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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1, 4-19 and 22 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 5/19/26.
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 20-21 in the reply filed on 5/19/26 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) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by WO2014126015 (English machine translation provided herein).
WO2014126015 discloses A hose comprising an inner tube, a reinforcement layer disposed outwardly from the inner tube, and a cover layer disposed outwardly from the reinforcement layer, wherein materials forming one or more of the inner tube, the reinforcement layer and/or the cover layer comprise one or more accelerator(s) selected from the group consisting of 2-2'-dithiobis(benzothiazole), tetrabenzylthiuram disulfide, N-cyclohexyl-2-benzothiazole sulfonamide, N,N'-dicyclohexyl-2-benzothiazole sulfonamide, and zinc dibenzyl dithiocarbamate, and wherein at least the inner tube is devoid of nitrosamines (paragraphs [0001], [0006], [0010], [0013-0015], [0023-0024], [0037], [0041-0043], [0049], [0055] and Fig. 1).
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) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2014126015 (English machine translation provided herein) in view of Mulvey et al. (US 6,106,027).
WO2014126015 discloses wherein the cover layer comprises a rubber material, the inner tube comprises a thermoplastic material (paragraphs [0001], [0006], [0010], [0013-0015], [0023-0024], [0037], [0041-0043], [0049], [0055] and Fig. 1).
WO2014126015 does not disclose the reinforcement layer comprises fiber.
Mulvey discloses wherein the reinforcement layer comprises fiber in a hose for the purpose of providing improved flexibility and/or dimensional stability (column 4, lines 6-18).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time applicant’s invention was made to have provided wherein the reinforcement layer comprises fiber in WO2014126015 in order to provide improved flexibility and/or dimension stability as taught or suggested by Mulvey.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL C MIGGINS whose telephone number is (571)272-1494. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 1-9 pm EST.
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, Aaron Austin can be reached at 571-272-8935. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL C MIGGINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1782
MCM
June 23, 2026
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