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 .
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 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (WO 2023/069138; “Kim”).
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material (Fig. 1 [0020]), comprising:
an apparatus main body 10 having an image forming portion (print engine) that forms an image on a recording material P (Fig. 1 [0022]);
an operation portion 100 that has a display portion 110 that displays information on image forming and a notification portion 120 that notifies a state of the image forming apparatus (Fig. 2 [0028-0029, 0044, 0046]), the operation portion 100 being slidably provided in the apparatus main body 10 between a first position (extraction position) where the entirety of the display portion 110 is exposed from the apparatus main body 10 and a second position (insertion position, or alternatively, a position between the extraction position and insertion position) where the display portion 110 is stored in the apparatus main body 10 such that at least a part of the display portion is invisible from outside the apparatus main body (Fig. 2 [0030-0031]); and
a controller 140 configured to control the operation portion 100 (Fig. 3 [0037]),
wherein the notification portion 120 is provided in a position where the notification portion is visible from outside the apparatus main body 10 when the operation portion is in the second position (Fig. 2 [0032]),
wherein the notification portion 120 has a light emitting portion (e.g., LCD, LED, DLP) that emits light, the notification portion being configured to notify the status of the image forming apparatus by the lighting of the light emitting portion (Fig. 5 [0029, 0044]), and
wherein in the control of the operation portion 100, the controller 140 is configured to obtain a position of the operation portion and, in response to obtaining the position of the operation portion, cause the light emitting portion to emit light at an amount (at least turning the display/light off and on, but note that a light-emission color, a light-emission period, and the like of light-emitting element 160, which may be a part of 120, also represents controlling an amount of light emitted; [0048]) that corresponds to the obtained position of the operation portion (steps S410-S450 in Fig. 4; [0040]).
Regarding claim 10, Kim discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller 140 (Fig. 3) is further configured to control a notification device 160 provided to be always exposed outside the apparatus main body 10 such that the state of the image forming apparatus is notified in synchronism with a timing of the notifying portion notifying the state of the image forming apparatus (Fig. 5 [0037, 0048]).
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) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (WO 2023/069138) in view of Asakawa et al. (JP 2012-010137; “Asakawa”). (Note: paragraphs of Asakawa correspond to the machine translation of Asakawa provided in the previous Office action.)
Regarding claim 3, Kim discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the controller causes the light emitting portion to emit light with a first light amount when the obtained position of the operation portion is the first position, and the controller causes the light emitting portion to emit light with a second light amount larger than the first light amount when the obtained position of the operation portion is the second position.
Asakawa teaches providing a light emitting portion L1-L4 within a notification portion 7 of an operation portion 5 in a similar image forming apparatus 1 (Fig. 1 [0030]). Further, Asakawa teaches controlling a light amount of the light emitting portion L1-L4 such that the amount of light directed forward (horizontally) is made greater than the amount of light directed upward, so that a user can more easily visually recognize information displayed from a distance while an appropriate amount of light that is gentle on the eyes is directed to a user who is standing near the apparatus ([0038]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the light emitting portion of Asakawa into the apparatus of Kim. In doing so, it would have further been obvious light the light emitting portion with a first light amount when the obtained position of the operation portion is the first position and to light the light emitting portion with a second light amount larger than the first light amount when the obtained position of the operation portion is the second position. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the apparatus of Kim requires a user to be physically present at the apparatus in order to manually slide the operation portion from the second position (that in which the operation portion is either fully inserted) to the first position (Kim [0031]), and that if the operation portion was in the second position, i.e., fully inserted, a user could be at a greater distance away from the apparatus and still be able to view the notification portion. One would have been motivated to make this modification in order to allow a user to more easily visually recognize information displayed from a distance while providing an appropriate amount of light that is gentle on the eyes directed to a user who is standing near the apparatus (Asakawa [0038]).
Regarding claim 4, modified Kim teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the operation portion is movable to the first position, the second position (in the alternative, a position between fully extracted and fully inserted), and a third position (insertion position) where the operation portion is stored in the apparatus main body such that the entirety of the display portion is invisible from outside (Kim Fig. 2 [0030]).
Claim(s) 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (WO 2023/069138) in view of Sakata et al. (US 2003/0218643; “Sakata”).
Regarding claim 6, Kim discloses the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, but fails to disclose wherein the notification portion has a sound generation portion that emits sound, and wherein the notification portion is configured to notify the state of the image forming apparatus by the sound emitted by the sound generation portion.
Sakata teaches providing a sound generation portion 12e that emits sound to a notification portion 12a/12e of an operation portion 12 of an image forming apparatus 1 (Figs 1-2 [0044]), wherein the notification portion is configured to notify the state of the image forming apparatus by the sound emitted by the sound generation portion ([0055]).
Based on the teachings of Sakata, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include a sound generation portion that emits sound in the notification portion of Kim, and wherein the notification portion is configured to notify the state of the image forming apparatus by the sound emitted by the sound generation portion. One would have been motivated to make this modification in order to guide handicapped persons (for example, the completely blind and the weak-sighted person) with sounds for operating the image forming apparatus (Sakata [0061]).
Regarding claim 7, modified Kim teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a volume of the sound generation portion is adjustable (Sakata [0020]).
Modified Kim does not explicitly teach wherein the controller causes the sound generation portion to emit sound with a first volume when the obtained position of the operation portion is the first position, and the controller causes the sound generation portion to emit sound with a second volume larger than the first volume when the obtained position of the operation portion is the second position.
However, in modifying Kim to include the sound generation portion/speaker on the operation portion that slides into and out of the image forming apparatus, it would have been apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that sound emitted from the speaker would be muffled when the operation portion was housed within the image forming apparatus. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure the apparatus such that the controller causes the sound generation portion to emit sound with a first volume when the obtained position of the operation portion is the first position, and the controller causes the sound generation portion to emit sound with a second volume larger than the first volume when the obtained position of the operation portion is the second position. One would have been motivated to make this modification in order for a user to be able to hear the emitted sound when the operation portion is housed within the apparatus.
Regarding claim 8, modified Kim teaches the image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the operation portion is movable to the first position, the second position (in the alternative, a position between fully extracted and fully inserted), and a third position (insertion position) where the operation portion is stored in the apparatus main body such that the entirety of the display portion is invisible from outside (Kim Fig. 2 [0030]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 9 stand as being 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, for similar reasons as stated in the previous Office action.
Claims 11-19 are allowed for reasons stated in the previous Office action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that claim 1 is allowable because “whether Kim, Asakawa, and Sakata are considered singly or in combination, Kim, Asakawa, and Sakata do not disclose or even remotely suggest the feature of a controller that obtains a position of the operation portion and, in response to obtaining the position of the operation portion, causes the light emitting portion to emit light at an amount that corresponds to the obtained position” (see the 4th-3rd paragraphs from the bottom of page 8 of the Remarks).
The Office respectfully disagrees. As outlined in the rejection of claim 1 above, Kim explicitly discloses these limitations.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLA J THERRIEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2677. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8 am - 4 pm EST.
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/CARLA J THERRIEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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