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 9/24/2025 was considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 9/24/2025 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, 5-8, 10, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by MIZUGUCHI (US 2024/003975A; cited by applicant).
Regarding claim 1, MIZUGUCHI teaches an image forming system comprising: an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet; a reversing portion in which a front side and a back side of the sheet are to be reversed in order to form an image on a surface opposite to a surface of the sheet on which the image has been formed by the image forming unit; a duplex-printing conveying path 50 for use in conveying the sheet having the front side and the back side reversed by the reversing portion to the image forming unit; a registration unit 30 configured to correct a skew of the sheet conveyed to the duplex-printing conveying path 50; and an image reading sensor 60 configured to read the image formed on the sheet having the skew corrected by the registration unit in the duplex-printing conveying path (figure 1; abstract).
Regarding claim 5, the image forming unit is configured to form an adjusting image on the sheet, and wherein the image reading sensor is configured to read the adjusting image (abstract).
Regarding claim 6, wherein the image reading sensor includes a plurality of detectors arranged on a straight line in a direction intersecting with a conveyance direction of the sheet, and wherein the image forming unit is configured to form the adjusting image at a position corresponding to a reading position of each of the plurality of detectors (conventional image detection color sensor; discussed with respect to figure 5; description of image detection).
Regarding claim 7, the image forming system further comprising a generator configured to generate an image forming condition based on a reading result of the adjusting image obtained by the image reading sensor (image forming function of figure 1).
Regarding claim 8, the registration unit includes a corrector configured to correct misalignment of a position of the sheet in a direction intersecting with a conveyance direction of the sheet (correction by stoppage; abstract).
Regarding claim 10, the registration unit includes a sheet reading sensor configured to read the sheet, and wherein the corrector is configured to correct the misalignment of the sheet based on a misalignment amount from a reference position of an edge position of an end portion in the direction intersecting with the conveyance direction of the sheet, the edge position being detected from a reading result of the sheet obtained by the sheet reading sensor.
MIZUGUCHI teaches regarding claim 13, an image reading apparatus to be provided in an image forming system that is capable of forming images on both sides of a sheet, the image forming system comprising: an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet; a reversing portion in which a front side and a back side of the sheet are to be reversed in order to form an image on a surface opposite to a surface of the sheet on which the image has been formed by the image forming unit; a duplex-printing conveying path 50 for use in conveying the sheet having the front side and the back side reversed by the reversing portion to the image forming unit, wherein the image reading apparatus comprising: a registration unit 30 configured to correct a skew of the sheet conveyed to the duplex-printing conveying path; and an image reading sensor 60 configured to read the image formed on the sheet having the skew corrected by the registration unit in the duplex-printing conveying path (figure 1, abstract).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 9 and 11-12 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. ISHIDOL et al. (US 2024/80025682 A1), MIYAKE et al. (US 2017/0045854 A1), and NISHIMURA et al. (US 2024/0025682 A1) teach duplex units, skew correction systems, and/or registration shifting units.
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
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