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
The Office has carefully considered Applicant’s remarks dated 08/07/2025 with respect to KR ‘674 and KR ‘352 have been fully considered and are persuasive. All previously made rejections are withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN103774445 issued to Nantong Quanji Textile Coating Co Ltd (herein after referred to as “Nantong”)
Regarding Claims 1-7, 9-10 and 13-15 -Nantong discloses a coated fabric used for airbags. The coated fabric for airbags comprises a base cloth and at least one slurry coating coated on the base cloth. The base cloth is formed by 100-300D polyester fiber filaments via interweaving (woven); and the slurry coating comprises the following components in parts by mass: 55-70 parts of organic silicon resin[ equivalent to Applicant’s binder], 10-25 parts of polyester acrylate, 2-5 parts of cross-linking agent, 1-3 parts of stannic oxide and 10-15 parts of solvent and the slurry coating also comprises the alumina silicate fibers of 6-10 part [equivalent to Applicant’s chopped ceramic fibers]. The coated fabric for airbags has high tear resistance, good wear resistance and durability, and the coating is stable in performance and not easy to fall off, so that the function of better protecting the airbags is achieved. [abstract; Claims 1-3 and embodiments 1-3].
Applicant’s own disclosure at Embodiment 1 and ¶ 0022 of the printed publication states seeks and describes that the content of the ceramic fiber is about 10% by weight in the finally cured coating layer, at ¶ 0022 describes that the ceramic fiber "has a strong property of trying to aggregate". Therefore, since the coating described by Nantong contains the same amount of aluminum silicate fibers as the coating layer described in Example 1 of the present application, it is considered that the aluminum silicate fibers are "agglomerates" "having a size in the range of 0.1 to 2.0 mm" and thus chopped short fibers.
Regarding Claims 8, 12 and 13 where Applicant seeks the coating weight and thickness; The instant reference does not disclose a coating weight however it is well known in the art of airbags that the coating weights are usually around 50-100 g/m 2 on a given side of the textile. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have modified the coating weight and/or thickness on one layer of the fibrous substrate as the coating weight and/or thickness matters in airbags because it directly determines the airbag's ability to retain gas, resist heat, and pack into a small, compact spaces. The coating plugs up the interstices of the fabric weave and has the primary role to block the pores of the fabric, ensuring that the airbag does not lose pressure too quickly and acts as an impermeable barrier that prevents hot inflation gases from leaking through the fabric pores . The coating weight/thickness has a critical balancing act: it must be heavy enough to ensure the bag is airtight and heat-resistant, but light enough to allow the bag to fit into a compact space.
Regarding Claim 11, where Applicant seeks that the coated fabric according to claim 9, wherein: the fibrous substrate is a fabric comprising warp and weft threads, and the warp and weft densities of the fabric are within the range of 20 to 55 th/inch, respectively; Nantong teach that the weave is woven but do not disclose the densities in the warp or weft.
A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to have chosen a woven using the densities in the warp and weft directions of 20 to 55 th/inch. One would have been motivated to do so as woven fabrics to provide superior strength and durability, which are crucial for withstand the high-speed deployment and impact absorption required.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Arti R Singh-Pandey whose telephone number is (571)272-1483. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:30-3:00 and 8:00-10:00.
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/Arti Singh-Pandey/
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 1759
Asp