Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. The preliminary amendments dated 5/25/2025 and 6/3/2025 have been entered.
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.
3. Claims 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0244289 (Kurokawa et al.) (hereinafter “Kurokawa”).
Regarding claim 15, Figs. 1-9 show an image reading apparatus (1) comprising:
a support tray (110) on which a sheet is supported;
a feeding portion (including 4) configured to feed the sheet supported on the support tray (110);
a reading portion (including 3S) configured to read an image from the sheet fed by the feeding portion (including 4);
a discharging portion (including 48) configured to discharge the sheet, from which the image has been read by the reading portion (including 3S), in a sheet discharge direction (right in Fig. 3);
a stack tray (120) on which the sheet discharged by the discharging portion (including 48) is stacked; and
a swing member (100) supported swingably by the support tray (110) and configured to come in contact with an upper surface of the sheet stacked on the stack tray (120),
wherein the stack tray (120) includes a first rib (122) extending in the sheet discharge direction and configured to come in contact with the swing member (100). See, e.g., Fig. 9.
Regarding claim 16, Figs. 1-9 show that the stack tray (120) includes a second rib (121) extending in the sheet discharge direction and disposed at a position separated from the first rib (122) with respect to a sheet width direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction (right in Fig. 3).
Conclusion
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS A MORRISON whose telephone number is (571)272-7221. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
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/THOMAS A MORRISON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653
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