DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Species A (claims 1-4, 6-10, and 14 currently recite Group I, Species A) in the reply filed on March 11, 2026 is acknowledged. In applicant’s claims dated 3/11/2026, claims 5, 11-13, and 15-20 were presented as withdrawn from consideration.
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)(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 1-4, 8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP2016203563 by Otake.
With regard to claim 1, Otake teaches a stamp cleaning apparatus, wherein the apparatus comprises a roll-to-toll unit including a first rolling portion (comprising shaft 42 and roll 41) and a second rolling portion (comprising shaft 44 and roll 43), wherein the second rolling portion is spaced apart from the first rolling portion, and wherein the rolls are driven such that an adhesive film (labeled “AT” in Figure 3) is moved from the first rolling portion to the second rolling portion (Abstract; pages 2-5 of translation). Otake’s apparatus comprises a cleaning unit (comprising receiving member 30) disposed between the first rolling portion and the second rolling portion, wherein the cleaning is considered to be configured to stretch the adhesive film because, as illustrated in Figure 3, the vertical mover 31 pushes the receiving member 30 upward such that the adhesive film can be stretched by the upward motion of the receiving member, and wherein the stretched adhesive film can then adhere to contaminants on the stamp (pages 2-5 of translation). In the apparatus of Otake, the roll-to-roll unit is configured to wind the adhesive film (onto roll 43) to which contaminants are attached (pages 2-5 of translation).
With regard to claim 2, in the apparatus of Otake, the cleaning unit comprises the receiving member 30, and this receiving member 30 reads on applicant’s support portion because it supports a section of adhesive film as the film is pushed upwards by the cleaning unit (pages 2-5 of translation; Figure 3). In the apparatus of Otake, a vertically-movable portion (illustrated in Figure 3 as a vertical line extending from the bottom of receiving member 30 to a top of a circular portion of vertical mover 31) corresponds to applicant’s driving portion because it is movable up and down (pages 2-5 of translation; Figure 3). In the apparatus of Otake, the receiving member 30 can be considered a support chuck, as it fixes the section of adhesive film between the receiving member 30 and the stamp (item S in Figure 3) when the receiving member is raised by the vertical-mover 31 (pages 2-5 of translation).
With regard to claim 3, in the apparatus of Otake, the upper half of the vertically-movable portion (illustrated in Figure 3 as a vertical line extending from the bottom of receiving member 30 to a top of a circular portion of vertical mover 31) corresponds to applicant’s upper driving portion, and the lower half of the vertically-movable portion reads on applicant’s lower driving portion. In the apparatus of Otake, the upper half of the vertically-movable portion moves downward (see Figures 3B and 3C), and the lower half of the vertically-movable portion moves upwards when the section of the adhesive film is fixed between the receiving member 30 and the to-be-cleaned stamp S (see Figures 3A and 3B).
With regard to claim 4, in the apparatus of Otake, the upper half of the receiving member 30 reads on applicant’s vertical moving portion because it is a portion that is movable up and down (pages 2-5 of translation and Figure 3). In the apparatus of Otake, the vertically-movable portion (illustrated in Figure 3 as a vertical line extending from the bottom of receiving member 30 to a top of a circular portion of vertical mover 31) corresponds to applicant’s driving portion and is configured to fix the adhesive film between the receiving member 30 and the to-be-cleaned stamp S when the vertically-movable portion moves upward to push the receiving member 30 towards the stamp (pages 2-5 of translation and Figure 3). In the apparatus of Otake, the upper half of the receiving member 30 reads on applicant’s vertical moving portion and is configured to rise and stretch the adhesive film at a portion of the adhesive where the adhesive film bends downwards from the receiving member 30 towards idle roller 46 (pages 2-5 of translation; Figure 3).
With regard to claim 8, in the apparatus of Otake, the roll-to-roll unit further comprises a first guide roller 46 disposed between the first rolling portion and the cleaning unit (see Figure 3B), and the roll-to-roll unit further comprises a second guide roller 48 between the second rolling portion and the cleaning unit (see Figure 3B), wherein the first and second guide rollers serve to guide the adhesive film (pages 2-5 of translation).
With regard to claim 10, applicant’s limitation specifying that the contaminants include at least one light emitting element and dust specify intended use of the apparatus and are not given patentable weight (see MPEP 2114). In the apparatus of Otake, the adhesive tape is structurally capable of removing dust from a stamp.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 6, 7, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2016203563 by Otake in vies of U.S. 2024/0408652 by Zhou.
With regard to claims 6 and 7, Otake teaches an embodiment wherein the adhesive-comprising-side of the adhesive film faces outward on roll 42 (see page 3 of Otake translation).
Otake does not teach that the adhesive film has release paper attached thereto.
Zhou teaches that when using a roll-comprising apparatus to supply adhesive film for performing cleaning, the adhesive film can be a laminate film comprising a release layer, wherein the release layer is separated from the adhesive film by being wound onto a winding reel 301 (in Figure 4 of Zhou) as the adhesive film is unwound to go be used to perform cleaning, wherein the winding of the separated release layer advantageously prevents the release layer from scattering and polluting the nearby environment, and wherein the purpose of the release layer is to protect the adhesive from the environment until the adhesive is actually needed for cleaning (Abstract; Par. 0066-0069 and 0087-0090).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of Otake by having the apparatus configured to use adhesive film with a release layer thereon, wherein the adhesive-comprising-side (and thus the release-layer-comprising side) of the adhesive film faces outward on the roll 41, wherein the apparatus is configured to separate the release layer from the adhesive film by winding the release layer as the adhesive film is supplied towards the cleaning unit of the apparatus, and wherein the separated release layer is wound onto a third rolling portion to prevent the release layer from scattering and polluting the nearby environment. Motivation for using adhesive film with a release layer thereon was provided by Zhou, who teaches that the purpose of such a release layer is to protect the adhesive from the environment until the adhesive is actually needed for cleaning. Motivation for winding the separated release layer onto a rolling unit was provided by Zhou, who teaches that such winding can advantageously prevent separated release layer from scattering and polluting the nearby environment.
Applicant’s limitation specifying that the release layer is made of paper specifies intended use of the apparatus and is not given patentable weight (MPEP 2114). The apparatus of Otake in view of Zhou is structurally capable of using adhesive film wherein the release layer of the film is made of paper.
With regard to claim 14, the combination of Otake in view of Zhou does not teach that the first rolling portion, the second rolling portion, and the third rolling portion all rotate in a same direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise). However, since each rolling portion has to rotate either clockwise or counter-clockwise to perform their winding or unwinding, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of Otake in view of Zhou by having all three rolling portions arranged to rotate in a same direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) due to the limited number of possible combinations (whether the first rolling portion is clockwise or counter-clockwise, whether the second rolling portion is clockwise or counter-clockwise, and whether the third rolling portion is clockwise or counter-clockwise) available. Motivation for performing the modification is also provided by the fact that the three rolling portions could be successfully arranged to perform their roles while rotating in the same direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is 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: the reviewed prior art does not teach or render obvious the subject matter recited by claim 9. With regard to claim 9, the most relevant prior art is JP2016203563 by Otake, which was discussed above in the rejection of claim 3. Otake does not teach that the upper driving portion defines an opening wider than an upper surface of the support portion in a plan view. The reviewed prior art does not provide motivation to modify Otake to arrive at the apparatus recited by claim 9.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN L COLEMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7376. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5 Monday-Friday.
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/RLC/
Ryan L. Coleman
Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1714
/KAJ K OLSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1714