print job with the print ticket (in Maeda’862: figure 5 identify set paper size and type of print target data in S1001, paragraph [0064]-[0066] ). With respect to Claim 6, the combination Maeda’862 and Kimura’519 shows the method of claim 1, wherein determining the dimensions for the sheet of the print job includes using page description language (PDL) dimensions (paragraph [0130] Page Description Language (PDL) data as an execution instruction for the print processing to the print control apparatus 102. According to this embodiment, the PDL data designates a paper or a paper-feed stage to be used for the printing. Assume here that the paper cassette 1 is designated as a paper-feed stage by using the user interface of the printer driver). With respect to Claim 7, the combination Maeda’862 and Kimura’519 shows the method of claim 1, further comprising searching the refined first group of the at least one paper for an attribute (in Kimura’519: figure 7C and 9A). With respect to Claim 8, the combination Maeda’862 and Kimura’519 shows the method of claim 7, further comprising filtering the refined first group according to the attribute to a subset having at least one paper of the refined first group (in Kimura’519: figure 9A). With respect to Claim 9, the combination Maeda’862 and Kimura’519 shows the method of claim 8, further comprising displaying the subset along with the parameter or dimensions of the sheet and the searched attribute within the user interface (in Kimura’519: figure 9A-9B). With respect to Claims 10 and 18, rejection analogous to those presented for claim 1, are applicable. With respect to Claim 11, the combination Maeda’862 and Kimura’519 shows the printing system of claim 10, wherein the printing device includes a paper tray having a tray configuration corresponding to the dimensions of the sheet of the print job (in Kimura’519: figure 7A paper trays). With respect to Claims 12 and 19, rejection analogous to those presented for claim 2, are applicable. With respect to Claims 13 and 20, rejection analogous to those presented for claim 3, are applicable. With respect to Claim 14, rejection analogous to those presented for claim 4, are applicable. With respect to Claim 15, rejection analogous to those presented for claim 5, are applicable. With respect to Claim 16, rejection analogous to those presented for claim 6, are applicable. With respect to Claim 17, rejection analogous to those presented for claim 7, are applicable. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Takehana (US 2022/0155715 A1): shows a filter information setting unit to set filter information indicating the paper size detected by the paper size sensor in association with the paper feed unit and a paper catalog list generating unit to extract a paper catalog matching the filter information from paper catalogs included in predetermined paper catalog data and generate a paper catalog list using the extracted paper catalog. Does not specifically filtering from an already group based on some settings of the job. Hikichi (US 2024/0289066 A1) : shows printer driver generates PDL data conforming to the format of the PDL based on the document data and various setting information (S808). The PDL data includes page data describing what is drawn on the individual pages and print job setting information (a sheet size, a sheet type, a sheet cassette, owner name, document name, etc.). The page data is image information generated from the document data by the printer driver conforming to the PDL format. The generated PDL data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100 over the network 201 (S809). Does not specifically filtering from an already group based on some settings of the job. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IRIANA CRUZ whose telephone number is (571)270-3246. The examiner can normally be reached 10-6. 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, Akwasi M. Sarpong can be reached at (571) 270-3438. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /IRIANA CRUZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 29, 2025
Application Filed
Sep 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
82%
Grant Probability
91%
With Interview (+9.5%)
2y 9m (~1y 1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 768 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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