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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Species A (inclusive of claims 1-2, 8-12 and 19) in the reply filed on 10/17/25 is acknowledged.
Claims 3-7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Species, and Claims 13-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention; there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 10/17/25.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 8-11, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hirahara et al (US 2007/0068404; provided in 8/9/24; hereafter Hirahara).
Claim 1: Hirahara teaches a method comprising:
premetering (via non-contact metering device(24)) a liquid material (such as ink droplets 80) onto a receiving roll (print cylinder 50) to form a discontinuous liquid pattern (such as collection of distinct and separated discontinuous inkjet applied droplets (See, for example, Fig 1-2, [0014] [0018-0019], [0044]);
and transferring at least a portion of the liquid material in the discontinuous liquid pattern from the receiving roll onto a major surface of a web (60) to form a continuous coating (such as continuous lines and solids for printed electronics) (see, for example, Fig 1-2, [0004-0005], [0014], [0018-0021], [0062]);
wherein premetering the liquid material onto the receiving roll comprises applying a coating volume of the liquid material to the receiving roll to proportionally control a thickness for a given width of the continuous coating on the major surface of the web (See, for example, [0044]).
Claim 2: Hirahara further teaches wherein transferring at least a portion of the liquid material in the discontinuous liquid pattern from the receiving roll (50) onto a major surface of a web (60) comprises transferring the liquid material from the receiving roll directly onto the major surface of the web to form the continuous coating such that the receiving roll is a web transfer roll (See, for example, Fig 2).
Claim 8: Hirahara further comprising controlling the coating volume of the liquid material applied to the receiving roll such that the continuous coating has a coating thickness of 50 nm or 300 nm (See, for example, [0044]).
Claim 9: Hirahara further teaches wherein controlling the coating volume of the liquid material further comprises controlling the liquid pattern on the receiving roll (see, for example, [0044], Fig 2).
Claim 10: Hirahara further teaches wherein applying the liquid material onto the receiving roll further comprises inkjet printing the liquid material to form the discontinuous liquid pattern (See, for example, Fig 1-2, [0046]).
Claim 11: Hirahara further teaches wherein the discontinuous liquid pattern comprises at least one of a regular or irregular pattern of dots, discontinuous lines, grids, or geometric shapes (see, for example, [0004-5], [0044], [0046], [0062], Fig 2, Fig 7; as the ultimate formed coating is taught to comprise a variety of lines, shapes, etc, the initial discontinuous liquid pattern would correspond to such features dimensions) .
Claim 19: Hirahara further teaches wherein the liquid material in the discontinuous liquid pattern is discontinuous in both a cross-web direction and a down-web direction. (see, for example, [0004-5], [0044], [0046], [0062], Fig 2, Fig 7; as the ultimate formed coating is taught to comprise features and shapes possessing finite dimensions in both cross web and down web directions, the initial discontinuous liquid pattern would correspond to such features dimensions (such as gaps between / among droplets occurring in both directions)).
Claim(s) 1-2, 9, 11-12, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ikishima et al (JP2007-229683; citations directed to machine translation provided herein; hereafter Ikishima) {Teramoto et al (US 2009/0092742; hereafter Teramoto relied solely as evidence}.
Claim 1: Ikishima teaches a method comprising:
premetering (via gravure pickup roller) a liquid material onto a receiving roll (applicator roll) to form a discontinuous liquid pattern (See, for example, Fig 2, [0014-0018]);
and transferring at least a portion of the liquid material in the discontinuous liquid pattern from the receiving roll onto a major surface of a web (steel sheet) to form a continuous coating (see, for example, Fig 2, [0018] [0036], [0039], wherein the discontinuous coating is stretched upon deposition resulting in a continuous film being formed);
wherein premetering the liquid material onto the receiving roll comprises applying a coating volume of the liquid material to the receiving roll to proportionally control a thickness for a given width of the continuous coating on the major surface of the web (See, for example, [0043-44], [0057] wherein thickness is taught to be controlled by rotation speed of the pickup roll, which intrinsically dictates coating volume applied { Teramoto evidences at [0045] that with increasing rotational speeds the amount of supply of a coating agent increases causing an increase in the thickness of the applied film}).
Claim 2: Ikishima further teaches wherein transferring at least a portion of the liquid material in the discontinuous liquid pattern from the receiving roll (applicator roll) onto a major surface of a web (steel sheet) comprises transferring the liquid material from the receiving roll directly onto the major surface of the web to form the continuous coating such that the receiving roll is a web transfer roll (See, for example, Fig 2).
Claim 9: Ikishima further teaches wherein controlling the coating volume of the liquid material further comprises controlling the liquid pattern on the receiving roll (See, for example, Fig 2, [0014-0018]).
Claim 11: Ikishima further teaches wherein the discontinuous liquid pattern comprises at least one of a regular or irregular pattern of dots, or geometric shapes (see, for example, Fig 2, [0037] such as ellipses).
Claim 12: Ikishima further teaches wherein applying the liquid material onto the receiving roll further comprises gravure printing (See, for example, Fig 2, [0018]).
Claim 19: Ikishima further teaches wherein the liquid material in the discontinuous liquid pattern is discontinuous in both a cross-web direction and a down-web direction. (see, for example, (See, for example, Fig 2, [0014-0018] [0036], [0039]; further as the ultimate formed coating is taught to comprise features and shapes possessing finite dimensions in both cross web and down web directions, the initial discontinuous liquid pattern would correspond to such features dimensions).
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) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirahara as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Regan et al (US2007/0279469; provided in 10/14/24 IDS, hereafter Regan).
Claim 12: Hirahara teaches the method of claim 1 (above), but does not explicitly teach wherein applying the liquid material onto the receiving roll further comprises at least one of flexographic or gravure printing. Like Hirahara, Regan teaches a method of hybrid printing comprising the combination of ink jet printing and roll coating (See, for example, abstract, [0007]). Regan further teaches wherein imposing an intermediate gravure roll (20”) between a receiving roll (80) and the inkjet head (10’) can enhance high speed printing and assist in overcoming problems of intermediate coalescence, improper single-pass density, excessive water volume on the receiver, and residual colorant in the cells, as well as enhance intermediate ink transfer, improve control over dot gain and high density region printing, and ensures a more uniform transfer (See, for example, Fig 4, [0002-0007] and [0026]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated wherein applying the liquid material onto the receiving roll further comprises gravure printing as such a printing it taught to operate predictable between inkjet supplying and roller transfer in high speed printing applications while enhancing high speed printing and assisting in overcoming problems of intermediate coalescence, improper single-pass density, excessive water volume on the receiver, and residual colorant in the cells, as well as enhancing intermediate ink transfer, improving control over dot gain and high density region printing, and ensuring a more uniform transfer.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN H EMPIE whose telephone number is (571)270-1886. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 5:30AM - 4 PM.
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/NATHAN H EMPIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1712