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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/16/2024 and 05/30/2025 have been considered.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 39, line 12, replace “3,1” with --31--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 124-169 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 124, 126-169, line 1, “cartridge” needs to be changed to --toner cartridge--.
Claim 125, line 1, “123” needs to be changed to --124--.
Claim 133, line 1, “area” needs to be changed to --region--.
Claim 140, line 4, “area” needs to be changed to --region--.
Claim 148, lines 1-2, “wherein the direction of the feeding passageway” is unclear.
Claim 149, line 2, “the direction of the feeding passageway” is unclear.
Claim 150 recites the limitations “the region of the feeding passageway” in line 2, and “includes a component in the first direction” in line 3 are unclear.
Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 124, 125, 129 and 145-147 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Eto [8,571,447].
Eto discloses a toner cartridge [Fig. 3] comprising a frame [41], a coupling [27] rotatable about a first axis [Fig. 5A], a toner feeding member [Col. 5, lines 34, 62] that is operable on a driving force received by the coupling [Figs. 5A, 5B], a shutter [26] as a toner discharge member which including a hollow feeding passageway [Fig. 3], and a discharge opening [26a] through which the toner is discharged to outside of the toner cartridge in a direction substantially parallel to the first axis [Figs. 3, 4B]; wherein the shutter is rotatable relative to the frame so as to change orientation of the discharge opening [Col. 6, lines 10-13], and the discharge opening is capable of facing in a direction away from the coupling in a direction parallel to the first axis [Figs. 5A, 5B].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 126-128, 130-144 and 148-169 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 correction of the objections listed above.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to HOAN H TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-2141.
The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9AM-5:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s
supervisor, Walter Lindsay can be reached on 571-272-1674. The fax phone number for the
organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HOAN H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 12/11/25
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