Patent ID: 8416431

Claim:
An image processing apparatus, comprising: a network connecting section to connect with a network; an interface section to connect with a printing apparatus; a management information acquiring section to acquire management information of said printing apparatus, said management information including at least one of information about the printing apparatus and information about consumables used by the printing apparatus; a management information storing section to store the management information of said printing apparatus, acquired by said management information acquiring section; and a network controlling section that comprises: a data transferring section to transfer data to said printing apparatus via said interface section; and a situation acquiring section to acquire situation information about whether or not said printing apparatus is printing; wherein when the network controlling section receives an acquisition request for the management information of said printing apparatus from a host apparatus on said network, the network controlling section performs: determining whether or not said printing apparatus is printing according to said situation information, and obtaining said management information from said printing apparatus if said printing apparatus is not printing, obtaining said management information from said management information storing section if said printing apparatus is printing, and sending said obtained management information to said host apparatus.