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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-10 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2002068440 A to Oishi (hereinafter “Oishi’) (copy of original document and translation were included with the previous Office action) in view of Ennis et al, U.S. Patent No. 5,529,590.
Referring to Applicant’s independent claims 1 and 9, Oishi teaches a composite belt (See Abstract of Oishi) comprising 1) a woven fabric which is impregnated with an impregnation (6) comprising a urethane resin (par. [0007] of Oishi); the fabric comprising:
a) a first layer (A) of first uncrimped weft multifilaments (301-308) running essentially in parallel to each other and being spaced apart from each other by a distance D (pars. [0008-12]; FIGS. 1-7 of Oishi);
b) a second layer (B) of second uncrimped weft multifilaments (309-316) of the type of the first uncrimped weft multifilaments (301-308) running essentially in parallel to each other and being spaced apart from each other by said distance D (pars. [0008-12]; FIGS. 1-7 of Oishi);
wherein for each of the first uncrimped weft multifilaments (301 -308) there is one corresponding second uncrimped weft multifilament (809-316), and vice versa, to form successive multifilament pairs (301/309, 302/310, 303/311, 304/312, 305/313, 306/314, 307/315, 308/316) in which multifilament pairs the centres of adjacent uncrimped weft multifilaments are separated by a distance H perpendicularly to said D (pars. [0008-12]; FIGS. 1-7 of Oishi), each such successive multifilament pair being designable with a unique and ascending integer index N (pars. [0008-12]; FIGS. 1-7 of Oishi);
c) crimped warp filaments (41-44) having one of the following weave types c 1-c4 (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi);
c1 - entwine around first uncrimped weft multifilaments (302, 306) of all multifilament pairs (302/310, 306/314) with indexes N fulfilling (N mod 4) =0, such indexes N being designated as Na (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); pass between first (303, 307) and second (311, 315) uncrimped weft multifilaments of all multifilament pairs (303/311, 307/315) with indexes N fulfilling (N mod 4) =1, such indexes N being designated as Nx (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); entwine around second uncrimped weft multifilaments (312, 316) of all multifilament pairs (304/312, 308/316) with indexes N fulfilling (N mod 4) = 2, such indexes N being designated as Nc (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); and pass between first (801, 305) and second (309, 313) uncrimped 2 weft multifilaments of all multifilament pairs (801/309, 305/313) with indexes N fulfilling (N mod 4) = 3, such indexes N being designated as ND (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi);
or
c2 - entwine around second uncrimped weft multifilaments (310, 314) of all multifilament pairs with said indexes Nag (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); pass between first (303, 307) and second (311,315) uncrimped weft multifilaments of all multifilament pairs (303/311, 307/315) with said indexes Ng (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); entwine around first uncrimped weft multifilaments (304, 308) of all multifilament pairs (304/3 12, 308/316) with said indexes Nc (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); and pass between first and second uncrimped weft multifilaments of all multifilament pairs (301 /3809, 305/313) with said indexes ND (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi);
or
c3 - pass between first (802, 306) and second (310, 314) uncrimped weft multifilaments of all multifilament pairs (302/310, 306/314) with said index NA (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); entwine around first uncrimped weft multifilaments (303, 307) of all multifilament pairs (303/311, 307/315) with said indexes NB: (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); pass between first (304, 308) and second (312,316) uncrimped weft multifilaments (304/312, 308/316) of all multifilament pairs with said indexes NC (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); and entwine around second uncrimped weft multifilaments (309, 313) of all multifilament pairs (801/309, 305/313) with said indexes ND (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi);
or
c4 - pass between first (802, 306) and second (310, 314) uncrimped weft multifilaments of all multifilament pairs (302/310, 306/314) with said indexes NA (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); entwine around second uncrimped weft multifilaments (311, 315) of all multifilament pairs (303/311, 307/315) with said indexes NB: (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); pass between first (8304, 308) and second (312,316) uncrimped weft multifilaments of all multifilament pairs (304/312, 308/316) with said indexes NC (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi); and entwine around first uncrimped weft multifilaments (301, 305) of all multifilament pairs (301/309, 305/313) with said indexes ND (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi);
d) uncrimped warp filaments (1) passing between first (301-308) and second (309-3 16) uncrimped weft multifilaments of all multifilament pairs (301/309, 302/310, 303/311, 304/312, 305/313, 306/314, 307/315, 308/316) (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi).
As independent claim 1 recites “e) optionally, crimped antistatic warp filaments...”, the aforementioned claim limitation, starting from page 3, line 27 to page 4, line 5, is not required and need not be present.
Oishi differs from the claimed invention because it does not teach providing an abrasive layer on top of the fabric belt as claimed, although Oishi teaches providing coatings as necessary according to the application of the belt, See paragraph 0011.
However, Ennis teaches an endless abrasive article, (belt), comprising a flexible substrate layer and a layer of abrasive particles which can be embedded in the top resin layer of the structure. See col. 3, lines 34-49.
Since polyurethane is used as the impregnating material in Oishi, it meets the limitation that the layer is the same as the layer which impregnates the fabric.
Referring to Applicant’s claim 2, the combination of references renders the claim obvious; this is because Oishi teaches each uncrimped warp filament (1) is separated in weft direction from the next uncrimped warp filament (1) by an even number of crimped warp filaments (41-44) (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi), said even number being at least 2 (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi). The exemplary abrasive product taught by Oishi anticipates Applicant's claimed ranges. The exemplary abrasive product taught by Oishi anticipates Applicant's claimed ranges of “an even number” and “at least 2”. MPEP 2131.03 [R-10.2019] (I)
Referring to Applicant’s claim 3, the combination of references is seen to render the claim obvious; this is because Oishi teaches each uncrimped warp filament (1) is sandwiched in weft direction by two immediately adjacent crimped warp filaments (42,43) (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi).
Referring to Applicant’s claim 4, the combination of references is seen to render the claim obvious; this is because Oishi teaches the crimped warp filaments of weave types cl (41) and c2 (42) defined in claim 1 are always present pairwise and immediately adjacent to each other in weft direction (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi), and the crimped warp filaments of weave types c3 (43) and c4 (44) defined in claim | are always present pairwise and immediately adjacent to each other in weft direction (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi).
Referring to Applicant’s claim 5, the combination of references is seen to render the claim obvious; this is because Oishi teaches the numerical ratio of crimped warp filaments c) (41-44) to uncrimped warp filaments d) (1) is in the range of 4:1 to 12:1 (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi).
Referring to Applicant’s claim 6, the combination of references is seen to render the claim obvious; this is because Oishi teaches the crimped warp filaments c) (41, 42, 43, 44) and the uncrimped warp filaments d) (4) are arranged in repetitive units in weft direction (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi), in which repetitive units the order in which the uncrimped warp filaments d) (1) and the crimped warp filaments of above weave types c 1 (41), c2 (42), c3 (43) and c4 (44) are arranged in weft direction is always the same (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi).
Referring to Applicant’s claim 7, the combination of references renders the claim obvious; this is because Oishi teaches the abrasive product comprises the crimped antistatic warp filaments e) (pars. [0005-6], [0009]; FIGS. 1 and 5-7 of Oishi).
Referring to Applicant’s claim 8, the combination of references renders the claim obvious; this is because Oishi teaches the abrasive product consists of first uncrimped weft multifilaments a) (801-308), second uncrimped weft multifilaments b) (309- 316), crimped warp filaments c) (41-44), uncrimped warp filaments d) (1) (pars. [0008-9]; FIG. 7 of Oishi). As dependent claim 8 recites “optional crimped antistatic warp filaments e)”, the aforementioned claim limitation is not required and need not be present.
Referring to Applicant’s claim 10, the combination of references renders the claim obvious; this is in particular because Oishi teaches endless belt and in which the combination of references renders an abrasive belt obvious (pars. [0008-12]; FIGS. 1-4 and 7 of Oishi; wherein the warp direction of the fabric is in the travel direction of the belt (pars. [0008-12]; FIGS. 1-4 and 7 of Oishi).
Referring to Applicant’s claim 15, Oishi and Ennis both teach employing polyurethane resins.
Claims 11-14 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 for the reasons set forth in the previous action.
Applicant's arguments filed 3/1/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Ennis does not teach applying the abrasive particles by an adhesive coating. However, even if Ennis does not clearly teach the hot melt bonds the particles to the belt, it does teach that the abrasive particles can be embedded into the resin layer. See col. 3, lines 34-49. Therefore, even if the layers of Ennis are different from those of Oishi, the teaching of Ennis of applying the abrasive particles into the resin layer would still be pertinent to the invention of Oishi.
Applicant argues that Oishi’s layers are thermoplastic while Ennis teaches thermoset materials. However, in either case, the teaching of embedding the particles into the resin would be pertinent as a way to improve the belt of Oishi.
Since the rationale for the rejection has been modified even though the references remain the same, this action is not made final.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. WO-9011870-A1 discloses a belt including an abrasive layer but does not teach the particularly claimed fabric.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH M IMANI whose telephone number is (571)272-1475. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Wednesday 7AM-7:30; Thursday 10AM -2 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marla McConnell can be reached at 571-270-7692. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ELIZABETH M IMANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
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