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.
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)(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) 1-3 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Toda (US 2015/0343774).
With regard to claim 1, Toda discloses a liquid jet head (100) [Para. 0026] comprising:
a jet module (1) [casing; Fig. 1B] configured to jet a liquid [ink]; and
a coupling member (7) [conductive flat spring; Para. 0031] having conductivity and configured to couple the jet module to a frame ground, wherein at least a part of the coupling member is disposed outside the jet module [Fig. 1B].
With regard to claim 2, Toda discloses wherein the coupling member is fixed outside the jet module [Fig. 5A].
With regard to claim 3, Toda discloses wherein the coupling member is fixed on a side surface in a longitudinal direction of the jet module [Fig. 1B].
With regard to claim 10, Toda discloses a liquid jet recording apparatus [Para. 0028] comprising: the liquid jet head according to claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toda (US 2015/0343774) in view of Miyakoshi (US 2022/0332113).
With regard to claim 4, Toda discloses wherein the coupling member is fixed with a fixing portion (19) [Para. 0036].
Toda does not disclose wherein the coupling member is fixed with a screw.
Miyakoshi teaches a coupling member (76) [flat spring; Para. 0068] is fixed with a screw (77) [Para. 0068; Fig. 4A]
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize a screw to fix the coupling member as taught by Miyakoshi for the purpose of positioning the coupling member to the jet module. Therefore, because these two members were art recognized equivalents at the time the invention was made, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to substitute the fixing portion for a screw.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5-9 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.
The primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claims 5-9 is the inclusion of the limitations of a stay positioned outside the jet module, wherein a part of the coupling member protrudes outside the stay. It is this limitation(s) found in the claims, as it is claimed in the combination of that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACEY M MCMILLION whose telephone number is (571)270-5193. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6AM-2:30PM EST.
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/TRACEY M MCMILLION/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/KRISTAL FEGGINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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