CTFR 17/898,771 CTFR 81229 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. This office action is in response to applicant’s amendments filed January 21, 2026. Claims 2-5 and 7-9 are pending. Claims 1 and 6 have been cancelled. Claim 9 is new. Claims 2-5 and 8 have been amended. Claims 1-7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. All prior rejections are withdrawn in view of applicant’s amendments to the claim. 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 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pinto (US 2011/0169901) in view of Sloan (WO 2017/155993) and Fujii (US 2021/0388225) . Pinto teaches ink-jet printing for sublimation printing of textile fiber substrates, wherein fibers are pretreated with aqueous polyester coating compositions and a sublimation transfer print is applied to a transfer sheet which has ink ink-jet printed on it and the ink is transferred from the transfer sheet to the pretreated fabric (paragraph 0013, 0015,0021,0024,0026,0027, 0049). Pinto teaches printing cotton or polyester fabrics (hydroxyl containing fibers, paragraphs 0048) wherein the ink applied during sublimation transfer is a disperse dye containing ink (paragraph 0024). Pinto does not teach the glass transition temperature of the polyester resin and a polyester resin with a crosslinking agent. Sloan teaches that polyester resins are combined with water and crosslinking agents to form pretreatment coating layers on cotton or polyester textile substrates (page 8, lines2-5) before they receive sublimation transfer of inks (abstract, page 2, lines 7-26; page 5, lines 6-24; page 6, lines 11-16; page 7, lines 3-11) Fujii teaches that pretreatment liquids containing water, (paragraph 0342), polyester resins with sulfonic acid groups such as Plascoat Z687 (applicant’s preferred polyester resin with sulfonic acid groups, see applicant’s pgpub paragraph 0152; Fujii paragraph 0365) and glass transition temperatures of 30-120 ° C (paragraph 0345-0349) and known additives (paragraph 0380). Fujii teaches pretreatment liquids containing polyester resins such as PLASCOAT Z687 and with Tg values of 110 ° C-120 ° C are effective in enhancing image quality and improving rub resistance (paragraph 0019). Fujii teaches applying to polyethylene terephthalate bases (polyester; paragraph 0404). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the methods of Pinto by incorporating a crosslinking agent and a polyester resin of glass transition temperature 110 ° C or more with sulfonic acid groups in a pretreatment layer on the cotton (hydroxyl containing) fabric followed by transfer printing onto the pretreated fabric by applying a transfer sheet containing an ink-jetted disperse dye, crosslinker and water and transferring the ink image using thermocompression to arrive at a ink printed polyester pretreated fabric as Sloan teaches pretreatments with polyester resins, crosslinking agents and water provide an image receiving area which enhances the transfer of dye containing inks from a sublimation transfer sheet and has the benefit of highly detailed images and vibrant color transfer. It would have been further obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the methods of Pinto by using the polyester resins of the claimed glass transition temperatures and containing sulfonic acid groups in the pretreatment liquid as Fujii teaches pretreatment liquids containing polyester resins such as PLASCOAT Z687 and with Tg values of 110 ° C-120 ° C are effective in enhancing image quality and improving rub resistance. Applying the pretreatment liquid containing the claimed polyester resin particles onto the fabric would have the same effect as applying it to a transfer sheet and then transfer printing the ink to the fabric as Fujii teaches applying to the same polyester polymer materials. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Conclusion 07-40 AIA 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMINA S KHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5573. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-5:30pm EST. 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, Angela Brown-Pettigrew can be reached at 571-272-2817. 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. /AMINA S KHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761 Application/Control Number: 17/898,771 Page 2 Art Unit: 1761 Application/Control Number: 17/898,771 Page 3 Art Unit: 1761 Application/Control Number: 17/898,771 Page 4 Art Unit: 1761 Application/Control Number: 17/898,771 Page 5 Art Unit: 1761 Application/Control Number: 17/898,771 Page 6 Art Unit: 1761
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