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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 9-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2017-202987 (henceforth JP ‘987).
Independent claim 9 is directed to “a coating liquid for forming an electrophotographic photoreceptor protective layer” which represents an intended of the coating liquid. According to the MPEP 2111.02 (II), if the body of a claim fully and intrinsically sets forth all of the limitations of the claimed invention, and the preamble merely states, for example, the purpose or intended use of the invention, rather than any distinct definition of any of the claimed invention’s limitations, then the preamble is not considered a limitation and is of no significance to claim construction. Pitney Bowes, Inc. v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 182 F.3d 1298, 1305, 51 USPQ2d 1161, 1165 (Fed. Cir. 1999).” As such, the intended use of the coating liquid “for forming an electrophotographic photoreceptor protective layer” is given no weight and is not considered. Claim 9 and the claims depending therefrom are therefore examined as being directed to a coating liquid as otherwise recited in the claims.
JP ‘287 teaches an ink containing a curable acrylamide represented by general formula (1) as well as an organic solvent ([0006], [0025-26] and [0065-68]) . In general formula (1) the end acrylamide groups read on the Applicant’s Z1, Z represents an alkylene group having 1-20 carbon atoms and Y represents a bivalent organic group having 2 to 100 carbon atoms and therefore reads on the Applicant’s L (Abstract and [0008]):
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The central group is formed from a tetracarboxylic anhydride that has an X group that is a tetravalent organic group having 2 to 100 carbon atoms and is represented by formula (a1) ([0011-12]). Formula (a1) is given below:
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The tetracarboxylic anhydride is taught to include the following specific examples that read on the specific compounds taught by the Applicant in pending claims 13-14 such as formula (B-6):
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Formula (a1-6) above corresponds to the Applicant’s formula (B-8) recited in pending claim 14 and formula (a1-3) above corresponds to the Applicant’s formula (B-14) in pending claim 14. The enumeration of formulae (a1-6) and (a1-3) are not meant to be exhaustive of the compounds taught by JP ‘287 which read on the Applicant’s claims and are meant only to highlight specific examples of compounds that read on those recited in the same claims by the Applicant. JP ‘287 further teaches that 100 parts by mass or more of a solvent be used with 100 parts by mass of compound of formula (1) above ([0068]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the Applicant’s recited photoreceptor and image forming apparatus as recited in claim 1-8 is not known in the prior art and is therefore allowable. The closest available prior art is represented by JP 2014-029480 (henceforth JP ‘480). JP ‘480 teaches an electrophotographic photoreceptor and image forming apparatus comprising a undercoat layer formed from a cured composition comprising a specific polymerizable charge transporting material (Abstract). The charge transporting material is taught to include compounds having the formulae (A1) and (A7) as well as at least one of areactive hydroxy, thiol, amion or carboxyl group ([0036-37]).
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The R groups in formulae (A1) and (A7) above are taught to include groups that read on formula (A) below ([0038]):
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In formula (A) at least one of alpha, beta and gamma represent a group comprising a hydroxy, thiol, amino, carboxyl or methoxy group. Alpha is taught to represent an alkylene group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms ([0041]), beta is taught to represent a phenylene group ([0042]) and gamma is taught to represent a hydrogen atom or alkyl group ([0043]). The compounds of JP ‘480 are distinguished from the compounds of formula (1) as recited by the Applicant in pending claim 1 as JP ‘480 does not teach an acrylamide group, a methacrylamide group, an acryloyl group or a methacryloyl group. Furthermore, there is nothing in JP ‘480 to suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art to impart the compounds with such a group or to replace the groups that are subject to polycondensation reactions taught by JP ‘480 with such groups. As such, the Applicant’s photosensitive is novel from JP ‘480 in at least this aspect. Furthermore, the Applicant teaches that the cured composition of formula (1) in claim 1 is present in a protective layer of the photoreceptor whereas JP ‘480 teaches the curable compositions of formula (A1) and (A7) above are to be used in an undercoat layer. Protective layers and undercoat layers of photoreceptors have very different properties, functions and designs and the use of a cured composition suitable in an undercoat layer would not be expected to be relevant in a protective layer which is placed above the photosensitive layer rather than under the photosensitive layer as is the case with an undercoat layer. For all of these reasons the Applicant’s claims are allowed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amber Orlando can be reached at (571)270-3149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER L VAJDA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 09/30/2026
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