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 § 102/103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-2 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Kaga et al. (WO 2011136009 A1; using Clarivate Analytics machine translation for English language citations).
Regarding claims 1-2, Kaga teaches inkjet inks, which are active energy ray-curable (pg3; pg12), comprising a polymerizable compound (instant radiation-curable component), a photopolymerization initiator, a gelling agent (abstract; pg3), and further optional basic compounds (pg8), pigments or dyes, and other synergists, additives, etc. (pg9). Kaga teaches the ink is irradiated with an active energy ray irradiation step (pg3; pg12) wherein the active energy ray includes ultraviolet rays, etc. (pg12).
Kaga teaches the gelling agent is preferably a fatty acid ester (instant gelling agent; instant fatty acid ester), wherein preferred fatty acid esters include pentaerythritol stearate (pg7)(instant claim 2) and teaches gelling agent may be used in a mixture of two or more, wherein further gelling agents include a dibenzylidene sorbitol (pg7).
Alternatively, Kaga teaches that two or more gelling agents may be used in combination wherein dibenzylidene sorbitol and fatty acid esters are described as suitable gelling agents and fatty acid esters are preferred. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select from the preferred fatty acid esters and from the additionally taught, known and suitable gelling agent of dibenzylidene sorbitol, to form a two gelling agent combination envisioned by Kaga and arrive at the instant invention with a reasonable expectation of success. Motivation stemming from the direct teaching of Kaga that two gelling agents may be selected and that the noted gelling agents are suitable.
Regarding claim 5, Kaga teaches and/or renders obvious the active energy ray-curable inks as set forth in claim 1 above and further teaches the ink is produced by thoroughly dispersing the polymerizable compound, photopolymerization initiator, gelling agent, pigment and pigment dispersant via a dispersing machine (pg 10, top).
Regarding claims 6-7, Kaga teaches and/or renders obvious the active energy ray-curable inks as set forth in claim 1 above. Kaga further teaches methods of applying an image via the steps of ejecting the inkjet ink droplets onto a recording medium (pg11)(instant step a (claim 6)), applying in a step (A) an electromagnetic wave (abstract; pg3; pg12) for 0.1 to 60 seconds (pg14) and then applying the active energy ray, i.e. ultraviolet rays, for 0.001 to 1.0 seconds to cure the ink (pg12)(instant step b (claim 6)) (the step (A) time of up to 60 second delay before application of UV rays reads on instant at least 30 second interval between jetting and curing (claim 7)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this section can be found in an above section.
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kaga et al. (WO 2011136009 A1; using Clarivate Analytics machine translation for English language citations) in view of Toeda (JP WO2016153035 A1; using Clarivate Analytics machine translation for English language citations).
Kaga teaches and/or renders obvious the active energy ray-curable inks as set forth in claim 1 above and, as noted, teaches two or more gelling agents may be used. Kaga further teaches the total amount of gelling agent is from 3.0 to 20 wt% (pg8) where fatty acid esters are preferred and where dibenzylidene sorbitol can also be selected.
Kaga teaches a total amount of 3.0 to 20 wt% gelling agent but does not specifically teach the fatty acid ester is present from 0.1 to 15 wt% (claim 3) or the dibenzylidene sorbitol is present from 0.01 to 5 wt% (claim 4). However, Toeda teaches similar active energy ray-curable inkjet inks comprising a polymerizable component and gelling agent (abstract). Toeda teaches similar gelling agents, including fatty acid esters and dibenzylidene sorbitols (pg3-4), and teaches that when two or more kinds of gelling agents are used, they are combined in a ratio of each gelling agent of from 5 to 95% of the total mass% (pg5, top). Toeda and Kaga are analogous art and are combinable because they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely active energy ray-curable inkjet inks comprising similar gelling agents. At the time of filing a person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to select the ratio taught by Toeda for the two gelling agents of Kaga and arrive at the instant invention with a reasonable expectation of success. Motivation stemming from Kaga teaches selection of two gelling agents in a total amount of 3.0 to 20 wt% and further from Toeda who teaches that it is well-known in the art to select two or more gelling agents and that each gelling agent should be present in the noted ratio of the total amount.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JANE L STANLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-3870. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Eashoo can be reached at 571-272-1197. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JANE L STANLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1767
Prosecution Insights