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 § 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 2, 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sambhy et al (US 2012/0039648).
Sambhy et al. (...648) disclose a fixing member ([0008]; [0027]; and figure 1) comprising: a surface layer having a sliding angle of 1-30° measured with various materials including one containing wax (abstract; [0016]-[0018]; [0027]; and [0035]-[0037]) [see Applicant's claim 1]. The sliding angle can be 1-15° ([0036]) [see Applicant's claim 2]. A fixing device (figure 1) comprising: a first rotary member (10); and a second rotary member (30) that is arranged to be in contact with an outer surface of the first rotary member, wherein at least one of the first rotary member or the second rotary member is the fixing member ([0008]; [0010]; [0027]; and figure 1) [see Applicant's claims 8 and 9]. However, Sambhy et al. (...648) do not disclose measuring the sliding angle with respect to a Fischer-Tropsch wax. The specific material used to measure the sliding angle is considered to be an obvious engineering decision [see Applicant's claim 1]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the sliding angle measured with the claimed Fischer-Tropsch wax, since the material used for the sliding angle measurement is considered to be an engineering decision.
Claims 3-7, 10-14 and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sambhy et al. (US2012/0039648) in view of Ferrar et al. (US 2012/0107559).
Sambhy et al. (...648) disclose the features mentioned previously. Sambhy et al. (...648) further disclose a fixing device (figure 1) comprising: a first rotary member (10); and a second rotary member (30) that is arranged to be in contact with an outer surface of the first rotary member, wherein at least one of the first rotary member or the second rotary member is the fixing member ([0008]; [0010]; [0027]; and figure 1) [see Applicant's claims 10-14]. However, Sambhy et al. (...648) do not disclose the claimed surface layer material. Ferrar et al. (...559) disclose a rotary member having a low adhesion surface layer that includes a siloxane compound having a structure A of Formula: [RSiO1.5]n (provided that in the formula, R represents an organic group, and n represents an integer of 2 or more), and at least one R among a plurality of R's present in the structure A is a group including an alkyl group ([0070]) [see Applicant's claim 3]. The group including an alkyl group is a trialkylsiloxy group ([0070]) [see Applicant's claim 4]. The specific content of the siloxane compound with respect to the surface layer is considered to be an engineering decision [see Applicant's claim 5]. The surface layer contains a resin ([0069]-[0070]) [see Applicant's claim 6]. The resin is a silicone resin ([0060]-[0070]) [see Applicant's claim 7]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to determine an acceptable proportion of the group including an alkyl group in the siloxane compound through routine experimentation [see Applicant’s claim 21]. The surface layer includes a binding material as a main component and the siloxane compound as an additive ([0045]-[0070]) [see Applicant’s claim 22]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to determine the content of the siloxane compound with respect to the surface layer through routine experimentation [see Applicant’s claim 23]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed surface layer material, since as disclosed by Ferrar et al. (...559), such a material is well known in the art for a low adhesion surface layer.
Claims 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sambhy et al. (US 2012/0039648) in view of Hoshio et al. (US 20200026229).
Sambhy et al. (…648) disclose the features mentioned previously, but do not disclose the claimed image forming apparatus containing the claimed components. Hoshio et al. (...229) disclose an image forming apparatus comprising: an image holder (11); a charging unit (12) that charges a surface of the image holder; a latent image forming unit (1) that forms a latent image on the charged surface of the image holder; a developing unit (14) that develops the latent image with a toner to form a toner image; a transfer unit that transfers the toner image to a recording medium ([0141]); and a fixing unit (60) that fixes the toner image onto the recording medium, the fixing unit being the fixing device ([0126]-[0141]; and figure 4) [see Applicant's claims 15 and 16]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the claimed image forming apparatus having the claimed components, since as disclosed by Hoshio et al. (...229), such an image forming apparatus having the claimed components is well known in the art to form images.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sambhy et al. (US 2021/0039648) in view of Ferrar et al. (US 2012/0107559) as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Hoshio et al. (US 2020/0026229).
Sambhy et al. (...648) in view of Ferrar et al. (...559) disclose the features mentioned previously, but do not disclose the claimed image forming apparatus containing the claimed components. Hoshio et al. (...229) disclose an image forming apparatus comprising: an image holder (11); a charging unit (12) that charges a surface of the image holder; a latent image forming unit (1) that forms a latent image on the charged surface of the image holder; a developing unit (14) that develops the latent image with a toner to form a toner image; a transfer
unit that transfers the toner image to a recording medium ([0141]); and a fixing unit (60) that
fixes the toner image onto the recording medium, the fixing unit being the fixing device ([0126]-
[0141]; and figure 4) [see Applicant's claim 17]. It would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the
claimed image forming apparatus having the claimed components, since as disclosed by Hoshio
et al. (...229), such an image forming apparatus having the claimed components is well known in
the art to form images.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Fujino et al. (US2021/0286279) disclose a toner that contains Fischer-Tropsch wax.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/15/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Sambhy et al. (US 2012/0039648) do not disclose or make obvious a surface layer having a sliding angle in the claimed range at 150oC with respect to a Fischer-Tropsch wax. However, as disclosed by Sambhy et al. (…648), in paragraph [0017]: “The contact between the pressure member and the low temperature, moderate fuser member can have a nip pressure ranging from about 300 Psi to about 3000 Psi at a temperature of about 150oC. or less. The low temperature, moderate fuser member can include a substrate, and an outermost layer disposed over the substrate. The outermost layer can include a low adhesion coating having a low sliding angle ranging from about 1o to about 30o with a toner including a wax-containing toner or a wax-less toner.” Therefore, Sambhy et al. (…648) discloses that at a temperature of 150oC, the outermost layer (surface layer) would have a sliding angle in the claimed range. The specific material used to measure the sliding angle is considered to be merely an engineering decision. Also, Sambhy et al. (…648) disclose that the sliding angle can be measured with respect to a wax containing toner. Further, it is well known in the art that a Fischer-Tropsch wax can be used as the wax in a wax containing toner. For example, Fujino et al. (…279) disclose that it is preferable to use a Fischer-Tropsch wax in a toner because it generates less unnecessary volatile organic compounds at the time when the toner gets fixed, where it is preferable that the wax, which is a release agent, have a melting point of 60 to 100oC, and more preferably 65 to 90oC ([0135]-[0136]). As a result, it is considered to be obvious that the surface layer of Sambhy et al. (…648) would have a sliding angle in the claimed range at 150oC and that it is further considered to be obvious that a Fischer-Tropsch wax could be used as the material to measure the sliding angle.
Final Rejection
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.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANDRA BRASE whose telephone number is (571)272-2131. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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/SANDRA BRASE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 July 28, 2026
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