DETAILED ACTION
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 Seiya (JP 6888728 b1 which has been machine translated).
Seiya discloses an inkjet ink that suppresses light discoloration of a printed image and has excellent light resistance and a tablet provided with a printing portion printed with the inkjet ink. The ink contains blue no 1 and a fixing agent and solvent (abs). The colorant Blue No 1 is provided within the ink in a range of 1 to 15% by mass of based on the total mass of the ink (paragraph 28). The fixing agent can be reduced isomaltulose in an amount of 1 to 20% by mass based on the total mass of the ink (paragraphs 33-34). However this reference is silent to the specific ratio of reduced isomaltulose to blue no 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select any portion of the disclosed ranges including the instantly claimed ranges from the ranges disclosed in the prior art reference and formed the ink to have 10% fixing agent (reduced isomaltulose) to 1% blue no 1, in order to have an ink with good visibility of the printed image and good inkjet jet ability of the ink (paragraphs 30 and 35). It has been held that “[i]n the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art’ a prima facie case of obviousness exists.” Please see MPEP 2144.05, In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); and /n re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
As to claims 2 and 13, Seiya is silent to the specific amount of fixing agent however discloses an amount of 1 to 20 by mass based on the total amount of the ink (paragraphs 33-34). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select any portion of the disclosed ranges including the instantly claimed ranges from the ranges disclosed in the prior art reference and formed the ink to have 5.6 to 7.9% fixing agent (reduced isomaltulose) in order to have good inkjet jet ability of the ink (paragraph 35). It has been held that “[i]n the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art’ a prima facie case of obviousness exists.” Please see MPEP 2144.05, In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); and /n re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
As to claims 3-5, Seiya discloses that the solvent can be water, PG or ethanol (abs).
As to claim 6, Seiya discloses that the ink can contain multiple colors and therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Seiya and had the blue no 1 in an amount of .5 to 7% by mass based on the total amount of ink as it would have been an aesthetic design choice with mixing multiple colors together to get a desired end result. See MPEP 2144.06.
As to claim 7, Seiya discloses yellow 4 can be used as a colorant for the ink (paragraph 31). The total amount of colorant is from 1 to 15 by mass based on the total amount of ink. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Seiya and had the yellow 4 in an amount of .3 to 1 by mass based on the total amount of ink as it would have been an aesthetic design choice with mixing multiple colors together to get a desired end result. See MPEP 2144.06.
As to claim 8, Seiya discloses red 102 can be used as a colorant for the ink (paragraph 31). The total amount of colorant is from 1 to 15 by mass based on the total amount of ink. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Seiya and had the red 102 in an amount of .9 to 1 by mass based on the total amount of ink as it would have been an aesthetic design choice with mixing multiple colors together to get a desired end result. See MPEP 2144.06.
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As to claims 9 and 10, Seiya discloses Blue 1, yellow 4 and red 102 as colorants that can be used within the ink. The total amount of colorant is from 1 to 15 by mass based on the total amount of ink. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Seiya and had the red 102 in an amount of .9 to 1 by mass based on the total amount of ink, the Blue 1 in an amount of .5 to .7 by mass based on the total amount of ink the yellow 4 in an amount of .3 to 1 by mass based on the total amount of ink wherein the total of those the colorants is 1.8 to 2.6% by mass based on the total mass of the ink as it would have been an aesthetic design choice with mixing multiple colors together to get a desired end result. See MPEP 2144.06.
As to claim 11, Seiya discloses that water can be used as a solvent and as shown in example 4 water was present in an amount of 53.5 mass % based on the total weight of the ink. However, this reference is silent to the specific amount of water within the ink. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have had water be in an amount of 50.2 to 60.9 mass% based on the total mass of the ink as would of ordinary skill in the art that too much water would delay the drying process of the ink while not enough would not allow for the fixing agent to dissolve properly.
As to claim 12, Seiya discloses that ethanol is present in an amount of 6.5 to 40% by mass (paragraph 40). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have used ethanol in an amount of 30-40% as Seiya discloses overlapping ranges and one knows to little ethanol reduces solubility of the fixing agent while too much causes the ink to dry in the nozzle causing clogging (paragraph 41).
As to claim 14, Seiya is silent to the amount of solvent within the ink. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Seiya and formed the ink to have 50.2 to 60.9 water, ethanol in an amount of 30 to 40 and pg in an amount of .1 mass % based on the total mass of the ink as Seiya discloses overlapping ranges and one knows to little ethanol, water and PG reduces solubility of the fixing agent while too much ethanol causes the ink to dry in the nozzle causing clogging (paragraph 41) and too much water and PG delay the ink from drying.
As to claims 15-20, Seiya discloses an inkjet ink that suppresses light discoloration of a printed image and has excellent light resistance and a tablet provided with a printing portion printed with the inkjet ink.
Conclusion
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/CHRISTOPHER M POLLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1785