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) 12-28 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.
Examiner acknowledges claims 1-11 are cancelled.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 12-15, 17, 19-21, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Oota (US 2016/0278224).
With regard to claim 12, Oota discloses an electronic apparatus (10) comprising:
an apparatus body (12);
an opening-closing member (13a) provided displaceably to an opened state in which the opening-closing member is opened relative to the apparatus body and a closed state in which the opening-closing member is closed relative to the apparatus body [Fig. 8A];
a cable (55) provided between the apparatus body and the opening-closing member [Fig. 8A]; and
a cable protecting unit (20) configured to protect the cable,
wherein the cable protecting unit includes
a base-portion member (15) [Fig. 1], and
a movable member (21) provided slidably relative to the base-portion member [Fig. 9],
when the opening-closing member is displaced from the closed state to the opened state, the movable member slides relative to the base-portion member to increase a length by which the movable member extends from the base-portion member [Fig. 9], and
the movable member includes a locking section (41a) configured to be locked with respect to a frame (21) of the apparatus body [Para. 0045; Fig. 1].
With regard to claims 13 and 20, further comprising:
a frame (31) provided at the opening-closing member and including an opening portion (S) into which the cable is inserted; and
a contact preventing member (55) provided at the opening portion [Fig. 9] and configured to help prevent the cable from coming into contact with the opening portion,
wherein the base-portion member is attached to the frame with the contact preventing member [Fig. 9].
With regard to claim 14, wherein the opening-closing member includes a cover (19) [waterproof seal; Para. 0043] covering a predetermined member [covering the edge of opening-closing member (13); Fig. 1] and the base-portion member is located between the cover and a frame (see Fig. 1 below) of the opening-closing member [Fig. 1].
PNG
media_image1.png
430
650
media_image1.png
Greyscale
With regard to claims 15 and 21, wherein the base portion member includes:
a first surface facing one surface of the movable member and
a second surface facing another surface of the movable member.
With regard to claims 17 and 23, wherein the opening-closing member is configured to rotate between the opened state and the closed state [Fig. 8A, Fig. 6A] and
the movable member includes a bent portion (52) bent in a convex shape toward a center of rotation of the opening-closing member [Fig. 9].
With regard to claim 19, Oota discloses an electronic apparatus (10) comprising:
an apparatus body (12);
an opening-closing member (13a) provided displaceably to an opened state in which the opening-closing member is opened relative to the apparatus body and a closed state in which the opening-closing member is closed relative to the apparatus body [Fig. 8A];
a cable (55) provided between the apparatus body and the opening-closing member [Fig. 8A]; and
a cable protecting unit (20) configured to protect the cable, wherein the cable protecting unit includes
a base-portion member (15) [Fig. 1], and
a movable member (21) provided slidably relative to the base-portion member [Fig. 9],
when the opening-closing member is displaced from the closed state to the opened state, the movable member slides relative to the base-portion member to increase a length by which the movable member extends from the base-portion member [Fig. 9], and the opening-closing member includes a cover (19) [waterproof seal; Para. 0043] covering a predetermined member [covering the edge of opening-closing member (13); Fig. 1] and the base-portion member is located between the cover and a frame (see Fig. 1 below) of the opening-closing member [Fig. 1].
PNG
media_image1.png
430
650
media_image1.png
Greyscale
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) 18 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oota (US 2016/0278224) as applied to claims 12 and 19 above, and further in view of Moriyama (JP 2014166893)
With regard to claims 18 and 24, Oota’s electronic apparatus discloses all the limitations of claim 12, but does not disclose wherein the apparatus body includes: a transport unit configured to transport a medium along a transport path and a recording unit configured to perform recording on the medium transported by the transport unit and the opening-closing member is configured to be displaced to the opened state in which the transport path is exposed to an outside and the closed state in which the transport path is closed. (103)
However, Moriyama teaches an apparatus body (2) [device body unit; Para. 0028; Fig. 1] includes: a transport unit [transport member; Para. 0014] configured to transport a medium (P) along a transport path (13) [conveying path; Para. 0015] and a recording unit (not shown) [ink cartridge mounting section; Para. 0030] configured to perform recording on the medium transported by the transport unit and an opening-closing member (41) [Para. 0044] is configured to be displaced to the opened state in which the transport path is exposed to an outside and the closed state in which the transport path is closed [Para. 044; Fig. 4].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the apparatus body with a transport unit, a recording unit and an opening-closing member exposing a transport path in an open state with a cable and cable protector for the purpose of processing media while keeping wire bundled.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16 and 22 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 claims 16 and 22 is the inclusion of the limitations of an attachment section that is provided at the second surface facing the first surface and at which the movable member is attached. 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.
Claims 25-28 are allowed.
The primary reason for allowance of claims 25-28 is the inclusion of the limitations of an attachment section that is provided at the second surface facing the first surface and at which the movable member is attached. It is this limitation 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.
Conclusion
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.
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, 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TRACEY M MCMILLION/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/RICARDO I MAGALLANES/Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Prosecution Insights