DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see the Response, filed 4/16/2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-4, and 5-10 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 of rejection is made below. The new grounds of rejection are necessitated by the newly introduced claim amendments, and as such the action is made final.
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, 6-7, and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sacripante (US PGP 2014-0134534) in view of Fumihiko (JP 2017-151329).
Sacripante teaches a toner comprised of biodegradable and recycled materials (Abstract). The toner may comprise a sustainable amorphous resin, a second amorphous resin, a crystalline resin, and a colorant, wherein the second amorphous resin and/or the crystalline resin comprise a sustainable polymer ([0006]). The crystalline resin is a polyester resin ([0027]), synthesized from a diol component ([0034]) and a bio-based carboxylic acid component ([0035]). The toner contains recycled material from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) materials, cloths, and bottles, which can be shredded into flakes measuring approximately 3 mm x 3mm x 1 mm ([0021]). The toner has a sustainability content of about 70% ([0006] line 7). Sustainability includes the amount of components that are bio-based or recycled ([0012]). The 14C concentration is a result of the bio-based components in the toner, and the degree of biomass (%) = 14C concentration (pMC) x 0.935 (Applicant [0013]). As the toner of Sacripante has a sustainability content of about 70%, the 14C concentration would fall within the range of 10 to 70 pMC, or 9.35% to 65.45%, as the sustainability content includes the recycled components as well as the bio-based components.
The toner may be used with a carrier to form a developer ([0126]). The toner may be incorporated into devices such as cartridges to house the toner ([0133]).
Sacripante teaches that a variety of colored pigments may be used to create colored toners ([0052-53]), but is silent regarding the colorant consisting of an isoindoline pigment. Fumihiko teaches a yellow toner which contains a binder resin and a yellow pigment, wherein the binder resin contains a crystalline polyester resin and an amorphous polyester resin, and the yellow pigment is at least one of Pigment Yellow 180 and Pigment Yellow 185 (Abstract). Pigment Yellow 185 (PY 185) is an isoindoline pigment. These two pigments are preferable as toner pigments because they are highly transparent and highly safe as pigments alone ([0005]). The yellow pigment used with a crystalline polyester binder resin prevents re-aggregation of the pigment, which produces a toner having the desired spectral characteristics, which affects the color reproducibility of the toner ([0013-18]). Exemplary colorant masterbatch 2 contains PY 185 as the only colorant ([0107]). 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 Sacripante to have used the isoindoline pigment PY 185 of Fumihiko as the colorant as it is a highly transparent and safe pigment when used alone, and has the desired color reproducibility when used with a crystalline polyester resin, which the toner of Sacripante contains.
Sacripante teaches that the colorant is used in an amount of 7% to 17% by weight of the toner ([0055]). Regarding the formula (A/(B+C)), wherein A is the content of the isoindoline pigment, B is the 14C concentration, and C is the polyethylene terephthalate content, the result would be greater than 1/15. Considering a toner with 100 total parts; a content of the colorant at the low end of the range, 7%, and a sustainability content of 70%, the outcome of (A/(B+C)) would be approximately 1/10. The content of the isoindoline pigment is 7 parts, and the sustainability content is used as the combination of the 14C concentration and the content of the polyethylene terephthalate.
(A/(B+C)) = 7/70 = 1/10
The value determined from the equation would vary depending on the proportions of the bio-based material and recycled material, as the percent of biomass would need to be converted to pMC. However, the variance is small and this example is at the bottom of the range for the amount of colorant.
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sacripante and Fumihiko as applied to claims 1-4, 6-7, and 10-11 above, and further in view of Kamiwaki (US PGP 2017-0242366).
The entire discussion of Sacripante and Fumihiko above is included herein. Sacripante teaches that the toner may be used for electrophotographic processes ([0136]), but is silent regarding a specific image forming apparatus and image forming method. Kamiwaki teaches an image forming apparatus and image forming method (Figure 1-2, [0147-186]) comprising a photoreceptor (1), and exposure device (3) that forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor, a developing device (4) that develops the latent image, a transfer roller (5) that transfers the toner image to the recording medium, and a fixing device (28) that fixes the toner image to the recording medium. The toner is housed in a toner cartridge ([0185]). 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 used the image forming apparatus and image forming method of Kamiwaki with the toner of Sacripante and Fumihiko as it is well known in the art that these are the components and steps for an electrophotographic process.
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.
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/J.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1734
/PETER L VAJDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 05/12/2026
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