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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on September 23, 2025 has been entered. Claim 1 has been amended. Accordingly, Claims 1 and 4-15 are currently pending in the application, with Claims 13-15 withdrawn from consideration.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1, 4-9, 11, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0292148 to Pourdeyhimi et al. (“Pourdeyhimi”) in view of U.S. Patent No. 6,264,879 to Addie et al. (“Addie”).
With regard to Claim 1, Pourdeyhimi discloses an artificial leather substrate comprising a composite nonwoven web formed using one or more fiber components, leather shavings, and/or pulverized leather trim scrap. See, e.g., Abstract, entire document. Pourdeyhimi discloses the artificial leather is suitable for use in automobile upholstery. Paragraphs [0006] and [0100]. Pourdeyhimi discloses that the artificial leather comprises a composite web 110 layer, which is equated to the claimed regeneration composite layer because it comprises 70%, up to about 80%, by weight of leather shavings and/or pulverized leather scrap, paragraphs [0022] and [0036], with the remaining balance being synthetic monocomponent polyethylene terephthalate fibers. Paragraphs [0017] and [0043]. Pourdeyhimi does not require additional polymer components to be present in the composite web 110 leather. Pourdeyhimi discloses that the artificial leather comprises a lightweight web 115 and a lightweight web 120, which are equated to the claimed physical property reinforcing layer and the skin layer, given the ordering of the layered material. Figures 3A and 3B and paragraphs [0042] to [0045]. Pourdeyhimi discloses that the artificial leather can further include a surface resin, paragraphs [0084] and [0085], which structurally satisfies the claim limitation of a surface-modifying layer. While Pourdeyhimi discloses that the leather shavings and/or pulverized trip scrap is natural leather that can be shredded or milled such that they are small enough to not form clusters, paragraphs [0040] and [0041], Pourdeyhimi does not specifically disclose that the natural leather is in the form of staple fiber. Nonetheless, such a feature is well known in the art and would be obvious to provide. Addie is related to manufacturing reconstituted leather products. See, e.g., Abstract, entire document. Addie teaches that, when making reconstituted leather, it is appropriate to convert the leather scrap into fibers having a staple length. Column 3, line 33 – column 4, line 18. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to utilize staple length natural leather fibers in the artificial leather disclosed by Pourdeyhimi in order to provide natural leather materials with the proper construction suitable for making reconstituted leather, as shown to be known by Addie. With regard to Claims 4 and 5, Pourdeyhimi discloses that the lightweight web 115 can be a nonwoven fabric formed of fiber comprising nylon, PET, PP, or cotton. Paragraphs [0042] to [0045]. With regard to Claims 6 and 7, Pourdeyhimi discloses that the composite web 110 can have a thickness of 0.2 to 5 mm and the light weight web 115 can have a thickness of up to 0.2 mm. Paragraph [0066]. With regard to Claim 8, Pourdeyhimi discloses that the lightweight web 120 can be formed using polyurethane. Paragraph [0045]. With regard to Claim 9, Pourdeyhimi discloses that the lightweight web 120 can have a thickness of up to 0.2 mm. Paragraph [0066]. With regard to Claim 11, Pourdeyhimi discloses that the amount of resin applied to the artificial leather can be less than about 0.5% by weight. Paragraph [0082]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to utilize less than 3.0 g/cf of a wet application of binding resin to form the skin layer of Pourdeyhimi in order to satisfy the desire of Pourdeyhimi to provide the resin layer as thin as possible. With regard to Claim 12, given the stated desire by Pourdeyhimi to use the artificial leather in automobiles, paragraphs [0006] and [0100], it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to form the artificial leather into one or more of an automobile seat, door trim, console, crush pad, or steering wheel, in order to actually implement the product in an automobile, as taught by Pourdeyhimi.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pourdeyhimi in view of Addie, as applied above to Claim 1, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0316977 to Higashikawa (“Higashikawa”).
With regard to Claim 10, Pourdeyhimi does not disclose using a gloss control agent in the resin layer. Higashikawa is also related to decorative surface materials for furniture. See, e.g., Abstract, entire document. Higashikawa teaches that a gloss control agent can be added to urethane-based resins in order to scatter light and provide a matting effect. Paragraphs [0009] and [0010]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to include a gloss control agent in the resin skin layer disclosed by Pourdeyhimi in order to provide a visual matting effect to the material, as shown to be known by Higashikawa.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claims 1 and 4-12 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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JEREMY R. PIERCE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1789
/JEREMY R PIERCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789