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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7, 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by prior art of record to Guo et al. (U.S. 2022/0041883 A1)
Guo et al. discloses the following claimed subject matter:
Re-claim 1, an image forming pretreatment liquid comprising: a cationic polymer; and/or an organic acid of 0.5% by mass or more and 8% by mass or less relative to a total mass of the image forming pretreatment liquid. (¶ [0043], [0045], [0047]-[0048])
Re-claim 2, wherein when the image forming pretreatment liquid comprises the organic acid, a content of the organic acid in the image forming pretreatment liquid is 0.7% by mass or more relative to the total mass of the image forming pretreatment liquid, and wherein when the image forming pretreatment liquid comprises the cationic polymer, a content of the cationic polymer in the image forming pretreatment liquid is 2% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less relative to a total mass of a nonvolatile content of the image forming pretreatment liquid. (¶ [0042])
Re-claim 3, wherein the image forming pretreatment liquid comprises the cationic polymer and a quaternary ammonium salt. (¶ [0046])
Re-claim 4, wherein a content of the quaternary ammonium salt is more than 0.5% by mass and 5% by mass or less relative to the total mass of the image forming pretreatment liquid. (¶ [0044])
Re-claim 5, wherein the cationic polymer comprises a monomer unit having a nitrogen-containing structure in which an allyl group is bonded to a nitrogen atom. (¶ [0032])
Re-claim 6, wherein the nitrogen-containing structure is an ammonium salt which is a primary ammonium salt, a secondary ammonium salt, a tertiary ammonium salt, or a quaternary ammonium salt, and comprises at least one allyl group bonded to a nitrogen atom of the ammonium salt. (diallydimentylammonium, ¶ [0041], cl.7)
Re-claim 7, wherein two allyl groups are bonded to the nitrogen atom of the ammonium salt. (¶ [0041], cl.7)
Re-claim 11, an ink set comprising: the image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 1; and a white ink comprising titanium oxide particles having an average particle diameter of more than 10 nm and 200 nm or less. (¶ [0051]-[0053], table 3)
Re-claim 12, wherein the average particle diameter of the titanium oxide particles is 50 nm or more. (¶ [0051]-[0053], table 3)
Re-claim 13, an image forming method comprising: applying a pretreatment liquid to a cloth material, which is an absorbent base material; and applying an ink onto the cloth material to form an image on the cloth material, after applying pretreatment liquid, wherein the pretreatment liquid comprises: a cationic polymer; and/or an organic acid of 0.5% by mass or more and 8% by mass or less relative to a total mass of the pretreatment liquid. (The image forming method recited in independent claims 13 includes features that are analogous to those recited in independent claim 1. Therefore, argument as stated above is applicable)
Re-claim 14, wherein the ink comprises a white ink comprising titanium oxide particles having an average particle diameter of more than 10 nm and 200 nm or less. (¶ [0051]-[0053], table 3)
Re-claim 15, wherein an application amount of the pretreatment liquid per unit area of the cloth material is 30 mg/cm2 or more. (the white ink can be applied as part of the pretreatment composition ranging from 100-400 g/m2 about 10-40 mg/cm2 ; ¶ [0023])
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 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.
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al. in view of prior art of record to Shiraishi et al. (U.S. 2022/0411999 A1)
Guo et al. discloses elements of the instant claimed subject matter as noted above with the exception of wherein the organic acid comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of formic acid, a saturated fatty acid, a hydroxy acid, an aromatic carboxylic acid, and a dicarboxylic acid; wherein the organic acid has 1 to 8 carbon atoms in a molecule; and wherein the organic acid has 1 to 3 carbon atoms in the molecule.
Shiraishi et al. also discloses a method for producing a printed textile item including applying a pretreatment liquid containing a coagulant, water and a surfactant to a fabric, and, after the application of the pretreatment liquid, applying a white ink containing a white pigment and water to the fabric by an inkjet method. The pretreatment liquid comprises the organic acid include formic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, oxalic acid, citric acid, malic acid and ascorbic acid, wherein a single organic acid may be used alone, or a combination (chemical bonds) of two or more organic acids may be used. The amount of the organic acid, relative to the total mass of the pretreatment liquid, is preferably within a range from 1 to 40% by mass, more preferably from 5 to 40% by mass, further preferably from 10 to 30% by mass, and even further preferably from 15 to 25% by mass (¶ [0036]-[0038]). Since both Guo et al. and Shiraishi et al. are in the same field of endeavor of pretreating application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use the organic acid as suggested by Shiraishi et al. in Guo et al. for the purpose of improving white ink performance with the pretreating process.
Pertinent Prior art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. 2019/0234015 A1 to Chidate et al.
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Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to examiner Thinh Nguyen at telephone number (571) 272-2257. The examiner can generally be reached Mon-Fri 9:30AM – 6:00PM. The official fax phone number for the organization is (571) 273-8300. The examiner supervisor, Rodriguez X. Douglas, can also be reached at (571) 431-0716.
/Thinh H Nguyen/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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