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 because in Fig.1, layers 51b and 51c are hatched as a metal material but they should be hatched as an elastic and resin material. See MPEP 608.02 (ix). 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
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 15 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.
In claim 15, applicant claims “An image forming method” however merely recites one step of charging an image bearing member; the act of charging an image bearing member would not form an image and therefore this claim is indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi et al. (U.S. 6,221,948).
Yamaguchi et al. teach a method to form an image comprising a charging roller 2 for charging an image bearing member 1 (see Fig.1, col.17, lines 4-22). Specifically, Yamaguchi et al. teach all that is claimed except the specifics of the charging roller. However, it is well settled in patent law that the structural limitations in a method claim are given little patentable weight. See Ex parte Pfeiffer, 1962 C.D. 408 and Ex parte Kangas, 125 USPQ 419. In the instant case, the recited charging roller structure appears to not affect the image forming process in a manipulative sense but is merely a claiming of a particular charging roller in a known image forming method.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 are allowable over the prior art.
Applicant claims a charging roller including a conductive shaft, an elastic body layer formed on the outer periphery of the conductive of the conductive shaft, and a surface layer formed on the outer periphery of the elastic body layer; the surface layer includes a binder resin containing only thermoplastic resin and conductive particles; the conductive particles contain first conductive particles and second conductive particles; the first conductive particles are carbon black particles; the particle size distribution of the conductive particles have a peak within a range of not less than 0.01 µm and not more than 1 µm; a water contact angle of the thermoplastic resin “y” and a ratio of a surface area of the first conductive particles with respect to a surface area on the entire conductive particles “x” satisfy:
40 ≤ y ≤ 180
y ≤ (800/13)x + (408/13)
y ≤ -400x + 3440
which is not anticipated, suggested or rendered obvious by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kawabata et al. describes a charging roller used in an image forming apparatus that appears relevent to the claimed invention. Katsuki et al. ‘088, Katsuki et al. ‘090, and Imanaka et al. are related patent applications.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT B BEATTY whose telephone number is (571) 272-2130. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 7 to 3.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Stephanie Bloss, can be reached on (571) 272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-2130.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/ROBERT B BEATTY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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