DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of invention and/or species, and corresponding claims (1-6 and 9-19) is acknowledged. The election has been made without traverse. Non-elected claims are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
In reference to claims 9-10, the claims are dependent on withdrawn claim 7.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim 1-6 and 10-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kiefer (US 20050159501 A1).
In reference to claim 1-2 and 4, Kiefer discloses
A modeling material formulation usable in additive manufacturing of a three-dimension object, which comprises, in at least a portion thereof, an elastomeric material, the formulation featuring a viscosity of no more than 50 cPs at 35° C. and comprising: (“radiation curable ink composition for ink jet printing” [Claim 1]),
at least one elastomeric curable material; and
at least one mono-functional curable material.
(“a) a first curable component that is present in the ink composition in an amount greater than 30 weight percent, has a functionality that is greater than 2 and a molecular weight in the range of from about 400 g/mole to about 10,000 g/mole; b) a second curable component that has a functionality that is less than or equal to 2;” [Claim 1] and “a viscosity in the range of from 10 to about 13 centipoise at a temperature in the range of from about 40.degree. C. to about 58.degree. C” [Claim 31 or see P0098]. 10 cPs at 40C would have viscosity of <50 cPs at 35C. And, “first curable component includes ethoxylated trimethylolpropane triacrylate” [Claim 3], which also would have a MW<500 g/mol)
In reference to claim 3 Kiefer discloses the same materials and thus the materials would have the same properties as claimed.
In reference to claim 5-6 Kiefer discloses at least one hydrophobic curable material which provides, when hardened, a material featuring Tg higher than 80° C.; wherein an amount of said hydrophobic mono-functional curable material which provides, when hardened, a material featuring Tg of at least 80° C. ranges from 20 to 30 weight percent of the total weight of the modeling material formulation (“second curable component that has a functionality that is less than or equal to 2“ [Claim 1] and “second curable component is present in the curable ink composition in an amount in the range of from about 45 to about 51 weight percent.” [Claim 13])
Kiefer discloses the same materials and thus the materials would have the same properties as claimed.
In reference to claim 11-13 See “CN-2300 has a functionality of 14. In one embodiment, this material is present in the ink compositions of the invention in an amount in the range of from about 0 to about 9 weight percent.” (Paragrpah 25) and “CN-2300 is present in an amount not greater than about 15% (w/w)” (Paragraph 27) and “curable component that has a functionality greater than 2 has a molecular weight in the range of from about 400 g/mol to about 100,000 g/mole. In other words, the component is formed using one, and preferably more than one oligomer having a molecular weight in the range of from about 400 g/mole to about 100,000 g/mole” (paragraph 29)
In reference to claim 14-15 See “pigment component is present in the ink composition in an amount in the range of 0%, for producing a clear coating, to about 10% by weight” (paragraph 53)
In reference to claim 16 See “organic pigments include phthalocyanines, anthraquinones, perylenes, carbazoles, monoazo- and disazobenzimidazolones, isoindolinones, monoazonaphthols, diarylidepyrazolones, rhodamines, indigoids, quinacridones, diazopyranthrones, dinitranilines, pyrazolones,” (paragraph 55)
In reference to claim 17-19 Kiefer discloses the same materials and thus the materials would have the same properties as claimed.
Conclusion
Any prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
See references cited in applied prior art for further background. As a whole these references and appropriate secondary and tertiary references are believed sufficient to provide the skilled reader with the opportunity to learn about the technical background requisite to appreciate the body of knowledge needed to understand and communicate regarding the technology at issue.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS KRASNOW whose telephone number is (571)270-1154. The examiner can normally be reached M-R: 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xiao Zhao can be reached on 571-270-5343. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Examiner has utilized USPTO approved search resources, such as EIC or external tools, beyond routine search tools and/or leveraged experts in the field. Examiner has cited and explained the relevance of prior art not used in rejections but pertinent to the claims or disclosure. Examiner has provided detailed search documentation through detailed Search Notes, such as annotated search results that identify which data sets were reviewed. When citing the prior art examiner has used annotations clearly in prior art rejections such as, using item-to-item matching to the prior art, pairing exact claim language to particular language used in the prior art, and/or clearly explaining examiner’s interpretation as to how a citation maps to claim language especially when there is not a one-to-one matching of terms.
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/NICHOLAS KRASNOW/Examiner, Art Unit 1744
