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 based on an application filed in Japan on 5/12/2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the JP2023-079209 application as 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.
Claims 1-2 and 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura (JP 2019-109297) in view of Murata (JP 2022-146467) and considered with REOLOSIL Product Page.
Kimura teaches a toner external additive wherein at least part of the silica particle is coated with an oxide or a hydroxide of a metal element and further coated with a fatty acid (Abstract). Figure 1 (b) shows the embodiment wherein only a part of the silica particle surface is coated with the oxide or hydroxide ([0031]). The metal element is at least one selected from aluminum, zinc, calcium, magnesium, strontium, barium, titanium, zirconium, tin, iron, and copper ([0024]). The hydrophobicity of the silica particles is 50% or more ([0017]). The volume resistivity of the silica particle is 1.0x1011 Ω•cm or less ([0018]). Kimura does not teach a preferred particle diameter for the silica particles, however, the exemplary silica particles in Example 2 are REOLOSIL QS 102, which have a primary particle size of 12 nm (REOLOSIL Product Page).
Kimura teaches that the silica particles are surface treated with a metal hydroxide and a fatty acid, but is silent regarding the use of an alkylsilane. Murata teaches a toner comprising toner particles, and an external additive, wherein the external additive contains silica particle which are surface treated with aluminum hydroxide and an organic substance (Abstract). The toner particles contain a binder resin and a release agent ([0015]), wherein the binder resin may be an amorphous polyester resin ([0018]). Murata teaches a very similar external additive to the external additive of Kimura, a silica particle having a surface treatment of a metal hydroxide and an organic substance ([0032]). The organic substance preferably contains an alkylsilane or a saturated fatty acid in order to give the toner good fluidity, chargeability, and cleanability ([0033]). The primary particle diameter of the silica is 10 nm to 30 nm, so that the toner exhibits stable charging and the silica particles are not easily detached from the toner ([0035]). 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 modified the silica particles of Kimura to have used an alkylsilane as the secondary surface treatment for the silica particles, as Murata teaches that both an alkylsilane and a fatty acid can improve the fluidity, chargeability, and cleanability of the toner.
Claims 1, 3, and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura (JP 2019-109297) in view of Kubo (US PGP 2022-0350269).
The entire discussion of Kimura above is included herein. Kimura teaches that the external additive is for toner, but is silent regarding a suitable toner. Kubo teaches a toner containing at least a binder resin and an external additive (Abstract). The binder resin contains a crystalline resin in order to improve the low temperature fixability of the toner ([0049]) and preferably also contains an amorphous resin from the viewpoint of low-temperature fixability and heat-resistant storage stability ([0052]). The crystalline resin is preferably a crystalline polyester resin ([0076]). It is preferable that the binder resin contains an amorphous polyester resin to facilitate compatibility with the crystalline resin ([0157]). The toner further includes a mold release agent (wax) to improve low temperature fixability ([0215]). The circularity of the toner is preferably 0.940 to 0.995 from the viewpoint of low-temperature fixability ([0230]). 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 used the toner of Kubo as the toner particle for the external additive of Kimura, as it exhibits excellent low temperature fixability and heat-resistant storage stability.
Kubo teaches an image forming apparatus, image forming method, and method of manufacturing a printed matter as recited in claims 8-10 ([0358-372], Figures 1 and 2).
Conclusion
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/J.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1734
/PETER L VAJDA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 08/10/2026
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