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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 6-10 and 16-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 7/31/2026.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the sheet guide moving closer to the cover, and the flapper not contacting the rolled sheet when the cover rotates to close the opening, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required:
The Specification lacks antecedent basis for:
“first surfaces”;
“second surfaces”
“second retaining position that is closer…”;
“area of the first surface is greater than an area of the second surface”; and
“such that the flapper does not contact the rolled sheet”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-5 and 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The Specification does not describe how the rolled sheet guide moves closer to the cover as the cover rotates open away from the rolled sheet guide, as recited in claim 1.
The Specification does not describe how the flapper does not contact the rolled sheet, as recited in claim 3.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-5 and 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 1, the limitation that the sheet guide moves closer to the cover as the cover rotates to open is indefinite. As seen in figs. 6A-6C, as the cover opens, it moves away from the sheet guide, which slides along 17. The fig. 6B depicts the cover moving further away from the sheet guide 16. This claim could not be properly examined due to the inconsistency in the limitations that require the sheet guide to move closer to the cover, while the cover opens and moves away from the sheet guide.
Claim 11 similarly requires the sheet guide movable between a first retaining position to a second retaining position that is closer to the cover, where the guide is at the second retaining position when the cover is at the second (fully opened) cover position.
In claims 3 and 13, it is unclear how the flapper does not contact the rolled sheet, since the disclosure specifically references the flapper supporting the rolled sheet.
Due to the indefinite claim language, the claims could not be properly examined.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 11-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Inoue (U.S. 20110236115 A1).
1. A printer comprising: a housing (fig. 1, element 1) including a storage unit (12, fig. 2) for storing a rolled sheet (11), an opening through which the rolled sheet can be set (fig. 3), and first (surface where cover 3 is located) and second surfaces (top 1), the first and second surfaces being connected to each other (fig. 1);
a cover (3) rotatably attached to the housing to cover the opening, the cover being parallel to the first surface when covering the opening;
a printing head (21, [0053] ) configured to print on a portion of the rolled sheet; and
a rolled sheet guide (40) for retaining the rolled sheet in the storage unit, wherein the rolled sheet guide moves from a first retaining position to a second retaining position that is closer to the cover than the first retaining position as the cover rotates to open, and moves from the second retaining position to the first retaining position as the cover rotates to close (figs. 2 and 3, as best understood).
2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein an area of the first surface is greater than an area of the second surface (the surface is undefined and can be any smaller section or portion of any wall, such that the first surface 3 is greater than an area of a second surface).
3. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising:
a flapper (35) that is biased to press the rolled sheet towards the first surface, wherein when the cover rotates to close the opening, the rolled sheet guide moves the rolled sheet towards the first surface [0070]-[0075], [such that the flapper does not contact the rolled sheet] (see 112 rejection above, the rejection of claim 13 is presented based on the best understanding of the claim language).
11. A printer comprising:
a housing (fig. 1, element 1) including a storage unit (12, fig. 2) for storing a rolled sheet (11), an opening through which the rolled sheet can be set (fig. 3), and first (3) and second surfaces (top 1), the first and second surfaces being connected to each other (fig. 1);
a cover (3) attached along the second surface of the housing and rotatable between a first cover position at which the opening is fully covered and a second cover position at which the opening is fully opened, the cover being parallel to the first surface when the cover is at the first cover position (figs. 2 and 3);
a printing head (21) configured to print on a portion of the rolled sheet; and
a rolled sheet guide (40) for retaining the rolled sheet in the storage unit, the rolled sheet guide being movable between a first retaining position to a second retaining position that is closer to the cover than the first retaining position, wherein the rolled sheet guide is at the first retaining position when the cover is at the first cover position and at the second retaining position when the cover is at the second cover position (figs. 2 and 3, as best understood).
12. The printer according to claim 11, wherein an area of the first surface is greater than an area of the second surface (the surface is undefined and can be any smaller section or portion of any wall, such that the first surface 3 is greater than an area of a second surface).
13. The printer according to claim 11, further comprising: a flapper (35) that is biased to press the rolled sheet towards the first surface, wherein when the cover rotates from the second cover position to the first cover position, the rolled sheet guide moves the rolled sheet towards the first surface [such that the flapper does not contact the rolled sheet] (see 112 rejection above, the rejection of claim 13 is presented based on the best understanding of the claim language).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Julian D Huffman whose telephone number is (571)272-2147. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 9am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Group Director Andrea Wellington can be reached at (571)272-4483. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JULIAN D. HUFFMAN
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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