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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP2023-023749, filed on 2/17/2023.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshizawa (US PGP 2019-0219938) in view of Uchimura (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-126493).
Yoshizawa teaches an electrophotographic photoreceptor comprising a conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer, and containing a polyester resin (Abstract). The photosensitive layer may be a lamination type containing a charge generating layer and a charge transport layer, or a single layer type ([0205]) with the polyester resin contained in the charge transport layer of the lamination type photoreceptor ([0206]). The polyester resin contains a diol unit represented by Formula (6) ([0024]), and a carboxylic acid unit represented by Formula (7) ([0026]).
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In Formula (6) X1 may represent –CR6R7–, wherein R6 and R7 may represent a hydrogen atom, a hydrocarbon group, or may be bonded together to form a ring ([0122-123]). If R6 or R7 is an alkyl group it may have 10 or less carbon atoms ([0115] line 1-4). The content of the divalent phenol of Formula (6) is preferably 70 mol% or more based on the total of the divalent phenols ([0131]), and the examples use 100 mol% of Formula (6) for the diol portions of the resins ([0275],[0280],[0283-291]). Formula (7) when X2 is a single bond is representative of Formula (A) of the instant application wherein n1 is 2. The amount of the free divalent phenol, equivalent to Formula (1) of the instant application, is preferably 50 ppm or less from the viewpoint of electrical properties ([0162]).
The image forming apparatus comprises the electrophotographic photoreceptor, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, and a transfer device ([0267]). The photoreceptor is contained in a process cartridge, that is attachable to and detachable from the image forming apparatus ([0269]).
Yoshizawa teaches reducing the amount of diol to 50 ppm or less, but does not disclose reducing the amount to 10 ppm. Uchimura teaches a photoreceptor containing a polycarbonate resin and a diol represented by general formula (1) ([0028]). The diol is comparable to Formula (6) of Yoshizawa and the Formula (1) of the instant application. The amount of the diol is 10 ppm or less ([0016]). Reducing the amount of the diol is beneficial for the electrical and mechanical properties of the photoreceptor ([0059]). Although the type of resin in the photoreceptor is a polycarbonate instead of a polyester, the resins of Yoshizawa and Uchimura contain similar compounds and the free diol is present in both photoreceptors. Further, both references teach reducing the amount of the diol present in the final resin and point to the electrical characteristics of the photoreceptor being affected. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have reduced the amount of the diol in the resin of Yoshizawa to the 10 ppm or lower amount of Uchimura in order to further benefit the electrical characteristics of the photoreceptor.
Conclusion
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/J.K./ Examiner, Art Unit 1734
/PETER L VAJDA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 02/10/2026