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 statement (IDS) submitted on 09/12/2025 has been considered.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it contains legal phraseology such as “comprising”. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 8 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 18, “components” (first occurrence) needs to be changed to --drums--.
Claim 1, line 18, “components” (second occurrence) needs to be changed to --units--.
Claim 8, line 16, “components” (first occurrence) needs to be changed to --drums--.
Claim 8, line 16, “components” (second occurrence) needs to be changed to --units--.
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) 1 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tomohiro et al. [CA 2851099 A1].
Tomohiro et al. disclose an image forming apparatus comprising a chassis [100] including a receptacle [Fig. 1], a photosensitive component including a plurality of photosensitive drums [2] and a photosensitive frame [130; Fig. 30], a light source component [figs. 1 and 32] including a plurality of light source units [6] and the plurality of light source units are respectively corresponded to the plurality of photosensitive drums [Fig. 30], a plurality of toner cartridge [50] which are respectively corresponded to the plurality of photosensitive drums and the plurality of light source units, and a cover assembly including a plate body [109], located on the chassis, to cover the receptacle [Fig. 1]; wherein the cover assembly is located above the plurality of toner cartridges [Fig. 1].
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 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, 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.
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tomohiro et al. in view of Yoshiaki et al. [JP 2005077440 A]
Tomohiro et al., as discussed above, disclose the claimed invention except the cover assembly including two support rods.
Yoshiaki et al. disclose an image forming apparatus [Fig. 5] comprising a cover assembly including a plate body [16] and two support rods [104].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have the cover assembly disclosed by Tomohiro et al. including two support rods as taught by Yoshiaki et al. for the purpose of properly aligning the plate body of the cover assembly in the opening/closing position with respective to the chassis of the image forming apparatus.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 and 9-12 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.
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.
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/HOAN H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 03/07/26