DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of group I, claims 1-11 in the reply filed on 7/28/26 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 12-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 7/28/26.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4, and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Makimoto (WO 2022186280 which is being directly translated by US Publication 20240117210).
As to claims 1 and 2, Makimoto discloses an ink set which prevents bleeding of an aqueous ink when printing is done by high-speed inkjet printing (abs). The inks can be printed using piezoelectric inkjet printing (paragraph 221-222) onto a substrate. The ink set includes a pretreatment ink and an aqueous ink. The pretreatment ink (primer) comprises a main component and a cationic compound (fixing additive) (paragraph 85). The pretreatment ink comprises a resin emulsion (aqueous dispersion) wherein the resin is polyurethane resin (paragraphs 97 and 98). The pretreatment ink further contains a solvent (paragraph 104) and a surfactant (additive) (paragraph 109). The ink comprises a water-based ink and a colorant of a pigment (paragraphs 123-124). The ink further comprises a surfactant (paragraph 154), a dispersant (paragraph 135) and a resin (binding agent) (paragraph 147). It should be noted that a pH corrector and one biocide in the ink are optional.
As to claim 4, the cationic compound is present in an amount of .5 mass% to about 9 mass% (paragraph 95) of the pretreatment ink.
As to claim 7, the dispersant is present in an amount of .5 mass% as seen in table 2.
As to claim 8, the ink comprises a resin in an amount of .05 to 15 mass% (paragraph 150).
As to claims 9 and 10, the pretreatment ink comprises a polyurethane resin in an aqueous dispersion, a solvent, a surfactant (surface wetting agent), additives such as viscosity modifiers (paragraph 118), and a cationic material.
As to claim 11, the ink comprises a dispersion comprising at least one pigment, in a solvent (paragraph 143), a wetting agent, a binding agent and a surfactant.
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.
Claims 3, 5, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Makimoto (WO 2022186280 which is being directly translated by US Publication 20240117210).
Makimoto anticipates claim 1 for the reasons noted above, however is silent to the specifics of the resin within the pretreatment ink. Makimoto discloses that the resin can be present in an amount of .5 to 20 mass% within the pretreatment ink.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Makimoto and had the resin in an amount of 10 to 20 mass% as it overlaps in scope and therefore would be a suitable amount of resin.
As to claim 5, Makimoto anticipates claim 1 for the reasons noted above, however is silent to the specifics of the pigment within the ink. Makimoto discloses that the pigment can be present in an amount of .05 to 20 mass% within the ink (paragraph 133).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Makimoto and had the pigment in an amount of 10 to 20 mass% as it overlaps in scope and therefore would be a suitable amount of pigment.
As to claim 6, Makimoto anticipates claim 1 for the reasons noted above, however is silent to the specifics of the dispersion within the ink. Makimoto discloses that the water can be present in an amount of 30 to 85 mass% within the ink (paragraph 141).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Makimoto and had the water in an amount of 30 to 35 mass% as it overlaps in scope and therefore would be a suitable amount of water.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER M POLLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-5734. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 8am till 4:30 pm.
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, Mark Ruthkosky can be reached at 5712721291. 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.
/CHRISTOPHER M POLLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1785
Prosecution Insights