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 .
Claims 1-13 are pending. Claims 3-5 and 8-13 have been amended. Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-10 in the reply filed on October 4, 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 11-13 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakayama (JP2005082902A).
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 does not teach all the claimed limitations in a single embodiment but one of ordinary skill in the art can arrive at applicant’s invention by selecting the claimed limitations from the teachings of Nakayama.
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakayama (JP2005082902A) in view of Kanamori (JP2001354902A).
Nakayama is relied upon as set forth above.
Nakayama does not specify the textile has hydroxyl and carboxyl groups and that the surface treatment layer is bound through hydroxyl and carboxyl groups.
Kanamori teaches that aminopropyltrimethyoxysilanes 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, 0043).
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 aminopropyltrimethyoxysilanes the bonding occurs via reaction with the hydroxyl and carboxyl groups on the polyester.
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakayama (JP2005082902A) in view of Ito (JP2003171874A).
Nakayama is relied upon as set forth above.
Nakayama does 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 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 Katsuhiro (US 5,730,995).
Nakayama is relied upon as set forth above.
Nakayama does 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 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).
Conclusion
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