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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-7, in the reply filed on February 20, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 8-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on February 20, 2026.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US PG Pub 2011/0146515).
For claim 1: Lee et al. teaches a printing plate 100 used in pad printing, comprising: a base substrate 101, 110 having a concave part 122, 124, 140 sunken from a substrate surface 110, wherein the concave part 122, 124, 140 includes a first area 140 that is sunken by a first depth from the substrate surface of the base substrate and a second area 124 that is sunken by a second depth from a surface of the first area 140.
For claim 2: Lee et al. teaches the printing plate of claim 1, wherein the base substrate includes a substrate central part (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the portion between 124, 122 is the central part of 100) and a substrate peripheral part surrounding the substrate central part and the concave part 122, 124 is disposed in the substrate peripheral part without extending into the substrate central part (see Fig. 1, the outside portion surrounding the raised portion is a central part of the plate, the sunken parts are not in the central part of the plate in this arrangement).
For claim 3: Lee et al. teaches the printing plate of claim 2, wherein the first area 1 is disposed surrounding the substrate central part in the substrate peripheral part.
Claims 1 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hayama et al. (US PG Pub 2002/0100966).
For claim 1: Hayama et al. teaches a printing plate 40 (see Fig. 2) comprising: a base substrate 40 (see Fig. 2, lower portion) having a concave part 13 sunken from a substrate surface (see Fig. 2, top planar surface of the plate 40), wherein the concave part 13 includes a first area (see Fig. 2, lip region at the level of sunken part 12) that is sunken by a first depth (see Fig. 2, the depth of sunken part 12) from the substrate surface of the base substrate and a second area 13 that is sunken by a second depth from a surface of the first area (see Fig. 2, particularly the central portion of 13 which is sunken from the lip at the level of sunken part 12 being the second area within the first area).
For claim 4: Hayama et al. teaches the printing plate of claim 1, wherein the first area has a width and an imaginary centerline extending through midpoints of the width (see Fig. 2, width in the left right direction of the cavity 13 and the center of the cavity being the centerline extending outward from the paper view), further comprising a concave central part including the imaginary centerline and a predetermined distance to either side of the centerline in the first area and a concave peripheral part surrounding the concave central part (see Fig. 2, the lip of 13 surrounding the central part being the first area), and the second area is disposed in the concave central part (see Fig. 2, the deeper impression of 13 being the second area in the concave central part of the depression 13).
For claim 5: Hayama et al. teaches the printing plate of claim 4, wherein the second area has a quadrangular shape (see paragraph 42, Fig. 2, the element 13 is a groove, having a width dimension base and extending as a groove in a length dimension thus generally have a quadrilateral shape).
For claim 6: Hayama et al. teaches the printing plate of claim 1, wherein the first depth of the first area from the substrate surface is greater than the second depth of the second area from the surface of the first area (see paragraph 43, the depth of the grooves 12, 13 can be controlled to be any desired value, including a value where the groove 12 from the surface is more than half the value 13 from the surface).
For claim 7: Hayama et al. teaches the printing plate of claim 1, wherein the second depth is at least 4 µm and no greater than 10 µm (see paragraphs 43, either depth of 12, 13 can be controlled to any value, and in particular a value of 10 µm and less is suggested).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID H BANH whose telephone number is (571)270-3851. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12-8PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephen Meier can be reached at (571)272-2149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID H BANH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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