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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/12/25 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/12/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to the additional limitations that are introduced in claims 1 and 4, at least figs. 7, 8, and 10, of Aoki (US 2020/0151413 A1), show a disappearing second pattern 5, 6, and 10. When this disappearing second pattern is shown, a character that is a rounded “E” is visible. When this pattern disappears, a new character that is not a rounded “E,” but a “C” shaped character becomes visible. See para 73-74 and 76. This teaching, in combination with the other cited teachings, reads on the newly added limitations of claims 1 and 4. Since figs. 7-8 and 10 teach the added limitations, applicant’s arguments with respect to Aoki’s figs. 5-6, 11, 22, 24, and 40 are moot.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 10-11 are not persuasive. It appears that applicant is describing “moisture” to mean that a minimum amount of water in the atmosphere lands on, and dissolves, the printed ink. However, the amount of water that achieves this is not specified. Therefore, the difference between “moisture” and “wetness” is unclear. Any water-soluble ink would have a minimum threshold of water needed to dissolve it. Therefore, any water-soluble ink would read on claim 10 and 11’s “wherein the visually recognizable state of the second print pattern formed of the water-soluble ink disappears by moisture.”
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.
Claims 1 and 4 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.
Regarding claim 1, the difference between “moisture” and “wet” is unclear, and the original disclosure does not appear to provide clarification. It appears that applicant is describing “moisture” to mean that a minimum amount of water in the atmosphere lands on, and dissolves, the printed ink. However, the amount of water that achieves this is not specified.
Dependent claims 5 and 10 are considered rejected for incorporating defects from rejected parent claim.
Regarding claim 4, please note the rejection as set forth above with respect to claim 1. Claim 4 is rejected for similar reasons as claim 1; detailed discussion is omitted for brevity.
Dependent claim 11 is considered rejected for incorporating defects from rejected parent claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1, 4-5, and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki et al. (WO 2018/199201 A1) (equivalent US 2020/0151413 A1 will be referenced in the rejection as the de facto translation) in view of Seo et al. (US 9,710,901 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Aoki discloses a method for manufacturing a printing-applied edible object by performing printing on an edible object (pharmaceutical pill, figs. 7-8, 10, and 41-43; see title and abstract), the method comprising:
a conveying step of conveying the edible object (Aoki does not appear to explicitly disclose this, however this is disclosed in Seo. See below.); and
a marking step of forming a marking pattern on the edible object that is conveyed (Figs. 7-8 and 10 disclose printing a marking pattern onto a pharmaceutical pill, wherein portions of the marking pattern are printed with ink that disappears upon exposure to a stimulus such that the information contained in the marking pattern is modified upon disappearance of the ink. See number change in figs. 5 and 11, and letter change in figs. 7-8 and 10; also see para 71, 73-78, and 82-83, and figs. 16-17.),
wherein
the marking step includes a laser printing step of performing laser printing on the edible object to form a first print pattern, and an inkjet printing step of performing inkjet printing on the edible object after the laser printing step to form a second print pattern, and the first print pattern and the second print pattern form the marking pattern (In figs. 7-8 and 10, the portion of the printed image that does not disappear upon exposure to infrared light, is laser printed. See para 53-54 and 115-116. And, the portion of the image that disappears upon exposure to infrared light, is dye printed. See para 128-129. For figs. 7-8 and 10, Aoki does not appear to expressly disclose that the dye printing occurs specifically after the laser printing. However, for fig. 41,42,43 (example 11), Aoki expressly indicates that the dye printing occurs specifically after the laser printing: UV laser light prints "E 235," then "E 235" is again printed with blue dye ink using an inkjet printer. See para 107-109, 292-294. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for the dye printing to occur after the laser printing in figs. 7-8 and 10 because doing so is already demonstrated to successfully achieve desired visual results in figs. 41-43, and the sequential order in which dye printing and laser printing occurs would not appear to affect the desired result.),
the second print pattern is formed of a water-soluble ink whose visually recognizable state is changed due to being dissolved to disappear by wet or moisture (In figs. 7-8 and 10, the dye printed portion disappears upon exposure to infrared light. See para 71, 73-78, and 82-83. This dye printed portion would also inherently disappear when exposed to water because dye ink is water-soluble.), and information represented by the marking pattern is changed due to a change in the visually recognizable state of the second print pattern (Figs. 7-8 and 10 disclose printing a marking pattern onto a pharmaceutical pill, wherein portions of the marking pattern are printed with ink that disappears upon exposure to a stimulus [both infrared light or water] such that the information contained in the marking pattern is modified upon disappearance of the ink. See number change in figs. 5 and 11, and letter change in figs. 7-8 and 10; also see para 71, 73-78, and 82-83, and figs. 16-17.)
the second print pattern partially overlaps the first print pattern (see fig. 7-8 and 10), and the information represented by the marking pattern is one or more characters (rounded “E”), and
when the second print pattern disappears, only the first print pattern appears and the characters of the information represented by the marking pattern become different characters (see fig. 7-8 and 10; “C” shaped character).
Aoki does not appear to disclose: a conveying step of conveying the edible object.
However, Aoki as modified by Seo, discloses a conveying step of conveying the edible object (Seo discloses conveying edible objects through a printer. See fig. 1, col 3, line 7 through col 7, line 20.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Aoki with the teachings of Seo, for the purpose of efficiently printing the pharmaceutical pills.
Regarding claim 4, please note the rejection as set forth above with respect to claim 1. Claim 4 is rejected for similar reasons as claim 1; detailed discussion is omitted for brevity.
Regarding claim 5, Aoki, as modified by Seo, further discloses The method for manufacturing a printing-applied edible object according to claim 1, further comprising a judgement step of judging by a user without any assisting device if the change in the visually recognizable state of the second print pattern occurs (This would be inherent to Aoki because Aoki uses water-soluble ink.).
Regarding claim 10, Aoki, as modified by Seo, further discloses The method for manufacturing a printing-applied edible object according to claim 1, wherein the visually recognizable state of the second print pattern formed of the water-soluble ink disappears by moisture (It appears that applicant is describing “moisture” to mean that a minimum amount of water in the atmosphere lands on, and dissolves, the printed ink. However, the amount of water that achieves this is not specified. Therefore, the difference between “moisture” and “wetness” is unclear. Any water-soluble ink would have a minimum threshold of water needed to dissolve it. Therefore, any water-soluble ink would read on this.).
Regarding claim 11, please note the rejection as set forth above with respect to claim 10. Claim 11 is rejected for similar reasons as claim 10; detailed discussion is omitted for brevity.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN SEO whose telephone number is (571)270-1327. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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, Stephen D Meier can be reached at 571-272-2149. 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.
/JUSTIN SEO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
January 8, 2026