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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8-11, 13-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claims 1, 11 and 20, applicant has recited “projecting one or both of light and heat … on the first programmable region” twice. It appears that applicant may intend the second recitation to be further limiting of the first recitation, and the claim has been examined as such, however the claim language does not make this clear and should be amended to more clearly define the method applicant intends to claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 3-6, 8-11, 13-16 and 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ribi (US 2014/0221528) in view of Mena et al. (WO 2006/051484, hereafter Mena) and Sato. (US 7,284,479)
With respect to claim 1, Ribi teaches a method of printing designs, the method comprising: receiving, at a design application accessed at a computing device associated with a rotary printing process, a first design image; printing programmable ink onto a first programmable region of a substrate, the first programmable region initially including a first appearance; projecting one or both of light and heat to the first programmable region to cause the programmable ink on the first programmable region to transform from the first appearance to a second appearance corresponding to the first design image, activating target areas of the substrate of the first programmable region to trigger color transformation into a first dynamic output; receiving, at the design application, a second design image; printing programmable ink onto a second programmable region of the substrate, the second programmable region initially including a third appearance; and projecting one or both of light and heat to the second programmable region to cause the programmable ink on the second programmable region to transform from the third appearance to a fourth appearance corresponding to the second design image. (Ribi teaches rotary printing (continuous roller printing, par. 46) and teaches customizing products on demand (par. 44) and teaches printing using photochromic or thermochromic inks (par. 47-50); therefore Ribi suggests a continuous roller printing process which includes receiving a design image and printing it and then receiving a second design image and printing it and projecting light or heat to change the appearance after printing)
Ribi does not explicitly teach receiving, at the device processor, a first selected image and projecting one or both of light and heat through a digital mask including a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to activate first target pixel areas of the substrate of the first programmable region and trigger color transformation into a first dynamic output corresponding to the first selected image, wherein the first target pixel areas are sub-regions of the first programable region or printing two different images on the same substrate, wherein printing programmable ink onto the first programmable region of the substrate is performed by a first cylindrical drum of a printing apparatus and wherein printing programmable ink onto the second programmable region of the substrate is also performed by the first cylindrical drum.
Mena teaches a method of decorating an article comprising receiving, at a device processor (control unit 11), a first selected image and projecting one or both of light and heat (UV lamp 12) through a digital mask (mask 13) including a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) (liquid crystal layer 14) to activate first target pixel areas (domains) of the substrate (medium 18) and trigger color transformation into a first dynamic output corresponding to the first selected image. (page 8, line 23 - page 9, line 2, Fig. 2)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the method of Ribi to include using an LCD digital mask, as taught by Mena, in order to program the programmable ink in a pattern that can be modified by changing the design image, improving the efficiency of the process and ability to provide a variety of end products.
Sato teaches a method of printing designs, the method comprising: receiving a first design image (digital image data); printing ink onto a first region of a substrate (sheet P), receiving a second design image; and printing ink onto a second region of the substrate, (sheet P) wherein printing ink onto the first region of the substrate is performed by a first cylindrical drum (print drum 12) of a printing apparatus and wherein printing ink onto the second region of the substrate is also performed by the first cylindrical drum. (col. 5, lines 42-50, col. 19, line 15 – col. 25, line 19, Figs. 1, 13)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the method of Ribi to print two images on one substrate using the same cylindrical drum, as taught by Sato, in order to provide a wider variety of images on a single object.
With respect to claim 3, Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, teaches wherein projecting one or both of the light and heat to the first programmable region includes projecting the one or both of the light and heat in a pattern corresponding to a design image to cause a programmable ink to transform from a first appearance to a second appearance.
With respect to claim 4, Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, teaches wherein projecting one or both of the light and heat to the first programmable region includes covering the first programmable region with a digital mask having darkened areas corresponding to an inverse of the first design while projecting the one or both of the light and heat to the first programmable region.
With respect to claims 5-6, although Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, does not explicitly teach switching a projector to an on state when the first programmable region is disposed within its target projection area and switching the projector to an off state when a programmable region is outside of the target projection area, this would be an obvious addition to the method in order to conserve energy when the projector is unneeded.
With respect to claim 8, Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, teaches wherein the programmable ink is one of thermochromic ink and photochromic ink. (par. 47-50)
With respect to claim 9, although Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, does not explicitly teach projecting one or both of light and heat includes projecting light by a projector including one of a laser printing head, thermal resistive printing head, a digital light processing (DLP) projector, a light-emitting diode (LED) projector, a liquid crystal display (LCD) projector, and a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) display, these are typical types of projectors and therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to use one of these projectors to cause the programmable effect taught by Ribi.
With respect to claim 10, although Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, does not explicitly teach applying a protective coating to the first programmable region after transforming its appearance, it is well-known to apply a protective coating to a printed substrate and therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to include printing a protective coating in order to maintain the appearance of the printed substrate.
With respect to claim 11, Ribi teaches a method of printing designs, the method comprising: receiving, at a design application accessed at a computing device associated with a rotary printing process, a first design image; printing programmable ink onto a first programmable region of a first substrate, the first programmable region initially including a first appearance; projecting one or both of light and heat to the first programmable region to cause the programmable ink on the first programmable region to transform from the first appearance to a second appearance corresponding to the first design image, activating target areas of the substrate of the first programmable region to trigger color transformation into a first dynamic output; receiving, at the design application, a second design image; printing programmable ink onto a second programmable region of a second substrate, the second programmable region initially including a third appearance; and projecting one or both of light and heat to the second programmable region to cause the programmable ink on the second programmable region to transform from the third appearance to a fourth appearance corresponding to the second design image. (Ribi teaches rotary printing (continuous roller printing, par. 46) and teaches customizing products on demand (par. 44) and teaches printing using photochromic or thermochromic inks (par. 47-50); therefore Ribi suggests a continuous roller printing process which includes receiving a design image and printing it and then receiving a second design image and printing it and projecting light or heat to change the appearance after printing)
Ribi does not explicitly teach receiving, at the device processor, a first selected image and projecting one or both of light and heat through a digital mask including a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to activate first target pixel areas of the substrate of the first programmable region and trigger color transformation into a first dynamic output corresponding to the first selected image, wherein the first target pixel areas are sub-regions of the first programable region or wherein printing programmable ink onto the first programmable region onto the first substrate is performed by a first cylindrical drum of a printing apparatus and wherein printing the second programmable region onto the second substrate is also performed by the first cylindrical drum.
Mena teaches a method of decorating an article comprising receiving, at a device processor (control unit 11), a first selected image and projecting one or both of light and heat (UV lamp 12) through a digital mask (mask 13) including a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) (liquid crystal layer 14) to activate first target pixel areas (domains) of the substrate (medium 18) and trigger color transformation into a first dynamic output corresponding to the first selected image. (page 8, line 23 - page 9, line 2, Fig. 2)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the method of Ribi to include using an LCD digital mask, as taught by Mena, in order to program the programmable ink in a pattern that can be modified by changing the design image, improving the efficiency of the process and ability to provide a variety of end products.
Sato teaches a method of printing designs, the method comprising: receiving a first design image (digital image data); printing ink onto a first region of a substrate (sheet P), receiving a second design image; and printing ink onto a second region of the substrate, (sheet P) wherein printing ink onto the first region of the substrate is performed by a first cylindrical drum (print drum 12) of a printing apparatus and wherein printing ink onto the second region of the substrate is also performed by the first cylindrical drum. (col. 5, lines 42-50, col. 19, line 15 – col. 25, line 19, Figs. 1, 13)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the method of Ribi to print two images on one substrate using the same cylindrical drum, as taught by Sato, in order to provide a wider variety of images on a single object.
With respect to claim 13, Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, teaches wherein projecting one or both of light and heat to the first programmable region includes passing the one or both of light and heat through a digital mask in a pattern corresponding to the first design image.
With respect to claim 14, Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, teaches wherein projecting one or both of the light and heat to the first programmable region includes covering the first programmable region with a digital mask having darkened areas corresponding to an inverse of the first design while projecting the one or both of the light and heat to the first programmable region.
With respect to claims 15-16, although Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, does not explicitly teach switching a projector to an on state when the first programmable region is disposed within its target projection area and switching the projector to an off state when a programmable region is outside of the target projection area, this would be an obvious addition to the method in order to conserve energy when the projector is unneeded.
With respect to claim 18, Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, teaches the programmable ink is one of thermochromic ink and photochromic ink. (Ribi, par. 47-50)
With respect to claim 19, although Ribi, as modified by Mena and Sato, does not explicitly teach wherein projecting one or both of light and heat includes projecting light by a projector including one of a laser printing head, thermal resistive printing head, a digital light processing (DLP) projector, a light-emitting diode (LED) projector, a liquid crystal display (LCD) projector, and a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) display, however these are typical types of projectors and therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to use one of these projectors to cause the programmable effect taught by Ribi.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ribi in view of Mena.
With respect to claim 20, Ribi teaches a system for printing designs, comprising: an ink reservoir; a first cylindrical drum of a printing apparatus in fluid communication with the ink reservoir; a conveyor for conveying a substrate adjacent to the paint roller; a projector positioned adjacent to the conveyor such that the projector can project one or both of heat and light onto the substrate; a device processor in electrical communication with at least the projector; a non-transitory computer-readable medium (CRM) storing software comprising instructions executable by the device processor which, upon such execution, cause the device processor to: receive, at the device processor, a first design image; automatically control the first cylindrical drum to print programmable ink onto a first programmable region of a first substrate, the first programmable region initially including a first appearance; automatically control the projector to project one or both of light and heat to the first programmable region to cause the programmable ink on the first programmable region to transform from the first appearance to a second appearance corresponding to the first design image, activating target areas of the substrate of the first programmable region to trigger color transformation into a first dynamic output; receive, at the device processor, a second design image; automatically control the first cylindrical drum to print programmable ink onto a second programmable region of a second substrate, the second programmable region initially including a third appearance; and automatically control the projector to project one or both of light and heat to the second programmable region to cause the programmable ink on the second programmable region to transform from the third appearance to a fourth appearance corresponding to the second design image. (Ribi teaches rotary printing (continuous roller printing, par. 46) which would, as a standard practice, include many of the above structures and teaches customizing products on demand (par. 44) and teaches printing using photochromic or thermochromic inks (par. 47-50); therefore Ribi suggests a continuous roller printing process which includes receiving a design image and printing it and then receiving a second design image and printing it and projecting light or heat to change the appearance after printing)
Ribi does not explicitly teach receiving, at the device processor, a first selected image and projecting one or both of light and heat through a digital mask including a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to activate first target pixel areas of the substrate of the first programmable region and trigger color transformation into a first dynamic output corresponding to the first selected image, wherein the first target pixel areas are sub-regions of the first programable region.
Mena teaches a method of decorating an article comprising receiving, at a device processor (control unit 11), a first selected image and projecting one or both of light and heat (UV lamp 12) through a digital mask (mask 13) including a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) (liquid crystal layer 14) to activate first target pixel areas (domains) of the substrate (medium 18) and trigger color transformation into a first dynamic output corresponding to the first selected image. (page 8, line 23 - page 9, line 2, Fig. 2)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the method of Ribi to include using an LCD digital mask, as taught by Mena, in order to program the programmable ink in a pattern that can be modified by changing the design image, improving the efficiency of the process and ability to provide a variety of end products.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed March 11, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the references do not teach the elements of the amended claims, but the examiner respectfully disagrees. As cited, Mena teaches an application receiving a first selected design and projecting radiation according to a digital mask to target different domains, which could be pixel areas. Although Mena does not explicitly discuss that this action triggers a color transformation, Ribi teaches using photochromic and thermochromic inks, so it would be an obvious modification of the teachings of Ribi to activate the inks through the digital mask of Mena in order to provide the claimed color transformation.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jill E Culler whose telephone number is (571)272-2159. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00.
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/JILL E CULLER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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