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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1, 3-14 are pending and subject to this office action. Claims 7-13 are withdrawn. Claim 1 is amended and claim 14 is new.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/26/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The Examiner acknowledges the Applicant’s response filed on 01/26/2026 containing amendments and remarks to the claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pg. 5-7, filed 01/26/2026, with respect to the rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 103 over Hanada have been fully considered and are persuasive. Applicant has amended claim 1 to require the cigarette paper has a basis weight of 45 to 80 gsm which was not previously presented. Hanada discloses the cigarette paper (18, 21, Fig. 1) has a basis weight of 25-42 gsm ([0028]). Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of newly found prior art.
The rejections presented below are maintained and modified where necessitated by Applicant’s amendment.
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, 3-5, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alvarez (US 20220279835 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Alvarez discloses a wrapping material (100, Fig. 1, Fig. 2, [0056]) comprising:
Tobacco material in an amount greater than 40% by weight, where the tobacco material may be in the form of leaves ([0027, 0031, 0042]). The claimed range overlaps with the range taught by the prior art and is therefore considered prima facie obvious.
The wrapping material (100, Fig. 1, Fig. 2, [0056]) has a basis weight of 15gsm or greater and tensile strength of 2100 cN/ 30mm or greater ([0049]). The claimed ranges for basis weight and tensile strength overlap with the range taught by the prior art and are therefore considered prima facie obvious.
The wrapping material (100) is made via a paper making process to form a thin sheet composed of fibrous materials for wrapping a smoking article (10) and therefore is considered to be a cigarette paper ([0037, 0056-0057]).
The wrapping material (100) is used in a smoking article (10) which may be a cigarette, or heat not burn stick (“a heating type smoking article”, Fig. 1, Fig. 2, [0056-0057]).
A person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize that cigars are made from tobacco leaves and therefore cigarette paper comprising tobacco leaf is considered to meet the claim limitation of cigarette paper comprising cigar leaf.
Regarding claim 3, Alvarez discloses the wrapping material (100) comprises tobacco material in the form of leaves ([0027, 0031, 0056]).
Cigar leaf stem is interpreted as the central rib of the tobacco leaf. Alvarez does not disclose removing the stems of the tobacco leaves and therefore one of ordinary skill would reasonably expect the wrapping material (100) to comprise cigar leaf stem.
Alvarez is silent to cigar leaf ligule in the cigarette paper. Therefore, Alvarez reasonably suggests the cigarette paper does not comprise cigar leaf ligule, absent evidence to the contrary.
Regarding claim 4, Alvarez discloses the wrapping material (100) comprises wood pulp fibers ([0041-0042, 0044]).
Regarding claim 5, Alvarez discloses the wrapping material (100) comprises wood pulp fibers including softwood fibers, hardwood fibers, or mixtures thereof ([0041-0042, 0044]).
Regarding claim 14, Alvarez discloses the wrapping material (100, Fig. 1, Fig. 2, [0056]) has a basis weight of 15gsm or greater ([0049]). The claimed basis weight lies with the range taught by the prior art and is therefore considered prima facie obvious.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alvarez (US 20220279835 A1), as applied to claim 5 above, further in view of Zhou (CN 102733249 A).
Regarding claim 6, Alvarez discloses the wrapping material (100) comprises wood pulp fibers including softwood fibers, hardwood fibers, or mixtures thereof ([0041-0042, 0044]).
Alvarez does not explicitly disclose the weight ratio of the hard pulp and soft pulp in the cigarette paper.
However, Zhou, directed to a cigarette paper (abstract), discloses:
Cigarette paper comprising a weight proportion of 10-60 % of hardwood pulp fiber, and 5.0-30 % of softwood pulp fiber (abstract, [0016-0027]). The claimed range of hard and soft pulp ratio overlaps with the range taught by the prior art and is therefore considered prima facie obvious.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would be obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art to modify Alvarez, by using a weight proportion of 10-60 % of hardwood pulp fiber, and 5.0-30 % of softwood pulp fiber as taught by Zhou because both Alvarez and Zhou are directed to cigarette paper, Alvarez is silent to the weight ratio of hard pulp and soft pulp in the cigarette paper, Zhou teaches known weight ratios of hard pulp and soft pulp, and one having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to look to similar cigarette papers for workable ranges of weight ratios and this involves applying known weight ratios of hard pulp and soft pulp to a similar cigarette paper to yield predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Accou (US 20210386112 A1) discloses a wrapper (14) for a smoking article (10, Fig. 1, Fig. 2, [0054]), comprising:
At least 10% by weight of a tobacco material ([0007]), where the tobacco may be in the form of leaves ([0026]), and;
Wherein the wrapper has a basis weight of 30 gsm or greater and a tensile strength of 1500cN/15mm or greater ([0047])
The wrapper can be used in a smoking article such as a cigarette (“a heating type smoking article”, [0012, 0020])
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/M.F.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1755 /PHILIP Y LOUIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1755