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) 1-5, 7, 9 & 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng et al. (# US 2021/0246327).
Zheng et al. discloses:
1. An ink jet recording method for recording an image on a recording medium using an aqueous ink and an aqueous reaction liquid containing a reactant that reacts with the aqueous ink, the method comprising (figure: 1-2; [0119-[0125]):
a reaction liquid applying step of applying the aqueous reaction liquid to the recording medium by discharging the aqueous reaction liquid from an ink jet recording head (element: 102, figure: 1, [0119]-[0125]); and
an ink applying step of applying the aqueous ink to the recording medium by discharging the aqueous ink from an ink jet recording head in such a manner as to overlap at least a portion of a region of the recording medium to which the aqueous reaction liquid is applied (element: 104, figure: 1; [0119]-[0125]),
wherein the reactant comprises a cationic resin (cationic polymer; [0019]-[0020]), the cationic resin comprises, in a molecular weight distribution measured by gel permeation chromatography:
a first cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 100,000 or more to 500,000 or less (up to 600000; [0018]), and
a second cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 2,000 or more to less than 100,000 (100000 or less; [0018]), and
wherein a mass ratio of an amount (% by mass) of the second cationic resin contained to an amount (% by mass) of the first cationic resin contained is 0.01 times or more to 8.0 times or less (see Example)10:1 to 1:1; page: 3).
The Examiner draws particular attention to the Applicant that " Zheng et al. does address reaction liquid comprises cationic resin, it teaches a laundry list of possible cationic resin. The format in which Zheng et al. presents its teaching does not change the fact that it teaches the claimed invention. It is not necessary for Zheng 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 cationic resin 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 ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the mass ratio of the amount (% by mass) of the second cationic resin contained to the amount (% by mass) of the first cationic resin contained is 0.01 times or more to 0.30 times or less (see Examples).
3. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein, in a molecular weight distribution of the reaction liquid measured by gel permeation chromatography, the second cationic resin has a peak in a molecular weight range of 10,000 or more to less than 100,000 ([0018]).
4. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein each of the first cationic resin and the second cationic resin has a quaternary ammonium salt structure (see Abstract; [0022]).
5. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the first cationic resin and the second cationic resin have an identical repeating structural unit ([0014]-[0022]).
7. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the reactant comprises a polyvalent metal salt ([0007]-[0008]; [0014]-[0017]).
9. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the reaction liquid has a viscosity of 1.5 mPa.Math.s or more to 5.0 mPa.Math.s (2 to 20 mPa.s; [0037]).
11. An ink jet recording apparatus (see figure: 1-2) for use in an ink jet recording method for recording an image on a recording medium using an aqueous ink and an aqueous reaction liquid containing a reactant that reacts with the aqueous ink (see Abstract; see Examples), the apparatus comprising:
an ink jet-type reaction liquid applying unit configured to apply the aqueous reaction liquid to a recording medium by discharging the aqueous reaction liquid (element: 102, figure: 1, [0119]-[0125]); and
an ink jet-type ink applying unit configured to apply the aqueous ink to the recording medium by discharging the aqueous ink in such a manner as to overlap at least a portion of a region of the recording medium to which the aqueous reaction liquid is applied (element: 104, figure: 1; [0119]-[0125]),
wherein the reactant comprises a cationic resin (cationic polymer; [0019]-[0020]), the cationic resin comprises, in a molecular weight distribution measured by gel permeation chromatography:
a first cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 100,000 or more to 500,000 or less (up to 600000; [0018]), and
a second cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 2,000 or more to less than 100,000 (100000 or less; [0018]), and
wherein a mass ratio of an amount (% by mass) of the second cationic resin contained to an amount (% by mass) of the first cationic resin contained is 0.01 times or more to 8.0 times or less (see Examples).
The Examiner draws particular attention to the Applicant that " Zheng et al. does address reaction liquid comprises cationic resin, it teaches a laundry list of possible cationic resin. The format in which Zheng et al. presents its teaching does not change the fact that it teaches the claimed invention. It is not necessary for Zheng 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 cationic resin 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
12. A set of an aqueous ink and an aqueous reaction liquid, the set being used for an ink jet recording method for recording an image on a recording medium using the aqueous ink and the aqueous reaction liquid containing a reactant that reacts with the aqueous ink (see Abstract; see Examples), wherein the method includes:
a reaction liquid applying step of discharging the aqueous reaction liquid from an ink jet recording head to apply the aqueous reaction liquid to the recording medium (element: 102, figure: 1, [0119]-[0125]); and
an ink applying step of applying the aqueous ink to the recording medium by discharging the aqueous ink from an ink jet recording head in such a manner as to overlap at least a portion of a region of the recording medium to which the aqueous reaction liquid is applied (element: 104, figure: 1; [0119]-[0125])
wherein the reactant comprises a cationic resin, the cationic resin comprises (cationic polymer; [0019]-[0020]), in a molecular weight distribution measured by gel permeation chromatography:
a first cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 100,000 or more to 500,000 or less(up to 600000; [0018]), and
a second cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 2,000 or more to less than 100,000 (100000 or less; [0018]), and
wherein a mass ratio of an amount (% by mass) of the second cationic resin contained to an amount (% by mass) of the first cationic resin contained is 0.01 times or more to 8.0 times or less (see Examples).
The Examiner draws particular attention to the Applicant that " Zheng et al. does address reaction liquid comprises cationic resin, it teaches a laundry list of possible cationic resin. The format in which Zheng et al. presents its teaching does not change the fact that it teaches the claimed invention. It is not necessary for Zheng 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 cationic resin 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.
Claim(s) 6, 8 & 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng et al. (# US 2021/0246327) in view of Aoyama et al. (# US 2009/0258203).
Zheng et al. discloses all the limitation of the inkjet recording method except:
6. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein each of the first cationic resin and the second cationic resin is a polymer having a repeating structural unit represented by the following general formula (1):
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where R1 and R2 are each independently an alkyl group, and X.sup.− is a counter anion of a quaternary ammonium cation.
8. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the reaction liquid has a dynamic surface tension of 40 mN/m or less at a lifetime of 10 ms.
10. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein an amount of water absorbed by the recording medium from a start of contact to 30 msec1/2 in a Bristow method is 10 mL/m2 or less.
Aoyama et al. teaches to have the bleed free and feathering free printed image,
10. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein an amount of water absorbed by the recording medium from a start of contact to 30 msec1/2 in a Bristow method is 10 mL/m2 or less ([0020]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to modify the recording medium of Zheng et al. by the aforementioned teaching of Aoyama et al. in order to have bleed free and feathering free printed image.
However, with respect to claim 6, Zheng et al. discloses exactly same cationic resin as applicant discloses in there own specification. The structure unit formula is property of the material, which constant to the material. Therefore, the cationic resin discloses by the Zheng et al. obviously have a repeating structural unit represented by the following general formula (1):
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where R1 and R2 are each independently an alkyl group, and X.sup.− is a counter anion of a quaternary ammonium cation.
However, with respect to claim 8, It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention was made to incorporate the reaction liquid has a dynamic surface tension of 40 mN/m or less at a lifetime of 10 ms, since it has been held that it is not inventive to discovering and optimum value or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (CCPA1955).
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-9 & 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yusuke (# WO 2019/116536A1).
Yusuke discloses:
1. An ink jet recording method for recording an image on a recording medium (see Abstract) using an aqueous ink and an aqueous reaction liquid (aqueous coating fluid; see Abstract) containing a reactant that reacts with the aqueous ink, the method comprising:
a reaction liquid applying step of applying the aqueous reaction liquid to the recording medium by discharging the aqueous reaction liquid from an ink jet recording head; and
an ink applying step of applying the aqueous ink to the recording medium by discharging the aqueous ink from an ink jet recording head in such a manner as to overlap at least a portion of a region of the recording medium to which the aqueous reaction liquid is applied (page: 9-10),
wherein the reactant comprises a cationic resin (see page: 10-12), the cationic resin comprises, in a molecular weight distribution measured by gel permeation chromatography:
a first cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 100,000 or more to 500,000 or less (EPA-SK01 (Yokkaichi Synthetic, polyamidepolyamine/epichlorohydrin type polymer resin, resin content 12.5% by mass, Mw: 200,000 (see page: 10; Table: 2), and
a second cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 2,000 or more to less than 100,000 (1000 to 50,000; see page: 3), and
wherein a mass ratio of an amount (% by mass) of the second cationic resin contained to an amount (% by mass) of the first cationic resin contained is 0.01 times or more to 8.0 times or less (10:1 to 1:1; page: 3).
The Examiner draws particular attention to the Applicant that " Yusuke does address reaction liquid comprises cationic resin, it teaches a laundry list of possible cationic resin. The format in which Yusuke presents its teaching does not change the fact that it teaches the claimed invention. It is not necessary for Yusuke 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 cationic resin 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 ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the mass ratio of the amount (% by mass) of the second cationic resin contained to the amount (% by mass) of the first cationic resin contained is 0.01 times or more to 0.30 times or less (see page: 3).
3. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein, in a molecular weight distribution of the reaction liquid measured by gel permeation chromatography, the second cationic resin has a peak in a molecular weight range of 10,000 or more to less than 100,000 (1000 to 50,000; page: 3).
4. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein each of the first cationic resin and the second cationic resin has a quaternary ammonium salt structure (see page: 3).
5. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the first cationic resin and the second cationic resin have an identical repeating structural unit (see page: 3).
7. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the reactant comprises a polyvalent metal salt (see Examples).
8. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the reaction liquid has a dynamic surface tension of 40 mN/m or less at a lifetime of 10 ms (10 to 30 mN/m; see page: 3).
9. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein the reaction liquid has a viscosity of 1.5 mPa.Math.s or more to 5.0 mPa.Math.s (3 to 10 mPa.s; see page: 3).
11. An ink jet recording apparatus for use in an ink jet recording method for recording an image on a recording medium using an aqueous ink and an aqueous reaction liquid containing a reactant that reacts with the aqueous ink (see Abstract; see Examples), the apparatus comprising:
an ink jet-type reaction liquid applying unit configured to apply the aqueous reaction liquid to a recording medium by discharging the aqueous reaction liquid (the print head eject ink and coating liquid; see page: 9); and
an ink jet-type ink applying unit configured to apply the aqueous ink to the recording medium by discharging the aqueous ink in such a manner as to overlap at least a portion of a region of the recording medium to which the aqueous reaction liquid is applied (the print head eject ink and coating liquid; see page: 9),
wherein the reactant comprises a cationic resin (see page: 10-12), the cationic resin comprises, in a molecular weight distribution measured by gel permeation chromatography:
a first cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 100,000 or more to 500,000 or less (EPA-SK01 (Yokkaichi Synthetic, polyamidepolyamine/epichlorohydrin type polymer resin, resin content 12.5% by mass, Mw: 200,000 (see page: 10; Table: 2), and
a second cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 2,000 or more to less than 100,000 (1000 to 50,000; see page: 3), and
wherein a mass ratio of an amount (% by mass) of the second cationic resin contained to an amount (% by mass) of the first cationic resin contained is 0.01 times or more to 8.0 times or less (10:1 to 1:1; page: 3).
The Examiner draws particular attention to the Applicant that " Yusuke does address reaction liquid comprises cationic resin, it teaches a laundry list of possible cationic resin. The format in which Yusuke presents its teaching does not change the fact that it teaches the claimed invention. It is not necessary for Yusuke 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 cationic resin 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
12. A set of an aqueous ink and an aqueous reaction liquid, the set being used for an ink jet recording method for recording an image on a recording medium using the aqueous ink and the aqueous reaction liquid containing a reactant that reacts with the aqueous ink, wherein the method includes:
a reaction liquid applying step of discharging the aqueous reaction liquid from an ink jet recording head to apply the aqueous reaction liquid to the recording medium (the print head eject ink and coating liquid; see page: 9); and
an ink applying step of applying the aqueous ink to the recording medium by discharging the aqueous ink from an ink jet recording head in such a manner as to overlap at least a portion of a region of the recording medium to which the aqueous reaction liquid is applied (the print head eject ink and coating liquid; see page: 9-10; see Examples),
wherein the reactant comprises a cationic resin, the cationic resin comprises (see page: 10-12), in a molecular weight distribution measured by gel permeation chromatography:
a first cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 100,000 or more to 500,000 or less (EPA-SK01 (Yokkaichi Synthetic, polyamidepolyamine/epichlorohydrin type polymer resin, resin content 12.5% by mass, Mw: 200,000 (see page: 10; Table: 2), and
a second cationic resin having a peak in a molecular weight range of 2,000 or more to less than 100,000 (1000 to 50,000; see page: 3), and
wherein a mass ratio of an amount (% by mass) of the second cationic resin contained to an amount (% by mass) of the first cationic resin contained is 0.01 times or more to 8.0 times or less (10:1 to 1:1; page: 3).
The Examiner draws particular attention to the Applicant that " Yusuke does address reaction liquid comprises cationic resin, it teaches a laundry list of possible cationic resin. The format in which Yusuke presents its teaching does not change the fact that it teaches the claimed invention. It is not necessary for Yusuke 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 cationic resin 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.
Claim(s) 6 & 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yusuke (# WO 2019/116536A1) in view of Aoyama et al. (# US 2009/0258203).
Yusuke discloses all the limitation of the inkjet recording method except:
6. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein each of the first cationic resin and the second cationic resin is a polymer having a repeating structural unit represented by the following general formula (1):
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where R1 and R2 are each independently an alkyl group, and X.sup.− is a counter anion of a quaternary ammonium cation.
10. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein an amount of water absorbed by the recording medium from a start of contact to 30 msec1/2 in a Bristow method is 10 mL/m2 or less.
Aoyama et al. teaches to have the bleed free and feathering free printed image,
10. The ink jet recording method according to claim 1, wherein an amount of water absorbed by the recording medium from a start of contact to 30 msec1/2 in a Bristow method is 10 mL/m2 or less ([0020]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to modify the recording medium of Yusuke by the aforementioned teaching of Aoyama et al. in order to have bleed free and feathering free printed image.
However, with respect to claim 6, Yusuke discloses exactly same cationic resin as applicant discloses in their own specification. The structure unit formula is property of the material, which constant to the material. Therefore, the cationic resin discloses by the Yusuke obviously have a repeating structural unit represented by the following general formula (1):
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where R1 and R2 are each independently an alkyl group, and X.sup.− is a counter anion of a quaternary ammonium cation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
(1) Kariya (# US 2009/0234067) discloses: a reaction liquid for ink jet to be used
in an ink jet recording method (see Abstract) including recording an image on a
recording medium with an aqueous ink (see Abstract; [0097]) and an aqueous reaction
liquid (see Examples) containing a reactant ([0044]-[0048]) that reacts with the aqueous
ink, the reaction liquid comprising: a polyvalent metal salt ([0045]); and a surfactant
(anionic surfactant; [0018]-[0020)),
(2) Kubota et al. (# US 6086197) discloses an ink jet recording method includes
the step of depositing a reaction solution and an ink composition onto a recording
medium is disclosed. The ink composition used has a colorant, a resin emulsion and the
like, and the reaction solution has a reactant reactive with the colorant and/or the resin
emulsion and the like to produce an agglomerate, such as a polyvalent metal salt or a
polyallylamine. The reaction solution and the ink composition each has a surface tension of less than 40 mN/m. A sodium polyoxyethylene alkyl ether sulfate, an anionic
surfactant, is used in order to realize this surface tension (see Abstract).
(3) Nito et al. (# US 2006/0125895) discloses a reaction liquid containing a
reactive substance that reacts with at least one component in an ink composition
containing a coloring material in a dispersed state, in which the reactive substance is a
polyvalent metal compound having multiple reactive sites in one molecule, a set of ink
and a reaction liquid, and an image recording method for performing image recording by
means of the set (see Abstract).
(4) Kariya (# US 2010/0201737) discloses an ink set including: an ink
composition which contains a colorant, resin microparticles, a water-soluble organic
solvent, and water; and a reaction liquid which contains an anionic surfactant and a
reactant for producing aggregates by contact with the ink composition. The invention
also provides an image recording method using the ink set, including: applying the
reaction liquid on a recording medium; and applying the ink composition on the
recording medium on which the reaction liquid has been applied (see Abstract).
(5) Takeuchi et al. (# US 2016/0311235) discloses an ink jet recording method in
which an image is formed by applying onto a recording medium a reaction liquid, an
aqueous pigment ink containing an anionic polymer aggregatable by the reaction liquid
and a resin-containing aqueous liquid containing an anionic polymer aggregatable by
the reaction liquid to form an image, the method including the steps of applying the
reaction liquid to the recording medium; applying the aqueous pigment ink to a surface
of the recording medium to which the reaction liquid is applied by an ink jet method to
form an image; and applying the resin-containing aqueous liquid to the image formed on the recording medium by the ink jet method. The surface tension of the resin-containing
aqueous liquid is higher than the surface tension of the aqueous pigment ink (see
Abstract).
(6) Tamai et al. (# US 2016/0024323) discloses a pre-processing fluid contains
water, a water soluble organic solvent, a water soluble flocculant, a compound
represented by C6F183-CH2CH20(CH2CH20)nH Chemical formula 1, where n
represents an integer of from 1 to 40, and a compound represented by HOR1R3C-
(CH2)m-CR2R40H Chemical formula 2, where R1 and R2 each, independently
represent alkyl groups having 3 to 6 carbon atoms, R3 and R4 each, independently
represent methyl groups or ethyl groups, and m represents an integer of from 1 to 6
(see Abstract).
(7) Saito et al. (# US 2024/0198710) discloses an ink jet recording method capable of recording an image with suppressed unevenness when an image is recorded on a low absorbable recording medium by a single pass system. The method is an ink jet recording method for recording an image on a low absorbable recording medium using an aqueous ink and an aqueous reaction liquid containing a reactant reacting with the aqueous ink by carrying out application of the ink and the reaction liquid by a single pass system. The method includes an ink applying step to apply the reaction liquid to the recording medium, and a reaction liquid applying step to apply the ink to the recording medium so that a region to which the aqueous ink is applied and a region to which the reaction liquid is applied are at least partially overlap on the recording medium (see Abstract).
(8) Tsujii et al. (# US 2024/0182731) discloses an ink jet recording method for recording an image on a recording medium with an aqueous ink and an aqueous reaction liquid containing a reactant that reacts with the aqueous ink. The aqueous ink contains a coloring material that is dispersed by the action of an anionic group. The aqueous reaction liquid contains a water-soluble cationic resin having a structure of a quaternary ammonium salt, and a polyvalent metal salt. The mass ratio of the amount of cationic resin (% by mass) contained to the amount of polyvalent metal salt (% by mass) contained in the aqueous reaction liquid is 0.08 times or more to 0.80 times or less. The amount of water absorbed by the recording medium from the start of contact to 30 msec.sup.1/2 in the Bristow method is 10 mL/m.sup.2 or less (see Abstract).
(9) Kawabe et al. (# US 2024/0141194) discloses an aqueous ink for ink jet, which enables the recording of an image having satisfactory abrasion resistance and has satisfactory storage stability. The aqueous ink for ink jet includes: a wax; a dispersant for dispersing the wax; an ester compound; and a water-soluble organic solvent, wherein the wax is a wax represented by the following general formula (1), and the ester compound is an ester compound represented by the following general formula (2), wherein in the general formula (1), “n” represents an integer of 20 or more to 80 or less, and in the general formula (2), “a” and “b” each independently represent an integer of 1 or more, the integers satisfying 20<a+b+1580, and “c” represents an integer of 10 or more to 40 or less (see Abstract).
(10) Takemoto et al. (# US 6084619) discloses an ink jet recording method capable of providing an image having a good quality is disclosed. In the ink jet recording method, a reaction solution and an ink composition are used to conduct printing on a recording medium. The reaction solution comprises a polyvalent metal salt, and an ink composition comprises a pigment and a resin emulsion (see Abstract).
(11) Yumoto et al. (# US 2024/0174001) discloses an ink jet recording method capable of recording a high-quality image that is less liable to cause blocking and generate a scratch caused by tightening and that is free of unevenness even when a recording medium having been subjected to image recording is wound up into a roll. The ink jet recording method is a method of recording an image on a roll of recording medium with use of an aqueous ink and an aqueous reaction liquid. The ink jet recording method includes: a reaction liquid applying step of applying the reaction liquid to the recording medium; an ink applying step of applying the aqueous ink to the recording medium; a drying step of drying the aqueous ink by applying hot air; a cooling step of decreasing the surface temperature of the recording medium; and a wind-up step of winding up the cooled recording medium into a roll (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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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
Prosecution Insights