DETAILED ACTION
An amendment, amending claim 1, was entered on 2/20/26.
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
Applicant argues that the cited art fails to teach the newly claimed limitation concerning Na2O concentration. This is persuasive and a new rejection is presented in response to this amendment.
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, 4-13 and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa et al. (US 2020/0199015).
Claims 1, 4-11, 13 and 18-19: Hosokawa teaches a glass composition which is formed into a glass fiber by shaping (Abst.; ¶ 0002), the composition comprising, in mass percentage: 54.4-59.2% SiO2 (¶ 0031); 17.5-25.5% B2O3 (¶¶ 0032-0033); 10.0-13.6% Al2O3 (¶ 0035); 1.9-2.3% MgO (¶ 0039); 1.9-2.3% CaO (and, therefore, a ratio of MgO/(MgO+CaO) including 0.5) (¶ 0041); up to 1% each of Na2O, K2O and Li2O (¶ 0052); 0.1-0.6% SnO2 (¶ 0051); 1.2-5% SrO (¶ 0037); up to 1% BaO (¶ 0055); and 0.7-0.9% F2 (¶ 0044). In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. MPEP § 2144.05(I). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of filing to have selected 54.4-58% SiO2, 24.84-25.5% B2O3, and 1.2-3% SrO with the predictable expectation of success.
Claim 12: Hosokawa does not teach the inclusion of any P2O3.
Claims 15-17: While Hosokawa fails to specifically discuss the properties claimed in claims 15-17, Hosokawa teaches a glass composition having the same components in the same concentrations as those which applicant discloses to yield the claimed properties. Therefore, these properties are considered inherent in Hosokawa.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosokawa in light of Ellison et al. (US 2015/0140299).
Claim 14: Hosokawa does not teach the inclusion of CeO2. Ellison teaches a substantially similar composition for forming glass fibers (Abst.) and explains that CeO2 can be included in small amounts in order to aid in the elimination of gaseous inclusions during melting (¶ 0036). Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. MPEP § 2144.05(II)(A). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of filing to have included 0.1-5% CeO2 in order to have eliminated gas inclusions with the predictable expectation of success.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert A Vetere whose telephone number is (571)270-1864. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:00 EST.
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/ROBERT A VETERE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1712
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