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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on August 6, 2026 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamibayashi et al. (US 20170151810 A1), hereinafter Kamibayashi, in view of Inui et al. (JP 3610109 B2), hereinafter Inui. All textual references to Inui are drawn from the attached machine translation (non-patent literature, “JP 3610109 B2 machine translation (Year: 2026)”).
Regarding claim 1, Kamibayashi teaches an inkjet image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming part which ejects ink on a printing base material conveyed in a predetermined conveyance direction, based on image data to form an image (figs. 1, 2; medium 22, control unit 30, liquid ejecting head 36, ink nozzle rows LI1-4, Y direction; ¶[0037]); a precoating unit which is arranged on an upstream side of the image forming part in the conveyance direction, and performs a precoating treatment in which a precoating liquid is ejected on the printing base material (figs. 2, 9; pre-treatment liquid nozzle rows LP, regions B, B1, B2; ¶[0041]-[0045], [0083]-[0085]); and a control part which controls an amount of the precoating liquid ejected by the precoating unit (figs. 1, 6; control unit 30, determination unit 303, steps S101-S104; ¶[0037], [0052]-[0054], [0068]-[0074]).
However, Kamibayashi fails to teach or fairly suggest the control part controls an amount of the precoating liquid ejected to a region where adjacent pixels have different colors to 1.5 to 2 times an amount of the precoating liquid ejected to a region where adjacent pixels have the same color.
Inui teaches an inkjet printing apparatus comprising a processing liquid ejecting unit and a control part wherein the control part controls an amount of the processing liquid ejected to a region where adjacent pixels have different colors to 1.5 to 2 times an amount of the processing liquid ejected to a region where adjacent pixels have the same color (figs. 1, 4, 5d-e; recording head unit 103, reception buffer 401, CPU 402, image processing unit 402A, recording head control unit 410; ¶[0035]-[0037], [0042]-[0043], [0045]-[0046]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the control part of Inui into the inkjet image forming apparatus according to Kamibayashi in order to produce high quality images by reducing bleed between inks of different colors while reducing the total consumption of precoating liquid (see Inui, ¶[0012]-[0013], [0046]).
Regarding claim 2, Kamibayashi as modified by Inui teaches the inkjet image forming apparatus according to claim 1. Inui further teaches the control part determines whether the adjacent pixels have the different colors or not, based on the image data (fig. 4; image processing unit 402A; ¶[0043]).
Regarding claim 3, Kamibayashi as modified by Inui teaches the inkjet image forming apparatus according to claim 1. Kamibayashi further teaches the image forming part includes a head unit which ejects the ink, the precoating unit includes a head unit which ejects the precoating liquid, and both the head units have the same structure (figs. 2, 3; liquid ejection head 36, pre-treatment liquid nozzle rows LP, ink nozzle rows LI1-4, second region nozzles N[B], nozzles N[C, M, Y, K]; ¶[0041]-[0050]).
Regarding claim 4, Kamibayashi as modified by Inui teaches the inkjet image forming apparatus according to claim 1. Kamibayashi further teaches the printing base material is a plastic film (¶[0051]-[0052], [0057]-[0058]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pgs. 3-4 of Remarks, filed July 1, 2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-3 under 35 USC § 102 (a)(1) and claim 4 under 35 USC § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Kamibayashi et al. (US 20170151810 A1) in view of Inui et al. (JP 3610109 B2).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS RAY KNIEF whose telephone number is (703)756-5733. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8AM - 5 PM EST.
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, Stephen Meier can be reached at 5712722149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TRK/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/STEPHEN D MEIER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Prosecution Insights