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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/27/2026 has been entered.
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) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nose (US Pat. Pub. No. US 2020/0150574 A1; cited in PTO-892 mailed 9/16/2025).
Nose discloses a developing device 104Y detachably attachable to an image forming apparatus 100, comprising: a developer bearing member 24 that bears developer including toner and carrier for developing an electronic latent image formed on an image bearing member 101Y (paragraphs [0038] and [0044]); a developing container 20 that accommodates the developer (Fig. 4); a magnetic permeability sensor 401 configured to output an output voltage according to a toner density of the developer accommodated in the developing container 20 by a voltage being applied to the magnetic permeability sensor 401 (paragraphs [0065]-[0067]); and a storing portion (CPU) 206 configured to store information on output characteristics of a power supply of the magnetic permeability sensor 401 (paragraphs [0065]-[0067] and [0079]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-19 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: New independent claim 14 is allowable over the prior art of record because the prior art of record does not teach or suggest: “a storing portion configured to store information on output characteristics of a power supply of the image forming apparatus that has performed an initializing mode for determining a control voltage to be applied to the magnetic permeability sensor by the power supply of the image forming apparatus” as set forth in the claimed combination.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SOPHIA S CHEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2133. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at 571-272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SOPHIA S CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
Ssc
May 4, 2026
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