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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (Claims 1-4) in the reply filed on October 15, 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 5-8 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore 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.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamazaki et al (US 2019/0352528).
Regarding claims 1-3, Yamazaki teaches an aqueous ink for textile printing (Abstract) comprising: a water, a water-dispersible resin (Abstract), a water-soluble organic solvent ([0064]), an amino alcohol ([0071]) and a pigment ([0051]).
Yamazaki teaches that the solids in the ink are the water-dispersible resins and pigment. The water-dispersible resins are present in the amount from 2 to 18% by weight of the ink ([0046]-[0047]) and the pigment is present in the amount from 0.1 to 30 % by mass ([0045]). Therefore, the total amount of the solids can be calculated to range from 2.1 to 48 % by weight.
Yamazaki teaches that the water-soluble organic solvent is present in the amount from 1 to 80 % by mass ([0067]) and can be glycerol (BP: 290C) or triethylene glycol (BP 288 C) ([065]).
Given that the glycerol or triethylene glycol can be the only water-soluble organic solvent in the ink, then the amount of the water-soluble compound/total amount of the water-soluble organic solvent (without the amino alcohol) is 1.
The amino alcohol is present in the amount from 0.01 to 5 % by weight of the ink ([0073]). Given the recited amounts of the solids, the amino alcohol is present in an amount for at least 0.01 parts per 1 part of the total amount of the solids.
Yamazaki fails to specifically exemplify the exact recited inkjet ink. However, Yamazaki discloses each of the components of the ink (water, water-soluble organic solvent, amino alcohol, water-dispersible resin and pigment) and each component in an amount which overlaps the claimed ranges, and teaches that they are all suitable for use in said ink. It is within the ordinary level of skill in the art to make any of the inks suggested by a reference, including selecting materials from a list in a reference. Therefore, a person of ordinary skill would have been motivated to prepare any of the inks suggested by Yamazaki, including the claimed inkjet ink. In view of this, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the present invention to use the teachings of the components and the amounts of each of these components to arrive at the presently claimed invention. It would have been nothing more than using known compounds in a typical manner to achieve predictable results. KSR v. Teleflex, 550 U.S. _, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamazaki et al (US 2019/0352528) in view of Mheidle (US 6,443,569).
The discussion regarding Yamazaki in paragraph 4 above is incorporated here by reference.
Regarding claim 4, Yamazaki teaches that the water-soluble organic solvent can be a mixture ([0066]) of glycerol (bp: 290C) and diethylene glycol (bp: 244 C).
However, it fails to teach the relative amounts of each of these two organic solvents.
Mheidle teaches an aqueous ink for textile printing (Abstract) which incorporates diethylene glycol and glycerol in a ratio of 10:1 and 1:10 (col 8, lines 35-40). Given these ratios, the amounts of the glycerol and the diethylene glycol will read on the recited amounts.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the glycerol and diethylene glycol of Yamazaki in the ratios as recited by Mheidle. One would have been motivated to do so because Mheidle teaches that that ratio is of special interest for water-soluble solvents acting as humectants (Mheidle, col. 8, lines 25-40).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DORIS L LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-3872. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 5 pm.
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DORIS L. LEE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1764
/DORIS L LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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