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 .
The pending claims are claims 1-8.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 9-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected claims, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3/17/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-8) in the reply filed on 3/17/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kawakita et al., JP 2021109706.
Regarding claim 1, Kawakita et al., teaches a packaging material (abstract) comprising: a substrate layer made of a heat-resistant resin (0015; 0036-0038); a metal foil layer (0015; 0047) laminated on an inner side of the substrate layer (0035-0036); a sealant layer (0010; 0013; 0025) made of a thermoplastic resin (0015; 0036; 0044-0046), the sealant layer being laminated on an inner side of the metal foil layer (0036; 0084); and a colored adhesive layer provided between the metal foil layer and the substrate layer (0015; 0025; 0048-0051), wherein the colored adhesive layer is formed of a colored adhesive cured film (0016; 0018; 0026) containing a color pigment and an adhesive (0015; 0025), and wherein the colored adhesive cured film (0049-0051) has a Young's modulus of 400 MPa by a tensile test (0018; 0066) according to JIS K7161.
Regarding claim 2, Kawakita et al., teaches wherein the colored adhesive cured film has breaking elongation (0065-0066) of 21% to 60% by a tensile test (50-400%) (0066) according to JIS K7161-1:2014.
Regarding claim 3, Kawakita et al., teaches wherein the colored adhesive layer contains the color pigment (0015) of 2 mass% or more (0015) and less than 5 mass%, (0015) and wherein the colored adhesive layer (0015-0016; 0025) is a colored adhesive cured film of 5 g/m2 to 10 g/m2 (0015; 0051).
Regarding claim 4, Kawakita et al., teaches wherein the adhesive of the colored adhesive layer contains a two-part curing type polyester urethane resin (0016; 0018; 0026) derived from a polyester resin as a main agent (0016-0017) and a polyfunctional isocyanate compound as a curing agent (0016; 0055; 0064-0065), wherein the polyester resin (0016-0017) as the main agent has a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 8,000 to 25,000 (0061-0062)and a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 15,000 to 50,000 (0061-0062), and a ratio thereof (Mw/Mn) is 1.3 to 2.5 (0016), and wherein the polyfunctional isocyanate compound as the curing agent contains 50 mole% or more of aromatic isocyanate (0016; 0064).
Regarding claim 5, Kawakita et al., teaches wherein in the two-part curing type polyester urethane resin (0016; 0018; 0026; 0034), the polyester resin as the main agent is made from dicarboxylic acid (0017; 0057-0059) and dialcohol (0017), and wherein the dicarboxylic acid contains aliphatic dicarboxylic acid (0017; 0067-0059) and aromatic dicarboxylic acid (0057-0059) in which a methylene number of a methylene chain (0057) is an even number (0017; 0057), and a content rate of the aromatic dicarboxylic acid with respect to a total amount of the aliphatic dicarboxylic acid and the aromatic dicarboxylic acid is 40 mol% to 80 mol% (0017; 0059).
Regarding claim 6, Kawakita et al., teaches wherein the metal foil layer (0015) has a chemical conversion coating film on at least one surface of the metal foil layer (0029; 0073-0076).
Regarding claim 7, Kawakita et al., teaches further comprising: a matte coat layer (0022; 0031; 0073) provided on an outer surface of the substrate layer (0081-0085).
Regarding claim 8, Kawakita et al., teaches packaging container made of the packaging material (0034; 0071-0075) as recited in wherein the packaging material is provided with a molded portion formed by subjecting the packaging material to deep drawing (0023; 0025; 0035) or stretch forming (0025; 0043).
Thus, the claims are anticipated.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. JP 2011-054563.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELA J MARTIN whose telephone number is (571)272-1288. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-4pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Barbara Gilliam can be reached at 571-272-1330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
ANGELA J. MARTIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1727
/ANGELA J MARTIN/Examiner, Art Unit 1727
Prosecution Insights