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 .
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.
Claim 2 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. Claim 2 recites the limitation "the front casing" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Furthermore, it is unclear to the Examiner whether the limitation, “the front casing” is the same or different element from the previously recited “casing”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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) 1-2 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Okuda (JP2012185246 and its English Translation).
Regarding claims 1-2 and 4, Okuda teaches an imaging apparatus comprising:
a casing (16) having first and second attachment surfaces;
a sheet fixing member (76) having first and second contact surfaces (77 and 81) and coming into contact with the first and second attachment surfaces, respectively; and
a sheet-like member (66) disposed between the casing and the sheet-fixing member,
the sheet fixing member including a first portion and a second portion displaceable relative to the first portion (the engagement piece 81 is an elastic piece configured as displaceable relative to the base portion 77),
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the first contact surface of the sheet fixing member disposed on the first portion, the second contact surface of the sheet fixing member disposed on the second portion (Fig. 1, a portion of the base portion 77 is in contact with the casing 16);
wherein the sheet fixing member (76) includes a connecting portion connecting the first portion and the second portion, and wherein the connecting portion is smaller than the first portion and the second portion in size in a direction where the front casing and the sheet fixing member face each other [claim 2]; and
wherein the second contact surface of the sheeting fixing member in contact with the second attachment surface of the casing via a portion of the sheet-like member (Fig. 1, a portion of the FPC board 66 interposed the casing and the sheet fixing member) [claim 4].
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) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuda in view of Owaki (US Pub. No. 2019/0174623).
Regarding claim 5, Okuda teaches all the claimed limitations except for the casing is fabricated from a metallic material, the sheet-like member is a flexible circuit board having a grounding terminal, and wherein the portion of the sheet-like member is the grounding terminal. Owaki teaches an imaging apparatus comprising a casing (16) is fabricated from a metallic material (para. 70), a sheet-like member (36) is a flexible circuit board having a grounding terminal, and wherein the portion of the sheet-like member is the grounding terminal (para. 13). It would have been obvious to one having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute a metallic casing and a flexible circuit board with a grounding terminal as taught by Owaki within said imaging apparatus in order to obtain a smaller and compact imaging assembly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6 and 7 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, applicant has sufficiently defined and claimed an imaging apparatus, whereby the prior art does not teach or suggest the first and second attachment surfaces of the casing each have a threaded hole, wherein the first and second contact surfaces of the sheet fixing member each have a through hole, and wherein the imaging apparatus further comprises a fixing screw passing through the through hole of the sheet fixing member to engage with the threaded hole of the casing, in combination with all other limitations set forth in the claim.
Regarding claim 6, applicant has sufficiently defined and claimed an imaging apparatus, whereby the prior art does not teach or suggest a wireless communication unit connected to the sheet-like member to perform wireless communication with an external apparatus, wherein the wireless communication unit is electrically connected to the casing via the grounding terminal of the sheet-like member, in combination with all other limitations set forth in the claim.
Regarding claim 7, applicant has sufficiently defined and claimed an imaging apparatus, whereby the prior art does not teach or suggest an operation button supported by the casing in an advanceable and retractable manner, wherein the sheet-like member is a flexible circuit board having a switch to be pressed by the operation button, in combination with all other limitations set forth in the claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINH Q PHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3898. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
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MINH Q. PHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2852
/MINH Q PHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852