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 .
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2020/071055.
To further advance the prosecution of this invention, SATO et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2022/0041877, hereinafter SATO) which is an English equivalent of WO 2020/071055 will be used in the rejection.
Regarding claims 1 and 2, SATO teaches an aqueous inkjet ink composition that contains a pigment, an alkali-soluble resin, an aqueous medium, and surfactant (Abstract). The pigment various of organic pigments and inorganic pigments. The inorganic pigments includes titanium oxide [0024 and 0025 and 0086]. The amount of pigment is 1 to 10 percent by mass [0029].
The alkali-soluble resin is a copolymer constituted by monomers having are carboxyl groups include acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, styrene and etc. [0032-0034]. The alkali-soluble resin has an acid value is 100 to 300 mg KOH/g [0035], a glass transition temperature of 40 to 100oC [0036], and a weight-average molecular weight of the alkali-soluble resin is 10,000 to 50,000 [0037]. The amount of alkali-soluble resin is in the amount of 10 to 60 parts by mass [0039].
However, SATO does not explicitly teach a white composition.
Given SATO teaches pigments including titanium oxide [0024-0025 and 0086]] which is a well-known white pigment, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to reasonably expect the ink composition to be a white ink composition when titanium oxide is used as the pigment in the composition.
Pertinent Art
SATO et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2017/0002216), one of the closest prior art, however, SATO does not satisfy the claim limitations of the present invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEVE V HALL whose telephone number is (571)270-7738. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9 am-5 pm, EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Del Sole can be reached at (571) 272-1130. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DEVE V. HALL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1763
/DEVE V HALL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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