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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Matsumoto et al. (US PGP 2011/0305982 A1).
Matsumoto teaches a toner including toner particles containing a binder resin containing a polyester resin A obtained by subjecting aromatic dicarboxylic acid, rosin, and trivalent or higher-valent alcohol as starting materials to polycondensation, and a polyester resin B obtained by subjecting aromatic dicarboxylic acid and polyalcohol as starting materials to polycondensation (Abstract). The toner is further taught to include a colorant and a dispersing aid for dispersing the polyester resin A into the polyester resin B ([0007]) (which reads on the corresponding limitation recited in instant claim 2).
In the examples, a dispersing aid PGA1 was prepared in which polyacryl was graft-polymerized with polypropylene. The polyacryl component was taught to contain isobornyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, and 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate as monomer units ([0148]).
In other words, the dispersing aid PGA1 included a constituent unit represented by the claimed general formula (1)/general formula (3) (isobornyl acrylate), a constituent unit represented by the claimed general formula (2)/general formula (4) (2-ethylhexyl methacrylate) (which reads on the corresponding limitations recited in instant claim 1 and claim 6), and another constituent unit other than the constituent units represented by the claimed general formula (1)/general formula (3) and the claimed general formula (2)/general formula (4), wherein the another constituent unit has a constituent unit derived from (meth)acrylic acid/(meth)acrylic acid esters (methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) (which reads on the corresponding limitations recited in instant claim 3, claim 4, and claim 5).
In another example, a dispersing aid PGA3 was prepared the same as above, except the polyacryl component was graft-polymerized with polystyrene ([0177]). In other words, the dispersing aid PGA3 further included another constituent unit derived from styrene (which reads on the corresponding limitation recited in instant claim 4).
The liquid containing the dispersing aid was taught to be mixed with a master batch containing carbon black, a charge control agent, and the polyester resin A with a release agent and the polyester resin B ([0150]). The admixture was then melt-kneaded, cooled and pulverized, and classified to obtain toner particles ([0153]-[0158]) (which reads on the corresponding limitation recited in instant claim 7 and claim 8).
An image forming apparatus commercially known as “MX-2700” was then filled with a developer including the toner containing the toner particles and was used to form an image by adhering the toner particles to a recording medium ([0186]) (which reads on the corresponding limitations recited in instant claim 9 and claim 10).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
U.S. Pre-Grant Publication 2007/0269733 A1 to Ohta et al. teaches a toner comprising a colored particle containing a binder resin, a colorant, and a release agent (Abstract). The colored particles are taught to contain a viscoelasticity control resin including isobornyl acrylate ([0169]). In the examples, a resin composition including styrene, n-butyl acrylate, divinylbenzene, glycidyl methacrylate, and isobornyl acrylate was ground with a cyan pigment to produce the colored particles ([0171]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Boone A Evans whose telephone number is (571)272-1420. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM EST.
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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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/BOONE ALEXANDER EVANS/Examiner, Art Unit 1737
08/08/2026
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