DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of pre-AIA 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) the invention was known or used by others in this country, or patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country, before the invention thereof by the applicant for a patent.
Claim(s) 1-2, 27 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Beach et al (U.S. Pat. 6,709,096)
Regarding claim 1, a printing process which comprises directing droplets of an ink onto an intermediate transfer member (drum 2) to form an ink image, the ink including an organic polymeric resin and a coloring agent in an aqueous carrier (Column 4, Line 62 – Column 5, Line 4), and the transfer member having a hydrophobic outer surface, each ink droplet in the ink image spreading on impinging upon the intermediate transfer member to form an ink film (Column 2, Line 56 – Column 3, Line 26; Column 3, Lines 48-59)
Drying the ink (heater in the drum) while the ink image is being transported by the intermediate transfer member by evaporating the aqueous carrier from the ink image to leave a residue film of resin and coloring agent (Column 2, Lines 21-46; Column 3, Lines 60-63)
Transferring the residue film to a substrate, wherein the chemical compositions of the ink and of the surface of the intermediate transfer member are selected such that attractive intermolecular forces between molecules in the outer skin of each droplet and on the surface of the intermediate transfer member counteract the tendency of the ink film produced by each droplet to bead under the action of the surface tension of the aqueous carrier, without causing each droplet to spread by wetting the surface of the intermediate transfer member (Column 2, Line 56 – Column 3, Line 26; Column 3, Lines 48-59; Column 4, Line 62 – Column 5, Line 4)
Regarding claim 2, wherein the chemical composition of the outer surface of the intermediate transfer member includes molecules to provide a positive charge, the molecules having one or more Bronsted base functional groups (Column 2, Lines 21-55)
Regarding claim 27, a printing system comprising an image forming station at which droplets of an ink are directed onto an intermediate transfer member (drum 2) to form an ink image (Column 4, Line 62 – Column 5, Line 4), the ink including an organic polymeric resin and a coloring agent in an aqueous carrier, and the transfer member having a hydrophobic outer surface so that each ink droplet in the ink image spreads on impinging upon the intermediate transfer member to form an ink film (Column 2, Line 56 – Column 3, Line 26; Column 3, Lines 48-59)
A drying station at which the ink is dried while the ink image is being transported by the intermediate transfer member by evaporating the aqueous carrier from the ink image to leave a residue film of resin and coloring agent (Column 2, Lines 21-46; Column 3, Lines 60-63)
An impression station at which the residue film is transferred from the intermediate transfer member to a substrate, wherein the chemical compositions of the ink and of the surface of the intermediate transfer member are selected such that attractive intermolecular forces between molecules in the outer skin of each droplet and on the surface of the intermediate transfer member counteract the tendency of the ink film produced by each droplet to bead under the action of the surface tension of the aqueous carrier, without causing each droplet to spread by wetting the surface of the intermediate transfer member (Column 2, Lines 56 – Column 3, Line 26; Column 3, Lines 48-59; Column 4, Line 62 – Column 5, Line 4)
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 pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 3-4 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Beach et al (U.S. Pat. 6,709,096) in view of King et al (U.S. Pub. 2006/0204768)
Regarding claims 3-4, King discloses wherein the outer surface of the intermediate transfer member includes molecules having one or more Bronsted base functional groups including nitrogen (Paragraph 0109)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of King into the device of Beach, for the purpose of improving printing proce3ss using intermediate transfer members
Claim 12 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Beach et al (U.S. Pat. 6,709,096) in view of Matsuoka et al (U.S. Pat. 5,935,751)
Regarding claim 12, Matsuoka discloses resins Bronsted acid functional groups, such as styrene acrylic resins, which are conventionally used as binding resin for toners (Column 9, Line 58 – Column 10, Line 62)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Matsuoka into the device of Beach, for the purpose of providing a color image of high quality
Claim 28 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Beach et al (U.S. Pat. 6,709,096) in view of Chiwata et al (U.S. Pub. 2009/0079784)
Regarding claim 28, Chiwata discloses drying station comprising blowers for directing a stream of heated gas onto the surface of the intermediate transfer member (Paragraph 0443)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Chiwata into the device of Beach, for the purpose of drying fluids disposed onto the intermediate transfer member
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7, 13-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON S UHLENHAKE whose telephone number is (571)272-5916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Douglas X. Rodriguez can be reached at (571) 431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON S UHLENHAKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 August 6, 2026
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