DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/02/2026 has been entered.
3. Claims 1-3 are pending. Claims 1-3 are under examination on the merits. Claim 4 is previously cancelled.
4. The objections and rejections not addressed below are deemed withdrawn.
Information Disclosure Statement
5. The information disclosure statement submitted on 02/02/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statement.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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, 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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okada et al. (US Pub. No. 2015/0301243 A1, hereinafter “Okada”) in view of Yutaka Kurabayashi (US Pub. No. 2002/0006982 A1, hereinafter “’982”), and Ding et al. (Preparation and characterization of encapsulated C.I. pigment yellow 12 via ball-milling and mini-emulsion polymerization, Progress in Organic Coatings 117 (2018) 69-75, hereinafter, “Ding”).
Regarding claim 1: Okada teaches organic-inorganic hybrid infrared absorbing particles such as a near-infrared absorption filter including composite tungsten oxide particles expressed by a general formula NayWOz, satisfying 0.3≦y≦1.1, 2.2≦z≦3.0 as near-infrared shielding particles (Page 1, [0011]), and a dispersant covering at least a portion of a surface of the infrared absorbing particles (Page 4, [0061]), and wherein the dispersant is disposed on surfaces of the infrared absorbing particles, the coating resin is disposed on the dispersant (Page 5, [0094], Example 1), wherein the coating resin is a photocurable resin, and wherein the photocurable resin is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet light (Page 5, [0094], Example 1). Okada does not expressly teach i) a dispersant comprising a copolymer comprising styrene units and tertiary amine units, and ii) the coating resin is obtained by polymerization within stabilized mini-emulsion droplets, wherein the organic-inorganic hybrid infrared absorbing particles have a spherical shape.
Referring to i), however Kurabayashi teaches an organic-inorganic hybrid infrared absorbing particles as a dispersion of a resin encapsulating a coloring material (Page 15, [0239]) comprising, infrared absorbing particles such as carbon black MCF-88, a coating resin such as styrene-N,N-dimethylamino- ethyl methacrylate copolymer (i.e., a dispersant, molecular weight: 45,000) encapsulating the carbon black, wherein the dispersant comprising a copolymer (Page 15, [0241], Example 19), comprising styrene units (Page 4, [0071]), and tertiary amine units (Page 5, [0072]), wherein the dispersant coating is obtained by polymerization within stabilized mini- emulsion droplets (Page 4, [0070]), and wherein the organic-inorganic hybrid infrared absorbing particles have a spherical shape such as microcapsule (Page 3, [0056]; Page 4, [0068]; Page 6, [0096]) with benefit of providing an ink which can provide an image high in optical density and excellent in rub-off resistance, water fastness and resistance to line marker, and exhibits excellent ejection stability from a recording head when used in ink-jet recording (Page 2, [0012]-[0013]).
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Referring to ii), Ding teaches the encapsulate aqueous dispersion of nanoscale C.I. Pigment Yellow 12 (PY12) with styrene-butyl acrylate P(St-co-BA) resin via mini-emulsion polymerization, the PY12 dispersion was prepared through ball milling in the presence of dispersing agent (Page 69, Abstract, lines 1-3; Page 71, Fig. 2), wherein the morphology of encapsulated PY12 nanosphere are spherical with a clear core-shell structure (Page 71, left Col., 3. Results and discussion, lines 1-8; Page 72, Fig. 3) with benefit of providing composite particles exhibit a clear core-shell structure, the particle size uniformity and encapsulation integrity of encapsulated particles prepared by ultrasonic dispersion are superior to those prepared by high-speed shear dispersion and the UV-resistance ability and color stability of encapsulated PY12 are better than those of the original pigment (Page 69, Abstract, lines 10-13),
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In an analogous art of the organic-inorganic hybrid infrared absorbing particles, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the dispersant of the infrared absorbing particle by Okada, so as to include a dispersant comprising a copolymer of styrene and a tertiary amine as taught by Kurabayashi, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing a copolymer having monomer units containing a tertiary amine, results in novel salt modified dispersants which show better dispersing performance and development properties compared with the conventional salt formed dispersant as suggested by Kurabayashi (Page 2, [0012]-[0013]). It is submitted that a styrene-N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate copolymer acts as a dispersant by utilizing its amphiphilic structure to provide steric and electrostatic stabilization to particles in a liquid medium. The polymer attaches to the particle surfaces, preventing re-agglomeration and maintaining a stable, homogeneous dispersion.
In an analogous art of the organic-inorganic hybrid infrared absorbing particles, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the coating of dispersant of the infrared absorbing particle by Okada, so as to include a coating resin disposed on the dispersant, which is obtained by polymerization within stabilized mini-emulsion droplets, wherein the organic-inorganic hybrid infrared absorbing particles have a spherical shape as taught by Ding, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing composite particles exhibit a clear core-shell structure, the particle size uniformity and encapsulation integrity of encapsulated particles prepared by ultrasonic dispersion are superior to those prepared by high-speed shear dispersion and the UV-resistance ability and color stability of encapsulated PY12 are better than those of the original pigment as suggested by Ding (Page 69, Abstract, lines 10-13).
Regarding claim 2: The disclosure Okada in view of Kurabayashi and Ding is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. Okada teaches the coating resin for example, UV-curable resin, thermosetting resin, electron beam-curable resin, cold-setting resin, or thermoplastic resin can be suitably selected according to a purpose of use. Specifically, polyethylene resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyvinylidene chloride resin, polyvinyl alcohol resin, polystyrene resin, polypropylene resin, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyester resin, polyethylene terephthalate resin, fluorine resin, polycarbonate resin, acrylic resin, polyvinyl butyral resin, etc., can be given. These resins may be used alone or may be used in combination (Page 4, [0078])
Ding teaches styrene-butyl acrylate P(St-co-BA) resin via mini-emulsion polymerization, the PY12 dispersion was prepared through ball milling in the presence of dispersing agent (Page 69, Abstract, lines 1-3; Page 71, Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 3: The disclosure Okada in view of Kurabayashi and Ding is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. Okada teaches a near-infrared absorption filter including composite tungsten oxide particles expressed by a general formula NayWOz, satisfying 0.3≦y≦1.1, 2.2≦z≦3.0 as near-infrared shielding particles (Page 1, [0011]), and a dispersant covering at least a portion of a surface of the infrared absorbing particles (Page 4, [0061]), wherein the coating resin is a photocurable resin, and wherein the photocurable resin is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet light (Page 5, [0094], Example 1).
Response to Arguments
8. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-3 have not been filed, thus claims 1-3 stand rejected as set forth in Office action dated 01/28/2026.
Examiner Information
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bijan Ahvazi, Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571) 270-3449. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9.00 A.M. -7 P.M..
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.
/Bijan Ahvazi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
02/06/2026
bijan.ahvazi@uspto.gov