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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tsuchiya (US 20210053375).
With regard to claim 1, Tsuchiya discloses a thermal printer (1) [Para. 0023; Fig. 1], comprising:
a housing (2) [Para. 0025];
a printing unit (4) [Para. 0025], which includes a head unit (41) [Para. 0029]and a platen unit (42) [Para. 0029] including a platen roller [Para. 0031], and is received in the housing [Fig. 7];
a cover (22) [Para. 0026] configured to be capable of opening and closing the housing;
an open button (82) [release button; Para. 0041] of the cover; and
a guide shaped portion (61) [Para. 0046], which is provided below a gap between the open button and the housing [Fig. 8, See also Fig. 10] and at a position corresponding to the gap [Fig. 8], and extends along an up-and-down direction in a horizontal posture that is a state of the thermal printer placed such that a sheet delivery port defined between the cover and the housing is facing upward [Fig. 7],
wherein the guide shaped portion is provided between the housing and a release lever (81) [Para. 0041] received inside the housing [Fig. 8].
With regard to claim 3, Tsuchiya discloses wherein the guide shaped portion extends downward beyond the release lever [Fig. 10].
With regard to claim 4, Tsuchiya discloses further comprising a substrate (10) [paper roll; Para. 0025] provided below the release lever [Fig. 5]
wherein the substrate is arranged closer to a center of an inside of the housing than the release lever opposed component when seen from the up-and-down direction [Fig. 5], and
wherein the guide shaped portion is provided at such a position as to be prevented from overlapping the substrate when seen from the up-and-down direction [Fig. 5].
With regard to claim 9, Tsuchiya discloses a thermal printer (1) [Para. 0023; Fig. 1], comprising:
a housing (2) [Para. 0025];
a printing unit (4) [Para. 0025], which includes a head unit (41) [Para. 0029]and a platen unit (42) [Para. 0029] including a platen roller [Para. 0031], and is received in the housing [Fig. 7];
a cover (22) [Para. 0026] configured to be capable of opening and closing the housing;
an open button (82) [release button; Para. 0041] of the cover; and
a guide shaped portion (61) [Para. 0046], which is provided below a gap between the open button and the housing [Fig. 8, See also Fig. 10] and at a position corresponding to the gap [Fig. 8], and extends along an up-and-down direction in a horizontal posture that is a state of the thermal printer placed such that a sheet delivery port defined between the cover and the housing is facing upward [Fig. 7, Fig. 10],
wherein the open button includes a downward protruding portion that protrudes downward [Fig. 7], and
wherein the guide shaped portion is provided at a position corresponding to the downward protruding portion. [Fig. 8, Fig. 10].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuchiya (US 2021/0053375) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Narimatsu (JP 2009036805).
With regard to claim 6, Tsuchiya does not disclose wherein the guide shaped portion is a rib formed on an inner wall of the housing.
Narimatsu teaches a guide shaped portion is a rib (40) formed on an inner wall (20C) of a housing (20).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure guide shaped portion as a rib formed on an inner wall of the housing as taught by Narimatsu in order to prevent stagnation of the liquid on the printer cover.
With regard to claim 10, Tsuchiya discloses a thermal printer (1) [Para. 0023; Fig. 1], comprising:
a housing (2) [Para. 0025];
a printing unit (4) [Para. 0025], which includes a head unit (41) [Para. 0029]and a platen unit (42) [Para. 0029] including a platen roller [Para. 0031], and is received in the housing [Fig. 7];
a cover (22) [Para. 0026] configured to be capable of opening and closing the housing;
an open button (82) [release button; Para. 0041] of the cover; and
a guide shaped portion (61) [Para. 0046], which is provided below a gap between the open button and the housing [Fig. 8, See also Fig. 10] and at a position corresponding to the gap [Fig. 8], and extends along an up-and-down direction in a horizontal posture that is a state of the thermal printer placed such that a sheet delivery port defined between the cover and the housing is facing upward [Fig. 7],
Tsuchiya does not disclose wherein the guide shaped portion is a rib formed on an inner wall of the housing.
Narimatsu teaches a guide shaped portion is a rib (40) formed on an inner wall (20C) of a housing (20).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure guide shaped portion as a rib formed on an inner wall of the housing as taught by Narimatsu in order to prevent stagnation of the liquid on the printer cover.
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuchiya (US 20210053375) in view of Jimbo (US 2017/0182801).
With regard to claim 7, Tsuchiya does not disclose wherein the guide shaped portion is formed of a water absorbing member.
Jimbo discloses a liquid absorbing sheet (60) [Para. 0041].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to arrange a liquid absorbing sheet on the guiding portion of Tsuchiya for the purpose of absorbing a liquid e.g. water having entered the casing of the printer.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the guide shaped portion of a water absorbing member for the purpose of storing liquid, since it has been held to within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin,125 USPQ 416.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 8 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 primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claim 5 is the inclusion of the limitations wherein a guide shaped portion is provided at a position corresponding to the downward protruding portion. It is this limitation(s) found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claim 8 is the inclusion of the limitations further comprising a liquid retaining portion formed in a bottom surface of the housing to retain liquid guided by the guide shaped portion. It is this limitation(s) found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
Examiner notes because a new ground of rejection was made using a different reference than what was used in the previous office action dated 02/24/2026 to reject the independent claims, the dependent claims that were rejected in that office action are no longer rejected because it would not be obvious to combine with the new reference used to reject the independent claims.
In claim 5, the open button is positioned at the front of the printer and the guide shaped portion of Tsuchiya is positioned inside the housing and therefore is not at a position corresponding to the downward protruding portion of the open button.
In claim 8 the retaining portion is attached to the platen and therefore is not formed in the bottom surface of the housing.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACEY M MCMILLION whose telephone number is (571)270-5193. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6AM-2:30PM EST.
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/TRACEY M MCMILLION/ Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/RICARDO I MAGALLANES/ Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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