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 .
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/06/2026 has been entered.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
4. The examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 06/20/2023 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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 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.
6. 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 of this title, 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.
7. Claims 1 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ozawa et al. (US Pub. Nº 2017/0341396), in view of Inui et al. (JP 2021-008598).
8. Regarding independent claim 1: Ozawa et al. disclosed an ink jet recording method comprising recording an image on a recording medium through use of an ink jet recording apparatus ([0040], lines 8-11),
the inkjet recording apparatus comprising:
an aqueous ink ([0041], lines 2-3);
a recording head including an ink flow path in which the aqueous ink flows ([0041], line 10) and including an ejection orifice configured to eject the aqueous ink ([0041], line 10; also see Fig. 2, reference 42);
an ink storage portion configured to form a recording unit with the recording head ([0041], lines 1-2 and 9-10; also see Fig. 1, reference 8 holding cartridges 7);
a pump configured to be connectable to the ink storage portion ([0041], lines 4-6; also see Fig. 1, reference 13); and
a recovery mechanism configured to recover an ejection state of the aqueous ink from the ejection orifice by applying pressure to the ink flow path inside the recording head by means of the pump ([0043], lines 11-13).
Ozawa et al. are silent about wherein the aqueous ink contains resin particles each dyed with a basic dye exhibiting fluorescence and a water-soluble resin, wherein the resin particles are each formed of a resin having an anionic group-containing unit, and wherein the water-soluble resin has an anionic group-containing unit.
Inui et al. disclosed an aqueous inkjet ink ([0009], lines 1-2), wherein the aqueous ink contains resin particles each dyed with a basic dye exhibiting fluorescence and a water-soluble resin ([0009], lines 1-4), wherein the resin particles are each formed of a resin having an anionic group-containing unit ([0009], lines 4-7), and wherein the water-soluble resin has an anionic group-containing unit ([0009], lines 9-11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Inui et al. with those of Ozawa et al. by using the aqueous inkjet ink of Inui et al. in the inkjet printing method of Ozawa et al., in order to support recording of fluorescent color images while achieving excellent discharge stability and sticking-restoration property of the ink as disclosed by Inui et al. in paragraph [0008].
9. Regarding claim 4: The combination of Ozawa et al. and Inui et al. disclosed the ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the aqueous ink has a mass ratio of a content (% by mass) of the water-soluble resin to a content (% by mass) of the resin particles of 0.1 times or more (Inui et al. [0064], lines 1-2 and [0078], lines 1-2. The content of the resin particles in the ink is 1.0% to 10.0% and the content of the water-soluble resin in the ink is 0.1% to 5.0%; this yields a mass ratio of a content of the water-soluble resin to a content of the resin particles of 0.01 to 5.0 which includes the 0.1 or more range).
10. Regarding claim 5: The combination of Ozawa et al. and Inui et al. disclosed the ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the aqueous ink has a mass ratio of a content (% by mass) of the water-soluble resin to a content (% by mass) of the resin particles of 0.5 times or more (Inui et al. [0064], lines 1-2 and [0078], lines 1-2. The content of the resin particles in the ink is 1.0% to 10.0% and the content of the water-soluble resin in the ink is 0.1% to 5.0%; this yields a mass ratio of a content of the water-soluble resin to a content of the resin particles of 0.01 to 5.0 which includes the 0.5 or more range).
11. Regarding claim 6: The combination of Ozawa et al. and Inui et al. disclosed the ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the water-soluble resin further has an aromatic group-containing unit (Inui et al. [0009], lines 9-10).
12. Regarding claim 7: The combination of Ozawa et al. and Inui et al. disclosed the ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the resin particles are each formed of an acrylic resin (Inui et al. [0042], lines 9-10).
13. Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ozawa et al. (US Pub. Nº 2017/0341396), in view of Inui et al. (JP 2021-008598) as applied to claims 1 and 4-7 above, and further in view of Sameshima et al. (US Pub. Nº 2014/0375725).
14. Regarding claims 2-3: The combination of Ozawa et al. and Inui et al. disclosed the ink jet recording method according to claim 1.
The combination of Ozawa et al. and Inui et al. is silent about wherein the pressure applied to the ink flow path is 20 kPa or more and wherein the pressure applied to the ink flow path is 40 kPa or more.
Sameshima et al. disclosed applying pressure to an ink flow path to forcibly discharge hardened ink from the nozzles of an ejection head ([0208], lines 2-4), wherein the pressure applied to the ink flow path is 20 kPa or more ([0208], line 2) and wherein the pressure applied to the ink flow path is 40 kPa or more ([0208], line 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Sameshima et al. with those of the combination of Ozawa et al. and Inui et al. by applying a pressure strong enough, in order to ensure a thorough clearing of hardened ink from the ejection nozzles of the recording head.
15. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ozawa et al. (US Pub. Nº 2017/0341396), in view of Inui et al. (JP 2021-008598).
16. Regarding independent claim 8: Ozawa et al. disclosed an inkjet recording apparatus ([0040], line 1; also see Fig. 1, reference 1) comprising:
an aqueous ink ([0041], lines 2-3);
a recording head including an ink flow path in which the aqueous ink flows ([0041], line 10) and including an ejection orifice configured to eject the aqueous ink ([0041], line 10; also see Fig. 2, reference 42);
an ink storage portion configured to form a recording unit with the recording head ([0041], lines 1-2 and 9-10; also see Fig. 1, reference 8 holding cartridges 7);
a pump configured to be connectable to the ink storage portion ([0041], lines 4-6; also see Fig. 1, reference 13); and
a recovery mechanism configured to recover an ejection state of the aqueous ink from the ejection orifice by applying pressure to the ink flow path inside the recording head by means of the pump ([0043], lines 11-13).
Ozawa et al. are silent about wherein the aqueous ink contains resin particles each dyed with a basic dye exhibiting fluorescence and a water-soluble resin, wherein the resin particles are each formed of a resin having an anionic group-containing unit, and wherein the water-soluble resin has an anionic group-containing unit.
Inui et al. disclosed an aqueous inkjet ink ([0009], lines 1-2), wherein the aqueous ink contains resin particles each dyed with a basic dye exhibiting fluorescence and a water-soluble resin ([0009], lines 1-4), wherein the resin particles are each formed of a resin having an anionic group-containing unit ([0009], lines 4-7), and wherein the water-soluble resin has an anionic group-containing unit ([0009], lines 9-11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Inui et al. with those of Ozawa et al. by using the aqueous inkjet ink of Inui et al. in the inkjet printing method of Ozawa et al., in order to support recording of fluorescent color images while achieving excellent discharge stability and sticking-restoration property of the ink as disclosed by Inui et al. in paragraph [0008].
Conclusion
17. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YAOVI M. AMEH whose telephone number is (571)272-4578. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
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/YAOVI M AMEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853