Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/308,023

Radiation Curable Ink Jet Composition

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Apr 27, 2023
Examiner
CAI, WENWEN
Art Unit
1763
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Seiko Epson Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
60%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 2m
To Grant
80%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 60% of resolved cases
60%
Career Allow Rate
509 granted / 850 resolved
-5.1% vs TC avg
Strong +20% interview lift
Without
With
+19.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 2m
Avg Prosecution
74 currently pending
Career history
924
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
§103
43.6%
+3.6% vs TC avg
§102
17.4%
-22.6% vs TC avg
§112
27.9%
-12.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 850 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
DETAILED ACTION The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claim Objections Claims 1-2 objected to because of the following informalities: “a total mass”, “a total content” should be “the total mass”, “the total content” because of inherent antecedent basis. Appropriate correction is required. Claim 5 objected to because of the following informalities: formula (I) should be H2C=CR1…. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Araki (WO2022070517). In setting forth this rejection a machine translation of WO2022070517 has been relied upon and all citations to paragraph numbers in the discussion below are with respect to the machine translation. Araki teaches a radiation curable ink jet composition comprising 65 wt% of GTA glycerin triacrylate, and an initiator TPO-L (2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) ethoxyphenylphosphine oxide (example 11). 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 nonobviousness. Claim 3, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Araki (WO2022070517). Araki teaches the radical polymerizable monomer may be any of a monofunctional a bifunctional monomer, and a trifunctional or higher functional monomer [0045]. The preferred trifunctional monomer can be glycerin triacrylate and preferred monofunctional monomer can be isobornyl acrylate [0179]. The bifunctional monomer can be 2-(2-vinyloxyethoxy)ethyl (meth)acrylate [0060, 0076]. Araki does not expressly name a single embodiment having the claimed composition. However, each of the components of the composition is described in the reference. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the present invention to have made any of the compositions suggested by the reference, including the claimed composition, thereby arriving at the presently claimed invention. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WENWEN CAI whose telephone number is (571)270-3590. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9am-6pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Del Sole can be reached on (571)272-1130. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /WENWEN CAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 27, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
60%
Grant Probability
80%
With Interview (+19.8%)
3y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 850 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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