Patent ID: 7280671

Claim:
An image processing apparatus that communicates with one or more image reading devices and one or more image output devices, comprising: first receiving means that receives information indicating whether or not a device has a forgery-preventing function from each of the one or more image reading devices and each of the one or more image output devices; generating means that generates a device information table on the basis of the information on the one or more image reading devices and the information on the one or more image output devices received by the first receiving means; second receiving means that receives image data read by one of the one or more image reading devices; judging means that judges whether or not the image reading device that reads the image data received by the second receiving means includes a forgery-preventing function from the forgery-preventing function information of the image reading devices received by the first receiving means; and controlling means that controls to which one of the one or more image output devices the image data received by the second receiving means is to be output in order to output the image data to an appropriate image output device based on a judged result of the judging means and the device information table generated by the generating means, wherein the first receiving means receives the information indicating whether or not the device has the forgery-preventing function when a new image reading device or a new image output device is connected to the image processing apparatus via a network.