DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 26-30 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention and species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 3/12/2026. Applicant traverses on the basis that the similarities of the inventions have not been considered and that searching for the two inventions would likely overlap. Examiner maintains this is not the case. The method according to claims 26-30 requires a jetting step and a curing step with an electron beam or UV light emitting diodes that is not required by the elected ink set. Further, dependent claims 27-30 contain a number of other method steps and limitations not required by the ink set according to claims 16-25 and 31-24. Thus, while there are some similarities between the independent claims of an ink set and a printing method, there are substantial differences that would undoubtedly necessitate non-overlapping search.
The Requirement is maintained.
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) 16, 17, 19-22 and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoshihiro et al. (2004/0021753).
Regarding claim 16, Yoshihiro teaches a free radical curable inkjet ink containing a mixture of colour pigments and a polymerizable composition, wherein
the mixture of colour pigments includes at least one colour pigment selected from a quinacridone pigment ([0047]), a diketopyrrolo pyrrole pigment, and a mixed crystal thereof;
the average particle size of the colour pigment is between 80 nm and 240 nm ([0015]) as determined by a dynamic light scattering technique using a laser ([0015]) having an emission wavelength of 635 nm (note that an average particle size does not change depending on a wavelength of laser light used to measure the particle size);
the polymerizable composition contains 95.0 to 99.5 wt% of monofunctional polymerizable compounds ([0023], Table 1, Example 2, Note that acryloyl morpholine/ACMO meets the limitation); and
the polymerizable composition has a double bond density (DBD) of at least 5.40 with the double bond density (DBD) being calculated by the formula:
DBD = …
with:
n representing the number of polymerizable compounds in the free radical curable inkjet ink;
F(i) representing the functionality of the polymerizable compound i;
MW(i) representing the molecular weight of the polymerizable compound i; and
wt%(i) being the weight percentage of the polymerizable compound i based on the total weight of the polymerizable composition ([0023], Note that acryloyl morpholine is disclosed in the current specification as one of the polymerizable compositions usable in the invention and thus must meet the limitation).
Regarding claim 17, Yoshihiro teaches the free radical curable inkjet ink of claim 16, containing a beta copper phthalocyanine pigment and/or a C.I. Pigment Yellow 150 pigment ([0013]).
Regarding claim 19, Yoshihiro teaches the free radical curable inkjet ink of claim 16, wherein the at least one color pigment selected from a quinacridone pigment, a diketopyrrolo pyrrole pigment, and a mixed crystal thereof is present in an amount of at least 9 wt% based on the total weight of the mixture of colour pigments ([0014], Table 1, Example 2, Note that the only pigment in the at least one color pigment is the quinacridone pigment at 100% of the pigment).
Regarding claim 20, Yoshihiro teaches the free radical curable inkjet ink of claim 16, wherein the polymerizable composition contains 0 to 18.0 wt% of isobornyl acrylate and/or at least 13.0 wt% of a non-aromatic heterocyclic monofunctional monomer (Note that, according to the specification of the immediate application at [0057]-[0060], acryloyl morpholine, as disclosed by Yoshohiro above, meets the specification).
Regarding claim 21, Yoshihiro teaches a free radical curable inkjet ink set including a plurality of free radical curable inkjet inks according to claim 16 (Table 1).
Regarding claim 22, Yoshihiro teaches the free radical curable inkjet ink set of claim 21, wherein the plurality of free radical curable inkjet inks contains at least one free radical curable inkjet ink selected from the group consisting of a blue ink ([0013]), a red ink, and a brown ink.
Regarding claims 32-34, Yoshihiro teaches free radical curable inkjet ink sets including a plurality of free radical curable inkjet inks according to claims 17-20, respectively (see claim 1 rejection).
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) 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshihiro.
Regarding claim 17, Yoshihiro teaches the free radical curable inkjet ink of claim 16, containing at least 5.0 wt% of an acylphosphine oxide photoinitiator ([0065], Table 1, Example 2, TPO) based on the total weight of the free radical curable inkjet ink (Table 1, Example 2, TPO). Yoshihiro does not teach wherein the photoinitiator is contained in an amount of 7% or more. However, according to MPEP 2144.05, where the general conditions of a claim are present in the prior art, it is not inventive to arrive at optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. Here, Yoshihiro teaches a photoinitiator in an amount of 5% while the claim requires 7%. Examiner maintains that this is a routine optimization that is not inventive given that all other conditions are present in the claim.
Regarding claim 1, Yoshihiro teaches free radical curable inkjet ink sets including a plurality of free radical curable inkjet inks according to claims 17 (see claim 1 rejection).
Claim(s) 23 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshihiro in view of Sasa (2004/0167315).
Regarding claim 23, Yoshihiro teaches the free radical curable inkjet ink set of claim 22 including:
a) a blue free radical curable inkjet ink containing a beta-copper phthalocyanine pigment ([0031]),
b) a red free radical curable inkjet ink containing a mixture of colour pigments selected from a quinacridone pigment ([0047]), a diketopyrrolo pyrrole pigment, and a mixed crystal thereof;
c) a yellow free radical curable inkjet ink containing a C.I. Pigment Yellow 150 pigment ([0013]);
d) a black free radical curable inkjet ink containing a carbon black pigment ([0051]);
e) a brown free radical curable inkjet ink containing a beta-copper phthalocyanine pigment ([0031]); and
f) a green free radical curable inkjet ink ([0013]).
Yoshihiro does not teach wherein the blue and brown inks contain one of a quinacridone pigment, a diketopyrrolo pyrrole pigment, and a mixed crystal thereof. Sasa teaches this (Sasa, [0170], Note that any combination of pigments is contemplated in the “organic pigments and/or inorganic pigments”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use both of beta-copper phthalocyanine and a quinacridone in blue and brown inks, as disclosed by Sasa, because doing so would amount to applying two known pigment mixtures to a known ink set to obtain predictable results.
Regarding claim 24, Yoshihiro in view of Sasa teaches the free radical curable inkjet ink set of claim 23, wherein the yellow and/or the black free radical curable (Sasa, [0170]) inkjet ink contains at least one colour pigment selected from a quinacridone pigment (Sasa, [0170]), a diketopyrrolo pyrrole pigment, and a mixed crystal thereof;
and/or the green and/or the brown free radical curable inkjet ink contains a C.I. Pigment Yellow 150 pigment (Sasa, [0170], Note that any combination of pigments is contemplated in the “organic pigments and/or inorganic pigments”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a quinacridone in a black ink, as disclosed by Sasa, because doing so would amount to applying two known pigment mixtures to a known ink set to obtain predictable results.
Claim(s) 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshihiro in view of official notice.
Regarding claim 25, Yoshihiro teaches a cured layer of a free radical curable inkjet ink according to claim 16. Yoshihiro does not teach a sign with a layer of ink, wherein the term "sign" refers to a stand-alone article that conveys information by means of alphanumeric characters, symbols and/or graphics, and that in use is mounted to an object such as a post, bracket or wall. Examiner takes official notice that one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention would have found it obvious to print a sign with the free radical curable ink of claim 16.
Conclusion
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/ALEJANDRO VALENCIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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