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 § 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) 1-14 & 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yatake et al.(# US 2011/0293898).
Yatake et al. discloses:
1. A treating solution (pretreatment liquid; [0028]-[0032]), comprising:
1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol ([0032]),
a polyvalent metal salt (polyvalent metal ion; [0028]; [0046]), and
water ([0028]; [0084]).
2. The treating solution according to claim 1, wherein a polyvalent metal ion constituting the polyvalent metal salt is a divalent metal ion (divalent or higher valency metal ion; [0046]).
3. The treating solution according to claim 1, wherein the polyvalent metal salt is at least one metal salt selected from the group consisting of magnesium nitrate, magnesium sulfate, calcium nitrate, and aluminum nitrate ([0046]).
4. The treating solution according to claim 1, wherein a content of the 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol ([0032]) in the treating solution is not less than 3% by mass and not more than 65% by mass (see Examples).
5. The treating solution according to claim 1, wherein a content of the polyvalent metal salt in the treating solution is not less than 3% by mass and not more than 30% by mass (see Examples; calcium chloride; [0096]).
6. The treating solution according to claim 1, wherein a content of water in the treating solution is not less than 15% by mass and not more than 85% by mass ([0096]).
7. The treating solution according to claim 1, wherein a mass ratio of the content of the polyvalent metal salt to the content of the 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol [polyvalent metal salt/1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol] is not less than 0.10 and not more than 4.00 (see Examples).
8. The treating solution according to claim 1, wherein a mass ratio of the content of the 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol to the content of the water [1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol/water] is not less than 0.03 and not more than 2.00 (see Examples).
9. The treating solution according to claim 1, wherein a content of a coloring material in the treating solution is not more than 1% by mass (0%; [0096]).
10. The treating solution according to claim 1, suitable for treating a printing medium used in ink-jet printing ([0029]).
11. An ink set for ink-jet printing, comprising the treating solution according to claim 1 ([0028]-[0048]), and an ink that comprises a coloring material (pigment; [0058]-[0059]) and water ([0108]-[0112]).
12. The ink set for ink-jet printing according to claim 11, wherein the coloring material is a pigment ([0058]-[0060]), and the pigment is present in such a configuration that the pigment is dispersed in the ink with a pigment-dispersing resin (The pigment is dispersed by using a disperser, and as the disperser, various commercially available dispersers can be used. In view of low contamination, non-media dispersion is preferable. [0061]).
13. The ink set for ink-jet printing according to claim 12, wherein an acid value of the pigment-dispersing resin is not less than 100 mgKOH/g and not more than 800 mgKOH/g (30 to 100 mg KOH/g; [0064]).
14. An ink-jet printing method ([0147]) using the treating solution of claim 1, the method comprising:
applying the treating solution onto a printing medium to obtain a surface-treated printing medium ([0083]-[0087]); and
forming images on a treated surface of the surface-treated printing medium in an ink-jet printing manner using an ink that comprises a coloring material and water ([0083]-[0093]).
16. The ink set for ink-jet printing according to claim 12, wherein the pigment-dispersing resin is a water-insoluble resin ([0053]-[0054]).
17. The ink set for ink-jet printing according to claim 16, wherein the water-insoluble resin is at least one resin selected from the group consisting of a (meth)acrylic resin, a styrene/(meth)acrylic resin, a urethane resin, and a polyester resin (acrylic resin, polyurethane resin; [0049]; [0070]).
18. The ink-jet printing method according to claim 14, wherein the printing medium is a low-permeability printing medium ([0085]-[0092]).
19. The ink-jet printing method according to claim 14, wherein the printing medium is a high-permeability printing medium ([0085]-[0092]).
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) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yatake et al.(# US 2011/0293898).
Yatake et al. discloses:
20. The ink-jet printing method according to claim 14, wherein an amount of the treating solution applied onto the printing medium ([0085]-[0092]).
Yatake et al. discloses all the limitation of the ink jet recording method except:
20. The ink-jet printing method according to claim 14, wherein an amount of the treating solution applied onto the printing medium is not less than 0.2 g/m2 and not more than 5 g/m2.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention was made to incorporate amount of the treating solution applied onto the printing medium is not less than 0.2 g/m2 and not more than 5 g/m2, 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).
Conclusion
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
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