CTNF 19/221,394 CTNF 68132 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. Claim Objections 07-29-01 Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities. Appropriate correction is required. In claim 3, line 2, “When” could be changed to “when”. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 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. 07-34-01 Claims 5 and 6 are 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. In claim 5, line 2, a “second elastic member” is claimed, where a second elastic member implies that there is a first elastic member, however, no first elastic member is contained in the language of claim 5, or in the language of claims 1 or 4, upon which claim 5 indirectly or directly depends. In claim 6, line 2, “the main unit” lacks proper antecedent basis. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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. 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, 4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Maeda et al. (US 8,960,664) . Maeda et al. (…664) disclose an image forming apparatus (1) (figure 1) comprising: a first sheet stacking portion (31) that is movable up and down, the first sheet stacking portion having a lift portion (31c) on which a sheet is stacked, the first sheet stacking portion being removably mounted in an apparatus body (col. 3, lines 35-42; and figures 1 and 4A); a second sheet stacking portion (30a) that is connected to outside the apparatus body and that is stacked with a sheet inserted by a user (col. 4, lines 41-46; and figure 1); an image forming portion (1B) that records an image formed based on image data to the sheet (col. 3, lines 6-34; and figure 1); and a sheet feeding portion that feeds the sheet from the first or second sheet stacking portion to the image forming portion (col. 4, lines 47-55; and figure 1), wherein a bottom part of a feeding passage connected between the second sheet stacking portion and the sheet feeding portion being configured with a conveyance guide that is movable up and down (figures 1 and 4B), and the conveyance guide includes: a tray body portion (32) that, with the first sheet stacking portion mounted in the apparatus body, is held on the apparatus body above the first sheet stacking portion, the tray body portion being in a shape of a flat plate (col. 8, lines 8-23; and figures 1 and 4B); and a handle portion (32a) that protrudes from an upstream end part of the tray body portion in the sheet conveyance direction, the handle portion being pivotable in an up-down direction (col. 5, lines 5-14; col. 6, lines 4-19 and col. 8, lines 18-23) [see Applicant’s claim 1]. The conveyance guide has: a boss (32b1, 32b2, 32b3 and 32b4) that protrudes from a side face of the tray body portion in a direction crossing the sheet conveyance direction (figure 4B), the apparatus body further includes a guide groove portion (36f, 36c, 37f and 37c) formed on an inner side face thereof in the crossing direction and extending in the up-down direction (figure 4B), and when the conveyance guide moves up and down in the up-down direction, the boss moves in the guide groove portion (col. 8, lines 33-42; and figure 4B) [see Applicant’s claim 4]. With the first sheet stacking portion mounted in a main unit, the tray body portion is supported on an upper end part of the first sheet stacking portion (figure 1) [see Applicant’s claim 6] . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maeda et al. (US 8,960,664) . Maeda et al. (…664) disclose the features mentioned previously, but do not disclose the claimed specific handle configuration. The claimed handle configuration is considered to be merely a matter of an engineering decision [see Applicant’s claims 2 and 3]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed handle configuration, since such a handle configuration is considered to be merely an engineering decision. Prior Art 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Furuta (US 2018/0162664) and Matsuno et al. (US 2011/0180987) disclose an image forming apparatus including a first sheet stacking portion and a second sheet stacking portion. Inquiry Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANDRA BRASE whose telephone number is (571)272-2131. The examiner can normally be reached M-F. 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, Walter Lindsay can be reached at 571-272-1674. 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. /SANDRA BRASE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 June 13, 2026 Application/Control Number: 19/221,394 Page 2 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/221,394 Page 3 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/221,394 Page 4 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/221,394 Page 5 Art Unit: 2852 Application/Control Number: 19/221,394 Page 6 Art Unit: 2852
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