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
The information disclosure statement filed 02/12/2025 did not contain any citations, therefore, the form has been crossed out, since there was no information for the Examiner to consider.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 25, 26 and 29-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okabe et al. (US 2006/0093399) in view of Higeta et al. (US 2003/0123900).
Okabe et al. (…399) disclose a developing cartridge (32) comprising: a casing (64) configured to accommodate toner therein, the casing having a first end portion and a second end portion spaced apart from the first end portion in a first direction, the casing having a third end portion and a fourth end portion spaced apart from the third end portion in a second direction (figures 1, 8 and 16); a developing roller (67) positioned at the third end portion of the casing, the developing roller being rotatable about a first axis extending in the first direction (figures 1 and 8); and a coupling (163) rotatable about a second axis extending in the first direction, the coupling being positioned at the first end portion of the casing ([0121]; and figure 8),wherein the casing comprises: a toner injection hole (98) for replenishing toner therethrough into the casing, the toner injection hole being positioned at the first end portion of the casing ([0106]; and figure 8); and a grip (97) on an outer surface of the casing toward the developing roller, the grip being positioned at a center in the first direction of the fourth end portion of the casing ([0087]; and figure 8), and wherein at least a portion of the grip overlaps the toner injection hole in the first direction (figures 8 and 14) [see Applicant’s claim 25]. The casing further comprises: a first wall extending in the second direction and forming a part of the grip, wherein at least a portion of the grip overlaps the first wall in the first direction (figure 8) [see Applicant’s claim 26]. The casing further comprises: a toner chamber (92) configured to accommodate toner therein ([0091]; and figure 16); a third wall facing the first wall in the third direction, the third wall defining a part of the toner chamber (figures 1, 8 and 16); and an anti-slip portion configured of a plurality of protrusions protruding from the third wall in a direction away from the toner chamber ([0097]; and figure 8), and wherein the anti-slip portion overlaps the grip in the third direction (figure 8) [see Applicant’s claim 29]. The developing cartridge wherein the casing has a toner chamber (92) configured to accommodate toner therein ([0091]; and figure 16), and wherein the grip overlaps the toner chamber in the third direction (figures 1, 8 and 16) [see Applicant’s claim 30]. The first wall has a first surface extending in the second direction (figures 1, 8 and 16), and wherein the first surface is exposed to an outside of the casing in a direction orthogonal to the first surface (figures 1, 8 and 16) [see Applicant’s claim 31]. The second direction is orthogonal to the first direction, and wherein the third direction is orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction (figures 1, 8 and 16) [see Applicant’s claim 32]. The casing has a flat surface positioned at the fourth end portion of the casing, the flat surface extending to span between the first end portion of the casing and the second end portion of the casing (figure 8), and wherein the grip is on the flat surface (figure 8) [see Applicant’s claim 33]. However, Okabe et al. (…399) do not disclose the claimed recess and wall structure. Higeta et al. (…900) disclose a cartridge (B) comprising a casing (figures 2-4) including a grip as a recessed portion (17) recessed from an outer surface of the casing toward a developing roller (9c) ([0084]; and figures 1-4) [see Applicant’s claim 26]. The casing further comprises: a first wall extending in a second direction and forming a part of the recess; and a second wall forming a part of the recess, the second wall extending from one end of the first wall in the second direction toward one side in a third direction, and wherein at least a portion of the recess overlaps the first wall and the second wall in a first direction (figures 1-4) [see Applicant’s claim 26]. The first wall has a first surface extending in the second direction and the second wall has a second surface extending in the third direction (figures 1-4), and wherein the first surface is exposed to an outside of the casing in a direction orthogonal to the first surface and the second surface is exposed to the outside of the casing in a direction orthogonal to the second surface (figures 1-4) [see Applicant’s claim 31]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed recess and wall structure, since as disclosed by Higeta et al. (…900), such are well known in the art to provide a grip for a user.
Claims 27, 28 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okabe et al. (US 2006/0093399) in view of Higeta et al. (US 2003/0123900) as applied to claims 25 and 26 above, and further in view of Wang (US 2021/0173326).
Okabe et al. (…399) in view of Higeta et al. (…900) disclose the features mentioned previously, but do not disclose the claimed projection and the claimed drawer. Wang (…326) discloses a cartridge (1) including a casing, wherein the casing further comprises a protrusion protruding from another end of a first wall in a second direction toward a one side in a third direction (figures 5 and 6) [see Applicant’s claim 27]. The casing has a toner chamber configured to accommodate toner therein ([0025]), wherein a second wall extends from the one end of the first wall in the second direction to extend away from the toner chamber in the third direction (figures 4-6), and wherein the protrusion protrudes from another end of the first wall in the second direction to extend away from the toner chamber in the third direction (figures 5 and 6) [see Applicant’s claim 28]. The cartridge is attachable to a drawer of an image forming apparatus, the drawer being movable in a third direction relative to a main housing of the image forming apparatus ([0038]; [0040]; [0043]; [0044]; and figure 1) [see Applicant’s claim 34]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed protrusion, as disclosed by Wang (…326), since it is well known in the art for a cartridge to have such a configuration. Moreover, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed drawer, as disclosed by Wang (…326), since it is well known in the art to have cartridges attachable to a drawer for ease of mounting and removal of cartridges in an image forming apparatus.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Watanabe et al. (US 6,169,866) disclose an image forming apparatus including a cartridge including a casing having a recess.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANDRA BRASE whose telephone number is (571)272-2131. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Lindsay can be reached at 571-272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SANDRA BRASE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 February 18, 2026