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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 20 December 2023 has been considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I in the reply filed on 20 November 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 3-4 and 14-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 20 November 2025.
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.
(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.
Claims 1-2, 5-7, 11-13, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shimoda (US 2008/0062222.)
Regarding claim 1,
Shimoda discloses a recording apparatus comprising:
a discharge unit [‘ink supply system’ seen in fig. 3; paragraph 0047] configured to cause a recording head [6 in figs. 3-4] to discharge liquid [during preliminary discharge; paragraphs 0036-0037];
a storing unit [5 in figs. 1 and 3 / 15 in fig. 6] configured to store the liquid discharged from the recording head [as waste ink; paragraphs 0034 and 0051]; and
a control unit [310 in fig. 4] configured to notify a user not to start a discharge operation until a predetermined time has passed since a previous session of the discharge operation, in a case where an amount of liquid discharged in the previous session of the discharge operation by the discharge unit is a first discharge amount, and configured not to notify the user in a case where the amount of liquid discharged in the previous session of the discharge operation by the discharge unit is a second discharge amount smaller than the first discharge amount [paragraphs 0038-0042, 0045, and 0073-0076; fig. 7; please note that paragraph 0045 teaches that “the waiting time from the previous waste ink absorption until the next waste ink absorption can be performed also changes with the amount of the previously collected waste ink”, and paragraph 0075 teaches “To allow a user to recognize that the pump is stopped for the predetermined time period, the light emitting portion 26 of the ink tank 15 emits light. When an emitted state of the light emitting portion 26 is visually recognized by the user, the user is informed that the pump is stopped”; since the pump needs to be activated to circulate the liquid in the cap before subsequent discharge operations, it is implicit that the user being notified that the pump is stopped for the predetermined time will further serve as an indication that a discharge operation is not to be started.]
Regarding claim 2,
Shimoda further discloses wherein the second discharge amount is an amount of liquid discharged in the previous session of the discharge operation that allows a time required for the storing unit to be restored to a condition capable of storing liquid to be discharged in a current session of the discharge operation after completion of the previous session of the discharge operation to be within the predetermined time [paragraphs 0038 and 0045.]
Regarding claim 5,
Shimoda further discloses wherein the predetermined time is a time required for the storing unit to be restored to a condition capable of storing liquid discharged in the discharge operation, in a case where an amount of liquid discharged in the discharge operation is the first discharge amount [paragraph 0038, 0040 and 0046.]
Regarding claim 6,
Shimoda further discloses wherein the predetermined time is a time required for a storage capacity of liquid in the storing unit to exceed the amount of liquid to be discharged in a current session of the discharge operation [paragraph 0073.]
Regarding claim 7,
Shimoda further discloses wherein the storage capacity recovers with time as bubbles of liquid generated by the previous session of the discharge operation in the storing unit reduce [paragraph 0052.]
Regarding claim 11,
Shimoda further discloses wherein the storing unit comprises:
a container for storing liquid [the housing that comprises section 11 and section 12 in figs. 1-2 and 6]; and
a liquid absorber [16 in figs. 1-2 and 6] disposed inside of the container [as seen in figs. 1 and 6],
wherein the container comprises:
a first waste liquid holding space in which the liquid absorber is disposed [space occupied by the absorber; as seen in fig. 2]; and
a second waste liquid holding space in which the liquid absorber is not disposed [space in section 12 that surrounds the absorber 16];
wherein the predetermined time is a time required for a liquid storage capacity of the second waste liquid holding space to exceed the amount of liquid to be discharged in a current session of the discharge operation [paragraphs 0040-0041.]
Regarding claim 12,
Shimoda further discloses wherein the control unit controls the discharge unit to keep the discharge unit from starting a current session of the discharge operation until the predetermined time has passed [as seen in figs. 5 and 7.]
Regarding claim 13,
Shimoda further discloses the recording apparatus further comprising a notification unit [26 in fig. 6] that provides a notification to the user [paragraphs 0069 and 0075-0076.]
Regarding claim 16,
Shimoda discloses a method of controlling a recording apparatus that comprises a discharge unit [‘ink supply system’ seen in fig. 3; paragraph 0047] configured to cause a recording head [6 in figs. 3-4] to discharge liquid [during preliminary discharge; paragraphs 0036-0037], and a storing unit [5 in figs. 1 and 3 / 15 in fig. 6] configured to store the liquid discharged from the recording head [as waste ink; paragraphs 0034 and 0051], the method comprising:
notifying a user not to start a discharge operation until a predetermined time has passed since a previous session of the discharge operation, in a case where an amount of liquid discharged in the previous session of the discharge operation by the discharge unit is a first discharge amount [paragraphs 0038-0042, 0045, and 0073-0076; fig. 7; also note that since the claim is defined by a conditional limitation (by "in a case”), the claim requirements are met at least when the condition is not satisfied.]
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 8,
The primary reason for allowance for this claim is the inclusion of the limitations of claims 1 and 5-6, further reciting wherein the storage capacity is obtained, on the basis of, among other attributes:
an amount of bubbles of liquid generated by the previous session of the discharge operation in the storing unit at an end time of the discharge operation;
an amount of bubbles that disappear per unit time.
It is these limitations, in combination as claimed, that have not been taught, found, or suggested by prior art.
Regarding claims 9 and 10,
These claims are considered to have allowable subject matter due to their dependency on claim 8.
Communication with the USPTO
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANNELLE M LEBRON whose telephone number is (571) 272-2729. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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, Douglas X Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JANNELLE M LEBRON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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