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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on November 15, 2022, January 27, 2023, and July 22, 2024 have been received and considered by the Examiner.
Response to Amendment
The following section is in reference to the Applicant’s Amendments, filed on January 27, 2026
The Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, Species I, and Subspecies I (Claims 32-39) is acknowledged.
The Applicant’s cancellation of Claims 33-35 and 37-39 is acknowledged
The Applicant’s amendments of Claims 32 and 36 are acknowledged
Claim Objections
Claim 32 is objected to because of the following informalities: “wherein the first metal is wherein the first metal layer” should read “”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 32 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
A broad range or limitation together with a narrow range or limitation that falls within the broad range or limitation (in the same claim) may be considered indefinite if the resulting claim does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. See MPEP § 2173.05(c).
In the present instance, Claim 32 recites the broad recitation “wherein the plurality of micro-holes are less than or equal to three micrometers in diameter each”, and the claim also recites “wherein the diameter of each of the plurality of micro-holes is between one micrometer and three micrometers” which is the narrower statement of the range/limitation. The claim is considered indefinite because there is a question or doubt as to whether the feature introduced by such narrower language is (a) merely exemplary of the remainder of the claim, and therefore not required, or (b) a required feature of the claims.
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 32 and 36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo et al. (US 20180117370 A1, hereinafter “Seo”) in view of Cozean et al. (US 9186472 B2, hereinafter “Cozean”).
Regarding Claim 32, as best understood based on the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) issue identified above, Seo discloses: An article of manufacture (Paragraph 0001, The present disclosure relates to a mask, and more particularly, to a mask having a built-in adsorptive membrane capable of adsorbing ionic foreign substances and ultrafine foreign substances, thus improving the purification performance of contaminated air, and thereby being used as a mask for various purposes) comprising:
a first layer (Paragraph 0061, a mask body 510 having a built-in adsorptive membrane 100) that includes
at least one metal material (Paragraph 0114, the adsorptive membrane including the support member can be subjected to a silver yarn stitching process to realize an adsorptive membrane having antibacterial properties by the stitched silver yarn. Here, the silver yarn stitching process may be performed on one or both of the support member and the adsorptive member of the adsorptive membrane),
and a plurality of micro-holes (Paragraph 0100, Referring to FIG. 9, an adsorptive membrane applied to a mask according to the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a support member 110 having a plurality of first pores; a first adsorptive member 120 stacked on an upper surface of the support member 110 and having a plurality of second pores formed therein and made by accumulating ion exchange nanofibers for adsorbing foreign substances; and a second adsorptive member 130 stacked on an upper surface of the first adsorptive member 120 and having a plurality of third pores formed therein and made by accumulating nanofibers containing an antibacterial substance),
wherein the plurality of micro-holes are less than or equal to three micrometers in diameter each (Paragraph 0087, a plurality of ultrafine pores (i.e., second pores) are formed between the ion exchange nanofibers that are accumulated randomly in the adsorptive member 120 which is formed by accumulating the ion exchange nanofibers in the support member 110), (Paragraph 0038, In addition, the second pore size may be 3 μm or less),
and wherein the first layer is shaped as a facial mask that can cover a nose and a mouth of a user (Paragraph 0066, the mouth and nose are masked by and covered with the mask 500 having the built-in adsorptive membrane according to the embodiment of the present disclosure as shown in FIG. 3);
and a second layer (Figure 2, outer skin 511) that matches the shape of the first metallic layer (Paragraph 0062, As shown in FIG. 2, the mask body 510 includes an outer skin 511 exposed to the external air; an inner skin 512 fixed to the outer skin 511 and contacting the face; and an adsorptive membrane 100 disposed between the outer skin 511 and the inner skin 512),
and wherein the diameter of each of the plurality of micro-holes is between one micrometer and three micrometers (Paragraph 0038, In addition, the second pore size may be 3 μm or less).
Seo broadly describes the material composition of the second layer (Figure 2, outer skin 511) as being a woven fabric or “made of a material that is not easily deformed, deteriorated, or abraded by the rough external air” (Paragraph 0065). However, Seo does no explicitly disclose: wherein the second layer includes at least one of: a metallic material, a plastic, an electrical insulator, a metal foam, and a metal textile
Cozean does disclose wherein the second layer includes at least one of: a metallic material, a plastic, an electrical insulator, a metal foam, and a metal textile and wherein the second layer has a distinct material composition in relation to the first metallic layer (Column 18, lines 7-13, The outer shield may provide N95 or N99 filtration. In one embodiment, the mask filters at least about 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%, 99%, 99.9%, or 100% of airborne particles. The outer shield layer may comprise 100% synthetic fiber. Examples of synthetic fibers include those described herein, and other synthetic fibers well known in the art (e.g., polyester, rayon, acrylic, nylon, dacron))
Both Seo and Cozean disclose multi-layered face masks with metal materials incorporated therein. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to modify the teachings of Seo to provide a more distinct material composition for the second layer that provides additional protection and particulate filtration for a user.
Seo discloses wherein the first metal is wherein the first metal layer is substantially silver-based (Paragraph 0055, the membrane contains the adsorptive member formed by accumulating nanofibers containing a large number of pores and antibacterial substances, or the membrane undergoes a silver yarn stitching process, to thus improve an antibacterial property) but does not disclose the layer being substantially copper based.
Cozean does disclose wherein the first metal is wherein the first metal layer is substantially copper based (Column 18, lines 14-21, The copper layer may act as a catalytic converter. The copper layer may comprise one or more fibers and powdered copper. In one embodiment, the fiber comprises about 40% wood pulp and about 60% synthetic fiber. The powdered copper may be present on the fiber in an amount ranging from about 100% w/w to about 500% w/w, preferably from about 200% w/w to about 400% w/w, and more preferably about 250% w/w).
Both Seo and Cozean disclose multi-layered face masks with metal materials incorporated therein. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate a copper-based metal layer as taught by Cozean, so as to provide an art-recognized antimicrobial filter material that can additional provide odor eliminating properties (Column 13, lines 10-20, In one embodiment, the odor eliminating fibers contain at least one odor eliminating component selected from silver, copper and a metallic compound thereof, and a content of silver and/or copper is 0.1% by weight or more of the total fiber substrate. In one embodiment, the odor eliminating fibers comprises an odor eliminating component-containing crosslinked acrylate fibers containing at least one odor eliminating component selected from silver, copper and a metallic compound thereof, and content of a silver and/or copper is 0.1% by weight or more of the total acrylate fibers).
Regarding Claim 36, Seo in view of Cozean discloses all of the limitations of Claim 32. Seo further discloses: a third layer (Figure 2, inner skin 512) that matches the shape of both of the first metallic layer and the second metallic layer (Paragraph 0062, As shown in FIG. 2, the mask body 510 includes an outer skin 511 exposed to the external air; an inner skin 512 fixed to the outer skin 511 and contacting the face; and an adsorptive membrane 100 disposed between the outer skin 511 and the inner skin 512),
and wherein the third layer has a different material composition from both of the first metallic layer and the second layer (Paragraph 0064,The outer skin 511 and the inner skin 512 may be made of a material having pores through which the air transferred from the outside of the mask can pass. The outer skin 511 and the inner skin 512 may be formed of the same material or different materials), (Paragraph 0065, For example, the outer skin 511 and the inner skin 512 may employ a fabric using warp and weft yarns […] The inner skin 511 may be made of a material that does not cause side effects on the contact face)
As with the second layer, Cozean more explicitly discloses wherein the third layer has a distinct material composition from both of the first metallic layer and the second layer (Column 18, lines 51-63, The chemical layer may allow breath-activated odor removal. The chemical layer comprises one or more fibers and one or more odor-removing chemicals, which may be breath-activated, such as citric acid, chitosan, MSM and other compounds. In one embodiment, the chitosan, citric acid and MSM may be present on the fiber in amounts of about 50% w/w, about 40% w/w and about 30% w/w, with the remainder being one or more other compounds. The facial layer may provide soft facial protection. The facial layer may comprise 100% synthetic fiber. In one embodiment, natural fibers are used, alone or in combination with synthetic fibers)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kuhn (US 20170106217 A1) discloses a face mask composed of cidal metals and metal alloys, including a copper mesh
Reed et al. (US 20210322802 A1) discloses a filter assembly comprised of breathable layers of copper and silver
Gao et al. (CN 204763512 U) discloses a face mask with a metal foil layer having a pore size between 0.05-10 microns.
Kim et al. (KR 20170025754 A) discloses a sterilization mask with a copper mesh filter
Kim et al. (KR 100931407 B1) discloses a layered antimicrobial mask with metal nanoparticles
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MISHAL Z HUSSAIN whose telephone number is (703)756-1206. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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/MISHAL HUSSAIN/
Examiner
Art Unit 3785
/BRANDY S LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3785