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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan on 7/28/2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the 2023-12303 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1-10 are 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 1 is indefinite and vague. What constitutes “a supplier configured to supply energy?” In so far the claim is understood as any mechanical mechanism provide a moving force, as such as a motor, meets the limitations of the claim.
Regarding claim 7, the phrase "in a manner" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear what is considered to be “in a manner.”
Claim 10 is indefinite and vague. What constitutes “supplying energy to the sheet medium…the cutting toward the feed tray by the energy?” In so far the claim is understood as any mechanical mechanism provide a moving force, as such as a motor, meets the limitations of the claim.
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.
Claims 1-2, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2021-154622.
The method described in these claims would inherently result from the use of invention of JP ‘622 as shown below.
Regarding claims 1 and 10, JP ‘622 discloses an image recording apparatus (see figure 1) comprising: a feed tray 11 configured to accommodate a roll body R including a sheet medium wound in a roll shape, the feed tray having a support surface 11a1 configured to support the sheet medium unwound from an accommodated roll body (see drawing below for accommodating the roll as same as applicant) being the roll body R accommodated in the feed tray 11, a casing 100a configured to support the feed tray 11 movably, a cutter 4 (i.e., which has a blade 4a that lifted in a horizontal direction with using a cutter motor 4M, claim 2) configured to cut the sheet medium unwound from the accommodated roll body, the cutter 4 being disposed inside the casing 100a and above the feed tray 11 supported by the casing, a recorder 5 configured to record an image on the sheet medium unwound from the accommodated roll body, and a supplier (i.e., a mechanism moving the roll as drivers, using motors 4M, 5a, 8M, gears, and a controller 7 as same as applicant, see figure 4) to supply energy to the sheet medium unwound from the accommodated roll body in a time period in which the sheet medium unwound from the accommodated roll body is conveyed from the accommodated roll body to the cutter 4 so as to move an end of the sheet medium unwound form the roll body R toward the feed tray 11 by the energy, the end being an end formed at a position between the cutter 4 and the feed tray 11 by cutting the sheet medium unwound from the accommodate roll body with the cutter, see figures 1-8.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The claims 3-9 are patentable over the prior art of record because the teachings of the references taken as a whole do not show or render obvious the combination set forth in claims 3-9, including every structural element recited in the claim, especially the concept of control the cutter so as to cut the sheet medium, under the state that the part of the sheet medium, located between the accommodated roll body and the cutter is lifted from the support surface.
None of the references of the prior art teach or suggest the elements of the device as advanced above and such do not provide the necessary motivation, absent applicant's specification, for modifying the device in the manner required by the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892, a similar image forming apparatus.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANG K KIM whose telephone number is 571-272-6947. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 A.M. to 9 P.M or Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 A.M. to 7 P.M.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Victoria Augustine, can be reached on (313) 446-4858. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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SK
1/7/26
/SANG K KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654
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