DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 38, 39, 42, 75, 76 and 79 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/15/2025.
Applicant traverses the Requirement for Election of species apparently on the basis that, while 25 different variations of the structure of the print media have been illustrated, other combinations of features not illustrated could be arrived upon and thus the species are not mutually exclusive. This is incorrect. While many of the features may be mixed and matched to create as-yet unshown combinations of layers and features, the species in the list of the 25 variations are indeed mutually exclusive. To say that they are not would require an invention of two of the 25 illustrated print media stacked on top of each other, which does not correspond to the claimed invention. The Requirement is maintained. The embodiment according to Figure 14B has been elected.
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.
Claim 25 is 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. The claim is not clear as to what “it” refers. Correction is required.
Claim 26 is 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. The claim recites wherein the predetermined environmental condition does not rupture the microcapsules, but claim 1, from which claim 6 depends, states that the environmental condition necessarily changes the state of the indicator material. The two claims seem to be at odds. Clarification 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, 10, 12, 14, 17, 21, 22 and 24-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feldman et al. (5,283,152).
Regarding claim 1, Feldman teaches a media element for use with a media processing device, the media element comprising:
an environmental indicator (fig. 1, item 18) material configured, in response to exposure to a predetermined environmental condition (col. 5, lines 58-60, pressure), to change from an initial state to a second state producing an observable effect (see fig. 1);
a plurality of microcapsules (fig. 1, items 16), each microcapsule encapsulating the environmental indicator material in a non-activated configuration and releasing the environmental indicator material when ruptured (col. 5, lines 58-60, pressure), wherein the plurality of microcapsules prevent an occurrence of the observable effect while in the non-activated configuration, and allow the occurrence of the observable effect when the environmental indicator material is exposed to the predetermined environmental condition after at least a portion of the plurality of microcapsules are ruptured (see fig. 1 col. 5, lines 58-60, pressure); and
a bursting additive (fig. 1b, items 30) proximate the plurality of microcapsules (see fig. 1b, note that layer 22 is proximate layer 14), wherein the bursting additive selectively interacts with the plurality of microcapsule to rupture the plurality of microcapsules when a force is applied to the plurality of microcapsules and bursting additive (see fig. 1b, Note that particles 30 press on microcapsule layer 14 when pressure is applied to the medium and only in portions of the medium where pressure is applied. Note also that this mirrors the arrangement of the elected embodiment according to Figure 14B).
Regarding claim 2, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of microcapsules are ruptured based on a force greater than a predetermined threshold, the force being at least one of a pressure force, a shear force, a frictional force, or a cutting force applied to the media element (col. 5, lines 58-60, Note that there is necessarily a predetermined force at which the microcapsules are designed to rupture).
Regarding claim 10, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 1, wherein media element of claim 1, wherein the bursting additive increases an effective force applied to the microcapsules when the force is applied to the media element (see fig. 1, Note that hard particles being pressed against the microcapsules apply more force than a softer medium or no medium at all).
Regarding claim 12, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 1, further comprising a printable substrate comprising the plurality of microcapsules and the bursting additive (see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 14, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 12, wherein the plurality of microcapsules are positioned in a first layer of the printable substrate and the bursting additive is positioned in a second layer of the printable substrate, wherein the plurality of microcapsules are aligned with the bursting additive (see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 17, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 1, wherein the bursting additive comprises an abrasive material comprising a plurality of particles (col. 5, line 21).
Regarding claim 21, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 1, wherein the bursting additive reduces an amount of force required to be applied to the media element to rupture the plurality of microcapsules (see fig. 1, Note that hard particles being pressed against the microcapsules apply more force than a softer medium or no medium at all).
Regarding claim 22, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 21, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of microcapsules are ruptured based on a pressure force being applied to the media element, and wherein the bursting additive reduces the amount of pressure force required to be applied to the media element in order to burst the microcapsules by anywhere between 5 to 90 percent (see fig. 1, Note that hard particles being pressed against the microcapsules apply more force than a softer medium or no medium at all. Note that, depending on the force applied to the additive layer, the force required would fall).
Regarding claim 24, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 1, wherein the observable effect comprises at least one effect selected from the group consisting of a color state change, a change in transparency, a change in hue, a change in an electrical property, a change in conductivity, a change in capacitance, a movement of the environmental indicator material along a substrate, and combinations thereof (see fig. 1, Note color change to internal phase 18 upon applied pressure).
Regarding claim 25, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 21, wherein the plurality of microcapsules prevent the observable effect by containing the environmental indicator material when it changes state (see fig. 1, item 18).
Regarding claim 26, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 21, wherein the plurality of microcapsules prevent the observable effect by protecting the environmental indicator material from exposure to the predetermined environmental condition (see fig. 1, Note that pressure less than a certain amount will not be enough to rupture the microcapsules, and the microcapsules the environmental indicator will stay protected by the microcapsules).
Regarding claim 27, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 1, wherein the predetermined environmental condition comprises at least one condition selected from the group consisting of temperature excursion above a predetermined temperature threshold for at least a predetermined amount of time, temperature excursion below a predetermined temperature for at least a predetermined amount of time, cumulative exposure to temperature over a time period above a predetermined threshold for at least a predetermined amount of time, exposure to a particular chemical, oxygen exposure, ammonia exposure, exposure to a particular chemical above a threshold concentration, exposure to a particular chemical above the threshold concentration for at least a predetermined amount of time, exposure to at least a predetermined amount of radiation of a particular type, ultraviolet light exposure, humidity exposure, exposure to a humidity level above a predetermined threshold, and exposure to a humidity level above a predetermined threshold for at least a predetermined amount of time (col. 3, lines 1-5).
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.
Claim(s) 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feldman over Carty et al. (2013/0123678).
Regarding claim 16, Feldman teaches the media element of claim 1. Feldman does not teach wherein the bursting additive comprises a plurality of microneedles. Carty teaches this (Carty, [0152], see fig. 10, Note microcapsule layer 630 with microneedle additive 635). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use microneedles, as disclosed by Carty, as the additive disclosed by Feldman, because doing so would amount to the simple substitution of one known additive for another to obtain predictable results.
Conclusion
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/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853