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 § 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 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jeran et al. (US 2024/0118906).
Regarding claim 1, Jeran discloses a device (printing device) that can be attached to and detached from an image-forming apparatus (par. 0009), comprising: a memory 323 including a first storage area 311 (original manufacture data,) which is read-only and a second storage area 313 (configuration data) which is rewritable (par. 0057; fig. 4), control circuitry 319 (par. 0056, fig. 3); and a connection interface 436 configured to be connected to an information processing apparatus at a time of remanufacturing of the device (see par. 0064, 0069) , wherein the first storage area is an area configured to store first information (original manufacturer data) specific to the device, the second storage area is an area configured to store second information (configuration data) read out and used by the image-forming apparatus and a digital signature generated based on the first information and the second information (par. 0057), and at a time of remanufacturing of the device, the control circuitry is configured to: receive the second information (configuration data), the digital signature (par. 0084-0085), and authentication information generated based at least on the second information from the information processing apparatus via the connection interface 436 (see “response blob”, par. 0084), and allow the second information and the digital signature to be written to the second storage area in a case where verification of the second information that is based on the authentication information is successful (see “the end user device may not reconfigure itself using the configuration data unless the configuration data is authenticated by decrypting and/or validating the digital signature”, par. 0085).
Regarding claim 2, Jeran discloses wherein the authentication information is generated by a server apparatus (distance server) configured to communicate with the information processing apparatus using a key that is different from an encryption key used to generate and verify the digital signature (first one-time key, par. 0039).
Regarding claim 3, Jeran discloses wherein the authentication information is generated further based on the digital signature (par. 0085).
Regarding claim 4, Jeran discloses wherein the second information is stored at a predetermined address of the memory, the control circuitry is configured to receive a writing instruction including a write destination address of the second information from the information processing apparatus, and the authentication information is generated further based on the write destination address (par. 0084-0085).
Regarding claim 5, Jeran discloses encryption processing circuitry configured to hold a first derived key pre- generated based on a master key and the first information, wherein the control circuitry is configured to transmit the first information to the information processing apparatus via the connection interface at a time of remanufacturing of the device, the authentication information is generated using a second derived key generated based on the master key and the first information by a server apparatus configured to manage the master key, and the encryption processing circuitry is configured to use the first derived key to perform the verification of the second information that is based on the authentication information obtained from the server apparatus and received from the information processing apparatus (par. 0071-0072).
Regarding claim 6, Jeran discloses wherein the authentication information is a message authentication code (par. 0028).
Regarding claim 7, Jeran discloses wherein the first information includes first identification information for identifying the device before remanufacturing (par. 0057).
Regarding claim 8, Jeran discloses wherein the second information includes a duplicate of the first identification information before remanufacturing of the device and is rewritten to second identification information for identifying the device after remanufacturing from the duplicate of the first identification information at a time of remanufacturing of the device (par. 0057-0059).
Regarding claim 9, Jeran discloses a component element (cartridge) involved in an image-forming operation of the image-forming apparatus, wherein the second information includes characteristic information indicating a characteristic of the component element (par. 0009).
Regarding claim 10, Jeran discloses wherein the characteristic information is rewritten by the information processing apparatus at a time of remanufacturing of the device (par. 0009).
Regarding claim 11, Jeran discloses wherein the component element involved in the image-forming operation includes at least one of a development agents supplied from the device to the image-forming apparatus and a member driven in the image-forming operation (see cartridge, par. 0009).
Regarding claim 12, Jeran discloses wherein the device is a cartridge attached to and used with the image-forming apparatus (par. 0009).
Regarding claim 13, Jeran discloses wherein the digital signature is used by the image-forming apparatus to verify the second information when the image-forming apparatus reads out and uses the second information from the device (par. 0085).
Regarding claim 14, Jeran discloses wherein the memory includes a number N of the second storage areas which are rewritable, where N being an integer greater than 1, and at a time of an n-th remanufacture, an n-th (n = 1, ..., N) of the second storage areas is used for writing the second information read out and used by the image- forming apparatus after the n-th remanufacturing and the digital signature corresponding thereto (see plurality of partitions, par. 0032).
Regarding claim 15, Jeran discloses wherein the digital signature written to the n-th second storage area is generated on a basis of the first information and the second information written to the n-th second storage area (see plurality of partitions, par. 0032).
Regarding claim 16, Jeran discloses wherein the digital signature written to the n-th second storage area is generated based on the first information and respective pieces of the second information written to the first to the n-th second storage area (see plurality of partitions, par. 0032).
Regarding claim 17, Jeran discloses a method for remanufacturing a device that can be attached to and detached from an image-forming apparatus that is executed using an information processing apparatus connected to the device (par. 0010).
Regarding claim 18, Jeran discloses an information processing apparatus for remanufacturing a device that can be attached to and detached from an image-forming apparatus (par. 0010).
Contact Info
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hoang Ngo whose telephone number is (571)272-2138. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 am - 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at 571-272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HOANG X NGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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