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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-4) in the reply filed on 7/7/2026 is acknowledged.
Group II (claim 5) is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 7/7/2026.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kiminori et al (JP 2005089706 A).
Regarding claims 1-4, Kiminori teaches a blackish-colored fiber-reinforced resin composition comprising component (A): a polyolefin resin, component (B): an acid-modified polyolefin resin, component (C): a reinforcing fiber, component (D): a carbon black; (A)+(B):(C)=(10 to 95):(90 to 5) in weight ratio; the component (D) is contained in an amount of 0.05-10.0 mass% [Overview].
The (C) reinforcing fiber is a glass fiber [claim 6] and thus reads on the claimed glass fiber.
The polyolefin resin in (A) is polypropylene [claim 5] and thus reads on the claimed propylene-based resin.
The acid-modified polyolefin resin (B) is a polyolefin resin having a carboxyl group or a carboxylic anhydride group in the molecule, and is preferably one obtained by modifying polypropylene with an unsaturated carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof [0032]. Thus, component (B) also reads on the claimed propylene-based resin, and reads on the modified polypropylene in claim 4.
Based on (A)+(B):(C)=(10 to 95):(90 to 5), the amount of polypropylene (A)+(B) is 10-95 parts by mass, overlapping the claimed 50-90 parts; the amount of glass fiber (C) is 5-90 parts, overlapping the claimed 10-50 parts, provided that a total of the glass fibers and the propylene-based resin is 100 parts by mass.
The (D) carbon black reads on the claimed carbon black. Its amount of 0.05-10.0 mass% overlaps the claimed 0.3 parts or more and 2 parts by mass or less in claim 3.
The carbon black is used in the form of a carbon black resin composition and the resin is Clariant Ceridust 6071 (https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/6008130/dp5525e-0407-br-salesrangepdf/1), a polypropylene wax [0023, 0067], which reads on the recited polypropylene wax in claim 2. As evidenced by Clariant, Ceridust 6071 is micronized polypropylene wax and has particle size of 5-30 micron [Clariant “Modern dispersing for polypropylene”, page 29], falling within the claimed range of 1-40 micron. The ratio of polypropylene wax to carbon black is about (90-50) : (10-50) [0023], overlapping the claimed ratio of 0.75 to 1.5.
A prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" (MPEP 2144.05.I).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIANGTIAN XU whose telephone number is (571)270-1621. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Jones can be reached on (571) 270-7733. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIANGTIAN XU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1762
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