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 .
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kasuga (JP 2021-050050).
Regarding claim 16, Kasuga discloses an image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming device 3a to form an image on a sheet; a sheet stacking portion 15 disposed above the image forming device to stack the sheet on which the image has been formed by the image forming device; a blower fan 20 to take in air; and a duct 25 through which the air taken in flows, wherein the blower fan has an inlet for taking in air and an outlet for blowing the air, and the inlet and the outlet are opposed to each other, the outlet of the blower fan and a wall of the duct are opposed to each other, and the air blown out from the outlet of the blower fan collides with the wall of the duct and is exhausted from an exhaust port 21a. See Fig. 6, shown below with annotations.
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Regarding claim 17, Kasuga discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the air taken in from the inlet of the blower fan and blown out from the outlet is exhausted in a direction intersecting the sheet ejection direction. See Fig. 5 – the direction (F1) of air blown out from the outlet intersects with the direction of sheets exiting sheet discharge port 11.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the nearest prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed subject matter. For example Sakagami (US 11,447,357) does not disclose everything claimed, including the first and second air-intake ports as claimed, in combination with the rest of the claimed elements.
Response to Arguments
Regarding claims 1-15, Applicant’s claims are persuasive and the claims as amended are allowable.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 16 and 17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jeremy R. Severson, whose telephone number is (571)272-2209. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Curtis Mayes, can be reached at (571) 272-1234. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEREMY R SEVERSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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