Ex Parte Watanabe et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Aug 25, 2017

13822433 (P.T.A.B. Aug. 25, 2017)

United States Patent and Trademark Office
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O.Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www.uspto.gov
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
13/822,433 03/12/2013 Naohiro Watanabe 412897US99PCT 5326
22850 7590 08/29/2017
OBLON, MCCLELLAND, MAIER & NEUSTADT, L.L.P.
1940 DUKE STREET
ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314
EXAMINER
LE, HOA VAN
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
1721
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
08/29/2017 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address(es):
patentdocket @ oblon. com
oblonpat @ oblon. com
tfarrell@oblon.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte NAOHIRO WATANABE,
TSUYOSHI SUGIMOTO, MAMORU HOZUMI,
TOMOYUKI SATO, and SHINYA HANATANI
Appeal 2016-005113
Application 13/822,433
Technology Center 1700
Before GEORGE C. BEST, CHRISTOPHER C. KENNEDY, and
BRIAN D. RANGE, Administrative Patent Judges.
BEST, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
The Examiner finally rejected claims 1,2, 10—13, and 15—17 from
Application 13/822,433 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious. Final Act. 1
(June 19, 2015). Appellants1 seek reversal of these rejections pursuant to
35 U.S.C. § 134(a). We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6.
For the reasons set forth below, we reverse.
1 Ricoh Co., Ltd., is identified as the real party in interest. Appeal Br. 2.
Appeal 2016-005113
Application 13/822,433
BACKGROUND
The ’433 Application describes a toner/developer used for visualizing
a latent electrostatic image in electrophotography, electrostatic recording,
electrostatic printing, or the like. Spec. 1. The toner described in the ’433
Application is intended to have excellent low temperature fixing ability and
desirable offset resistance while being capable of forming high-quality
images with excellent sharpness over a long period without causing filming
of the crystalline polyester resin. Id. at 11.
Claim 1 is representative of the ’433 Application’s claims and is
reproduced below from the Claims Appendix of the Appeal Brief with the
claim limitations at issue italicized.
1. A toner, comprising:
a binder resin;
a colorant;
a releasing agent having a melting point of 60°C to 75°C;
and
a crystalline polyester resin having a melting point of
60°C to 80°C, wherein the toner satisfies Formulae (1), (2),
and (3):
40°C