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 § 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) 1-2 & 4-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamazaki et al. (# US 2019/0352528).
Yamazaki et al. discloses:
1. An ink jet ink set (see Abstract) for an impermeable base material, comprising:
a pretreatment liquid that comprises water ([0111]), an aggregating agent (polyvalent metal salt; [0103]-[0104]), and a urethane resin ([0115]) having a glass transition temperature of −55° C. to 50° C ([0027]).; and
a colored ink that comprises water ([0010]), a pigment other than a white pigment ([0050]-[0051]), and a urethane resin ([0012]-[0020]).
The Examiner draws particular attention to the Applicant that "Yamazaki et al. does address a resin, pigments, solvent and aggregating agent, it teaches a laundry list of possible resin, pigment, solvent and aggregating agent. The format in which Yamazaki et al. presents its teaching does not change the fact that it teaches the claimed invention. It is not necessary for Yamazaki et al. to present its teaching in an example format citing it in a list is sufficient.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, absent evidence to the contrary, to choose any of the resin, pigments, solvent and aggregating agent from the list and any additives from the list, including those presently claimed, and thereby arrive at the claimed invention. However, "applicant must look to the whole reference for what it teaches. Applicant cannot merely rely on the examples and argue that the reference did not teach others." In re Courtright, 377
2. The ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 1, wherein the urethane resin comprised in the colored ink is an anionic urethane resin ([0026]-[0027]).
4. The ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 1, wherein the urethane resin comprised in the colored ink has a glass transition temperature of 50° C. or lower ([0027]).
5. The ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 1, wherein an absolute value of a difference between the glass transition temperature of the urethane resin comprised in the pretreatment liquid and the glass transition temperature of the urethane resin comprised in the colored ink is 50° C. or lower ([0027]; [0115]).
6. The ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 1, further comprising: a white ink that comprises water ([0010]) and a white pigment ([0052]).
7. The ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 6, wherein the white ink comprises a urethane resin (see Abstract; [0013]).
8. The ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 7, wherein the urethane resin comprised in the white ink has a glass transition temperature of 50° C. or lower ([0024]-[0029]).
9. The ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 6, wherein an absolute value of a difference between a glass transition temperature of the urethane resin comprised in the colored ink and a glass transition temperature of a urethane resin comprised in the white ink is 50° C. or lower ([0024]-[0043]).
10. An image recording method using the ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 1, the method comprising: applying the pretreatment liquid onto an impermeable base material; and applying the colored ink onto the impermeable base material onto which the pretreatment liquid has been applied by an ink jet recording method ([0092]-[0104]).
11. An image recording method using the ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 6, the method comprising: applying the pretreatment liquid onto an impermeable base material; and applying the colored ink and the white ink onto the impermeable base material onto which the pretreatment liquid has been applied by an ink jet recording method ([0092]-[0104]).
12. A method of producing a laminate, comprising: obtaining an image recorded material that includes the impermeable base material and an image disposed on the impermeable base material by the image recording method according to claim 10; and laminating a base material for lamination on a side of the image recorded material where the image is disposed, to obtain a laminate ([0118]-[0124]).
13. An image recorded material ([0118]-[0124]) comprising:
an impermeable base material; and an image disposed on the impermeable base material ([0086]-[0089]),
wherein the image includes a pretreatment layer disposed on the impermeable base material and comprising a urethane resin having a glass transition temperature of −55° C. to 50° C ([0027])., and
a colored ink layer disposed on the pretreatment layer and comprising a pigment other than a white pigment and a urethane resin (see Abstract; [0013]; [0119]-[0124]).
The Examiner draws particular attention to the Applicant that "Yamazaki et al. does address a resin, pigments, solvent and aggregating agent, it teaches a laundry list of possible resin, pigment, solvent and aggregating agent. The format in which Yamazaki et al. presents its teaching does not change the fact that it teaches the claimed invention. It is not necessary for Yamazaki et al. to present its teaching in an example format citing it in a list is sufficient.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, absent evidence to the contrary, to choose any of the resin, pigments, solvent and aggregating agent from the list and any additives from the list, including those presently claimed, and thereby arrive at the claimed invention. However, "applicant must look to the whole reference for what it teaches. Applicant cannot merely rely on the examples and argue that the reference did not teach others." In re Courtright, 377
14. The image recorded material according to claim 13, wherein the image further includes a white ink layer disposed on the colored ink layer and comprising a white pigment ([0118]-[0124]).
15. A laminate comprising: the image recorded material according to claim 13; and a base material for lamination that is laminated on the image of the image recorded material ([0118]-[0124]).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamazaki et al. (# US 2019/0352528) in view of Yamazaki et al. (# US 2018/0030301).
Yamazaki et al. (528) discloses all limitation of ink jet ink set except:
3. The ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 1, wherein the urethane resin comprised in the pretreatment liquid has a breaking elongation of 300% to 1,300%.
Yamazaki et al. (301) teaches to have crack free printed image,
3. The ink jet ink set for an impermeable base material according to claim 1, wherein the urethane resin comprised in the pretreatment liquid has a breaking elongation of 300% to 1,300% (200 to 500%; [0005]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to modify the ink composition of Yamazaki et al. (528) by the aforementioned teaching of Yamazaki et al. (301) in order to have the crack free printed image.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
(1) Fujita et al. (# US 2023/0332009) discloses A pre-processing fluid composition comprises nonionic resin particles, a water-soluble metal salt and water, where the nonionic resin particles comprise a nonionic resin having a structure derived from an aromatic ring-containing polyester polyol, and the nonionic resin particles have a glass transition temperature of -30° C to 10° C (see Abstract).
(2) Mizoe et al. (# US 2023/0374327) discloses an ink set comprises a colored ink, and a white ink. The colored ink contains a colored pigment which is at least one selected from chromatic pigment, black pigment, pigment dispersant (A) which is a random polymer, and water. The white ink contains a white pigment, a pigment dispersant (B) which is a block polymer, and water (see Abstract).
(3) Arai et al. (# US 2017/0314194) discloses the Aqueous inkjet ink set has a black ink. The charge density values are measured by a streaming potential method for the aqueous inkjet ink, among the measured values the charge density value for the black ink is higher. The absolute value of a difference between the charge density value for the black ink and for an aqueous inkjet ink having a second highest charge density value is 80μ eq/g or greater. (see Abstract).
(4) Urano et al. (# US 2018/0237987) discloses an ink set for textile printing, comprising: a pretreatment liquid containing a metal salt, a water-dispersible resin (A), an organic solvent (B) having an SP value of 10 to 14 (cal/cm3)1/2 and water, and an ink containing a pigment, a water-dispersible resin (C) having a glass transition point of 10?o C. or higher, an organic solvent (D) and water (see claim 1).
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