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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-25 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.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-6, 8-12, 14-15, 17, 19-24 and 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by United States Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0246111 A1 to Zimmer et al. (Zimmer).
With regard to claim 1, Zimmer discloses a permeation barrier layer for a reinforced thermoplastic pipe for transportation of oilfield fluids (Zimmer, abstract) comprising:
i. an external layer comprising a first thermoplastic polymer, the first thermoplastic polymer comprising a polyamide (5, fig. 1, paragraph 0026),
ii. an intermediate layer comprising ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymers (4, fig. 1, paragraph 0026), and
iii. an internal layer comprising a polyamide (3, fig. 1, paragraph 0026),
wherein at least a portion of said intermediate layer is in contact with the external layer (paragraph 0026) and/or the internal layer (paragraph 0026).
With regard to claim 2, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein said first thermoplastic polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyamide 6 (paragraph 0026 – “layer 5 consisting of polyamide 6 (PA6)”), polyamide 11, polyamide 12, polyamide 46, polyamide 66, polyamide 69, polyamide 610, polyamide 612, polyamide 1010, polyamide 1012, polyamide 1212, and mixtures thereof, optionally including one or more additives to improve flexibility.
With regard to claim 3, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein said internal layer polyamide comprises one of polyamide 6 (paragraph 0026 – “first support layer consisting of polyamide 6 (PA6)… added to the first support layer 3.”), polyamide 46, polyamide 66, polyamide 69, polyamide 610, polyamide 61, or a mixture thereof, optionally including one or more additives to improve flexibility and/or improve adherence with EVOH.
With regard to claim 4, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein said first thermoplastic polymer and said internal layer comprise the same polyamide (paragraph 0026 both are PA6 as described in the rejections of claims 2 and 3 above).
With regard to claim 5, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 4 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein said first thermoplastic polymer and said internal layer polyamide comprise polyamide 6 (paragraph 0026).
With regard to claim 6, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 5 as set forth above, and further disclose wherein said external layer and/or said internal layer consists essentially of polyamide 6 (paragraph 0026).
With regard to claim 8, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein said intermediate layer is bonded to the external layer and/or the internal layer (paragraph 0026).
With regard to claim 9, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further disclose wherein said EVOH copolymers are bonded to the first thermoplastic polymer and/or the internal layer polyamide (paragraph 0026).
With regard to claim 10, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein said permeation barrier layer has a thickness of between about 2 mm to about 20 mm (claims 11 and 12).
With regard to claim 11, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the intermediate layer has a thickness of between about 0.1 mm to about 3 mm (claim 12).
With regard to claim 12, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the thickness of the intermediate layer is between about 0.7 % to about 33 % of the total thickness of the permeation barrier layer (claims 11 and 12).
With regard to claim 14, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer pipe according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the external layer and/or the internal layer independently have a thickness of between about 0.5 mm to about 12 mm (claim 12).
With regard to claim 15, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer pipe according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the thickness of the external layer and/or the internal layer is independently between about 10 % to about 95 % of the total thickness of the permeation barrier layer (claims 11 and 12).
With regard to claim 17, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 asw set forth above, and further disclose comprising fewer than 5 layers (as defined in the rejection of claim 1 above).
With regard to claim 19, Zimmer discloses a reinforced thermoplastic pipe body comprising a permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses and at least one reinforcement layer comprising fibres (paragraph 0012, in an embodiment in which carbon or graphite fibers are provided to make the inner layer conductive) or wires.
With regard to claim 20, Zimmer discloses the reinforced thermoplastic pipe body according to claim 19 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the thickness of said permeation barrier layer is between about 10 % to about 75 % of the total thickness of the reinforced thermoplastic pipe body wall (claims 11 and 12).
With regard to claim 21, Zimmer discloses the reinforced thermoplastic pipe body according to claim 19 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein the reinforcement layer is a reinforcement layer comprising helically wound tape and / or braided fibre strands, optionally comprising a second thermoplastic polymer (paragraph 0012 in which the innermost layer includes polyamide 9 T and thus discloses a reinforcement layer that is “optionally a second thermoplastic polymer”).
With regard to claim 22, Zimmer discloses the reinforced thermoplastic pipe body according to claim 19 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein said reinforced thermoplastic pipe body consists of the permeation barrier layer, the at least one reinforcement layer reinforcement layer, and a protective layer comprising a further thermoplastic polymer (paragraph 0012).
With regard to claim 23, Zimmer discloses a method for producing a permeation barrier layer for a reinforced thermoplastic pipe for transportation of oilfield fluids (Zimmer, abstract), said method comprising:
i. obtaining an external layer comprising a first thermoplastic polymer, the first thermoplastic polymer comprising a polyamide (5, fig. 1, paragraph 0026),
ii. obtaining an intermediate layer comprising ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymers (4, fig. 1, paragraph 0026),
iii. obtaining an internal layer comprising a polyamide (3, fig. 1, paragraph 0026), and
iv. placing said external layer, said intermediate layer and said internal layer together such that at least a portion of the intermediate layer is in contact with the external layer (paragraph 0026) and/or the internal layer (paragraph 0026).
With regard to claim 24, Zimmer discloses the method according to claim 23 as set forth above, and further discloses wherein said permeation barrier layer produced is according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
With regard to claim 26, Zimmer discloses a method for producing a reinforced thermoplastic pipe body (Zimmer, title, abstract), said method comprising:
i. obtaining a permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above),
ii. obtaining at least one reinforcement layer comprising fibres (paragraph 0012) or wires, and
iii. placing said permeation barrier layer and at least a portion of said reinforcement layer in contact with each other (described in the rejection of claim 1 above).
With regard to claim 27, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, and further discloses consisting of 3 layers (as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above but in the embodiment in which the external layer is defined as including elements 5/6/7 in fig. 1 and the internal layer includes elements 1/2/3 in fig. 1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 7, 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0246111 A1 to Zimmer et al. (Zimmer).
With regard to claims 7, 13 and 16, Zimmer discloses the permeation barrier layer according to claim 1 as set forth above, wherein when said external layer (as set forth in the rejection of claim 1, with the external layer further comprising layers 6 and 7 as shown in fig. 1 and described at paragraph 0026) and/or said internal layer comprises polyamide 12 (paragraph 0021), but fails to disclose the total amount of polyamide 12 present being less than about 15 wt.% and wherein the total amount of ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymers present is between about 0.5 wt. % and about 30 wt. %, and wherein the amount of first thermoplastic polymer in the external layer and/or the amount of internal layer polyamide in the internal layer is independently between about 10 wt.% to about 90 wt.%. Applicant does not disclosed these claimed amounts as being critical to the invention as noted in the background section of the specification with the use of such descriptors as “may be between” and “preferably” and then providing ever decreasing ranges of the total weight percentages of each component such that all possible combinations being effectively claimed to distinguish the claimed apparatus from the hose of Zimmer having a similarly configured thickness layers since the hoses are both suitable for the purpose of fuel transportation. It would have been further obvious to provide the hose of Zimmer with an outer layer of PA12 that comprises less than 15% of the hose weight and the barrier layer internal layer and external layer each being up to a third of the total weight of the hose as those relative ratios would be obvious to try when testing the hose of Zimmer for suitability for its intended purpose of transporting volatile fluids prone to permeation.
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0246111 A1 to Zimmer et al. (Zimmer) in view of United States Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0182735 to Dyksterhouse.
With regard to claim 25, Zimmer discloses the method according to claim 23 as set forth above, but fails to disclose wherein said layers are bonded by co- extrusion.
Zimmer does not disclose how the layers of the hose are applied.
Dyksterhouse discloses a multilayer hose in which the layers are co-extruded as a known process of creating multilayer hoses. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to produce the multilayer hose of Zimmer using a co-extrusion process that extrudes PA6 on the inside and outside of a layer of EVOH using the known process of coextrusion in order to provide the hose of claim 23.
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 DAVID R DEAL whose telephone number is (469)295-9216. The examiner can normally be reached M-F generally 8-4 pm CST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached at: Craig M Schneider (571) 272-3607 and Ken Rinehart (571) 272-4881. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID R DEAL/ Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3753