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 34-55 are pending. Claims 1-33 have been cancelled. Applicant's election with traverse of claims 34,36 and 39-53 in the reply filed on December 30, 2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the grounds that the claims do make a contribution over the prior art. This is not found persuasive because as claim 34 is rejected over the prior art cited below. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 35,37,38,54 and 55 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 § 112
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 34,36 and 39-53 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 34 recites “involved in a process for its manufacturing” which renders the claim indefinite. Anything applied to a hide or leather is part of a process for its manufacture as is a process step in the manufacture. Dependent claims teach applying the XRF-identifiable marker in manufacturing steps such as preparatory stages, tanning, dyeing or finishing stages. Claims 36 and 39-53 all described treatment steps which meet the claimed limitation of being involved in a process for leather manufacture and therefore are broader than the limitation of claim 34. Claims 36 and 39-53 are also rejected for being dependent upon claim 34 and inheriting the same deficiency.
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 34,36,43 and 51 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Price (US 2003/0194052).
Price teaches marking leather manufactured from hides with XRF identifiable markers by treating the leather with a formulation comprising at least one XRF-identifiable marker to embed the marker in the leather to obtain a marked hide (abstract, paragraphs 0008, 0025,0031, 0044,0052).Price teach the hide or processed leather is treated more than once (more than one marking session) with different marker formulations wherein each marker provides marking identifying different properties or information (paragraphs 0032,0037, 0039,0065, 0069). Price teach treating leather products in leather tanning and finishing (paragraph 0052). Price teach spraying the marker onto the leather (paragraph 0066, 0070). Price teaches the XRF-identifier can be applied during the article manufacture off after manufacture is complete (paragraph 0069).
Price does not teach all the claimed limitations in a single embodiment but one of ordinary skill in the art could arrive at the claimed invention by selecting from the teachings of Price.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to select the claimed methods steps from the teachings of Price as Price teaches applying one or more XRF-identifiable taggants and spraying or embedding them into a leather or hide used in leather tanning or finishing is an effective way of providing different pieces of information about the leather or hide and more than one taggant coding for more than one property or data about the hide or leather. Using known XRF-identifiable tagging materials and applying them in one or more sessions on different parts of the leather or the hide permits the markers to be used to provide information about the hide and leather based on the particulars of the XRF-marker. Price teaches this is an effective method for giving detailed information about the hide or leather and providing a means to ensure security and authenticity.
Claim 45 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Price (US 2003/0194052) in view of Hein (US 2020/0080162) and further in view of Lin (CN 104499318).
Price is relied upon as set forth above.
Price does not teach ultrasonic baths.
Lin teaches when coating leather with pigments it is effective to apply the composition by ultrasonic treatment to make the leather soft, loose and open the leather structure to receive the pigment coating with enhanced penetration(abstract, paragraph 0010).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the methods of Price by using ultrasonic bath treatment of the leather with the XRF-identifier as Lin teaches ultrasonic treatment makes the leather soft, loose and opens the leather structure to receive the pigment coating with enhanced penetration.
Claims 46-50,52 and 53 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Price (US 2003/0194052) in view of Zalich (WO 2017/116547).
Price is relied upon as set forth above.
Price does not teach processing, intermediate or bridging agents.
Zalich teaches leather articles (paragraph 0088, 0093) are coated with compositions comprising surfactants (paragraph 0097) and pigments which are detectable by x-ray fluorescence (paragraph 0103, 00116) and film forming polymers containing mercaptan and epoxide groups (binding or bridging agent, paragraph 0060) through covalent bonds (paragraph 0050).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the methods of Price by incorporating surfactants and film forming polymers such as those containing mercaptan and epoxide groups as these compounds are effective in providing dispersion of the XRF-identifiable pigments in coating compositions which are bridged or bound to the leather through the mercaptan and epoxide containing polymers. These polymers meet the limitation of intermediate or bridging agent as they hold/bind the XRF pigment to the leather substrate. Using a known effective coating method for attaching XRF-identifiable pigments to leather is obvious for durability of the coating. Since the same functional groups of the binders are those claimed by applicant and leather has active amino residues due to collagen, the interaction and association between the XRF-identifier and the collagen in the hide would be expected to occur.
Claims 39-44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Price (US 2003/0194052) in view of Hein (US 2020/0080162).
Price is relied upon as set forth above.
Price does not specify marking the hide during preparatory stage, tanning, dyeing. finishing, at the slaughterhouse before during or after salting or presoaking of the hide or leather.
Hein teaches marking hides to provide traceability and to capture data related to the customization of the hide (abstract) from the slaughterhouse to tanning facilities is beneficial to provide traceability and customization in accordance with customer needs as well as quality assurance (paragraph 0003, 0011, 0008, 0025, 0032, 0044). Hein teaches the information provided by the markers can be hide characteristics such as hide type, weight, grade, thickness of surface area or identification of processes performed such as wetting in wetting drums and tubs for immersing hides (pre-soaking and washing, paragraph 0054), moisturizing, splitting, trimming, folding and stacking of the hides (paragraphs 0026-0027,0031). Hein teaches the raw hides are salted (paragraph 0033) and undergo tanning, retanning, finishing and coloring (paragraph 0047).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the methods of Price by applying the XRF-identifier during preparatory stages prior to tanning, during tanning, dyeing or finishing, in the slaughterhouse prior to, during or after salting or during pre-soaking as Hein teaches these are all conventional method steps in hide processing to prepare leather and require traceability and Price teaches applying the XRF-identifiers at any point during or after leather manufacture. Applying known traceability tags, which are taught to be effectively applied to substrates such as leathers which are tanned and finished, in the manufacturing steps is obvious as it is known that applying these identifiers during one or more stages of product manufacture or after product manufacture is appropriate to provide information on the origin, properties and manufacture of the leather. Since Hein teaches it is important to track, monitor and grade hides in each step as they become leather and in finishing, applying the XRF-identifiers of Price, which are taught to be effective in providing leather data and product information, during and after leather manufacture would be important to provide new information in the processing states and trace the leather through the treatment process.
Claims 46-50,52 and 53 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Price (US 2003/0194052) in view of Hein (US 2020/0080162) and further in view of Zalich (WO 2017/116547).
Price and Hein are relied upon as set forth above.
Price and Hein do not teach processing, intermediate or bridging agents.
Zalich teaches leather articles (paragraph 0088, 0093) are coated with compositions comprising surfactants (paragraph 0097) and pigments which are detectable by x-ray fluorescence (paragraph 0103, 00116) and film forming polymers containing mercaptan and epoxide groups (binding or bridging agent, paragraph 0060) through covalent bonds (paragraph 0050).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the methods of Price and Hein by incorporating surfactants and film forming polymers such as those containing mercaptan and epoxide groups as these compounds are effective in providing dispersion of the XRF-identifiable pigments in coating compositions which are bridged or bound to the leather through the mercaptan and epoxide containing polymers. These polymers meet the limitation of intermediate or bridging agent as they hold/bind the XRF pigment to the leather substrate. Using a known effective coating method for attaching XRF-identifiable pigments to leather is obvious for durability of the coating. Since the same functional groups of the binders are those claimed by applicant and leather has active amino residues due to collagen, the interaction and association between the XRF-identifier and the collagen in the hide would be expected to occur.
Claim 45 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Price (US 2003/0194052) in view of Hein (US 2020/0080162) and further in view of Lin (CN 104499318).
Price and Hein are relied upon as set forth above.
Price and Hein do not teach ultrasonic baths.
Lin teaches when coating leather with pigments it is effective to apply the composition by ultrasonic treatment to make the leather soft, loose and open the leather structure to receive the pigment coating with enhanced penetration(abstract, paragraph 0010).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the methods of Price and Hein by using ultrasonic bath treatment of the leather with the XRF-identifier as Lin teaches ultrasonic treatment makes the leather soft, loose and opens the leather structure to receive the pigment coating with enhanced penetration.
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
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