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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-11 and 22-23 in the reply filed on 11-20-2025 is acknowledged.
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) 1, 4, 6, 7 and 22-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan (US 9,792,580) and further in view of Goforth (US 2014/0194733).
With regard to claim 1, Yan discloses a system for printing ink compositions on substrates, the system comprising:
a substrate (822) [paper; Col. 12; line 45];
an ink printing device (800) [Col. 12; line 38] comprising:
a cartridge containing ink [Col. 12; line 51-52]
a control circuit (810) [printer management module; Col. 12; lines 39-43] communicatively coupled to the ink printing device, the control circuit
configured to:
receive an object identifier (902) [Fig. 9];
select one or more printing parameters (904) [Fig. 9]; and
cause the ink printing device to deposit the radiopaque ink composition on the substrate using the selected one or more printing parameters to form on the substrate a machine- readable code associated with the object identifier (906 - 910) [Fig. 9].
Yan does not disclose a radiopaque ink composition, the radiopaque ink composition comprising one of: i) a polymer matrix having an average molecular weight of from about 1,000 g/mol to about 50,000 g/mol, and a radiopaque compound dispersed within the polymer matrix, the radiopaque compound comprising one or more elements having an atomic number of 53 or greater in an amount effective to render the ink composition radiopaque; and ii) a plurality of nanoparticles having an average diameter from about 5 nm to about 300 nm suspended in a solvent, each nanoparticle comprising at least 50,000 atoms having an atomic number of 53 or greater, wherein the plurality of nanoparticles are present in the solvent in an amount effective to render the ink composition radiopaque,
However, Goforth teaches a radiopaque ink composition [Para. 0013], the radiopaque ink composition comprising one of: ii) a plurality of nanoparticles having an average diameter from about 5 nm to about 300 nm suspended in a solvent [Para. 0067], each nanoparticle comprising at least 50,000 atoms having an atomic number of 53 or greater [Para. 0064], wherein the plurality of nanoparticles are present in the solvent in an amount effective to render the ink composition radiopaque, [Para. 0064].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the ink disclosed in Yan for a radiopaque ink composition as described in Goforth in order to achieve highly X-Ray attenuating dispersions and composites for applications including X-ray opaque inks.
With regard to claim 4, Yan’s modified system discloses all the limitations of claim 1, and Goforth also discloses wherein the substrate comprises an adhesive label [bismuth-particle ink can be used to print radiopaque labels/tags, such as self-adhesive; Para. 0103-0104].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the substrate of Yan to comprise an adhesive label to find utility in many applications and be applied to non-radiopaque plastic items.
With regard to claim 6, Yan’s modified system discloses all the limitation of claim 1 and Yan also discloses wherein the machine-readable code printed on the substrate is visible to a human [Col. 3; lines 8-15].
With regard to claim 7, Yan’s modified system discloses all the limitations of claim 1, and Goforth also discloses wherein the machine-readable code printed on the substrate is detectable by a radiographic imaging device [Para. 0035; Fig. 19d].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the machine readable code printed on the substrate to be detectable by a radiographic imaging device since the code size or ink concentration may not be sufficient to be seen with the naked eye.
With regard to claim 22, Yan discloses a system for printing ink compositions on substrates, the system comprising:
a substrate (822) [paper; Col. 12; line 45];
an ink printing device (800) [Col. 12; line 38] comprising a cartridge containing ink [Col. 12; line 51-52]
a control circuit (810) [printer management module; Col. 12; lines 39-43] communicatively coupled to the ink printing device, the control circuit configured to:
receive an object identifier (902) [Fig. 9];
select one or more printing parameters (904) [Fig. 9].
causing the ink printing device to deposit the ink composition on the substrate using the
selected one or more printing parameters to form on the substrate a machine-readable code (ISBN Marker; Col. 13; lines 6-13] associated with the object identifier (906 - 910) [Fig. 9].
Yan does not disclose printing a radiopaque ink composition.
However, Goforth teaches a bismuth particle ink used to print a radiopaque barcode label [Para. 0103]
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the system of Yan to print with radiopaque ink in order to achieve highly X-Ray attenuating dispersions and composites for applications including X-ray opaque inks.
With regard to claim 23, Yan’s modified system discloses all the limitations of claim 22, and Yan also discloses wherein the control circuit is further configured to: obtain an identification of the radiopaque ink composition in the cartridge [type of ink; Col. 12; lines 66-67 – Col. 13; lines 1-2] and select at least one of the one or more printing parameters to form on the substrate a machine- readable code associated with the object identifier (906 - 910) [Fig. 9].
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan (US 9,792,580) and further in view of Goforth (US 2014/019473) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Childers (JPH10323995).
With regard to claim 2, Yan’s modified system discloses all the limitations of claim 1 but does not disclose wherein the control circuit is further configured to: obtain an identification of the radiopaque ink composition in the cartridge and select at least one of the one or more printing parameters based on the identification of the radiopaque ink composition.
However, Childers teaches a control circuit configured to obtain an identification of the ink composition in the cartridge [information is transmitted between a print controller and a memory (26) and the information for identifying the ink in the storage container is determined by a print controller; Para. 0024, 0031] and select at least one of the one or more printing parameters based on the identification of the radiopaque ink composition [Para. 0024, 0031].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the control circuit of Yan’s modified to identify the radiopaque ink composition in the cartridge and select one or printing parameters based on the identification of the composition as taught by Childers in order to prevent causing damage to the printer that may occur from fluid coupling.
Claim(s) 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan (US 9,792,580) and further in view of Goforth (US 2014/019473) as applied to claim1 above, and further in view of Nakamura (US 2014/0063092).
With regard to claim 3, Yan’s modified system discloses all the limitations of claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the substrate has a maximum thickness of about 25 millimeters.
However, Nakamura teaches a recording medium with a maximum thickness of 8mm. [Para. 0063]
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a substate with a maximum thickness of about 25 millimeters order to accurately adjust a gap between a print nozzle surface of an ink printing device and a recording substrate. In addition, it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan (US 9,792,580) and further in view of Goforth (US 2014/019473) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Edmonds (US 2015/0317923).
With regard to claim 5, Yan’s modified system discloses all the limitations of claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the machine-readable code has a length of about 3 cm to about 10 cm and a width of about 1 cm to about 6 cm.
However, Edmonds teaches a machine-readable code has a length of 30 cm x 30 cm.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form a machine-readable code with a length of about 3 cm to about 10 cm and a width of about 1 cm to about 6 cm in order to deposit a smaller code on smaller products, packages or documents. In addition, it would have been obvious since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan (US 9,792,580) and further in view of Goforth (US 2014/019473) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Agathakis (DE 102015219400).
With regard to claim 8, Yan’s modified system discloses all the limitations of claim 1 but does not disclose wherein the machine-readable code is printed on the substrate at a resolution of from about 2400 dpi to about 2600 dpi.
However, Agathakis teaches machine-readable code (QR Code) [Para. 0073] is printed on a substrate at a resolution of about 2500 dpi [Para. 0073]
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to print the machine-readable code of Yan’s modified on the substrate at a resolution from about 2400 to about 2600 dpi in order to gain sharper details and clarity, prevent pixelation and provide flexibility for scaling and cropping without the loss of quality.
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan (US 9,792,580) and further in view of Goforth (US 2014/019473) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of O’Sullivan (US 2020/354542).
With regard to claim 9, Yan’s modified system discloses all the limitations of claim 1 but does not disclose wherein the radiopaque ink composition has a maximum viscosity of about 12 centipoise.
However, O’Sullivan teaches ink composition has with radiopaque particles have a viscosity of 1 to 100 centipoise [Para. 0027].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a radiopaque ink composition with a maximum viscosity of about 12 centipoise with the system of Yan modified since viscosity of the flowable liquid formulation depend on an amount and or type of the radiopaque particles in the liquid flowable formulation.
Claim(s) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan (US 9,792,580) and further in view of Goforth (US 2014/019473) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Launay (EP 4147876).
With regard to claim 10, Yan’s modified system discloses all the limitations of claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the one or more printing parameters include at least one of waveform shape, waveform amplitude, slew rate, duration, and drop spacing.
However, Launay teaches determining printing parameter from a group consisting of jetting duration.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include jetting duration as a printing parameter selection in order to obtain better printing results.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 11 is objected to because the prior art does not teach or make obvious “wherein at least one of the one or more printing parameters is based on a concentration of metal in the radiopaque ink composition.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACEY M MCMILLION whose telephone number is (571)270-5193. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6AM-2:30PM EST.
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/TRACEY M MCMILLION/ Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/RICARDO I MAGALLANES/ Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853