DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Claim 11 is directed to a recording method of inkjet ejection, but the claim does not recite any method steps.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Narita et al., US 2004/0132863 A1.
Regarding claims 1 and 10, Narita teaches an aqueous inkjet composition comprising a resin made from a monomer with a ring structure and an ethylenically-unsaturated bond (Abstract, [0009]-[0011]), corresponding to the claimed “monomer A”.
Regarding claims 2-3 and 15, Narita teaches that the monomer may be an acrylic monomer with an alicyclic or heterocyclic ring structure ([0014]-[0020]).
Regarding claims 4-5 and 16, Narita teaches that the resin may comprise a copolymer of the monomer A and an additional monomer (corresponding to the claimed “monomer B”) with an acidic group or an amino group and an ethylenically-unsaturated bond ([0023]-[0026]).
Regarding claims 6 and 17, Narita teaches that the resin comprises a polymer fine particle dispersion (Abstract, [0010]).
Regarding claims 7 and 18, Narita teaches that the polymer comprising monomer A may be an emulsion polymer ([0032]).
Regarding claims 8 and 19, Narita teaches numerous examples of monomers having a SP value of 13.0 or less (e.g. the cyclohexyl methacrylate of [0015]).
Regarding claims 9 and 20, Narita teaches specific examples of compositions in which the relative proportion of the “monomer A” in the polymer is greater than 50% (e.g. Example 2 of Table 1).
Regarding claims 11-14, Narita teaches that the inks are intended to be jetted onto a substrate via an inkjet printing process to produce a printed article ([0002]-[0003], [0074]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ian A Rummel whose telephone number is (571)270-5692. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday and alternating Fridays, 8:30-5:00.
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IAN A. RUMMEL
Examiner
Art Unit 1785
/IAN A RUMMEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1785
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