CTNF 18/967,552 CTNF 90512 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of Japan Application No. 2023-205896 was received on 07 January 2025 as required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The references cited in the information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03 December 2024 and 16 June 2025 have been considered by the examiner. Drawings The drawings filed on 03 December 2024 are accepted. Specification 06-31 AIA The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification. Claim Objections 07-29-01 AIA Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 4 recites the term “splays”, which examiner interprets to mean “sprays” . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1-2 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Tamarez Gomez et al. (US 9,162,465 B1), hereinafter Tamarez . With regard to Claim 1, Tamarez discloses an inkjet recording apparatus (Abstract) comprising: a plurality of inkjet heads (Fig. 1; inkjet printheads 250; Col. 6) ; a cleaning liquid supply device (Abstract) which supplies a cleaning liquid to the inkjet heads (Col. 6, Lines 23-35) ; a removing device which removes adhered material from nozzle surfaces of the inkjet heads (Abstract; wiper module) ; a closing member which closes a gap between the inkjet heads (Fig. 1; printhead assembly 204) ; a surrounding member which surrounds the removing device (Fig. 2B; wiping module 244 surrounded by purge tray 216) and is opened toward the inkjet heads (Col. 6, Lines 23-67) ; and a housing device which houses the nozzle surfaces in a space formed by the closing member and the surrounding member when the adhered material is removed by the removing device (Figs. 1-2; Col’s, 6-7) . With regard to Claim 2, Tamarez further discloses wherein the closing member is formed integrally with the inkjet heads (Fig. 1; assembly 204; Col. 6, Line 23 to Col 7) , and the housing device brings the surrounding member into contact with the closing member by moving the surrounding member or the closing member to form the space (Col. 6, Line 23 to Col 7) . With regard to Claim 5, Tamarez further discloses wherein the housing device houses the nozzle surfaces in a period when an image forming operation by the inkjet heads is not performed (Fig. 7; Col. 6-7) . With regard to Claim 6, Tamarez further discloses wherein the cleaning liquid supply device supplies the cleaning liquid in a period when an image forming operation by the inkjet heads is not performed (Col’s 6 -7; Fig. 7) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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 of this title, 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamarez , in view of Nakano et al. (US PGPub 2023/0115621 A1), hereinafter Nakano . With regard to Claim 3, Tamarez further discloses wherein the closing member has through-holes into which the inkjet heads are fitted (Fig. 1) , and the nozzle surfaces of the inkjet heads fitted into the through-holes are exposed to the surrounding member (Figs. 1-2; Col. 6, Line 23 to Col. 7) . Although Tamarez shows the closing member surrounding the inkjet heads and it is inherent that the heads are fitted therein in order to function as intended, Tamarez does not explicitly state the closing member has through-holes into which the inkjet heads are firtted. The secondary reference of Nakano discloses wherein the closing member has through-holes into which the inkjet heads are fitted (Fig. 2; ¶0035) , and the nozzle surfaces of the inkjet heads fitted into the through-holes are exposed to the surrounding member (Fig. 2; ¶0035) . 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 through-holes of Nakano , with the inkjet recording apparatus of Tamarez , in order to mount the recording heads, as taught by Nakano (¶0035) . With regard to Claim 4, Tamarez does not explicitly disclose wherein the cleaning liquid supply device ejects or splays the cleaning liquid to the nozzle surfaces. The secondary reference of Nakano discloses wherein the cleaning liquid supply device ejects or splays the cleaning liquid to the nozzle surfaces (¶0053, 0071) . 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 spraying of cleaning liquid to the nozzle surfaces of Nakano , with the ejecting apparatus of Tamarez , in order to wet wipe the nozzle surface, as taught by Nakano (¶0071-0073) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamarez , in view of Andrews et al. (US PGPub 2022/0258236 A1), hereinafter Andrews . With regard to Claim 7, Tamarez does not explicitly disclose wherein the cleaning liquid supply device includes a heater which heats the cleaning liquid. The secondary reference of Andrews discloses wherein the cleaning liquid supply device includes a heater which heats the cleaning liquid (¶0158) . 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 heater of Andrews , with the liquid ejecting apparatus of Tamarez , in order to dissolve precipitant and other debris deposited on the print head, as taught by Andrews (¶0186) . Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT A. RICHMOND whose telephone number is (313)446-6547. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-6:00 PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas Rodriguez can be reached on 571-431-0716 . The fax phone number 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 https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. 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. /SCOTT A RICHMOND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 Application/Control Number: 18/967,552 Page 2 Art Unit: 2853 Application/Control Number: 18/967,552 Page 3 Art Unit: 2853 Application/Control Number: 18/967,552 Page 4 Art Unit: 2853 Application/Control Number: 18/967,552 Page 5 Art Unit: 2853 Application/Control Number: 18/967,552 Page 6 Art Unit: 2853
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