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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 2-3 and 6-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention and Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 27 May 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hasegawa (US Pub.2008/0181640).
Regarding claim 1, Hasegawa (US Pub.2008/0181640) teaches an image forming apparatus (fig.3) comprising: a first sensor configured to detect a first physical quantity of the image forming apparatus (fig.3-4, #15) and to output a first sensor voltage corresponding to the detected first physical quantity (fig.4, signal to #9;fig.5, Temperature Detection Signal; para.0062); a first comparator (fig.5, #IC1) comprising: a first sensor input terminal configured to receive the first sensor voltage from the first sensor (fig.5, #IC1(-)); and a first reference voltage input terminal configured to receive a first reference voltage (fig.5, #IC1(+) with input V through R1), the first comparator being configured to compare the first sensor voltage with the first reference voltage (para.0063) and to output a first output signal (fig.5, to #IC3) when the first sensor voltage exceeds the first reference voltage (para.0063&0065); and a first power supply configured to be turned on or off depending on whether the image forming apparatus is in a first mode or a second mode that consumes less power than the first mode (para.0065-0066), thereby outputting a specific voltage when the image forming apparatus is in the first mode, and not outputting the specific voltage when the image forming apparatus is in the second mode, the specific voltage being used to generate the first sensor voltage and the first reference voltage (para.0063-0066).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 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. If claim 4 is rewritten in an allowable independent form, it appears as though claims 6-8 would be subject to rejoinder.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Prior art does not disclose or suggest the claimed “a particular power supply configured to output a particular voltage, wherein the first reference voltage input terminal of the first comparator is further configured to receive at least the specific voltage when the image forming apparatus is in the first mode, and to receive at least the particular voltage when the image forming apparatus is in the second mode” in combination with the remaining claim elements as set forth in claims 4 and 5.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ikuta et al. (US Pub.2017/0038708) disclose a temperature detection circuit with a specific reference voltage and a second particular voltage to be selectively applied to the input terminal of a comparator; however, the selection between the voltages is based on what model of printer with which selection of temperature sensors it is installed in and does not teach being selected based on operating mode.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAURA K ROTH whose telephone number is (571)272-2154. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:30AM-3:30 PM.
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/LKR/
7/23/2026 /STEPHANIE E BLOSS/ Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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