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 § 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nishimura et al. (US 5,621,507).
Nishimura et al. (…507) disclose an image forming apparatus comprising: a developing unit (4) including a developing roller (420) and a storage frame (402) having a storage portion configured to store toner to be supplied to the developing roller (col. 17, lines 42-67; and figure 2); a toner cartridge (16) configured to store toner; a drive source (M2) (col. 13, lines 6-11; and col. 18, lines 10-18); a moving member (102) configured to be moved in a movement direction by driving force of the drive source; and a drive transmission mechanism (64, 56, 58, 60 and 62) configured to transmit the driving force from the drive source to the moving member (col. 8, lines 44-65; col. 12, lines 18-21; col. 13, lines 6-18; and figure 3), wherein the moving member includes a first force receiving portion (170a) configured to receive the driving force from the drive transmission mechanism, and a second force receiving portion (170b) disposed at a position away from the first force receiving portion in a direction intersecting with the movement direction and configured to receive the driving force from the drive transmission mechanism (col. 12, lines 18-33; and col. 12, line 63 – col. 13, line 18), wherein the drive transmission mechanism is configured to transmit a force that the drive transmission mechanism has received from the first force receiving portion of the moving member to the second force receiving portion, and to transmit a force that the drive transmission mechanism has received from the second force receiving portion of the moving member to the first force receiving portion (col. 12, line 63 – col. 13, line 18), wherein the toner cartridge is detachably attached to the moving member (col. 10, lines 13-23; col. 11, line 55 – col. 12, line 7; and col. 12, line 63 – col. 13, line 18), and wherein the moving member is movable in the movement direction between a first position in which detachment of the toner cartridge from the moving member is allowed (col. 13, line 66 – col. 14, line 32) and a second position in which supply of the toner from the toner cartridge to the developing unit is allowed (col. 12, line 63 – col. 13, line 18) [see Applicant’s claim 1].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-20 are allowed.
Claims 2-14 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.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Okamoto et al. (US 2005/0123320) disclose an image forming apparatus including a rotary which includes a developing unit and a developer cartridge.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANDRA BRASE whose telephone number is (571)272-2131. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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/SANDRA BRASE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 December 17, 2025