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 statements (IDS) submitted on March 13, 2025, and July 18, 2025, were filed 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 § 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.
Claims 1-2, 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ohara et al. (JP 2015136896 A), hereinafter Ohara. Textual references to Ohara are drawn from the attached machine translation.
Regarding claim 1, Ohara teaches an image forming apparatus, comprising: an ejection portion which ejects ink toward a conveyed sheet (fig. 1; ink head 2, sheet 3, conveyance path 8; ¶[0017]-[0019]);
an acquisition processing portion which acquires, when duplex image forming processing for forming images on a first surface and second surface of the sheet using the ejection portion is executed, adherence amount information related to an adherence amount of the ink by the image formation for each of a plurality of specific areas preset in an image forming area on the first surface of the sheet (figs. 4, 10; control unit 100, image formation control unit 110, curling amount calculation unit 150, holding time calculation unit 160, print information 210, paper information 220, print mode information 230, image information 240; equations 1-12; ¶[0036]-[0043], [0075]-[0083]);
a setting processing portion which sets a stop time during which conveyance of the sheet is stopped, based on a plurality of pieces of the adherence amount information acquired by the acquisition processing portion (fig. 4; holding time calculation unit 160; ¶[0043], [0075]-[0083]);
and a stop processing portion which temporarily stops, based on the stop time set by the setting processing portion, the conveyance of the sheet after the image formation on the first surface of the sheet and before the image formation on the second surface of the sheet during the execution of the duplex image forming processing (fig. 4; image forming control unit 110; ¶[0043]),
wherein the plurality of specific areas include a center portion area that is set at a center portion of the image forming area and an end portion area that is set at an end portion of the image forming area (fig. 10; ¶[0078]).
Regarding claim 2, Ohara teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adherence amount information is information indicating a coverage rate in each of the specific areas (¶[0075]-[0080]), and the setting processing portion corrects each piece of the adherence amount information using a correction coefficient preset for each of the specific areas (fig. 10; ¶[0075]-[0080]), and sets, as the stop time, a time that is acquired based on a maximum value out of the corrected adherence amount information (equation 12; ¶[0082]).
Regarding claim 4, Ohara teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting processing portion sets the stop time based on a combination of the plurality of pieces of adherence amount information acquired by the acquisition processing portion, a type of the sheet, and a basis weight of the sheet (equations 1-12; ¶[0038]-[0043], [0075]-[0080]).
Regarding claim 5, Ohara teaches an image forming method executed in an image forming apparatus including an ejection portion which ejects ink toward a conveyed sheet (figs. 1, 13; ink head 2, sheet 3, conveyance path 8, steps S101-S111; ¶[0017]-[0019], [0090]-[0097]), comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring, when duplex image forming processing for forming images on a first surface and second surface of the sheet using the ejection portion is executed, adherence amount information related to an adherence amount of the ink by the image formation for each of a plurality of specific areas preset in an image forming area on the first surface of the sheet (figs. 4, 10; control unit 100, image formation control unit 110, curling amount calculation unit 150, holding time calculation unit 160, print information 210, paper information 220, print mode information 230, image information 240; equations 1-12; ¶[0036]-[0043], [0075]-[0083]); a setting step of setting a stop time during which conveyance of the sheet is stopped, based on a plurality of pieces of the adherence amount information acquired in the acquisition step (fig. 4; holding time calculation unit 160; ¶[0043], [0075]-[0083]); and a stop step of temporarily stopping, based on the stop time set in the setting step, the conveyance of the sheet after the image formation on the first surface of the sheet and before the image formation on the second surface of the sheet during the execution of the duplex image forming processing (fig. 4; image forming control unit 110; ¶[0043]), wherein the plurality of specific areas include a center portion area that is set at a center portion of the image forming area and an end portion area that is set at an end portion of the image forming area (fig. 10; ¶[0078]).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohara (JP 2015136896 A). Textual references to Ohara are drawn from the attached machine translation.
Regarding claim 3, Ohara teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the end portion area includes a first area that is set at each corner portion of the image forming area on an upstream side of a conveying direction of the sheet and a second area that is set at each corner portion of the image forming area on a downstream side of the conveying direction (fig. 10; ¶[0075]-[0084]), the correction coefficient set for the first area is largest out of a plurality of the correction coefficients respectively corresponding to the plurality of specific areas (fig. 10; ¶[0075]-[0084]).
Ohara fails to teach the correction coefficient set for the second area is second largest out of the plurality of correction coefficients respectively corresponding to the plurality of specific areas.
However, the recitation of, “the correction coefficient set for the second area is second largest out of the plurality of correction coefficients respectively corresponding to the plurality of specific areas,” amounts to merely applying a technique known in the art to a known device ready for improvement in a manner that yields predictable results. The teachings of Ohara provide both a technique for, and a device capable of applying different weights to regions of an image area based on expectations of amounts of curl caused by the presence of applied ink on a medium (see particularly ¶[0075]-[0083]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the technique taught by Ohara to the device taught by Ohara in such a manner that individual weights are selected for each image region based on the expected amount of curl in each image region, wherein the weights of the upstream corners are largest and the weights of the downstream corners are second largest, in order to optimize a stopping time and curling amount of the medium.
See MPEP §2143(I)(D).
Additionally, the particular collection of correction coefficients amounts to a mere functional recitation of a desired mode of operation and fails to recite any additional structure necessary to perform that function. Attention is invited to MPEP § 2114:
"[A]pparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does." Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990) (emphasis in original).
A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. Since Ohara teaches all the structure as recited and is capable of operating in the manner recited, it thereby meets the claim language.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Tomida et al. (US 20220314645 A1) teaches an inkjet printing apparatus that performs duplex printing wherein a stop time is determined from a combination of coefficients applied to image regions and paper type. Itogawa (US 20130257964 A1) teaches an inkjet printing apparatus the performs a decurling procedure based on calculations of liquid ejection amounts applied to evaluation regions of an image area.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS RAY KNIEF whose telephone number is (703)756-5733. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8AM - 5 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephen Meier can be reached at 5712722149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRK/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/STEPHEN D MEIER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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