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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention V and sub-invention VA in the reply filed on 2/13/26 is acknowledged.
Claims 2-3, 5-6, 11-13, and 18-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention and sub-invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 2/13/26.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et al. (US 2001/0017701 A1) in view of Wooldridge et al. (US 2017/0320335 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ito discloses A method for printing on labels (3a, fig. 3, para 45) applied to cards (3, fig. 3, para 45) in a printing system (see para 45), wherein the printing system comprises at least one inkjet printer (Ito discloses a thermal printer 32 [fig. 3, para 45] rather than an inkjet printer. However, an inkjet printer is taught in Wooldridge below.), wherein the method comprises:
- supplying to said printing system a card provided with a first surface and a label provided with a first face opposite a second face (inherent in fig. 3 and para 45);
- engaging said second face of said label on said first surface of said card, so as to apply said label to said card (inherent in fig. 3 and para 45);
- printing by said at least one inkjet printer said first face of said label applied to said card (see fig. 3 and para 45),
- removing from said printing system said card bearing said printed label (inherent in Ito).
Ito does not appear to disclose an inkjet printer.
However, Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, discloses an inkjet printer (see Wooldridge’s para 9 and 56).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ito with the teachings of Wooldridge, for the purpose of using an alternative well-known printing method that could simplify the device and lower costs.
Regarding claim 14, Ito discloses A printing system for printing labels (3a, fig. 3, para 45) applied to cards (3, fig. 3, para 45), the system comprising:
- a card feeding station configured to feed cards into said printing system (taught in Wooldridge),
- a card output station to remove cards from said printing system (explicitly taught in Wooldridge),
- a conveying device configured to convey said cards along an extended path between said card feeding station and card output station (explicitly taught in Wooldridge),
- a label feeding station configured to feed labels to a label application station for applying labels on said cards (taught in Wooldridge), wherein said label application station is configured to apply a label to a respective card (explicitly taught in Wooldridge),
- a printing station (32, fig. 3, para 45) comprising at least one inkjet printer (Ito discloses a thermal printer rather than an inkjet printer. However, an inkjet printer is taught in Wooldridge below.), placed downstream of said label application station along said path and configured to print on said label applied to said card (Intrinsic to Ito, as modified by Wooldridge. See below.).
Ito does not appear to disclose the following italicized portions:
- a card feeding station configured to feed cards into said printing system (taught in Wooldridge),
- a card output station to remove cards from said printing system (explicitly taught in Wooldridge),
- a conveying device configured to convey said cards along an extended path between said card feeding station and card output station (explicitly taught in Wooldridge),
- a label feeding station configured to feed labels to a label application station for applying labels on said cards (taught in Wooldridge), wherein said label application station is configured to apply a label to a respective card (explicitly taught in Wooldridge),
- a printing station (32, fig. 3, para 45) comprising at least one inkjet printer (Ito discloses a thermal printer rather than an inkjet printer. However, an inkjet printer is taught in Wooldridge below.), placed downstream of said label application station along said path and configured to print on said label applied to said card (Intrinsic to Ito, as modified by Wooldridge. See below.).
However, Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, discloses the italicized portions:
- a card feeding station configured to feed cards into said printing system (see Wooldridge’s 14, fig. 2A, para 42),
- a card output station to remove cards from said printing system (see Wooldridge’s 18, fig. 2A, para 42),
- a conveying device configured to convey said cards along an extended path between said card feeding station and card output station (inherent in Wooldridge’s fig. 2A),
- a label feeding station (see Wooldridge’s 80, fig. 2A and 5, para 55) configured to feed labels to a label application station for applying labels on said cards (see Wooldridge’s 84, fig. 5, para 55), wherein said label application station is configured to apply a label to a respective card (see Wooldridge’s para 55),
- a printing station (32, fig. 3, para 45) comprising at least one inkjet printer (see Wooldridge’s para 9 and 56), placed downstream of said label application station along said path and configured to print on said label applied to said card (Since Ito discloses printing on labels 3a that are already adhered to a “card” 3, adopting Wooldridge’s label application station 84 would logically mean that the printing station must be downstream of the label application station.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ito with the teachings of Wooldridge, for the purpose of using an alternative well-known printing method that could simplify the device and lower costs and for the purpose of automating the application of labels onto cards and then printing on the labels.
Regarding claim 15, Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, further discloses The printing system according to claim 14, wherein said at least one inkjet printer is a Drop-on-Demand ink jet printer (While Wooldridge does not appear to expressly state that the inkjet printer is drop-on-demand, drop-on-demand inkjet printing is a ubiquitous industry standard, and it would be obvious for Wooldridge’s inkjet printer to be drop-on-demand, as opposed to continuous printing, for the purpose of simplifying the design and lowering costs.).
Claim(s) 4, 7-10, and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et al. (US 2001/0017701 A1) in view of Wooldridge et al. (US 2017/0320335 A1), as applied to parent claims 1 and 15, and further in view of Horie et al. (US 2018/0126754 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, discloses all the limitations introduced in parent claim 1.
Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, does not appear to disclose The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of performing an ink drying treatment on said printed label.
However, Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, and further modified by Horie, discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of performing an ink drying treatment on said printed label (see Horie’s para 88).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, with the teachings of Horie, for the purpose of improving smear resistance of the printed image by using UV-curable ink.
Regarding claim 7, Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, discloses all the limitations introduced in parent claim 1.
Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, does not appear to disclose The method according to claim 1, wherein said card is moved, before and after said printing, with a variable speed movement.
However, Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, and further modified by Horie, discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein said card is moved, before and after said printing, with a variable speed movement (See Horie’s fig. 1 and para 31,37-38 which teach a printhead that rasters in a scanning direction X that is perpendicular to the medium [card] feeding direction. When Horie’s scanning inkjet printhead is adopted, the cards on the assembly line that are prior to printing, and subsequent to printing, would inherently have variable speed movement due to the intermittent stop-and-go feeding that would occur during printing.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, with the teachings of Horie, for the purpose of using a scanning-type inkjet head that lowers costs.
Regarding claim 8, Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, and further modified by Horie, further discloses The method according to claim 7, wherein said variable speed movement provides alternating speeds creating an intermittent movement (See rejection of claim 7 above.).
Regarding claim 9, Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, and further modified by Horie, further discloses The method according to claim 8, wherein said intermittent movement is made at a variable speed comprised between a first speed and a second speed (See rejection of claim 7 above.).
Regarding claim 10, Ito, as modified by Wooldridge, and further modified by Horie, further discloses The method according to claim 9, wherein said second speed has a zero value (See rejection of claim 7 above.).
Regarding claim 16, please note the rejection as set forth above with respect to claim 4. Claim 16 is rejected for similar reasons as claim 4; detailed discussion is omitted for brevity.
Regarding claim 17, please note the rejection as set forth above with respect to claim 4. Claim 17 is rejected for similar reasons as claim 4; detailed discussion is omitted for brevity.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN SEO whose telephone number is (571)270-1327. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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/JUSTIN SEO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
March 31, 2026
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