CTNF 19/373,064 CTNF 90087 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Objections 07-29-01 AIA Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 9 recites, “conveyance interval of the recording medium.” However, an interval would define a gap between two things but a ‘medium’ is singular--a singular item would not have an interval. The claim would require a second sheet before or after to claim an interval. The Specification states in [0097] that conveyance interval is controlled between a plurality of sheets, so for purposes of examination, the Office will interpret this limitation as an interval between two sheets as recited in [0097] instead of an “interval of the recording medium.” . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15-aia AIA Claim(s) 1, 3-7, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20230364902 (herein Yamauchi) . Regarding claim 1, Yamauchi teaches A laminating device comprising: a laminator that performs lamination processing of laminating a film on a recording medium on which image formation has been performed (laminating apparatus 20 laminates a sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming apparatus 10, [0022]); and a first hardware processor (controller 11, [0024]) that: acquires sheet characteristic information corresponding to smoothness of the recording medium (first detection unit 17 detects surface roughness of the and outputs the detection result to the controller 11, [0054]); and controls a conveyance speed in the laminator based on the acquired sheet characteristic information (controller 11 controls processing speed in the laminating processing, [0075]; see steps S1 and S3 in Fig. 3). Regarding claim 3, Yamauchi teaches a storage configured to store the conveyance speed set in accordance with the sheet characteristic information, wherein the first hardware processor sets the conveyance speed in the laminator to the conveyance speed stored in the storage (storage section 14, [0042]; controller 11 acquires processing speed of the laminating processing from the storage section 14, [0088]-[0090]). Regarding claim 4, Yamauchi teaches wherein the first hardware processor acquires, as the sheet characteristic information, a detection result of a smoothness sensor that detects the smoothness of the recording medium (first detection unit 17 detects the type, thickness, and surface roughness of the sheet and outputs the detection result to the controller 11, [0054]). Regarding claim 5, Yamauchi teaches wherein the first hardware processor adjusts the conveyance speed based on a result of the lamination processing (controller 11 acquires the sheet conveyance speed as the processing speed of the laminating processing, [0088]; [0122] also teaches an example of newly deciding processing speed A7). Regarding claim 6, Yamauchi teaches wherein the first hardware processor acquires a read image obtained by reading the laminated recording medium as the result of the lamination processing (image reading unit 12 reads the reflected light by using a line image sensor to obtain an image signal then inputs the image signal to the controller 11 as image data, [0032]). Regarding claim 7, Yamauchi teaches An image forming system comprising: the laminating device according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above); an image former that forms an image on the recording medium (image forming apparatus 10, Fig. 2); and a second hardware processor that sets a conveyance speed in the image former to the same speed as the conveyance speed in the laminator when the conveyance speed in the laminator is lower than the conveyance speed in the image former (controller 21, [0131]; [0122] teaches controller makes processing speed lower than the speed acquired in step S3, and both controllers 11 and 14 may execute these commands as taught in [0131]). Regarding claim 9, Yamauchi teaches A non-transitory storage medium storing a computer-readable program for a computer of a laminating device (controller 11, [0024], [0024]) including a laminator that performs lamination processing of laminating a film on a recording medium on which image formation has been performed (laminating apparatus 20 laminates a sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming apparatus 10, [0022]), the program causing the computer to perform: acquiring sheet characteristic information corresponding to smoothness of the recording medium (first detection unit 17 detects surface roughness of the and outputs the detection result to the controller 11, [0054]); and controlling a conveyance speed in the laminator based on the acquired sheet characteristic information (controller 11 controls processing speed in the laminating processing, [0075]; see steps S1 and S3 in Fig. 3) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamauchi as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of JP 2005024634 A (herein Ogiyama) . Regarding claim 2, Yamauchi teaches, “wherein the first hardware processor controls the conveyance speed to be lower” (controller 11 makes the processing speed lower, [0122]). Yamauchi does not teach, “speed to be lower as the smoothness of the recording medium indicated by the sheet characteristic information is lower.” However, Ogiyama teaches it is known in the art to switch to a slower linear speed for a recording medium with rough surface when compared to a smooth one (see p. 5 of translation). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filing to incorporate the control the speed of the laminator of Yamauchi when processing a rough sheet as taught by Ogiyama. One would be motivated to do so for at least the purpose of ensuring sufficient fixing of film (Yamauchi, [0122]) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamauchi as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of JP-2024041214-A (herein Kitaguchi) . Regarding claim 8, Yamauchi teaches an image former that forms an image on the recording medium (image forming apparatus 10, Fig. 2); and a second hardware processor (controller 21, Fig. 2). Yamauchi does not teach, “widens a conveyance interval of the recording medium in the image former when the conveyance speed in the laminator is lower than a conveyance speed in the image former.” However, Yamauchi does teach controller making the processing speed lower [0122]. And Kitaguchi teaches slowing down the conveyance speed of the succeeding sheet to increase interval between sheets (see p. 11 of translation). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filing to increase the interval between sheets as taught by Kitaguchi, into the image forming apparatus of Yamauchi. One would be motivated to do so for at least the purpose of preventing overlap during sheet processing (p. 11). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILIP FADUL whose telephone number is (571)272-5411. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 8pm-6pm. 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 at (571) 272-1674. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /WALTER L LINDSAY JR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2852 /PHILIP T FADUL/Examiner, Art Unit 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/373,064 Page 2 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/373,064 Page 3 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/373,064 Page 4 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/373,064 Page 5 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/373,064 Page 6 Art Unit: 2852
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