DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see the Response, filed 1/30/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-18 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), and 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 in view of the claim 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, 5-12, 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tomita (EP 3685942) in view of Morita (US PGP 2011/0008723) and further in view of Sugawara (US PGP 2020/0089137).
Tomita teaches a method for producing resin particles comprising a melting step of mixing a polyester resin and a colorant to obtain a molten mixture ([0101]) and an emulsification step of emulsifying the molten mixture by adding a surfactant and an aqueous medium while applying shearing force ([0119]). The specific shearing force is not disclosed; however, the exemplary particles are emulsified in a twin-screw extruder at a screw speed of 400 rpm ([0291-292]). As this is similar to the exemplary emulsification of the instant application ([0111]), the shearing force would be expected to be in the range of 0.03 to 0.10 kW•h. The emulsification temperature, Te, is preferably 20°C to 150°C, and more preferably 30°C to 100°C ([0129]). The exemplary resin dispersion has an emulsification temperature at the higher end of the more preferable range, of 90°C ([0292]). The method may include other steps in addition to these steps ([0134]). Exemplary Toner 1 includes the steps of aggregating the resin particles in the dispersion to form aggregated particles ([0308] line 2, addition of aggregation agent polyaluminum chloride), followed by coalescing the aggregated particles by heating ([0308] line 6-7, heating to 84°C and kept for 2.5 hours).
Tomita is silent regarding a pigment having an isoindoline skeleton and a hydrophobic lubricant in the resin particle. Morita teaches a toner including a binder resin, isoindoline pigment, and a fatty acid amide (hydrophobic lubricant) (Abstract). The isoindoline pigment PY185 (Pigment Yellow 185) has high durability to solvents and heat, and can be used to avoid the issue of crystallization of the pigment, which leads to degradation in absorbing strength, and the degree of coloring and chromaticity of the toner being lower in quality ([0005-6]). However, PY185 may aggregate, leading to degradation of image quality ([0007]). The aggregation can be prevented by first melt-kneading the PY185 with the binder resin and a fatty acid amide ([0075]).
The fatty acid amide may be a saturated or unsaturated fatty acid amide, which contain long hydrocarbon chains ([0079]). The majority of the examples given of the fatty acid amide compounds have hydrocarbon chains of 10 or more and 30 or less ([0079]). The softening temperatures, Tm, of these compounds are not disclosed. However, the fatty acid amides used as examples in the instant application, which are all included in the examples of Tomita, have softening temperatures in the range of 75°C to 99°C (Table 1). The other fatty acid amides would be expected to have softening temperatures in a similar range, as they are similar compounds. The amount of the fatty acid amide with respect to the pigment is in the range of 12.5% to 50% for exemplary toners 1-4 and 7-14 (Table 1-1). 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 method of Tomita to have included the melt-mixing of the PY185, binder resin, and fatty acid amide of Morita as the melting step in order to produce a yellow toner having better image quality.
As the first melting step of Tomita is replaced with the melt-mixing step of Morita, a person of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to add the base from the original mixing step ([0101]) to the emulsification step in order to be able to achieve the preferable pH for the emulsification ([0121]) without affecting the mixture of the binder resin, PY185, and fatty acid amide. The pH for the emulsification is preferably 7 to 11 in view of the dispersibility of the resin and the color developing density ([0120]), so a basic compound would need to be added to achieve the higher pH. Since the pH is important for the emulsification step, one of ordinary skill in the art would not be motivated to add the base to the mixture of Morita, in the case that it would negatively affect the mixture, while providing no additional benefits.
The emulsification temperature disclosed in Tomita is preferably 30°C to 100°C ([0129]), and further the emulsification temperature is preferably at least the glass transition temperature of the resin + 5°C or higher ([0130]). The glass transition temperature is disclosed to be preferably 50°C to 65°C ([0053]), bringing the bottom of the range to 55°C to 70°C depending on the binder resin. The softening temperature of the hydrophobic lubricant is approximately 75°C to 99°C. The emulsification temperature and the softening temperature of the hydrophobic lubricant share a large proportion of their ranges. Therefore, a method wherein Tm < Te would be easily achieved through routine optimization. Further, in this case Te would be less than Tm + 30°C, as the difference between the bottom of the range of the softening temperature and the top of the range of the emulsification temperature is 25°C.
Tomita and Morita both teach that the glass transition temperature of the binder resin should be low (Tomita [0053], 50°C – 65°C; Morita [0086], 40°C – 70°C), but are silent regarding a softening temperature of the resin. Sugawara teaches a toner containing an amorphous polyester resin having no bisphenol structure to eliminate or reduce image defects and in view of fixability ([0075]). Similarly to Tomita and Morita, the polyester resin of Sugawara has a glass transition temperature of preferably 50°C to 65°C ([0102]).
Exemplary amorphous polyester resin (A1) contains terephthalic acid, fumaric acid, ethylene glycol, and 1,5-pentanediol in the monomer composition ([0280-283]). These are the same monomers as the polyester resins (P1) through (P6) of the instant application, which have softening temperatures from 47°C to 65°C and acid values from 8.0 mgKOH/g to 17.0 mgKOH/g ([0109], [0124-140]). The resin with the most similar ratio of components to the resin (A1) is resin (P1), which has a softening temperature of 59°C and an acid value of 15.0 mgKOH/g. Since the composition of these two resins are so similar, they would be expected to have similar properties as well. The difference between the softening temperature of the hydrophobic lubricant and the softening point of the resin would therefore fall in the range of 5°C or higher and 50°C or lower. 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 Tomita and Morita to have included the amorphous polyester resin of Sugawara in order to reduce image defects, and in view of fixability.
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 06/02/2026
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