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) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujii et al. (# US 2019/0352526).
Fujii et al. discloses:
1. An active energy ray curable-type ink (see Abstract) comprising:
a resin-coated pigment in which a pigment is coated with a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resin ([0138]-[0139]); and
a polymerizable compound ([0076]-[0112]),
wherein the pigment is a magenta pigment ([0147]) or a yellow pigment ([0146]),
the magenta pigment is at least one selected from the group consisting of Pigment Red 146 and Pigment Red 254 ([0147]),
the yellow pigment is at least one selected from the group consisting of Pigment Yellow 110, Pigment Yellow 155, Pigment Yellow 185, Pigment Yellow 138, Pigment Yellow 150, and Pigment Yellow 184 ([0146]),
a content mass ratio of the vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resin (0.1 to 10%; [0138]) with respect to the pigment (0.01 to 20%; [0163]) is 0.25 to 4.00 (i.e. 10/20 = 0.5; 10/10= 1), and in a case where a content of the pigment with respect to a total amount of the active energy ray curable-type ink is denoted as Mp % by mass and a specific gravity of the pigment is denoted as D, an Mp/D ratio is 2.00 or less (see Examples).
The Examiner draws particular attention to the Applicant that " Fujii et al. does address a magenta pigment ([0147]), yellow pigment ([0146]) and vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate ([0130]-[0138]), it teaches a laundry list of possible yellow pigment, magenta pigment and vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate. The format in which Fujii et al. presents its teaching does not change the fact that it teaches the claimed invention. It is not necessary for Fujii 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 magenta pigment ([0147]), yellow pigment ([0146]) and vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate ([0130]-[0138]) 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 active energy ray curable-type ink according to claim 1, wherein a mass ratio of a vinyl chloride unit with respect to a vinyl acetate unit in the vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resin is 7.0 or less (i.e. 70/10=7 to 95/20=4.75; [0133]).
3. The active energy ray curable-type ink according to claim 1, wherein the polymerizable compound contains a polymerizable monomer A which has a (meth)acryloyl group [0026]).
4. The active energy ray curable-type ink according to claim 1, further comprising:
a resin T including at least one group selected from the group consisting of a fluorinated hydrocarbon group, a polysiloxane group ([0064]-[0075]), and a hydrocarbon group having 12 or more carbon atoms ([0027]),
5. An ink set comprising: the active energy ray curable-type ink according to claim 1 (see Abstract; see Examples).
6. An image recording method comprising: a step of, using the active energy ray curable-type ink according to claim 1, applying the active energy ray curable-type ink onto a base material for image recording, containing a polymer including vinyl chloride as a constitutional unit, by an ink jet recording method to record an image ([0209]-[0212]).
7. A manufacturing method of a laminate, comprising: obtaining an image recorded material including the base material for image recording and the image by the image recording method according to claim 6; and laminating a base material for lamination, containing a polymer including vinyl chloride as a constitutional unit, on the image of the image recorded material to obtain a laminate ([0209]-[0212]).
Fujii et al. explicitly did not discloses:
(3) The polymerizable monomer A has a solubility parameter of 16.5 MPa1/2 to 21.3 MPa1/2.
(4) The resin T includes a constitutional unit derived from a polymerizable monomer having a solubility parameter of 16.5 MPa1/2 to 24.0 MPa1/2.
However, Fujii et al. discloses exactly same monomer as applicant discloses in their own specification. The solubility parameter is property of the material, which constant to the material. Therefore, the monomer discloses by the Fujii et al. obviously have solubility parameter of 16.5 MPa1/2 to 24.0 MPa1/2..
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
(1) Naruse et al. (# US 2009/0118388) discloses an energy beam curable type ink jet printing ink comprising (A) a colorant, (B) a compound having at least one ethylenically unsaturated bond which can be polymerized by the application of an energy beam and (C) a photopolymerization initiator, wherein the component (B) is a compound having at least one methacryloyl group as a sole polymerizable unsaturated group and the component (C) is a 2-alkyl-2-amino-2-benzyl-1-(4-morpholinophenyl)ethan-1-one (see Abstract).
(2) Fujii (# US 2021/0079243) discloses an active-energy-ray-curable composition is provided that includes an active-energy-ray-polymerizable compound, an amine compound, and water. The active-energy-ray-polymerizable compound comprises resin particles having a 50% cumulative particle diameter (D50) of 5 nm or greater but 50 nm or less. The amine compound has a molecular weight of 118.0 or less and a boiling point of 120 degrees C. or higher. The proportion of the water in the active-energy-ray-curable composition is 50.0 percent by mass or greater (see Abstract).
(3) Blanton et al. (# US 2015/0002575) discloses pigments that can be used include Color Index (C. I.) Pigment Yellow 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 62, 65, 73, 74, 75, 81, 83, 87, 90, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 104, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 116, 117, 120, 121, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 133, 136, 138, 139, 147, 148, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 187, 188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194; C.I. Pigment Red 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 31, 32, 38, 48:1, 48:2, 48:3, 48:4, 49:1, 49:2, 49:3, 50:1, 51, 52:1, 52:2, 53:1, 57:1, 60:1, 63:1, 66, 67, 68, 81, 95, 112, 114, 119, 122, 136, 144, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 164, 166, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 181, 184, 185, 187, 188, 190, 192, 194, 200, 202, 204, 206, 207, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 216, 220, 222, 237, 238, 239, 240, 242, 243, 245, 247, 248, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 258, 261, 264; C.I. Pigment Blue 1, 2, 9, 10, 14, 15:1, 15:2, 15:3, 15:4, 15:6, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24:1, 25, 56, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, bridged aluminum phthalocyanine pigments; C.I. Pigment Black 1, 7, 20, 31, 32; C. I. Pigment Orange 1, 2, 5, 6, 13, 15, 16, 17, 17:1, 19, 22, 24, 31, 34, 36, 38, 40, 43, 44, 46, 48, 49, 51, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69; C.I. Pigment Green 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 36, 45; C.I. Pigment Violet 1, 2, 3, 5:1, 13, 19, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 32, 37, 39, 42, 44, 50; or C.I. Pigment Brown 1, 5, 22, 23, 25, 38, 41, 42 ([0028]).
(4) Selman et al. (# US 2007/0042162) discloses a radiation curable jet ink contains at least 65% by weight of one or more monofunctional ethylenically unsaturated monomers and also contain at least one tri- or higher functional ethylenically unsaturated monomer, and has a surface tension at 25.degree. C. of not more than 36 dynes/cm (see Abstract).
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