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 .
Withdrawn Rejections
Any rejections and or objections, made in the previous Office Action, and not repeated below, are hereby withdrawn due to Applicant’s amendments and/or arguments in the response dated November 24, 2025. However, new rejections may have been made using the same prior art if still applicable to the newly presented amendments and/or arguments.
Claim Status
The status of claims is not in accordance with Rule 1.121 (c)(5) which states that “Reinstatement of previously canceled claim. A claim which was previously canceled may be reinstated only by adding the claim as a "new" claim with a new claim number.”. Applicant canceled claims 7 – 9 and 14 in the Request for Continued Examination dated May 16, 2025. In this response, they are listed as being withdrawn, which is a change of status that cannot occur. Therefore, claims 7 – 9 and 14 remain cancelled unless Applicant presents them as new claims. If that occurs, they will still remain as restricted due Election by original presentation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 4, 6, 10 – 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 1 has been amended to contain the limitation “wherein the second adhesive layer provides the same adhesive function as the first adhesive layer”. This limitation is not supported by the originally filed specification as it is silent with regard to both layers doing the same function.
Claims 4, 6, 10 – 13 and 16 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, due to their dependency on the above rejected claim.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 4, 6, 10 – 13 and 16 are 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.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "release layer" in claim 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The limitation “wherein the second adhesive layer provides the same adhesive function as the first adhesive layer” in claim 1 is unclear, which renders the claim vague and indefinite. It is unclear from the above phrase and the specification what is meant by the term “same adhesive function”.
Claims 4, 6, 10 – 13 and 16 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, due to their dependency on the above rejected claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 4, 6, 10 – 13, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Singh et al. (USPN 10,328,670).
Singh et al. discloses a multi-use adhesive tape (Figures; Abstract) including: a) a first backing layer (Figure 9 C, #24); b) a first adhesive layer on at least part of a surface of the first backing layer (Figure 9 C, #18); c) a second backing layer (Figure 9 C, #12); and, d) a second adhesive layer on at least part of a surface of the second backing layer (Figure 9 C, #14), wherein the second adhesive layer is releasably engaged with the first backing layer (Figure 9 C, #35) and wherein the tape is configured to :i) adhere the first adhesive layer, the first backing layer, the second adhesive layer and the second backing layer to an article using the first adhesive layer (Figure 7); and, ii) remove from the article, release the second backing layer and second adhesive layer from the first backing layer and directly adhere the second backing layer and the second adhesive layer to the article without the first backing layer using the second adhesive layer (Figure 7, wherein adhesive may be adhered to any surface); wherein the second adhesive layer provides the same adhesive function as the first adhesive (Figure 7, wherein adhesive may be adhered to any surface); wherein the first adhesive layer extends over at least part of a first surface of the first backing layer (Figure 4, #24); and the second adhesive layer is releasably engaged directly onto and in contact with a second surface of the first backing layer (Figure 4, #14); wherein the second adhesive layer extends over part of at least one of the first and second backing layers to thereby facilitate separation of the second adhesive layer from the first backing layer (Figures 9C) as in claim 1. With respect to claim 4, a) the first adhesive layer extends over a first part of a first surface of the first backing layer; and, b) the second adhesive layer is releasably engaged with a second part of the first surface of the first backing layer (Figures 4, #12, 14, 24, and 18). Regarding claim 6, the tape includes: a) a first tape portion including: i) the first backing layer; and, ii) the first adhesive layer on at least part of a surface of the first backing layer; and, b) a second tape portion including: i) the second backing layer; and, ii) the second adhesive layer, wherein the second adhesive layer is releasably engaged with the first backing layer so that the first and second tape portions can be separated and wherein the tape is configured so that after removal from the article, the first and second tape portions can be separated so that the second tape portion can be applied to the article using the second adhesive layer (Figures 4, #12, 14, 24, and 18; Figure 7, wherein adhesive may be adhered to any surface). For claim 10, the release layer includes silicone films (Column 4, lines 31 – 39). In claim 11, at least one of the first backing layer and the second backing layer includes at least one of the woven fabric, non-woven fabric, paper, plastic, polypropylene, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyamide, engineering thermoplastics, and thermoplastic elastomers (Column 3, line 55 to Column line 6; Column 4, line 55 to Column 5, line 10). With regard to claim 12, the adhesive layers include at least one of pressure sensitive adhesive (Column 6, lines 22 – 67). As in claim 13, the adhesive layer include at least one of rubber/resins, epoxies, urethanes, diene rubber, natural rubber, polyisobutylene, butyl rubber, thermoplastic elastomer, block copolymers, styrene-isoprene and styrene-isoprene-styrene (SIS) block copolymers, ethylene-propylene-diene polymers, styrene-butadiene polymers , silicone, ethylene-containing copolymers, polyurethane, epoxy, and polyester (Column 6, lines 38 – 67). With respect to claim 16, the article includes a box, and wherein the tape is configured to close the box with the first adhesive layer and subsequently reclose the box with the second adhesive layer (Figure 7; Abstract; A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. The adhesive of Singh et al. may be adhered to a variety of surfaces, including a box.).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 4, 6, 10 – 13, and 16 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
The prior art made of record on the PTO-892 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art is cited to show layer adhesive products with multiple adhesive layers and multiple substrate layers.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Patricia L Nordmeyer whose telephone number is (571)272-1496. The examiner can normally be reached 10am - 6:30pm EST, Monday - Friday.
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/Patricia L. Nordmeyer/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1788
/pln/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1788 December 11, 2025