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 .
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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2014-048509 cited herein, hereinafter JP509. Regarding claim 1, JP509 discloses most of the features of the claims. See, for example, paragraphs [0018] and [0028]. What the reference may not expressly disclose are the claim limitations in the second paragraph of claim 1, that is C2 is aligned with C1 as disclosed, for example, in Fig 5. On the other hand, given the above noted reference disclosure, it would have been obvious to provide JP509 with the feature in question, for the purpose of adequately protecting the photosensitive member (photosensitive drum 1) without placing the protective sheet 2 too close to any one edge of the photosensitive member, so as to help in accurately positioning the ends of the drum as described in the reference.
Regarding claim 3, it would have been obvious to space the edges of the protective sheet as claimed, for the purpose of adequately protecting the photosensitive surfaces of the drum whilst making it even easier to accurately position the ends of the drum as described in the reference.
Regarding claim 4, see the materials described in [0017].
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP509 in view of Light et al. (5,209,352). JP509 does not disclose that a plurality of the electrophotographic photosensitive members disclosed therein can be placed in an accommodation container that supports the ends of the members as required in claim 5. On the other hand, Light is applied to show that it is conventional in the packaging arts, to store a plurality of rolls, such as rolls of photosensitive material in an accommodation container (container 12 in Light) that supports the ends of the roll. Therefore, it would have been obvious to store a plurality of the JP509 members in an accommodation container as claimed, for the purpose of providing better protection to the members during storage or transportation, while also advantageously allowing for the members to be stored and/or transported more than one at a time. Light discloses the resins required in claim 6 in column 3 thereof.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB K ACKUN whose telephone number is (571)272-4418. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 11am-7pm.
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/JACOB K ACKUN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736