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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 7, 8, 10, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim US 20070025743.
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses:
An image forming apparatus comprising:
a consumable (replaceable device) [0003] that can be attached to and removed from the image forming apparatus;
an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet using the consumable [0005]; and
a controller (140) (FIG. 1) configured to control the image forming unit using an image forming condition (product characteristic information) (FIG. 2B) [0008] read out from a storage medium (100) (FIG. 1) provided in the consumable,
wherein the storage medium includes:
a first storage area (110) (FIG. 1) configured to store a first image forming condition applied to the image forming unit before the consumable is remanufactured [0048]; and
a second storage area (120) (FIG. 1) configured to store a second image forming condition that is written and applied to the image forming unit when the consumable is remanufactured [0049].
Regarding claim 7, Kim discloses:
wherein the consumable is a process cartridge including one or more of a developing agent and a receptacle holding the developing agent [0005].
Regarding claim 8, Kim discloses:
wherein the process cartridge further includes one or more of a photosensitive member, a charging member that charges the photosensitive member, a developing member that forms a developing agent image by causing the developing agent to adhere to the photosensitive member, and a transfer member that transfers the developing agent image to a sheet (developing drum) [0005].
Regarding claim 10, Kim discloses:
wherein the second image forming condition is stored in the second storage area by a company that remanufactured the consumable [0049].
Regarding claim 12, Kim discloses:
A consumable (replaceable device) [0003] for an image forming apparatus, the consumable comprising:
a communication circuit (circuit portion of CRMU) (FIG. 2A) [0045] for communicating with the image forming apparatus;
and a storage medium (100) (FIG. 1) connected to the communication circuit,
wherein the storage medium includes:
a first storage area (110) (FIG. 1) configured to store a first image forming condition (215) (FIG. 2B) applied to the image forming apparatus before the consumable is remanufactured [0048]; and
a second storage area (120) (FIG. 1) configured to store a second image forming condition (225) (FIG. 2B) that is written and applied to the image forming apparatus when the consumable is remanufactured [0049].
Claims 1, 3, 7, 8, 10, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Kikuchi US 20050078969.
Regarding claim 1, Kikuchi discloses:
An image forming apparatus comprising:
a consumable (20) (FIG. 2A) that can be attached to and removed from the image forming apparatus;
an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet using the consumable (FIG. 1); and
a controller (100) (FIG. 1) configured to control the image forming unit using an image forming condition [0152] read out from a storage medium (80) (FIGs. 2A and 4) provided in the consumable,
wherein the storage medium includes:
a first storage area (write-prohibited area) (FIGs. 5A and 5B) configured to store a first image forming condition applied to the image forming unit before the consumable is remanufactured [0203-205]; and
a second storage area (first writable area) (FIG. 5A) configured to store a second image forming condition that is written and applied to the image forming unit when the consumable is remanufactured [0196-198].
Regarding claim 3, Kikuchi discloses:
wherein the storage medium further includes a third storage area (157c) (FIG. 4) configured to store information indicating which of the image forming condition stored in the first storage area and the image forming condition stored in the second storage area is valid [0201-202 and 0234-240] (when determining if write-prohibited flag is set), and
the controller is configured to apply the first image forming condition or the second image forming condition to the image forming unit on the basis of the information stored in the third storage area (S36/S37) (FIG. 7).
Regarding claim 7, Kikuchi discloses:
wherein the consumable is a process cartridge including one or more of a developing agent and a receptacle holding the developing agent (FIG. 2A).
Regarding claim 8, Kikuchi discloses:
wherein the process cartridge further includes one or more of a photosensitive member, a charging member that charges the photosensitive member, a developing member that forms a developing agent image by causing the developing agent to adhere to the photosensitive member, and a transfer member that transfers the developing agent image to a sheet (FIG. 2A).
Regarding claim 10, Kikuchi discloses:
wherein the second image forming condition is stored in the second storage area by a company that remanufactured the consumable [0196-198].
Regarding claim 12, Kikuchi discloses:
A consumable (20) (FIG. 2A) for an image forming apparatus, the consumable comprising:
a communication circuit (152/153) (FIG. 4) for communicating with the image forming apparatus;
and a storage medium (80) (FIGs. 2A and 4) connected to the communication circuit,
wherein the storage medium includes:
a first storage area (write-prohibited area) (FIGs. 5A and 5B) configured to store a first image forming condition applied to the image forming apparatus before the consumable is remanufactured [0203-205]; and
a second storage area (first writable area) (FIG. 5A) configured to store a second image forming condition (225) (FIG. 2B) that is written and applied to the image forming apparatus when the consumable is remanufactured [0196-198].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-15 are allowed.
Claims 2, 4-6, 9, and 11 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2 and 4-6, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the recited “wherein the controller is further configured to: send identification information associated with the consumable that has been remanufactured to a server via a user device connected wirelessly to the image forming apparatus, the server holding the second image forming condition associated with the identification information associated with the consumable that has been remanufactured; receive the second image forming condition from the server; and write the second image forming condition to the second storage area” along with the remaining claim limitations.
Regarding claim 9, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the recited “each of the first image forming condition and the second image forming condition includes one or more of a charging voltage supplied to the charging member, an intensity of light emitted onto the photosensitive member, a developing voltage supplied to the developing member, a transfer voltage or a transfer current supplied to the transfer member, and a fixing temperature applied to the fixing unit” along with the remaining claim limitations.
Regarding claim 11, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the recited “wherein the controller is further configured to: obtain identification information associated with the consumable that has been remanufactured before forming an image on a first sheet using the consumable; send the identification information to a server, the server holding the second image forming condition associated with the identification information associated with the consumable that has been remanufactured; receive the second image forming condition from the server; and write the second image forming condition to the second storage area” along with the remaining claim limitations.
Regarding claim 13, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the recited “the server computer comprises: a storage device configured to store the second image forming condition; and a processor configured to receive a request for the second image forming condition from one of the image forming apparatus, a user device, and a computer, and when the request is received, obtain the second image forming condition from the storage device and send the second image forming condition to the one of the image forming apparatus, the user device, and the computer, and the second image forming condition sent from the server is written to the second storage area” along with the remaining claim limitations.
Regarding claim 14, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the recited “the server comprising: a storage device configured to store the second image forming condition; and a processor configured to receive a request for the second image forming condition from one of the image forming apparatus, a user device, and a computer, and when the request is received, obtain the second image forming condition from the storage device and send the second image forming condition to the one of the image forming apparatus, the user device, and the computer, wherein the second image forming condition sent from the server is written to the second storage area” along with the remaining claim limitations.
Regarding claim 15, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest the recited “the server comprising: a communication circuit configured to receive identification information of the consumable that is remanufactured from one of the image forming apparatus, a user device, and a computer; and a processor configured to determine whether the second image forming condition is to be written to the storage medium on the basis of the identification information, wherein the communication circuit is configured to send the second image forming condition to the image forming apparatus when the processor determines that the second image forming condition is to be written to the storage medium, and the second image forming condition sent from the server is written to the second storage area” along with the remaining claim limitations.
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.
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/THOMAS S GIAMPAOLO II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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