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 .
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of the receipt of Preliminary Amendment filed 08 July 2016.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed on 4/24/24, the requirements 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) are met.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited on a Form PTO 1449 have been considered.
Specification
The specification has been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. However, the applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 1-26 are 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. Specifically, Claims 1 and 25 both recite, and Claims 2-24 and 26 all incorporate, inter alia, “the holding portion is disposed at a position at which a waste liquid container region overlapping the waste liquid container held by the holding portion in a region inside the printing apparatus and a part of the movement path overlap when viewed from the transport direction, above the transport path and downstream of the movement path of the carriage in the transport direction”. Since “a waste liquid container region overlapping the waste liquid container held by the holding portion in a region inside the printing apparatus” can arbitrarily include any area outside “the waste liquid container held by the holding portion in a region inside the printing apparatus” and still read on the limitation as long as it includes “the waste liquid container held by the holding portion in a region inside the printing apparatus”, the position of the holding portion is indefinite, making the Claims indefinite as well.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-26 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. Please note, however, that amending Claims 1-26 to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action may result in rejection(s) on other grounds, including prior art-based rejections. Accordingly, examiner’s reasons for indicating allowable subject matter cannot be provided until amended Claims are available.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sakurai (U.S. 2007/0268331 A1) discloses an ink-jet image forming apparatus includes a recording head in which a plurality of nozzle groups jetting an ink is formed, a carriage which is mounted on the recording head, and which is capable of reciprocating in a predetermined direction, a waste-ink tank which stores the ink discharged from a the nozzle groups, and an air guide section which expedites evaporation of waste-ink by guiding a flow of air generated by the carriage movement to the waste-ink tank. Harada (U.S. 2009/0218270 A1) discloses a waste liquid container including an insertion hole into which a waste liquid discharging nozzle, which is included in the waste liquid discharging device main body, having a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion located on a front end side relative to the large diameter portion is inserted.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER D SHENDEROV whose telephone number is (571)270-7049. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X Rodrigues 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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/ALEXANDER D SHENDEROV/Examiner, Art Unit 2853 /JASON S UHLENHAKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853