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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 15 October 2024 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the Office.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
As to Claim 1: The instant claim uses the term between and the way it is used renders the claim indefinite. It is unclear if between is inclusive or exclusive of the end points. Specifically, this presents an issue with the presence of porous silica and the second dye system and additives. If between is exclusive of the end points then these components are necessarily present in the composition while if between is inclusive of the end points then these components are optional and not necessarily present. For the purposes of further consideration between was considered to be exclusive and therefore the additional components were necessarily present.
As to Claim 1: It is unclear what constitutes a dye system as opposed to a dye. In the case of the trichromy of pigments the system can be considered as three different dye pigments. However, in the case of a synthetic black pigment are there other components that need to be considered to make it a system?
As to Claim 6: It is unclear what differentiates carbon black as a second dye system from being the synthetic black pigment of the first dye system.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW J OYER whose telephone number is (571)270-0347. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-6PM EST M-F.
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/Andrew J. Oyer/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1767
