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 .
Final Rejection
The applicant’s amendment of 02/25/2026 necessitated a new ground of rejection as follows below:
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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.
Claims 1 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maeshima et al. (US Pat. 8,919,925) in view of Nozawa et al. (US 9,061,512).
Maeshima et al. disclose in Figures 1, 3-4, 7A and 9A-9B an inkjet image forming apparatus comprising:
Regarding claim 1, an ink cartridge (22) configured to be attached to and detached from a printing apparatus (1) by being displaced along an attachment/detachment direction (Fr, X), which is a predetermined direction at a predetermined position with respect to the printing
apparatus (1), the ink cartridge comprising (22):
* an accommodation container (53) configured to accommodate an ink and include a
supply port (68) for supplying the ink to the printing apparatus (1) (Figures 1 and 4); and
*a shutter (54) configured to open and close the supply port (68) and close the supply
port in a state where the ink cartridge (22) is not mounted in the printing apparatus (1), wherein
the shutter (54) is configured to open the supply port (68) by being relatively displaced with
respect to the accommodation container (53) in a direction away from the supply port (68), as the
ink cartridge (22) is displaced with respect to the printing apparatus (1) in a mounting direction
of the attachment/detachment direction (Fr, X) when the ink cartridge is mounted in the printing
apparatus, be held in the printing apparatus when the ink cartridge (22) is mounted in the printing
apparatus, close the supply port (68) by being relatively displaced with respect to the
accommodation container (53) in a direction approaching the supply port (68), as the ink
cartridge (22) is displaced with respect to the printing apparatus in a removing direction, which is
a direction opposite to the mounting direction, when the ink cartridge (22) is removed from the
printing apparatus (1), and be attached to and detached from the accommodation container (52)
(Figures 1, 3-4 and 7A-9B, paragraph 0040).
Regarding claim 6, wherein the shutter (54) includes a liquid absorbing member (77) which is disposed at a part facing the supply port (68) in a state where the shutter (54) is mounted in the ink accommodation container (52), and absorbs the ink (Figure 9A, paragraph 42).
Regarding claim 7, wherein when a direction (Fr direction) along a central axis of the
supply port (68) is defined as a first direction (vertical direction), the direction that intersects the
first direction, and is parallel to the attachment/detachment direction when the ink cartridge (22)
is displaced with respect to the printing apparatus (1) in the attachment/detachment direction is
defined as a second direction, and a direction perpendicularly intersecting the first direction and
the second direction is defined as a third direction, the shutter (54) has a shape extending in the
second direction and the third direction, and includes one or more shutter recess portions which
are recessed in a direction away from the supply port (68) in the first direction at a part at which
the liquid absorbing member (77) is not disposed, on a surface facing the supply port (68)
(Figures 9A-9B).
Regarding claim 8, wherein when a direction (Fr direction) along a central axis of the
supply port (68) is defined as a first direction (vertical direction) , a direction that intersects the
first direction, and is parallel to the attachment/detachment direction when the ink cartridge (22)
is displaced with respect to the printing apparatus (1) in the attachment/detachment direction is
defined as a second direction (X direction), and a direction perpendicularly intersecting the first
direction (vertical direction) and the second direction is defined as a third direction (X direction),
the shutter (54), in a state of being mounted in the accommodation container (53), has a shape
extending in the second direction and the third direction, includes an uneven portion at a part
facing the supply port (68), and includes the supply port (68) within a range where the uneven
portion is formed when viewed in the first direction (vertical direction) (Figures 9A-9B).
However, Maeshima et al. do not disclose the shutter that is configured to: be attached to and completely detachable from the ink cartridge.
Nevertheless, Nozawa et al disclose in Figures 4-5 and 17-19 a liquid container (20) comprising the shutter (70) is configured to be attached to and completely detachable from the ink cartridge (20) (Figure 17, column 17, lines 64-67 and column 18, lines 1-5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Nozawa et al. in the Maeshima et al.’s inkjet image forming apparatus for the purpose of providing a cap to be attachable to and detachable from a cartridge so as to cover an opening of the liquid supply portion.
Response to Applicant’s Arguments
The applicant’s arguments with respect to the prior art rejection have been carefully
considered and have been traversed in view of the new grounds of rejection over the Nozawa et al. reference.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. This claim would be allowable because the prior art references of
record fail to teach or suggest an ink cartridge that configured to be attached to and detached from a printing apparatus by being displaced along an attachment/detachment direction, which is a predetermined direction at a predetermined position with respect to the printing apparatus, the ink cartridge comprising a shutter that includes a protrusion portion which is an elastic protrusion portion that extends in a direction perpendicular to the attachment/detachment direction, and is configured to be fitted into a hole portion formed in the printing apparatus when the ink cartridge is displaced with respect to the printing apparatus in the mounting direction, the protrusion portion is configured to come into contact with a projected portion which is fitted into the hole portion and extends in a direction perpendicular to the attachment/detachment direction at a position on the mounting direction side with respect to the hole portion in the printing apparatus, as the ink cartridge is displaced with respect to the printing apparatus in the mounting direction when the ink cartridge is mounted in the printing apparatus, and come off from the hole portion as the ink cartridge is displaced in the removing direction when the ink cartridge is removed from the printing apparatus, and the shutter is restricted from moving in the attachment/detachment direction and is relatively displaced with respect to the accommodation container in a direction away from the supply port, as the protrusion portion is fitted into the hole portion and comes into contact with the projected portion when the ink cartridge is mounted on the printing apparatus, and has a configuration in which the protrusion portion comes off from the hole portion, as the ink cartridge is relatively displaced with respect to the accommodation container in a direction approaching to the supply port when the ink cartridge is removed from the printing apparatus in the combination as claimed.
Claim 3 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim
and any intervening claims. This claim would be allowable because the prior art references of
record fail to teach or suggest an ink cartridge that configured to be attached to and detached from a printing apparatus by being displaced along an attachment/detachment direction, which is a predetermined direction at a predetermined position with respect to the printing apparatus, the ink cartridge comprising when a direction along a central axis of the supply port that is defined as a first direction, a direction that intersects the first direction, and is parallel to the
attachment/detachment direction when the ink cartridge is displaced with respect to the printing
apparatus in the attachment/detachment direction is defined as a second direction, and a direction
perpendicularly intersecting the first direction and the second direction is defined as a third
direction, the accommodation container includes a groove portion that extends along the second
direction from an end portion of the accommodation container in the second direction when
viewed in the third direction, the shutter includes a guide configured to be fitted into the groove
portion by being inserted into the end portion of the accommodation container, and the guide has
a shape extending in the second direction and a dimension in the second direction which is
smaller than a dimension of the groove portion, and is configured to move the groove portion in
the second direction in a state of being fitted into the groove portion in the combination as
claimed
Claim 4 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim
and any intervening claims. This claim would be allowable because the prior art references of
record fail to teach or suggest an ink cartridge that configured to be attached to and detached from a printing apparatus by being displaced along an attachment/detachment direction which is a predetermined direction at a predetermined position with respect to the printing apparatus, the ink cartridge comprising when a direction along a central axis of the supply port that is defined as a first direction, a direction that intersects the first direction, and is parallel to the
attachment/detachment direction when the ink cartridge is displaced with respect to the printing
apparatus in the attachment/detachment direction is defined as a second direction, and a direction
perpendicularly intersecting the first direction and the second direction is defined as a third
direction, the accommodation container includes, in the second direction, a locking section
extending in the third direction on a side opposite to an end portion of the accommodation
container in the second direction with respect to the supply port, the shutter includes an elastic
projection portion, and the projection portion, in a state where the shutter is mounted in the
accommodation container, is configured to protrude in the third direction and is positioned with
respect to the locking section on a direction side in which the shutter is inserted into the
accommodation container in the second direction, be elastically deformed to overcome the
locking section and be displaced with respect to the locking section to the removing direction
side, as the ink cartridge is displaced in the mounting direction with respect to the printing
apparatus, and be elastically deformed to overcome the locking section and be displaced with
respect to the locking section to the mounting direction side, as the ink cartridge is displaced
with respect to the printing apparatus in the removing direction in the combination as claimed.
Claim 5 would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim
and any intervening claims. This claim would be allowable because the prior art references of
record fail to teach or suggest an ink cartridge that configured to be attached to and detached from a printing apparatus by being displaced along an attachment/detachment direction, which is a predetermined direction at a predetermined position with respect to the printing apparatus, the ink cartridge comprising when a direction along a central axis of the supply port that is defined as a first direction, a direction that intersects the first direction, and is parallel to the
attachment/detachment direction when the ink cartridge is displaced with respect to the printing
apparatus in the attachment/detachment direction is defined as a second direction, and a direction
perpendicularly intersecting the first direction and the second direction is defined as a third
direction, the accommodation container includes a hole portion in an end portion in the second
direction, and the shutter includes an elastic member configured to be attached to and detached
from the hole portion and configured to draw the accommodation container in a direction
approaching the shutter in the second direction, and is relatively displaced with respect to the
accommodation container in a direction away from the supply port by abutting against an
abutting section formed in the printing apparatus and extending in the first direction and being
restricted from moving in the mounting direction when the ink cartridge is mounted on the
printing apparatus in the combination as claimed.
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).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to Examiner Anh Vo whose telephone number is (571) 272 -
2262. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 9:30 A.M.to 6:00 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner'ssupervisor, Douglas Rodriguez can be reached on (571) 431-0716. The fax phonenumber for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the
Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for
published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR.
Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only.
For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should
you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic
Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a
USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information
system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANH T VO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853