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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see the Response, filed 2/10/2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-4 and 6-9 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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(s) of rejection is made below
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 1-4 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maeda (WIPO Publication No. 2019-107087) in view of Sacripante (US Patent 9,971,265).
Maeda teaches a resin particle comprising a polyester resin (a) with a glass transition temperature of -20°C to 57°C, wherein the resin (a) is crosslinked (Abstract). The exemplary polyester resin (a-4) has a glass transition temperature of -20°C ([0140]). The polyester resin (a) is a non-linear polyester resin ([0041]). The content of the THF-insoluble portion, derived from polyester resin (a), of the resin particle is preferably from 9% to 40% ([0057]). The exemplary resin particles 1-3, 5-6, and 8-15 have THF-insoluble portions between 18% and 40% (Table 2). The resin particles are aggregated with a flocculant such as metal salts, including divalent magnesium chloride, divalent calcium chloride, and trivalent aluminum chloride ([0110]). Aggregation with one of these metal ions will cross-link the polyester resin (a). None of the exemplary polyester resin (a) contain a compound such as an isocyanate that would produce a urethane or urea group in the resin.
Maeda teaches a toner containing the resin particles ([0121]). The toner is used for developing electrostatic images in electrophotography ([0132]). It is known in the art that in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus the toner is contained in a toner accommodating unit comprising a container containing the toner.
Maeda is silent regarding a carbon-14 concentration in the resin particle. However, Sacripante teaches a toner containing a bio-based amorphous polyester resin (Abstract). The amorphous resin may contain bio-based succinic acid (Col. 8 line 21-25, claim 14). The bio-based content of the toner is about 20% to about 25% (Col. 8 line 29-32). The carbon-14 concentration can be determined from the degree of biomass: Carbon-14 concentration (pMC) = degree of biomass (percent)/0.935 (instant specification Pg 4 line 5-6). The carbon-14 concentration of Sacripante would therefore be 21.4 pMC to 26.7 pMC. Bio-based resins help to reduce environmental issues (Col. 1 line 10-21). 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 toner of Maeda to have included a bio-based amorphous resin in order to lessen the environmental impacts of the toner.
Conclusion
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/J.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1734
/PETER L VAJDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 03/26/2026
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