DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 10 and 11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 1/13/2026. Applicant gives no grounds for the traversal. The Requirement is maintained.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ozawa (2022/0348778) in view of Isogai et al. (2023/0167318).
Regarding claim 1, Ozawa teaches an ink set comprising
an inkjet ink ([0016]); and
a recording head filling liquid,
wherein the inkjet ink contains a pigment ([0017]), a pigment coating resin ([0021]), an aqueous medium ([0017], water), a nonionic polymeric surfactant ([0047], [0063], Olfine D-10PG), and a specific glycol ether ([0040]),
the specific glycol ether is triethylene glycol monobutyl ether or diethylene glycol monobutyl ether ([0040], triethylene glycol monobutyl ether),
the nonionic polymeric surfactant has a mass average molecular weight of at least 6500 and no greater than 10,500 ([0063], note that Olfine D-10PG meets the limitation),
the recording head filling liquid contains a specific moisturizing agent ([0074], anti-drying agent) and water ([0072]).
Ozawa does not teach wherein the specific moisturizing agent is a compound represented by general formula (1) below, H₂CO(C₂H₄O)a-H (1) H₂C-O-(C₂H₄O)c where in the general formula (1), a, b, and C each represent, independently of one 20 another, an integer of at least 1 and a + b + c is at least 4 and no greater than 20. Isogai teaches a moisturizing agent that meets the limitation (Isogai, see Table 1, Example 3, with 22 parts glycerin and 5 parts polyethyelene glycol. Note that this is the same mixture of moisturizing agent as detailed in page 26 of the immediate specification). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the moisturizing agent formulation disclosed by Isogai in the filling liquid disclosed by Ozawa because doing so would amount to combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. That is, while Ozawa discloses that its filling liquid can have a moisturizing agent, it doesn’t go into any detail about such a formulation, and this it would have been obvious to look to Isogai for such details.
Examiner is aware the Isogai’s moisturizing agent is that of an ink, not a filling liquid. Regardless, such a moisturizing agent could have been added to any number of liquids including the filling liquid disclosed by Ozawa.
Regarding claim 2, Ozawa in view of Isogai teaches the ink set according to claim 1, wherein the nonionic polymeric surfactant has a percentage content of at least 0.2% by mass and no greater than 0.9% by mass in the inkjet ink (Ozawa, see Table 1).
Regarding claim 3, Ozawa in view of Isogai teaches the ink set according to claim 1, wherein the specific glycol ether has a percentage content of at least 1.0% by mass and no greater than 6.0% by mass in the inkjet ink (Ozawa, see Table 2, Note content of triethylene glycol monobutyl ether).
Regarding claim 4, Ozawa in view of Isogai teaches the ink set according to claim 1, wherein the specific moisturizing agent has a percentage content of at least 16.0% by mass and no greater than 41.0% by mass in the recording head filling liquid (Isogai, see Table 1, Example 3, Note that the percentage of the moisturizing agent in the ink meets the limitation).
Regarding claim 5, Ozawa in view of Isogai teaches the ink set according to claim 1, wherein the specific moisturizing agent has a viscosity at 25°C of at least 260 mPa sand no greater than 450 mPa-s (Isogai, see Table 1, Example 3, with 22 parts glycerin and 5 parts polyethyelene glycol. Note that this is the same mixture of moisturizing agent as detailed in page 26 of the immediate specification).
Regarding claim 6, Ozawa in view of Isogai teaches the ink set according to claim 1, wherein the nonionic polymeric surfactant is a copolymer including a repeating unit derived from (meth)acrylic acid polyalkylene glycol alkyl ether, and a repeating unit derived from (meth)acrylic acid alkyl ester (Ozawa, [0063], note that Olfine D-10PG meets the limitation).
Regarding claim 7, Ozawa in view of Isogai teaches the ink set according to claim 6, wherein the nonionic polymeric surfactant is a copolymer including a repeating unit derived from polyethylene glycol methyl ether acrylate, a repeating unit derived from butyl acrylate, a repeating unit derived from polypropylene glycol methyl ether acrylate, a repeating unit derived from lauryl acrylate, and a repeating unit derived from methyl methacrylate, or a copolymer including a repeating unit derived from polyethylene 25 glycol methyl ether acrylate, a repeating unit derived from ethyl acrylate, a repeating unit derived from polypropylene glycol methyl ether acrylate, a repeating unit derived from lauryl methacrylate, and a repeating unit derived from methyl methacrylate (Ozawa, [0063], note that Olfine D-10PG meets the limitation).
Regarding claim 8, Ozawa in view of Isogai teaches the ink set according to claim 1, wherein in the general formula (1), a + b + c is at least 6 and no greater than 18 (Isogai, see Table 1, Example 3, with 22 parts glycerin and 5 parts polyethyelene glycol. Note that this is the same mixture of moisturizing agent as detailed in page 26 of the immediate specification).
Regarding claim 9, Ozawa in view of Isogai teaches the ink set according to claim 1, wherein the recording head filling liquid is used to fill a recording head with the inkjet ink remaining therein (Ozawa, [0005]).
Conclusion
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/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853