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 .
Summary
This is the second Office Action based on Application 18/271,508 and is in response to Applicant Arguments/Remarks filed 06/10/2026.
Claims 1-4 are previously pending, of those claims, claim 1 has been amended and claims 2 and 4 have been canceled. All amendments have been entered. Claims 1 and 3 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “the binder fibers are present in a range of 20 to 50 mass%”. However, the mass% does not have a basis, and therefore is taken to be indefinite. For example it is unclear if the mass percent is based on the total mass of the support body, the total mass of the non-woven fabric, or based on the mass of the constituent fibers as examples. Therefore this renders the claims indefinite.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 as noted above.
Applicant’s Arguments/Remarks filed 06/10/2026 were found to be persuasive, such that the claimed amendments overcome the rejection in view of SHIGEMATSU or SHIGEMEATSU ‘860 in view of HOTTA were persuasive. In addition the argument that HOTTA does not teach the claimed air permeability were found to be persuasive, specifically that the air permeability on page 8 that the permeability is different was found to be persuasive. Therefore the combination of claim elements as described in claim 1 are taken to overcome the prior art rejection and the other prior art of record.
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 JONATHAN G JELSMA whose telephone number is (571)270-5127. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Niki Bakhtiari can be reached at (571)272-3433. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHAN G JELSMA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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