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 .
Drawings
2. The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, a heat medium being in liquid form and filling the container must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Election/Restrictions
3. Claims 1-9 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or a linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/14/2025.
Applicant’s election without traverse of invention/group I in the reply filed on 11/14/2025 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
5. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Claim 10 fails to include all of the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Also, claims 1-9 are drawn to a non-elected invention and claim 10 currently depends upon claim 1. Applicant may, amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
6. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
7. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention. The specification does not disclose how a heat medium being in liquid form fills the container or how the heat medium gets into the container or how the container acquires the liquid heat medium. There are no structural or devices claimed to perform or provide such features.
8. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. There is no description pertaining to how a heat medium being in liquid form fills the container. There are no structures or devices claimed to perform or provide such features or limitations.
9. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
10. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Examiner is unsure as to how a heat medium being in liquid form fills the container or how the container acquires the heat medium in liquid form. Where does it come from? There are no structural or devices claimed to perform or provide such features or limitations to fill the container with a liquid heat medium.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakagawa et al. (US 2018/0370230) in view of Shank et al. (US 2007/0284457)
Nakagawa et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
* Re clm 10, an inkjet recording apparatus (Abst., figs 1-15B)
* an ink storage part/chamber R/ in which ink is stored (paras 0045-0046, figs 3A, 7B, 8B, 9B, 13B);
* the heating device/heater 14/ (paras 0046-0047, figs 3A, 7B, 8B, 9B, 13B)
* the heating device/14/ heating the ink supplied from the ink storage part/chamber R/ (paras 0045-0046, figs 3A, 7B, 8B, 9B, 13B);
* an inkjet head/liquid ejecting head 10/ ejecting the ink heated by the heating device/heater 14/ on a sheet/print medium W/ (paras 0042-0047, figs 1A, 3A, 7B, 8B, 9B, 13B);
* a conveyance part/101/ which moves the inkjet head and the sheet/print medium W/ relatively (para 0042, figs 1A, 3A, 7B, 8B, 9B, 13B).
Nakagawa et al. does not disclose the following claimed limitations:
* a spirally formed tube/coil heaters, tubular heaters, and the like can be substituted for or added to the cartridge heater 64/ through which liquid flows;
* a container having a cylindrical part whose axial direction is along a spiral direction of the tube and storing the tube;
* a heater provided in the cylindrical part;
* a heat medium being in liquid form and filling the container.
Shank et al. disclose the following claimed limitations:
* the heating device/heating element 101/ (col 6, lines 40-46, fig 9)
* a spirally formed tube/coiled heated tube 104/ through which liquid flows (para 0063, fig 6 2B);
* a container/50/ having a cylindrical part/up-down direction inside of container/ whose axial direction is along a spiral direction of the tube/up down direction/ and storing the tube/container houses 50 stores the tub-e/ (figs 2, 3 , 6 );
* a heater/heat dissipating devices 164/ provided in the cylindrical part/inside of container/
* a heat medium/washer fluid is heated by heat dissipating device 164/ being in liquid form/washer fluid/ and filling the container (para 61, fig 8).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to utilize a spirally formed tube/coil heaters, tubular heaters, and the like can be substituted for or added to the cartridge heater 64/ through which liquid flows; a container having a cylindrical part whose axial direction is along a spiral direction of the tube and storing the tube; a heater provided in the cylindrical part; a heat medium being in liquid form and filling the container, taught by Shank et al. into Nakagawa et al. for the purpose of providing a heating device that’s capable supplying heated fluid onto a substrate.
Conclusion
14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRISTAL FEGGINS whose telephone number is (571)272-2254. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 930-530pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricardo Magallanes can be reached at 571-272-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KRISTAL FEGGINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853