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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/07/2025 has been considered.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hattori et al. [CN 103869661 A]
Regarding claims 1 and 10, Hattori et al. disclose a developing device [5] detachably attachable to a body of an image forming apparatus [500], said developing device comprising a developing roller [50] to develop a latent image formed on a surface of an image bearer [1], a developer supply rotator [53] opposite the developing roller [Fig. 1] to rotate in a specified direction to supply the developer to the developing roller, a removable sheet-shaped member [70] that separates the developing roller and the developer supply rotator to form a pre-storage portion storing the developer in an inner space [53a, 53b] in which the developer supply rotator is disposed in the developing device, an upper developing case [58c] above the sheet-shaped member to cover the developing roller, a lower developing case [58a, 58b] below the sheet-shaped member to form a developing case together with the upper developing case; wherein the lower developing case divided into a first lower developing case and a second lower developing case [Fig. 1] when viewed in a cross section orthogonal to a rotation axis direction of the developing roller, and the sheet-shaped member is removably attached directly or indirectly to the lower developing case.
Regarding claim 6, Hattori et al. disclose the sheet-shaped member is removable attached via a base portion of the lower developing case [Fig. 7].
Regarding claim 9, Hattori et al. disclose a process cartridge [Fig. 3] detachably attachable to the body of the image forming apparatus, said process cartridge including the developing device [5] and the image bearer [1].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5, 7 and 8 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.
Prior Art
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
- Sakamaki [9,983,511] discloses an image forming apparatus.
- Oshikawa [JP 2008268238 A] discloses an image forming apparatus.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to HOAN H TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-2141.
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/HOAN H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 05/29/26
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