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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 09 January 2025 and 29 August 2025, have been considered.
Drawings
The drawings received on 09 January 2025 are accepted.
Specification
The 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.
Examiner’s Note
The examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record in the body of this action for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. Applicant should consider the entire prior art as applicable as to the limitations of the claims. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the response, to consider fully the entire references as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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 1, 2, and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 6,695,500).
With respect to claim 1, Kim discloses an adjustment mechanism for allowing spacing between a pair of slide guides to be adjusted, the adjustment mechanism comprising:
a rail (Fig. 4, element 60) having a slide groove (Fig. 4, elements 61, 62), the rail having a plurality of fitting recesses (Fig. 4, element 66); and
the pair of slide guides (Fig. 4, element 10, element 20 not labeled see Fig. 5, element 20) arranged to be able to slide in the slide groove (Column 7, line 67 – Column 8, line 3), the slide guides having protrusions (Fig. 4, element 101) that fit, and are able to slide, in the fitting recesses (Column 6, line 67 – Column 7, line 3),
wherein, by moving the protrusions out of the fitting recesses, the slide guides are disengaged from the fitting recesses and are able to slide in the slide groove (Column 8, line 66 – Column 9, line 25).
The examiner notes to applicant that the limitations concerning how the slide guides are moved are broad in scope and would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of Kim as applied above.
With respect to claim 2, Kim discloses the pair of slide guides (Fig. 4, element 10, element 20 not labeled see Fig. 5, element 20) each have a knob (Fig. 4, elements 31, 41) with the protrusions (Fig. 4, element 101) and an elastic member (Fig. 4, element S) that preloads the knob in a direction in which the protrusions slide in the fitting recesses (Column 9, lines 35-40).
With respect to claim 4, Kim discloses a printer comprising:
a thermal head (Fig. 1, element 2);
a platen roller (Fig. 1, element 5); and
a paper guide (Fig. 1, element 4; Column 1, lines 35-45) including a pair of slide guides (Fig. 1, element 20 and Fig. 2, element 10) and allowing spacing between the slide guides to be adjusted (Column 2, lines 39-44), the paper guide including:
a rail (Fig. 4, element 60) having a slide groove (Fig. 4, elements 61, 62), the rail having a plurality of fitting recesses (Fig. 4, element 66); and
the pair of slide guides (Fig. 4, element 10, element 20 not labeled see Fig. 5, element 20) arranged to be able to slide in the slide groove (Column 7, line 67 – Column 8, line 3), the slide guides having protrusions (Fig. 4, element 101) that fit, and are able to slide, in the fitting recesses (Column 6, line 67 – Column 7, line 3),
wherein, by moving the protrusions out of the fitting recesses, the slide guides are disengaged from the fitting recesses and are able to slide in the slide groove (Column 8, line 66 – Column 9, line 25).
The examiner notes to applicant that the limitations concerning how the slide guides are moved are broad in scope and would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of Kim as applied above. In addition, although Kim is silent to the specific type of printing head, thermal heads for printing are well known in the ink jet art. See for example Tobin et al. (US 2014/0160219) at paragraph 0005.
Allowable Subject Matter
1. Claim 3 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 primary reasons for allowance for claim 3 is that applicant’s claimed invention includes an adjustment mechanism having a rail, wherein the rail includes a narrow part having the fitting recesses and having a first width, and a wide part having a second width that is wider than the first width, and wherein, by moving the protrusions to the wide part, the slide guides are able to slide in the slide groove. It is this limitation, expressed in the claimed combination not found, taught, or suggested in the prior art that makes this claim allowable over the prior art.
2. Claim 5 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 primary reasons for allowance for claim 5 is that applicant’s claimed invention includes an adjustment mechanism, further comprising a sensor unit arranged to be able to slide in the slide groove, the sensor unit having protrusions that fit, and are able to move, in the fitting recesses, wherein, by moving the protrusions out of the fitting recesses, the sensor unit is disengaged from the fitting recesses and is able to slide in the slide groove. It is this limitation, expressed in the claimed combination not found, taught, or suggested in the prior art that makes this claim allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
In view of the foregoing, the above claims have failed to patentably distinguish over the applied art.
The remaining references listed on forms 892 and 1449 have been reviewed by the examiner and are considered to be cumulative to or less material than the prior art references relied upon in the rejection above.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Geoffrey Mruk whose telephone number is (571)272-2810. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4:30 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, Ricardo Magallanes can be reached at (571) 272-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GEOFFREY S MRUK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 06/24/2026
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