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. 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 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kobayashi et al. (JP 2005-135838 A, hereinafter Kobayashi, cited by applicant). Re Claim 1. Kobayashi teaches a membrane electrode assembly (Fig. 1) , comprising a polymer electrolyte membrane (item 30, para. 12) ; a first electrocatalyst layer (item 40a, para. 13) and a second electrocatalyst layer (item 40c) sandwiching the polymer electrolyte membrane while being in contact therewith; a fuel electrode diffusion layer (item 50a, para. 13) which is a gas diffusion layer laminated on the first electrocatalyst layer to form a fuel electrode; and an air electrode diffusion layer (item 50c) which is a gas diffusion layer laminated on the second electrocatalyst layer to form an air electrode, wherein the air electrode diffusion layer has a Gurley value of 80 seconds or less in a thickness direction thereof, which is smaller than a Gurley value of the fuel electrode diffusion layer in a thickness direction thereof, the Gurley value indicating air permeability (para. 15 & 16) . "[W]hen, as by a recitation of range s or otherwise, a claim covers several compositions, the claim is ‘anticipated’ if one of them is in the prior art." Titanium Metals Corp. v. Banner, 778 F.2d 775, 227 USPQ 773 (Fed. Cir. 1985) . See MPEP 2131.03. Re Claim 5. Kobayashi teaches a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (Fig. 1) , comprising the membrane electrode assembly of claim 1 (see rejection of Claim 1) ; and a pair of separators (item 60, para. 12) sandwiching the membrane electrode assembly. 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. Claim(s) 2-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kobayashi as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hamada (US 2020/0335808 A1). The teachings of Kobayashi have been discussed above. Re Claim 2. Kobayashi fails to specifically teach that the first electrocatalyst layer and the second electrocatalyst layer each contain a catalytic material, carbon particles, polymer electrolyte aggregates, and a fibrous material. The invention of Hamada encompasses membrane assembly for solid polymer fuel cell. Hamada teaches that the first electrocatalyst layer and the second electrocatalyst layer (Fig. 3, item 8) each contain a catalytic material (item 10) , carbon particles (item 11) , polymer electrolyte aggregates (item 12) , and a fibrous material (item 13) . In view of Hamada, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to modify the invention of Kobayashi to have the first electrocatalyst layer and the second electrocatalyst layer each contain a catalytic material, carbon particles, polymer electrolyte aggregates, and a fibrous material , since Hamada teaches the advantage of using them, which is to have excellent adhesion at an interface between a catalyst layer and a polymer electrolyte membrane (para. 15). Re Claim 3. The combination teaches wherein the fibrous material contained in each of the electrocatalyst layers comprises at least either of electron-conducting fibers and proton-conducting fibers (Hamada, para. 44) . Re Claim 4. The combination teaches wherein the first electrocatalyst layer and the second electrocatalyst layer each comprise carbon fibers corresponding to the fibrous material; and the carbon fibers contained in each of the electrocatalyst layers comprise at least either of carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers (Hamada, para. 45) . Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892. The rejections above rely on the references for all the teachings expressed in the text of the references and/or one of ordinary skill in the art would have reasonably understood from the texts. Only specific portions of the texts have been pointed out to emphasize certain aspects of the prior art, however, each reference as a whole should be reviewed in responding to the rejection, since other sections of the same reference and/or various combinations of the cited references may be relied on in future rejections in view of amendments. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT KEVIN E YOON whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-5932 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Friday 9 AM- 5 PM . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Keith Walker can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-3458 . 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. /KEVIN E YOON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735 2/17/2026