DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see the Response, filed 10/7/2025, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-10 and 12-14 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made below.
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.
(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.
Claims 1-4, 8-10, and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kawamura (US PGP 2018-0129146).
Kawamura teaches a toner containing a binder resin including an amorphous polyester resin, a crystalline resin, and an amorphous vinyl resin (Abstract). The toner further comprises a mold release agent, examples including ester waxes and Fischer-Tropsch waxes ([0135]). These release agents may be used in combination ([0135] line 8-9).
The crystalline resin is preferably a crystalline polyester resin ([0086] line 1-3). The monomers for forming the crystalline polyester resin are preferably 80 mass% or more of a linear aliphatic monomer ([0087]). To ensure crystallinity the resin may be composed of only the linear aliphatic monomers. Crystalline Polyester Resin 4 contains the monomers of dodecanedioic acid, having 12 carbon atoms, and 1-9-nonanediol, having 9 carbon atoms ([0193]). The sum of the number of carbon atoms of the dicarboxylic acid and dialcohol is 21. The crystalline polyester resin may be a hybrid resin with a vinyl polymer segment having a constituent unit derived from styrene which is bonded to the crystalline polyester segment ([0184-188], [0193]). The content of the dodecanedioic acid and 1,9-nonanediol in the crystalline polyester resin is 631.0 g out of 698.9 g total, or 90.03 mass% ([0184] weights of “St-Ac polymer segment”; [0193] weights of polyester segment). The acid value of the crystalline resin is not disclosed, but is can be assumed to be within the range of 20 to 30 mgKOH/g as it is made of similar components in similar amounts to the resins shown in Table II of the instant application with acid values in that range.
The carboxylic acids and alcohols used for the crystalline polyester resin may also be used for amorphous polyester resin ([0121]). The dicarboxylic acids include sebacic acid, having 10 carbon atoms, and dodecanedioic acid, having 12 carbon atoms ([0088] line 1-3). The amorphous resin may also include bisphenols, such as bisphenol F, having 13 carbon atoms ([0121] line 4-5). The amorphous resin can be a hybrid amorphous polyester resin with a vinyl polymer segment having a constituent unit derived from styrene bonded to the polyester segment ([0260]). As the dicarboxylic acid and dialcohol monomers used for the crystalline polyester resin may also be used for the amorphous polyester resin ([0121]) the dicarboxylic acid used for the crystalline polyester resin may be the same as the dicarboxylic acid used for the amorphous polyester resin, and the dialcohol used for the crystalline polyester resin may be the same as the dialcohol used for the amorphous polyester resin.
The toner has a core-shell structure ([0140]). Preparation of Toner 1 ([0223-225]) describes using the vinyl resin as the core ([0223] line 1-11), a first layer of the crystalline polyester resin formed on the core ([0223 line 12-19), and a second layer of the amorphous polyester resin formed on the first layer ([0224]). Exemplary Toners 2-13, 15, and 16 were prepared in the same manner ([0226]). Toner 1 has a content Wap of the amorphous polyester resin of 37.2g ([0224] line 2) and a content Wcp of the crystalline polyester resin of 36.8g ([0223] line 13), making the value ratio Wap/Wcp 1.01.
Kawamura teaches a developer containing the toner ([0156]).
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.
Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawamura (US PGP 2018-0129146) in view of Mizuhata (Japanese Patent Application Publication No 2021-026129).
The entire discussion of Kawamura above is included herein. Kawamura is silent regarding the constituent units of the amorphous polyester resin derived from the dicarboxylic acid having a number or carbon atoms in the range of 9 to 14 and the dialcohol having a number of carbon atoms in the range of 9 to 14 being present in an amount of 1 to 20 mol% of the resin, as well as the crystalline polyester resin components comprising sebacic acid and decanediol. Mizuhata teaches a toner containing an amorphous resin and a crystalline polyester resin used together to improve low-temperature fixability and widen the non-offset temperature width ([0013]). The amorphous resin is preferably a resin with a polyester segment and a styrene-based segment ([0014]). The main alcohol component for the amorphous polyester resin is an alkylene oxide adduct of bisphenol A, in an amount of preferably not less than 95 mol% ([0017]). The alcohol component may also include a linear or branched aliphatic diol, including 1,9-nonanediol, 1-10-decanediol, and 1,12-dodecanediol ([0018]). The carboxylic acid component of the amorphous polyester resin comprises 50 to 90 mol% terephthalic acid, but a linear or branched aliphatic dicarboxylic acid is also contained ([0019]). The linear or branched aliphatic dicarboxylic acid may be sebacic acid, dodecanedioic acid, azelaic acid and is contained in the acid component of the resin in an amount of 4 to 40 mol% ([0020]). The content of the polyester segment of the resin is preferably 50 to 75 mass% of the amorphous resin ([0027]). Based on these percentages the amount of constituent units derived from the dicarboxylic acid and dialcohol having 9 to 14 carbon atoms in the amorphous resin would easily fall into the amount of 1 to 20 mol%.
The crystalline polyester resin has an alcohol component with a number of carbon atoms of 6 to 12 ([0038]) and a dicarboxylic acid component with a number of carbon atoms of 10 to 12 ([0041]). The exemplary Crystalline Polyester C-1 comprises 1,10-decanediol and sebacic acid ([0131]), both having 10 carbon atoms. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the amorphous and crystalline resins of Kawamura to have included the linear aliphatic dicarboxylic acids and linear aliphatic dialcohols of Mizuhata in order to improve low temperature fixability and to widen the non-offset temperature width.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/J.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1734
/PETER L VAJDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 01/08/2026