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 3/9/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-5 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 as necessitated by the amendments.
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 1-3 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakashita (US PGP 2015/0261144) in view of Sacripante (US 9,971,265).
Sakashita teaches a toner comprising a binder resin, a colorant, and a release agent (Abstract). The binder resin preferably comprises polyester resins ([0038]), including non-crystalline polyesters, crystalline polyesters, and modified polyesters ([0039]). The modified polyester is an isocyanate group containing polyester prepolymer ([0064]). The toner may be produced with various methods, including an emulsification aggregation method as one of the preferred processes ([0159]). The emulsification aggregation method utilizes a metal salt as an aggregation agent ([0197]). During the aggregation the metal ion from the salt will react with the carboxylic acid in the prepolymer resin (Instant specification Pg 28 line 11-20). The exemplary toners 2-8, 10, 12, and 17-18 contain THF insoluble matter in an amount of 9-15% by mass (Table 3).
Sakashita does not teach that the amorphous polyester resin contains plant-derived monomers. Sacripante teaches a toner that contains a bio-based amorphous polyester resin (Abstract). Bio-based polymers are used instead of the typical petroleum-based materials that are used in toners in view of environmental issues (Col. 1 line 10-22). Bio-based refers to the reagent or product that is in whole or in part a biological product, including plant derivatives (Col. 4 line 57-59). The amorphous resin may be derived from a reaction of a bio-based propylene glycol (1,2-propanediol) and a bio-based succinic acid (Col. 8 line 21-25). 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 Sakashita to have included plant-based 1,2-propanediol and plant-based succinic acid in the amorphous polyester resin in order to reduce the environmental impacts of the toner.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakashita and Masaki as applied to claims 1-3 and 5-6 above, and further in view of Qiu (US PGP 2014/0134534).
Sakashita and Masaki are silent regarding the inclusion of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) in the binder resin. Qiu teaches a toner that is composed substantially of biodegradable and recycled materials (Abstract). PET from sources such as spent liquid contains is used in the toner to make is more sustainable ([0021]). 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 Sakashita and Masaki to have included PET in order to further increase the sustainability of the toner.
Conclusion
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/J.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1734
/PETER L VAJDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 05/19/2026
