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 .
The amendment filed May 26, 2026 has been entered.
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, 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muela (WO 2015/106844) in view of Dean (WO 2014/085809) and Iftime (US 2012/0125228).
Claim 1: Muela discloses a three-dimensional printer (¶ 14). The printer includes a delivery device containing a light absorbing agent and capable of depositing a light absorbing agent onto selected areas of a layer of build material particles, the delivery device being a thermal inkjet printhead or a piezoelectric printhead (¶ 39), wherein the light absorbing agent absorbs light having wavelengths that are around the ultraviolet wavelength range (¶ 15); a light source capable of applying light at a wavelength below 420 nm onto the light absorbing agent and the layer of the build material particles, the light source being a laser (¶ 38); a memory and processor configured to control the delivery device to apply different volumes of the light absorbing agent to different selected areas of the layer of build material particles and control the light source to apply the light onto the light absorbing agent and the layer of the build material particles, wherein the light absorbing agent absorbs the light applied and generates a varied amount of heat to melt and fuse the build material particles at the selected areas (¶¶ 17, 26, 34, 36-38).
Muela is silent as to the claimed species of light absorbing agent. However, in the same field of endeavor, Dean discloses light-polymerizable compositions for additive manufacturing, in which an ultraviolet light absorber, preferably oxybenzone, is included to control the penetration and lateral spread of the applied light (¶¶ 13-16, 76). Dean teaches that other organic compounds with similar light absorbing capacity, such as other compounds used in sunscreens, may also be used, and identifies the class of US FDA or other agency approved sunscreen agents, including nearly every species claimed (¶ 78). Iftime, in the same field of aqueous fluids jetted from inkjet printheads, discloses water-based ink composition printable with an inkjet printing device, in which a UV light absorbing material is dispersed in water, wherein the light absorbing material absorbs light only at wavelengths below 400 nm and is preferably colorless so as not to be detectable to a human eye under normal light conditions (¶¶ 1, 6-7, 17, 32). Iftime expressly identifies oxybenzone, BEMT, and octyl methoxycinnamate (¶ 18), and discloses that its compositions are formulated for jetting from printhead nozzles (¶¶ 2, 25-29). Iftime therefore teaches that UV absorbers of the recited species are formulable in, and jettable from, inket printers.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to have utilized, as the UV energy absorber of Muela, one or more of the known UV absorbers identified by Dean because Dean identifies known UV absorbers proven effective at controlled loadings in additive manufacturing compositions exposed to UV light, and are a finite, identified class. The proposed modification is the simple substitution of a known, specific UV absorber for Muela’s generic UV absorber to obtain the predictable result of absorption of the applied UV energy, the selection of a known material based on its recognized suitability for its intended use, and a choice from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions. A reasonable expectation of success exists because Iftime shows that UV absorbers of the claimed species can be formulated in and are jettable from water-based inkjet printers under conditions compatible with thermal and piezoelectric inkjet printheads.
Claim 2: Muela discloses the printer being capable of depositing a second agent that has a property that differs from a property of the light absorbing agent (¶ 15).
Claim 3: Muela discloses the second agent absorbing light in the infrared wavelength (¶ 15).
Claim 4: Muela discloses the agents generate heat and melt the build material (¶ 15).
Claim 6: Iftime teaches the light absorbing agent absorbs light having wavelengths that are within a range of wavelengths from about 300 nm to about 400 nm and are colorless (¶¶ 7, 17-18, 32); Muela discloses powdered build materials including glass (¶ 18).
Claim 16: Muela discloses a second agent distributor, wherein the second agent distributor is a thermal inkjet printhead or a piezoelectric printhead (claim 4; ¶¶ 37-39).
Claims 5 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muela (WO 2015/106844) in view of Dean (WO 2014/085809) and Iftime (US 2012/0125228), as applied to claims 1-2 above, further in view of Tochimoto (US 2005/0001356).
Claim 5: Muela discloses that one or more additional agent distributors may be provided (¶ 37) and that the agents may be colored (¶ 18), and the combination provides a colorless light absorbing agent and a second agent as described above. Tochimoto, in the same field of endeavor, teaches depositing a third, differently colored agent from an additional independently controlled channel into locations of the powder layer where the deposited agents mix to form a selectable local color to the object being built. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to have added a third agent onto locations of Muela’s build to impart a desired local color.
Claims 17-18: Tochimoto teaches a third channel that has its own tank and nozzle head and deposits a third, differently colored agent under computer control (¶¶ 49-54, 80-81, 114-117).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed May 26, 2026 have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LARRY THROWER whose telephone number is (571)270-5517. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm MT M-F.
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/LARRY W THROWER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1754
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