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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: A (page 8, line 10, etc.). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 106 (Fig. 1). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it is over 150 words. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the polycarbonate resin" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4 and 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kano et al. (US Pat. No. 9,639,020 B1; cited in IDS filed 12/4/2025) in view of Narita et al. (US Pat. Pub. No. US 2023/0266684 A1; cited in IDS filed 12/4/2025)
Kano et al. discloses (as in claim 1) an image forming apparatus 10 comprising: an electrophotographic photoreceptor 12; and a charging device 11 including a charging member 14 that charges a surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 12 and a cleaning member 100 that is disposed in contact with the charging member 14 (column 2, lines 36-49 and column 5, lines 47-59; Figs. 1 and 3), wherein the cleaning member 100 has a core metal 100A and a foamed elastic layer 100B provided in a helical shape on an outer peripheral surface of the core metal 100A, and a value of a ratio T/W of a thickness T of the foamed elastic layer 100B to a width W of the foamed elastic layer 100B is 0.6 or more and 1.2 or less (column 5, line 47 to column 6, line 49; Fig. 5); and (as in claim 2) wherein a coverage area ratio A of the foamed elastic layer 100B provided in the cleaning member 100 is 20% by area or more and 60% by area or less (column 9, lines 47-51).
Kano et al. differs from the instant claimed invention in not disclosing (as in claim 1) wherein the electrophotographic photoreceptor has a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer disposed on the conductive substrate, and an outermost surface layer of the electrophotographic photoreceptor contains a charge transport material and a polyarylate resin having a dicarboxylic acid unit represented by Formula (A) and a diol unit represented by Formula (B); (as in claim 4) wherein the outermost surface layer of the electrophotographic photoreceptor further contains a polycarbonate resin; (as in claim 6) wherein the dicarboxylic acid unit represented by Formula (A) includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a dicarboxylic acid unit (A1) represented by Formula (A1), a dicarboxylic acid unit (A2) represented by Formula (A2), a dicarboxylic acid unit (A3) represented by Formula (A3), a dicarboxylic acid unit (A4) represented Formula (A4), and a dicarboxylic acid unit (A5) represented by Formula (A5); (as in claim 7) wherein the diol unit represented by Formula (B) includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a diol unit (B1) represented by Formula (B1), a diol unit (B2) represented by Formula (B2), a diol unit (B3) represented by Formula (B3), a diol unit (B4) represented by Formula (B4), a diol unit (B5) represented by Formula (B5), a diol unit (B6) represented by Formula (B6), a diol unit (B7) represented by Formula (B7), and a diol unit (B8) represented by Formula (B8); and (as in claim 8) wherein the polyarylate resin and the polycarbonate resin each have a constitutional unit including biphenyl represented by Formula (BP).
Narita et al. discloses an image forming apparatus 100 comprising: an electrophotographic photoreceptor 7; and a charging device 11 including a charging member 8 that charges a surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 7 (or 10A), wherein the electrophotographic photoreceptor 10A has a conductive substrate 1 and a photosensitive layer 5 disposed on the conductive substrate 1 (paragraph [0033] and Fig. 1), and an outermost surface layer 4 of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 10A contains a charge transport material and a polyarylate resin having a dicarboxylic acid unit represented by Formula (A) and a diol unit represented by Formula (B) (paragraphs [0043]-[0120]); wherein the outermost surface layer 4 of the electrophotographic photoreceptor 10A further contains a polycarbonate resin (abstract); wherein the dicarboxylic acid unit represented by Formula (A) includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a dicarboxylic acid unit (A1) represented by Formula (A1), a dicarboxylic acid unit (A2) represented by Formula (A2), a dicarboxylic acid unit (A3) represented by Formula (A3), a dicarboxylic acid unit (A4) represented Formula (A4), and a dicarboxylic acid unit (A5) represented by Formula (A5) (paragraphs [0043]-[0120]); and wherein the polyarylate resin and the polycarbonate resin each have a constitutional unit including biphenyl represented by Formula (BP) (paragraphs [0043]-[0120]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply the electrophotographic photoreceptor of Narita et al. in place of the photoreceptor of Kano et al. because of the same functionality for forming toner images.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kano et al. in view of Narita et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wu (US Pat. No. 10,353,317 B1).
Kano et al. in view of Narita et al., as discussed above, differs from the instant claimed invention in not disclosing a surface roughness Rz of the charging member being 5 µm or more and 10 µm or less.
Wu discloses an image forming apparatus comprising: a surface roughness Rz of a charging member 2 being 5 µm or more and 10 µm or less (column 5, lines 57-65).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to apply the surface roughness of the charging member as taught by Wu to the charging member of Kano et al. in view of Narita et al. to improve the durability of the charging member (column 5, lines 57-65).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kano et al. in view of Narita et al. as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 2385 (CCPA 1955).
Kano et al. in view of Narita et al., as discussed above, differs from the instant claimed invention in not disclosing a mass ratio of the polyarylate resin to the polycarbonate resin in the outermost surface layer of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is 3:7 to 7:3.
In re Aller discloses “Claimed process which performed at a temperature between 40oC and 80oC and an acid concentration between 25% and 70% was held to be prima facie obvious over a reference process which differed from the claims only in that the reference process was performed at a temperature of 100oC and an acid concentration of 10%.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to use the teaching of optimum or workable range as taught by In re Aller to the range of the surface roughness of charging member of Kano et al. in view of Narita et al. because the range could be achieved by a routine experimentation.
Other Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kano et al. (US Pat. Pub. No. US 2013/0089354 A1) discloses an image forming apparatus comprising: a photoreceptor; a charging device including a charging member and a cleaning member, wherein the cleaning member has a core metal and a foamed elastic layer provided in a helical shape on an outer peripheral surface of the core metal.
Kano et al. (US Pat. No. 9,372,427 B1) discloses an image forming apparatus comprising: a photoreceptor; a charging device including a charging member and a cleaning member, wherein the cleaning member has a core metal and a foamed elastic layer provided in a helical shape on an outer peripheral surface of the core metal.
Kobayashi et al. (US Pat. Pub. No. US 2023/0288847 A1) discloses an image forming apparatus comprising: a photoreceptor having a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer disposed on the conductive substrate, wherein an outermost surface layer of the photoreceptor contains a charge transport material.
Okazaki et al. (US Pat. Pub. No. 2024/0053689 A1) discloses an image forming apparatus comprising: a photoreceptor having a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer disposed on the conductive substrate, wherein an outermost surface layer of the photoreceptor contains a charge transport material.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SOPHIA S CHEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2133. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 5 pm.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SOPHIA S CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
Ssc
July 15, 2026
Prosecution Insights