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 May 19, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 8-14 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 May 19, 2026.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan on February 16, 2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the JP 2023-022852 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/16/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ishida (US 2018/0282567, cited on IDS).
Regarding claims 1 and 2, Ishida teaches a pretreatment liquid for use in ink jet pigment textile printing, containing a resin dispersion, a cross-linker, a lubricant, and water (Abstract). Examples of the resin dispersion include urethane resin dispersions, and the resin dispersion may be a nonionic dispersion ([0106], [0110]). The cross-linker may be a compound having a plurality of oxazoline groups [0113]. Ishida further teaches that the pretreatment liquid preferably contains a cationic compound which acts as an aggregating agent to improve the color developability of a printed textile [0133].
Regarding claim 4, Ishida teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above and further teaches that the cross-linker content of the pretreatment liquid may be 10% or less and 0.1% or more by mass of the total mass of the pretreatment liquid, preferably 3% or less and 1% or more by mass ([0115]), which falls squarely within the claimed range of 0.10% by mass to 5.00% by mass.
Regarding claims 5-7, Ishida teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above and further teaches an ink composition usable together with the pretreatment liquid, thus constituting an ink set [0050]. The ink composition contains a pigment as a coloring material, wherein examples of the pigment include titanium oxide and other white pigments ([0052], [0054]). The ink composition also contains a resin dispersion, such as urethane resins having a carboxy group ([0063]-[0066]).
Claims 1, 2, and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li (US 2025/0002739).
Regarding claims 1 and 2, Li teaches an ink fluid set containing an aqueous primer coating fluid (pretreatment liquid) and an aqueous inkjet ink, wherein the aqueous primer coating fluid comprises two parts that are mixed together prior to application to form a coating on a print substrate (Abstract). Part A of the 2-part primer coating fluid contains an ink aggregating agent and a polymeric binder, wherein the suitable polymeric binders include non-ionic polymers such as polyurethane dispersions (nonionic urethane resin) ([0042], [0053]). Part B of the primer coating fluid comprises a co-reactant (crosslinking agent) which can undergo chemical reaction with Part A, wherein suitable co-reactants can include monomers, oligomers, and polymers with functionalities selected from polyisocyanate, epoxy, epoxy silane, carbodiimide, and mixtures thereof [0060].
Regarding claims 5-7, Li teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above. As noted above, Li teaches an ink fluid set containing an aqueous primer coating fluid (pretreatment liquid) and an aqueous inkjet ink or inkjet ink set (Abstract). Li teaches that the ink set comprises at least two differently colored inks, at least one of which is a white pigmented inkjet ink ([0065], [0075]). The pigmented ink comprises an aqueous ink vehicle and an ink binder, where examples of the ink binder polymer include polyurethane polymers such as Takelac® WS5100, Takelac® WS4022, Takelac® W5030, XW-Um601 and XW-Um602A from Mitsui Chemicals and acrylic polymers such as Joncryl® FLX5000-A, Joncryl® FLX5220 and Joncryl® FLX5026A from BASF ([0091], [0094]), each of which corresponds to a resin having a carboxy group.
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 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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishida (US 2018/0282567, cited on IDS) as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 3, Ishida teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above and further teaches that the cross-linker content of the pretreatment liquid may be 10% or less and 0.1% or more by mass of the total mass of the pretreatment liquid, preferably 3% or less and 1% or more by mass, while the resin dispersion content of the pretreatment liquid may be 20% or less and 1% or more by mass of the total mass of the pretreatment liquid, preferably 5% or less and 2% or more by mass ([0111], [0115]). The content of the crosslinking agent with respect to a total amount of the urethane resin is therefore calculated as 10% by mass to 150% by mass (i.e., 1% crosslinker / 5% resin to 3% crosslinker / 2% resin).
Ishida therefore teaches a range for the content of the crosslinking agent relative to the amount of the urethane resin which overlaps the claimed range. It is well settled that where the prior art describes the components of a claimed compound or compositions in concentrations within or overlapping the claimed concentrations, a prima facie case of obviousness is established. See MPEP 2144.05(I).
Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 2025/0002739) as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claims 3 and 4, Li teaches all of the limitations of claim 1 above and further teaches that the mixing ratio of Part A and Part B is typically in the range of from 100:1 to 100:20, preferably 100:1 to 100:15, based on the total weights of Part A and Part B [0042]. The polymeric binder (nonionic urethane resin) is typically used at levels of at least about 5% and no more than about 50%, preferably at least about 10% and no more than about 40%, based on the total weight of Part A [0056]. The amount of co-reactant (crosslinking agent) is typically in the range of 70% to 100% based on the total weight of Part B [0060].
When the content of polymeric binder in Part A is 40%, the content of co-reactant in Part B is 70%, and the mixing ratio of Parts A and B is 100:1, the content of crosslinking agent with respect to a total amount of the polymeric binder is calculated as about 1.8% by mass, and the content of crosslinking agent with respect to a total amount of the primer coating fluid is about 0.7% by mass. When the content of polymeric binder in Part A is 100%, the content of co-reactant in Part B is 10%, and the mixing ratio of Parts A and B is 100:20, the content of crosslinking agent with respect to a total amount of the polymeric binder is calculated as about 150% by mass, and the content of crosslinking agent with respect to a total amount of the primer coating fluid is about 13% by mass.
Li therefore teaches ranges for the content of the crosslinking agent relative to the amount of the urethane resin and relative to the amount of the pretreatment liquid which overlap the claimed ranges. It is well settled that where the prior art describes the components of a claimed compound or compositions in concentrations within or overlapping the claimed concentrations, a prima facie case of obviousness is established. See MPEP 2144.05(I).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to REBECCA L GRUSBY whose telephone number is (571) 272-1564. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM-5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Ruthkosky can be reached at (571) 272-1291. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Rebecca L Grusby/Examiner, Art Unit 1785
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