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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-11, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hida (JP 2007055139) in view of Miyaguchi (U.S. Pub. 2016/0002419)
Regarding claim 1, Hida discloses an ink container accommodating ink to be supplied to an ink jet printing apparatus (Abstract, Paragraphs 0001-0002), the ink container comprising:
An ink accommodating unit formed of a plurality of layers and configured to accommodate the ink (Figures 1-2; Paragraphs 0018-0023)
An ink supply unit (Figure 1) configured to supply the ink in the ink accommodating unit to an outside of the ink accommodating unit (Figure 1; Paragraphs 0024-0025)
Miyaguchi discloses it is known in the art to use recycled materials for bags containing liquids (Paragraph 0001, 0103-0105)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Miyaguchi into the device of Hida, for the purpose of preventing bag breakage at the time of transportation and storage
Regarding claim 2, the ink supply unit is formed of a plurality of layers, and at least one layer not in contact with the ink among the plurality of layers (Figures 1-2; Paragraphs 0019, 0021, 0023)
Miyaguchi discloses it is known in the art to use recycled materials for bags containing liquids (Paragraph 0001, 0103-0105)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Miyaguchi into the device of Hida, for the purpose of preventing bag breakage at the time of transportation and storage
Regarding claim 3, Hida discloses the layers of the ink accommodating unit comprise an outer layer (6), an intermediate layer (9), and an inner layer (7), the intermediate layer is between the outer layer and the inner layer (Figures 1-2; Paragraphs 0019, 0021, 0023)
Miyaguchi discloses it is known in the art to use recycled materials for bags containing liquids (Paragraph 0001, 0103-0105)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Miyaguchi into the intermediate layer and device of Hida, for the purpose of preventing bag breakage at the time of transportation and storage
Regarding claim 4, Hida discloses the layers of the ink accommodating unit comprise an outer layer (6), an intermediate layer (9), and an inner layer (7), the intermediate layer is between the outer layer and the inner layer (Figures 1-2; Paragraphs 0019, 0021, 0023)
Miyaguchi discloses it is known in the art to use recycled materials for bags containing liquids (Paragraph 0001, 0103-0105)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Miyaguchi into the outer layer and device of Hida, for the purpose of preventing bag breakage at the time of transportation and storage
Regarding claim 7, the intermediate layer is formed of a plurality of layers (Paragraph 0022)
Miyaguchi discloses it is known in the art to use recycled materials for bags containing liquids (Paragraph 0001, 0103-0105)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Miyaguchi into the outer layer and device of Hida, for the purpose of preventing bag breakage at the time of transportation and storage
Regarding claim 8, wherein the plurality of layers of the intermediate layer are at least one selected from the group consisting of a polyethylene terephthalate layer, a printing layer (ink receiving layer), a silica depositing layer, a nylon layer, a polyethylene layer, and an EVOH (ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin) layer (Paragraphs 0021-0023)
Regarding claim 9, the ink supply unit comprises a protective layer (7) on a surface which is to contact the ink (Paragraphs 0019, 0021)
Regarding claim 10, wherein the protective layer includes silicone (Paragraphs 0019, 0021; any material used as a base material for bags can be used)
Regarding claim 11, wherein the protective layer includes an organo-modified silicone (Paragraphs 0019, 0021; any material used as a base material for bags can be used)
Regarding claim 13, wherein the ink container is a pillow type ink pack or a gusseted type ink pack (Figure 1)
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hida (JP 2007055139) as modified by Miyaguchi (U.S. Pub. 2016/0002419) and further in view of Jones et al (U.S. Pub. 2022/0024191)
Regarding claim 12, It is known in the art for recycled material to have a higher haze value when compared to non-recycled material. Jones discloses recycled material (Films 2 and 3) with a higher haze value compared with non-recycled material (Film 1) (Table 1; Paragraph 0054)
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 recycled material into the device of Hida as modified by Miyaguchi, for the purpose of reducing environmental costs due to packaging material
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 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.
The primary reason for the indication of allowable subject matter of claims 5-6 is the inclusion of the limitation of the inner layer includes the recycled plastic material; and the inner layer has a protective layer on a surface which is to contact the ink; and the protective layer is a virgin material which is identical to a virgin material of the inner layer. It is this limitation found in each of the claims, as it is claimed in the combination, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record which makes these claims allowable over the prior art.
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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/JASON S UHLENHAKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 September 29, 2026
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