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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1449. These IDS have been considered.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
4. The examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 01/10/2025 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Election/Restrictions
5. Applicant’s election without traverse of invention I, disclosed in claims 1-2, 5, 7 and 9-15 in the reply filed on 07/10/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Claims 1, 9-11 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Yamamoto (US Pub. Nº 2012/0147096).
9. Regarding independent claim 1: Yamamoto disclosed a flexible board ([0044], line 1; also see Fig. 1, reference 74) configured to output a drive signal ([0045], lines 1-4 and [0052], lines 1-6) to be applied to a liquid jet head ([0020], line 1; also see Fig. 1, reference 10) having a plurality of nozzles ([0031], line 1; also see Fig. 1, reference 48), the flexible board comprising:
a plurality of wiring layers including a first wiring layer and a second wiring layer opposed to each other along a direction perpendicular to a surface of the board (Fig. 1, the wiring layer of the driver IC 77 is opposed to the wiring layer of the board 75 in a thickness direction of the flexible board 74; also see [0043], lines 1-2 which shows that the board 75 is a wiring board);
one or a plurality of drive devices which are arranged in a first region of the first wiring layer (Fig. 1, references 77), and which are configured to generate the drive signal configured to jet a liquid from the nozzle ([0052], lines 1-3); and
a deformation suppression part which is disposed in a second region of the second wiring layer, and which is configured to suppress a deformation of the flexible board ([0043], lines 1-3; the wiring board 75 is rigid, therefore it prevents a deformation of the flexible board 74).
10. Regarding claim 9: Yamamoto disclosed the flexible board according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of drive devices are arranged side by side along a longitudinal direction of the flexible board (Fig. 2, at least one driver IC 76 and one driver IC 77 are arranged side by side along a longitudinal direction of the flexible board 74).
11. Regarding claim 10: Yamamoto disclosed the flexible board according to claim 9, wherein a plurality of the second regions are arranged so as to be separated from each other for the respective drive devices (Fig. 2, references 75 on both sides of the nozzle plate 24).
12. Regarding claim 11: Yamamoto disclosed the flexible board according to claim 1, wherein the deformation suppression part is formed using a wiring pattern on the second wiring layer ([0043], lines 1-3; the rigid board 75 is a wiring board).
13. Regarding claim 14: Yamamoto disclosed a liquid jet head ([0020], line 1; also see Fig. 1, reference 10) comprising: the flexible board according to claim 1 (see the rejection of claim 1); and a jet section (Fig. 1, reference 24) which is configured to jet the liquid based on the drive signal output from the flexible board ([0052], lines 1-3), and which includes the plurality of nozzles ([0031], line 1; also see Fig. 1, reference 48).
14. Regarding claim 15: Yamamoto disclosed a liquid jet recording apparatus comprising the liquid jet head according to claim 14 ([0003], line 1 and [0056], line 2 (printer not shown)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
16. 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.
17. Claims 2, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto (US Pub. Nº 2012/0147096), in view of Honda et al. (JP 2003-078228).
18. Regarding claim 2: Yamamoto disclosed the flexible board according to claim 1.
Yamamoto is silent about wherein the second region overlaps at least a part of the first region.
Honda et al. disclosed a flexible printed board (Fig. 2, reference 40), comprising a plurality of driver IC provided in a first region of a first side of the board ([0013], line 3; also see Fig. 2, references 21 and 22) and a deformation suppression part disposed in a second region of a second and opposite side of the board ([0013], lines 1-7; also see Fig. 2, reference 100), wherein the second region overlaps at least a part of the first region (Fig. 2 shows the component 100 overlapping at least part of the first region of the chips 21,22).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Honda et al. with those of Yamamoto by making the backing board overlap with the positions of the driver ICs in order to prevent stresses to connection portions and disconnection of connection portions as disclosed by Honda et al. in paragraph [0012].
19. Regarding claim 5: The combination of Yamamoto and Honda et al. disclosed the flexible board according to claim 2, wherein the second region overlaps an entire area of the drive device in the first region (Honda et al. see Fig. 2).
20. Regarding claim 7: Yamamoto disclosed the flexible board according to claim 1.
Yamamoto is silent about wherein the second region overlaps an entire area of the first region.
Honda et al. disclosed a flexible printed board (Fig. 2, reference 40), comprising a plurality of driver IC provided in a first region of a first side of the board ([0013], line 3; also see Fig. 2, references 21 and 22) and a deformation suppression part disposed in a second region of a second and opposite side of the board ([0013], lines 1-7; also see Fig. 2, reference 100), wherein the second region overlaps an entire area of the first region (Fig. 2 shows the component 100 overlapping an entire area of the first region of the chips 21,22).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Honda et al. with those of Yamamoto by making the backing board overlap with the positions of the driver ICs in order to prevent stresses to connection portions and disconnection of connection portions as disclosed by Honda et al. in paragraph [0012].
21. Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto (US Pub. Nº 2012/0147096), in view of Ishikawa et al. (JP 2002-096468).
22. Regarding claim 12: Yamamoto disclosed the flexible board according to claim 11.
Yamamoto is silent about wherein the wiring pattern is set at a ground potential.
Ishikawa et al. disclosed setting a wiring pattern of a flexible printed circuit for controlling an inkjet head (Fig. 1) to a ground potential ([0008], lines 4-6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Ishikawa et al. with those of Yamamoto by setting the wiring board to a ground potential in order to improve noise resistance as disclosed by Ishikawa et al. in paragraph [0008].
23. Regarding claim 13: The combination of Yamamoto and Ishikawa et al. disclosed the flexible board according to claim 12, wherein the ground potential is a ground potential for a predetermined signal line (Ishikawa et al. [0008], lines 4-6).
Conclusion
24. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YAOVI M. AMEH whose telephone number is (571)272-4578. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
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26. 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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/YAOVI M AMEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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