CTNF 19/170,759 CTNF 88842 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 ( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Karikome JP 2015075725 . Regarding claim 1, Karikome discloses: An image forming apparatus comprising: an image bearing member (413) (FIG. 2) configured to rotate and bear a toner image; an intermediate transfer belt (421) (FIG. 2) configured so that a toner image formed on the image bearing member is transferred at a primary transfer portion and is transferred to a recording material at a secondary transfer portion; a cleaning blade (80 or 82 depending on rotation of intermediate transfer belt) (FIG. 4) configured to come into contact with a first contact portion of the intermediate transfer belt and clean toner remaining on an outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt; a scraper (other of 80 or 82 depending on rotation direction of intermediate transfer belt) (FIG. 4) configured to come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt at a second contact portion downstream of the first contact portion in a rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt; a driving source ([0044] of attached English machine translation) configured to drive the intermediate transfer belt in normal and reverse rotation; and a control unit [0044] configured to control the driving source so that a reverse rotation operation of reversely rotating the intermediate transfer belt is executed [0051], wherein the scraper is configured to come into contact with a lower surface of the intermediate transfer belt (FIG. 2), and the control unit controls the driving source so that a moving distance of the intermediate transfer belt in the reverse rotation operation is longer than a circumferential distance L (L1) (FIG. 4) of the intermediate transfer belt between the first contact portion and the second contact portion [0053]. Regarding claim 2, Karikome discloses: wherein the reverse rotation operation is executed in a state where the cleaning blade is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt [0053]. Regarding claim 3, Karikome discloses: wherein the control unit executes the reverse rotation operation based on a number of sheets on which an image is formed [0051] (when determining that total number of sheets of job have been formed). Regarding claim 4, Karikome discloses: wherein the reverse rotation operation is a first reverse rotation operation that is executed under a first condition (completion of first print job), and the control unit is configured to execute a second reverse rotation operation that is executed under a second condition (completion of second print job) and is different from the first reverse rotation operation. Regarding claim 5, Karikome discloses: wherein a thickness of the scraper is smaller than that of the cleaning blade (FIG. 4). Regarding claim 6, Karikome discloses: wherein a hardness of the scraper is higher than that of the cleaning blade [0046-47] (PET hardness is higher than urethane rubber). Regarding claim 7, Karikome discloses: wherein the scraper is a resin member, and the cleaning blade is an elastic member [0046-47]. Regarding claim 8, Karikome discloses: An image forming apparatus comprising: an image bearing member (413) (FIG. 2) configured to rotate and bear a toner image; an intermediate transfer belt (421) (FIG. 2) configured so that a toner image formed on the image bearing member is transferred at a primary transfer portion and is transferred to a recording material at a secondary transfer portion; a cleaning blade (80 or 82 depending on rotation of intermediate transfer belt) (FIG. 4) configured to come into contact with a first contact portion of the intermediate transfer belt and clean toner remaining on an outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt; a scraper (other of 80 or 82 depending on rotation direction of intermediate transfer belt) (FIG. 4) configured to come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt at a second contact portion downstream of the first contact portion in a rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt; a driving source [0044] configured to drive the intermediate transfer belt in normal and reverse rotation; and a control unit [0044] configured to control the driving source so that a reverse rotation operation of reversely rotating the intermediate transfer belt is executed [0051], wherein the cleaning blade is configured to come into contact with a side surface of the intermediate transfer belt and to come into contact with an area where the intermediate transfer belt moves downward in a vertical direction (FIG. 2), and the control unit controls the driving source so that a moving distance of the intermediate transfer belt in the reverse rotation operation is longer than a circumferential distance L (L1) (FIG. 4) of the intermediate transfer belt between the first contact portion and the second contact portion [0053]. Regarding claim 9, Karikome discloses: wherein the reverse rotation operation is executed in a state where the cleaning blade is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt [0053]. Regarding claim 10, Karikome discloses: wherein the control unit executes the reverse rotation operation based on a number of sheets on which an image is formed [0051] (when determining that total number of sheets of job have been formed). Regarding claim 11, Karikome discloses: wherein the reverse rotation operation is a first reverse rotation operation that is executed under a first condition (completion of first print job), and the control unit is configured to execute a second reverse rotation operation that is executed under a second condition (completion of print job other than first print job) and is different from the first reverse rotation operation [0051]. Regarding claim 12, Karikome discloses: wherein a thickness of the scraper is smaller than that of the cleaning blade (FIG. 4). Regarding claim 13, Karikome discloses: wherein a hardness of the scraper is higher than that of the cleaning blade [0046-47] (PET hardness is higher than urethane rubber). Regarding claim 14, Karikome discloses: wherein the scraper is a resin member, and the cleaning blade is an elastic member [0046-47] . 07-15 AIA Claim s 1-6 and 8-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 ( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Karikome JP 2016004191 . Regarding claim 1, Karikome discloses: An image forming apparatus comprising: an image bearing member (413) (FIG. 1) configured to rotate and bear a toner image; an intermediate transfer belt (421) (FIG. 1) configured so that a toner image formed on the image bearing member is transferred at a primary transfer portion and is transferred to a recording material at a secondary transfer portion; a cleaning blade (80 or 82 depending on rotation of intermediate transfer belt) (FIG. 3) configured to come into contact with a first contact portion of the intermediate transfer belt and clean toner remaining on an outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt; a scraper (other of 80 or 82 depending on rotation direction of intermediate transfer belt) (FIG. 3) configured to come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt at a second contact portion downstream of the first contact portion in a rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt; a driving source ([0047] of attached English machine translation) configured to drive the intermediate transfer belt in normal and reverse rotation; and a control unit [0047] configured to control the driving source so that a reverse rotation operation of reversely rotating the intermediate transfer belt is executed [0064], wherein the scraper is configured to come into contact with a lower surface of the intermediate transfer belt (FIG. 1), and the control unit controls the driving source so that a moving distance of the intermediate transfer belt in the reverse rotation operation is longer than a circumferential distance L (L1) (FIG. 3) of the intermediate transfer belt between the first contact portion and the second contact portion [0070]. Regarding claim 2, Karikome discloses: wherein the reverse rotation operation is executed in a state where the cleaning blade (82) (FIG. 3) is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt. Regarding claim 3, Karikome discloses: wherein the control unit executes the reverse rotation operation based on a number of sheets on which an image is formed [0065]. Regarding claim 4, Karikome discloses: wherein the reverse rotation operation is a first reverse rotation operation that is executed under a first condition [0070], and the control unit is configured to execute a second reverse rotation operation that is executed under a second condition and is different from the first reverse rotation operation [0067]. Regarding claim 5, Karikome discloses: wherein a thickness of the scraper is smaller than that of the cleaning blade [0048 and 0051] (FIG. 4). Regarding claim 6, Karikome discloses: wherein a hardness of the scraper is higher than that of the cleaning blade [0048 and 0051] (stainless steel hardness is higher than urethane rubber). Regarding claim 8, Karikome discloses: An image forming apparatus comprising: an image bearing member (413) (FIG. 1) configured to rotate and bear a toner image; an intermediate transfer belt (421) (FIG. 1) configured so that a toner image formed on the image bearing member is transferred at a primary transfer portion and is transferred to a recording material at a secondary transfer portion; a cleaning blade (80 or 82 depending on rotation of intermediate transfer belt) (FIG. 3) configured to come into contact with a first contact portion of the intermediate transfer belt and clean toner remaining on an outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt; a scraper (other of 80 or 82 depending on rotation direction of intermediate transfer belt) (FIG. 3) configured to come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt at a second contact portion downstream of the first contact portion in a rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt; a driving source ([0047] of attached English machine translation) configured to drive the intermediate transfer belt in normal and reverse rotation; and a control unit [0047] configured to control the driving source so that a reverse rotation operation of reversely rotating the intermediate transfer belt is executed [0064], wherein the cleaning blade is configured to come into contact with a side surface of the intermediate transfer belt and to come into contact with an area where the intermediate transfer belt moves downward in a vertical direction (FIG. 1), and the control unit controls the driving source so that a moving distance of the intermediate transfer belt in the reverse rotation operation is longer than a circumferential distance L (L1) (FIG. 3) of the intermediate transfer belt between the first contact portion and the second contact portion [0070]. Regarding claim 9, Karikome discloses: wherein the reverse rotation operation is executed in a state where the cleaning blade (82) (FIG. 3) is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt. Regarding claim 10, Karikome discloses: wherein the control unit executes the reverse rotation operation based on a number of sheets on which an image is formed [0065]. Regarding claim 11, Karikome discloses: wherein the reverse rotation operation is a first reverse rotation operation that is executed under a first condition [0070], and the control unit is configured to execute a second reverse rotation operation that is executed under a second condition and is different from the first reverse rotation operation [0067]. Regarding claim 12, Karikome discloses: wherein a thickness of the scraper is smaller than that of the cleaning blade [0048 and 0051] (FIG. 4). Regarding claim 13, Karikome discloses: wherein a hardness of the scraper is higher than that of the cleaning blade [0048 and 0051] (stainless steel hardness is higher than urethane rubber). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS S GIAMPAOLO II whose telephone number is (571)272-6619. The examiner can normally be reached T-Th 9-5. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at (571) 272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /THOMAS S GIAMPAOLO II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/170,759 Page 2 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/170,759 Page 3 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/170,759 Page 4 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/170,759 Page 5 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/170,759 Page 6 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/170,759 Page 7 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/170,759 Page 8 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/170,759 Page 9 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/170,759 Page 10 Art Unit: 2852
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