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 .
Claim Status
Claim 5 is canceled. Claim 1 is amended to incorporate the limitations of claim 5. Claims 1-4 and 6-9 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see p. 6, filed 10/29/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 2, 7, and 8 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sun et al (US 2015/0368458 A1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Lee et al (WO 2022145732 A1; all citations are drawn to the US equivelant document US 2024/0317992 A1).
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 1-4 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Lee et al (WO 2022145732 A1; all citations are drawn to the US equivalent document US 2024/0317992 A1).
Lee exemplifies a thermoplastic resin composition comprising:
(A) 100 parts by weight of a polybutylene terephthalate resin having an inherent viscosity [η] of about 1.3 dl/g;
(B) 10 to 20 parts by weight of a polycarbonate resin having a weight average molecular weight of about 25,000 g/mol;
(C) 60 to 92 parts by weight of a flat glass fiber; and
(D1) 2 to 7.2 parts by weight of a glycidyl methacrylate modified olefin copolymer (Igetabond BF-7M, 7 wt. % glycidyl methacrylate);
Wherein the flat glass fiber (C) and the epoxy-modified olefin copolymer (D) is present in a weight ratio (C:D) of 1:0.02 (ex. 6), 1:0.08 (ex. 1-3 and 8-9) 1:0.12 (ex. 4) [claim 1; p. 0044; table 1, table 2, p. 0062-0069].
Examples 1-4, 6, and 8-9 of Lee have a metal bonding strength of ranging from 38 to 45 MPa, and a notched Izod impact strength ranging from 12.1 to 16.3 kf*cm/cm [table 1, table 2].
Lee is silent with respect to the average potential energy of the composition as measured according to the DuPont drop test. However, the composition of Lee meets all limitations of the claimed composition, therefore a skilled artisan would expect the composition of Lee to satisfy the potential energy parameters when tested under the same conditions.
Alternatively, as the composition of Lee meets all limitations of the claimed composition, one having ordinary skill in the art would expect the composition of Sun et al to obviously embrace embodiments that satisfy the claimed potential energy parameters when tested under the same conditions.
Furthermore, Lee discloses a molded article produced from the thermoplastic resin composition [p. 0056-0057].
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Noordegraaf et al (US 2011/0070431 A1) in view of Lee et al (WO 2022145732 A1; all citations are drawn to the US equivalent document US 2024/0317992 A1).
Noodregraaf is directed towards a composite sheet material comprising a core layer having a first side and a second side comprising a thermoplastic material and a fiber, wherein a metal layer is attached to the first side of the core later and a glass laminate layer is attached to the second side of the core layer [claim 1]. The thermoplastic resin may be selected from a list of materials that includes polybutylene terephthalate, polycarbonates, and combinations thereof [claim 2]. Furthermore, the fiber in the thermoplastic material may be selected from a group of materials including glass fibers [claim 3].
Noodregraaf does not teach the specific composition of claim 1.
However, the thermoplastic resin of Lee primarily comprises polybutylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, and flat glass fibers. Lee further teaches a composite material comprising a plastic member produced from a molded article of the thermoplastic composition; and a metal member adjoining the plastic member [p. 0057]. Although Lee is silent with respect to the glass member bonded to the plastic member, a skilled artisan would recognize from the teachings of Nooregraaf that the composition of Lee is suitable for use as the core layer in a composite sheet material.
In light of this, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to prepare a composite sheet material, as found in Nooregraaf, wherein core layer is replaced with the thermoplastic material of Lee, since Lee teaches that by using his article/composition one can achieve excellent metal bonding, impact resistance, rigidity, and a balance of the stated properties.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome this rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
Conclusion
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/HOLLEY GRACE HESTER/Examiner, Art Unit 1766
/RANDY P GULAKOWSKI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1766