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 .
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 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.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“sheet feeding mechanism” in claim 1; and
“sheet feeding tray lifting mechanism” in claim 1.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakagawa (US 2023/0391567 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Nakagawa discloses a document conveying device comprising: a sheet feeding tray 44 on which a document is placed; a sheet feeding mechanism 31 which feeds the document placed on the sheet feeding tray in a predetermined sheet feeding direction; a sheet feeding tray lifting mechanism 33 which lifts and lowers the sheet feeding tray; a top plate 21 which is adjacent to the sheet feeding tray on a downstream side in the sheet feeding direction and is in contact with a lower surface of the document to be fed; a fixed wall part 23 which is provided extending downward from an upstream side end portion of the top plate in the sheet feeding direction, and fixed in position; and a lifting wall part 25 which is provided extending upward from a downstream side end portion of the sheet feeding tray in the sheet feeding direction, faces the fixed wall part 23 on an upstream side of the fixed wall part in the sheet feeding direction, and is lifted and lowered along the fixed wall part together with the sheet feeding tray 44 (par. 76), wherein the lifting wall part 25 has a slit 25T4 along an upper-and-lower direction, the fixed wall part 23 has a fin 23T4 along the upper-and-lower direction, an upper end portion of the slit is opened in the upper-and-lower direction (see, e.g., Fig. 7), and the fin protrudes upstream of the sheet conveying direction, and is arranged inside the slit (see, e.g., Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 2, Nakagawa discloses the document conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the slit is provided at a plurality of positions (25T2, 25T4) in a width direction crossing the sheet feeding direction, the fin is provided at a plurality of positions (23T2, 23T4) corresponding to the slits. Regarding the claim limitation, “at least two of the fins are in contact with the document placed on the sheet feeding tray”, Nakagawa anticipates this limitation because a document having a ragged leading edge, for example, could make contact with the fins of Nakagawa when placed on the tray. Further, inclusion of the specific material or article worked upon by a structure does not impart patentability to the claims. See MPEP § 2115.
Regarding claim 3, Nakagawa discloses the document conveying device according to claim 1, wherein edge portions of the slit 25T4 protrude upstream of the sheet feeding direction, and a tip of the fin 23T4 and tips of the edge portions of the slit on both sides of the fin form a same plane. See Fig. 11.
Regarding claim 4, Nakagawa discloses the document conveying device according to claim 1, wherein an upper end portion of the fin 23T4 is inclined such that a downstream side portion in the sheet feeding direction is high. See Fig. 11.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Partridge (US 7,967,286 B2) discloses a tray with geometric protuberances.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jeremy R. Severson, whose telephone number is (571)272-2209. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday.
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/JEREMY R SEVERSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759