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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 8-14, 16-19 & 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pan et al. (# US 2017/0058453).
Pan et al. discloses:
Claim 1: An image forming pretreatment liquid (see Abstract) comprising:
an organic acid of 0.7% by mass or more and 8% by mass or less relative to a
total mass of the image forming pretreatment liquid (0.1 to 10%, preferably 0.2 to 5%; [0031]).
Claim 8: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 1,
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 ([0031]).
Claim 9: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 1,
wherein the organic acid has 1 to 8 carbon atoms in a molecule (1 to 10 carbon atom; [0031]).
Claim 10: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 9,
wherein the organic acid has 1 to 3 carbon atoms in the molecule (1 to 10 carbon atom; [0031]).
Claim 11: An ink set ([0066]) comprising:
the image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 1 [0066]); and
a white ink comprising titanium oxide ([0049]) particles having an average particle diameter of more than 10 nm and 200 nm or less (50 to 160 nm; [0066]).
Claim 12: The ink set according to claim 11,
wherein the average particle diameter of the titanium oxide particles is 50 nm or
more (50 to 160 nm; [0066]).
Claim 13: An image forming method ([0056]-[0058]) comprising:
applying a pretreatment liquid to a cloth material, which is an absorbent base
material (see Abstract; [0015]; [0056]-[0058]) and
applying an ink onto the cloth material to form an image on the cloth material, after applying pretreatment liquid ([0056]-[0058]),
wherein the pretreatment liquid (see Abstract) comprises:
an organic acid of 0.7% by mass or more and 8% by mass or less relative to a
total mass of the pretreatment liquid (0.1 to 10%, preferably 0.2 to 5%; [0031]).
Claim 14: The image forming method according to claim 13,
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 (50 to 160 nm; [0066]).
Claim 16: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 1,
further comprising a cationic polymer ([0006]).
Claim 17: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 16,
wherein 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 (5 to 95%; [0006]).
Claim 18: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 16,
further comprising a quaternary ammonium salt ([0006]).
Claim 19: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 18,
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 ([0006]).
Claim 23: The image forming method according to claim 13, wherein the
pretreatment liquid further comprises a cationic polymer ([0006]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 15 & 20-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan et al. (# US 2017/0058453) in view of Tamaki (# US 2019/0100047) and Guo et al. (# US 2022/0041883)
Pan et al. discloses all the limitation of image forming method and pretreatment liquid except:
Claim 15: The image forming method according to claim 13,
wherein an application amount of the pretreatment liquid per unit area of the cloth
material is 30 mg/cm² or more.
Claim 20: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 16,
wherein the cationic polymer comprises a monomer unit having a nitrogen-containing structure in which an allyl group is bonded to a nitrogen atom.
Claim 21: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 20,
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.
Claim 22: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 21,
wherein two allyl groups are bonded to the nitrogen atom of the ammonium salt.
Tamaki teaches to have the high quality printed image,
Claim 15: The image forming method according to claim 13,
wherein an application amount of the pretreatment liquid per unit area of the cloth
material is 30 mg/cm² or more (at least 20 mg/cm2; [0058]; 20 to 100 mg/cm2; see figure: 13).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to modify the image forming pretreatment liquid of Pan et al. by the aforementioned teaching of Tamaki in order to have the high quality printed image.
Guo et al. teaches to have a wash-fastness, high quality printed image:
Claim 20: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 16,
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]).
Claim 21: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 20,
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 ([0041]; see claim 7).
Claim 22: The image forming pretreatment liquid according to claim 21,
wherein two allyl groups are bonded to the nitrogen atom of the ammonium salt ([0041]; claim 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to modify the image forming pretreatment liquid of Pan et al. by the aforementioned teaching of Guo et al. in order to have the wash-fastness, high quality printed image.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANISH S SHAH whose telephone number is (571)272-2152. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am-4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricardo Magallanes can be reached at 571-272-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MANISH S. SHAH
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2853
/Manish S Shah/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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