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 .
This office action is in response to applicant’s amendments filed April 27, 2026. Claims 1 and 3-10 are pending. Claims 2 and 11-13 have been cancelled. Claim 1 has been amended.
All prior rejections are withdrawn in view of applicant’s amendments to the claims.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 1 and 3-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakayama (JP2005082902A) in view of Kanamori (JP2001354902A) and Yan (CN 109680487).
Nakayama teaches preparing antibacterial garments, or cloth by coating the polyester fabric with aminopropyltrimethoxysilane followed by applying a layer of the zirconium phosphate and the photocatalyst titanium oxide using chemical bonding of the silane to attach the zirconium phosphate to the garment or cloth (paragraph 0008,0015-0018,0021,0024,0028,0036-0037,0041,0047). Nakayama teaches the zirconium phosphate is bonded to the polyester garment or fabric through reaction with hydroxyl groups (paragraph 0041) and the silane bonds to the fabric surface (paragraph 0009) .Nakayama teaches the polyester fabric can be pretreated with plasma (paragraph 0042).
Nakayama does not teach introducing hydroxyl or carboxyl groups and the textile has hydroxyl and carboxyl groups and that the surface treatment layer is bound through hydroxyl and carboxyl groups.
Kanamori teaches that aminopropyltrimethoxysilanes are bonded to polyester by reacting with the carboxyl and hydroxyl group on the polyester to produce coatings which have antibacterial properties (paragraph 0006,0018, 0047).
Yan teaches that plasma treatment on polyester fiber generates hydroxyl and carboxyl groups.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to select the claimed polyester base textile, coat it with aminopropyltrimethoxysilane and then with zirconium phosphate and titanium oxide photocatalyst as Nakayama teaches application of the aminosilane to the textile allows for the zirconium phosphate and titanium oxide to be attached to the textile via bonding involving hydroxyl groups. It would have been obvious to provide these layers to produce an effective antibacterial fabric without deteriorating the antibacterial property even when the fabric is used over a long period. Nakayama teaches the fabrics produced with these components have excellent antibacterial property and do not compromise the texture of the fabric. It would have been obvious that the fabrics of Nakayama would have the amino silane bonded to the polyester through the reaction with hydroxyl and carboxyl groups as the same polyester substrate with the same carboxyl and hydroxyl groups with be expected to react with the aminosilane to bind the aminosilane to the polyester durably. Nakayama specifies the interaction and bonding through hydroxyl groups.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made that the fabrics of Nakayama would have the amino silane bonded to the polyester through the reaction with hydroxyl and carboxyl groups as Kanamori teaches that when polyester is reacted with the same aminopropyltrimethoxysilanes the bonding occurs via reaction with the hydroxyl and carboxyl groups on the polyester.
It would have been obvious to modify the methods of Nakayama by introducing hydroxyl groups onto the surface of the polyester fibers as taught by Yan as Yan teaches plasma pretreatments on polyester fabrics provides the polyester with hydroxyl and carboxyl groups. Nakayama teaches hydroxyl groups are used to bind the zirconium phosphate and the fabric can undergo a plasma pretreatment and Kanamori teaches the hydroxyl and carboxyl groups bind the aminopropyltrimethoxysilanes. Using a known method of plasma treatment to generate additional hydroxyl and carboxyl groups which are essential for bonding of the aminopropyltrimethoxysilanes and zirconium phosphate to the surface of the polyester is obvious.
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakayama (JP2005082902A) in view of Kanamori (JP2001354902A) and Yan (CN 109680487) and further in view of Ito (JP2003171874A).
Nakayama, Kanamori and Yan are relied upon as set forth above.
Nakayama, Kanamori and Yan do not teach protein and sericin functional materials.
Ito teaches that when producing antibacterial polyester fabrics it is advantageous to apply a coating of sericin-fibroin (sericin and protein, page 1, last paragraph).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the polyester antibacterial fabrics of Nakayama, Kanamori and Yan by adding a sericin fibroin (protein) functional material onto the zirconium phosphate layer as Ito teaches sericin-fibroin imparts additional antibacterial and texture smoothness properties to the polyester (paragraph 0006). Nakayama also teaches imparting antibacterial benefits to polyester while maintaining the texture of the fabric. It is prima facie obvious to combine two compositions each of which is taught by the prior art to be useful for the same purpose, in order to form a third composition to be used for the very same purpose, see In re Kerkhoven, 626 F.2d 846,850,205 USPQ 1069, 1072 (CCPA 1980).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakayama (JP2005082902A) in view of Kanamori (JP2001354902A) and Yan (CN 109680487) and further in view of Katsuhiro (US 5,730,995).
Nakayama, Kanamori and Yan are relied upon as set forth above.
Nakayama, Kanamori and Yan do not teach cellulose functional materials.
Katsuhiro teaches that when producing antibacterial polyester fabrics (column 6, lines 25-67) containing zirconium compounds (column 3, lines 1-36; column 5, lines 12-25) it is advantageous to apply a coating of cellulose (column 8, lines 1-5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the polyester antibacterial fabrics of Nakayama, Kanamori and Yan by adding a cellulose functional material onto the zirconium phosphate layer as Katsuhiro teaches cellulose coatings are conventionally used in antibacterial coatings.to form films with the antibacterial agent when coated on a substrate. It is prima facie obvious to combine two compositions each of which is taught by the prior art to be useful for the same purpose, in order to form a third composition to be used for the very same purpose, see In re Kerkhoven, 626 F.2d 846,850,205 USPQ 1069, 1072 (CCPA 1980).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed regarding Nakayama (JP2005082902A) in view of Kanamori (JP2001354902A), as they apply to the new rejections above, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The examiner argues that Nakayama teaches treating polyester fabrics with a plasma treatment and then with aminopropyltrimethoxysilane followed by treatment with zirconium phosphate. Yan teaches that plasma treatment on polyester fibers provides the polyester with carboxyl and hydroxyl groups, which meets the claimed limitation of introducing these groups onto the base fabric surface. Kanamori is simply relied upon to demonstrate a chemical reaction occurs between these components, specifically that the same aminopropyltrimethoxysilane in the presence of polyester reacts with the polyester through carboxyl and hydroxyl group reactions. Since Nakayama and Yan clearly teach the plasma treatment of polyester fabric introduces hydroxyl and carboxyl groups it is obvious that these groups would react with the then applied aminopropyltrimethoxysilane as Nakayama teaches this application and Kamamori just provides evidence that these silanes in the presence of polyester with carboxyl and hydroxyl groups will react. Kanamori is simply relied upon for proof that a reaction between similar chemicals occurs. The same chemicals applied to the same base polyester fabric with the same carboxyl and hydroxyl groups introduced and treated with the same aminopropyltrimethoxysilane followed by treatment with zirconium phosphate using the same photocatalysts would inherently provide the same benefits to the textiles.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMINA S KHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5573. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-5:30pm EST.
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/AMINA S KHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
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