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 .
This office action is in response to applicants arguments dated 19 February 2026. Claims 1 and 4 are pending in the application. Claims 1 and 4 have been amended. Claims 2 and 3 have been cancelled.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of Japan Application No. 2023-085122 was received on 07 July 2024 as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 21 May 2024 are accepted.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Urano et al. (US PGPub 2020/0276849 A1), hereinafter Urano, in view of Hong (US PGPub 2021/0107291 A1).
With regard to Claim 1, Urano discloses a textile printing apparatus (¶0024-0027; Abstract) comprising:
a base forming ink head that discharges a base forming ink onto a base material to which a pretreatment liquid has been applied (¶0097; Figs. 1-3; ¶0223+);
wherein the base forming ink head discharges the base forming ink that contains a resin having a film elongation of more than 1000% (¶0049-0050, water-dispersible resin Superflex 740 may be used, ¶0155-0156, water-dispersible resin as using in pretreatment liquid A may be used), by a wet-on-wet method after application of the pretreatment liquid (¶0282, wet-on-wet method preferable conducted for application of pretreatment and inkjet ink to the substrate).
Urano does not explicitly disclose a leveler that levels the base forming ink discharged on the base material; and an image forming ink head that discharges an image forming ink onto the base material on which the base forming ink has been leveled.
The secondary reference of Hong discloses a leveler that levels the base forming ink discharged on the base material (¶0042, pretreatment device 70; ¶0040, Fig. 4, smoothening mechanism 30; ¶0052-0057); and an image forming ink head that discharges an image forming ink onto the base material on which the base forming ink has been leveled (second digital jet printing mechanism 20; Fig. 4; ¶0042, 0052-0057).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the leveler of Hong, with the printing apparatus of Urano, in order to have better clarity of the printed patterns, and increase printing quality, as taught by Hong (Abstract; ¶0005).
With regard to Claim 4, Urano discloses a method for producing a textile printed material (¶0024-0027; Abstract), the method comprising:
applying a pretreatment liquid to a base material (Abstract);
discharging a base forming ink onto the base material to which the pretreatment liquid has been applied (¶0097; Figs. 1-3; ¶0223+);
wherein the discharging includes discharging the base forming ink that contains a resin having a film elongation of more than 1000% (¶0049-0050, water-dispersible resin Superflex 740 may be used, ¶0155-0156, water-dispersible resin as using in pretreatment liquid A may be used), by a wet-on-wet method after application of the pretreatment liquid (¶0282, wet-on-wet method preferable conducted for application of pretreatment and inkjet ink to the substrate).
Urano does not explicitly disclose leveling the base forming ink discharged onto the base material (¶0042, pretreatment device 70; ¶0040, Fig. 4, smoothening mechanism 30; ¶0052-0057); and discharging an image forming ink onto the base material on which the base forming ink has been leveled (second digital jet printing mechanism 20; Fig. 4; ¶0042, 0052-0057).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the leveler of Hong, with the printing apparatus of Urano, in order to have better clarity of the printed patterns, and increase printing quality, as taught by Hong (Abstract; ¶0005).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, see pages 3-4, filed 19 February 2026 with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 4 under 35 USC 102(a)(1) are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection applied to claims 1 and 4 in this office action.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT A. RICHMOND whose telephone number is (313)446-6547. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-6:00 PM.
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/SCOTT A RICHMOND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853