DETAILED ACTION
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-7 and 9-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuriyama et al. (JP 2018-051864) in view of Sagawa (JP 2011-042041).
Kuriyama is directed to a decorative sheet comprising a surface protective layer on a base sheet (paragraph 0011). A picture pattern layer and/or primer layer may be formed between the base sheet and surface layer (Figure 2 and paragraph 0017). The base sheet is preferably a polyolefin sheet (paragraph 0050) having a thickness of 50 to 280 mm (paragraph 0055). The surface protective layer is formed from an ionizing radiation curable resin, such as (meth)acrylate oligomers (paragraphs 0042-0043), and may contain an ultraviolet absorber to provide weather resistance (paragraph 0047). The decorative sheet is used to form a molded article by bonding the sheet to an adherend (paragraph 0094).
In the embodiment of Example 1, the base sheet (i.e., core layer) is formed from a 110 mm thick polypropylene (i.e., a polyolefin) sheet to which a primer has been applied (paragraph 0103). A surface protective layer having a thickness of 10 mm is formed over the primer by applying an ionizing radiation curable composition comprising silica (i.e., particles) and a resin formed from a mixture of urethane acrylate oligomers having weight average molecular weights of 3,000 and 4,000 followed by crosslinking the coating with an electron beam (paragraph 0104).
Kuriyama does not report the indentation depth of the decorative sheet. According to the instant specification, the indentation depth is a function of the resin constituting the surface protective layer or the thickness of the surface protective layer (see paragraph 0058 on page 15). The instant specification further recites that a preferred resin comprises electron beam curable (meth)acrylate oligomers, such as urethane (meth)acrylate oligomers having weight average molecular weights of 1,100 to 7,000 (paragraphs 0063, 0068, and 0072). Additionally, the preferred thickness of the surface protective layer is in the range of 3 to 10 mm according to paragraph 0136 of the instant specification. Since the surface protective layer of Example 1 of Kuriyama has a thickness of 10 mm and is formed from a urethane (meth)acrylate having a weight average molecular weight within the range of 3,000 to 4,000 cured by electron beam, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect it to inherently have an indentation depth that satisfies the limitations of claim 1 as it constitutes both a thickness and a material that are cited by the instant specification as preferred for forming a decorative sheet with an indentation depth satisfying the limitations of claim 1.
Kuriyama does not teach the presence of an transparent layer including a polyolefin and an ultraviolet absorber. Additionally, while Kuriyama teach that the surface protective layer contains a ultraviolet absorber, there is no teaching that it includes three ultraviolet absorbers with absorption peaks at different wavelengths.
Sagawa is directed to a decorative sheet designed to provide weather resistance when attached to a surface (paragraphs 0001-0005). The sheet comprises a surface protective layer containing multiple types of hydroxyphenyltriazine-based ultraviolet absorbers including one having the structure:
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and a second ultraviolet absorber having the structure:
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(paragraph 0006-0012) as well as a third ultraviolet absorber based on a benzotriazole (paragraph 0021). The sheet may further comprises a transparent resin layer to provide protection for a picture pattern layer, wherein the transparent resin layer is preferably formed from a polyolefin-based resin and may contain an ultraviolet absorber (paragraph 0044). The transparent resin layer has a thickness of 15-150 mm (paragraph 0049).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the combination of ultraviolet absorbers taught by Sagawa as the ultraviolet absorbers of the surface protective layer providing weather resistance to the decorative sheet since Sagawa teaches that they provide excellent weather resistance by broadening the wavelength at which ultraviolet light is absorbed by virtue of each absorber having a absorption peaks at different wavelengths (paragraph 0037-0038 of Sagawa). Moreover, since one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the absorption peak of a compound to be a function of the bonds present in its chemical structure, the two hydroxyphenyltriazine-based absorbers and the benzotriazole-based absorber would be expected to have different absorption peaks.
Additionally, it would have been obvious to provide the decorative sheet of Kuriyama with a transparent resin layer comprising a polyolefin and ultraviolet absorber to provide protection for the picture pattern layer.
Regarding claims 11-13, Sagawa teaches that synthetic resin from which the transparent resin layer is formed is preferably a polyolefin-based resin (paragraph 0044). Since polyolefin-based resins are taught as the preferred resin of the transparent resin layer, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a polyolefin resin as the majority, or only, resin of the transparent resin layer.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuriyama et al. (JP 2018-051864) in view of Sagawa (JP 2011-042041) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Th. Vollenberg et al. (US 7,090,926).
Kuriyama taken in view of Sagawa suggests all the limitations of claim 8, as outlined above, except for the structure of the ultraviolet absorber.
Th. Vollenberg is directed to multi-layer, weatherable polymeric materials such as sheets and films (column 1, lines 10-24). The upper layer contains an ultraviolet absorber (column 1, lines 51-55). A suitable ultraviolet absorber is a hydroxyphenyltriazine having the structure (column 6, lines 1-20):
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.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to use
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as the second hydroxyphenyltriazine compound since Th. Vollenberg shows it to be a known ultraviolet absorber used in weatherable surface films and Sagawa merely require the use of a second hydroxyphenyltriazine. Furthermore, in the absence of a showing of criticality or unexpected results, it would have been obvious to use any -C8H17 group for the second hydroxyphenyltriazine, including -CH2CH(C2H5)(CH2)3CH3.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 15 April 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant alleges that the examiner's prima facie case that the decorative sheet of Kuriyama inherently possesses an indentation depth satisfying the limitations of claim 1 relies exclusively on the surface protective layer of Kuriyama having a thickness falling within the range taught by the applicant. The applicant argues that other factors, including the materials and thicknesses of the core layer and the material of the surface protective layer also affect indentation depth. As such, the applicant asserts that the examiner has not provided a sufficient showing to justify that the decorative sheet of Kuriyama inherently possesses the required indentation depth.
This is not persuasive for the following reasons. While the examiner agrees with the applicant that factors beyond the thickness of the surface protective layer would be expected to affect indentation depth, the examiner disagrees with the applicant's characterization of the examiner's position regarding the assertion that the sheet of Kuriyama inherently possesses an indentation depth satisfying the limitations of claim 1. Rather than merely relying on the thickness of the surface protective layer, the examiner further noted that the resin used by Kuriyama - e.g., a urethane (meth)acrylate having a weight average molecular weight within the range of 3,000 to 4,000 cured by electron beam - also aligns with preferred resins taught by the applicant for forming the surface protective layer. Additionally, Example 1 of Kuriyama further employs a polypropylene resin sheet as the base sheet (corresponding to the core of the instant claims), which is cited in the specification (see paragraph 0043 on page 12) as the preferred material for forming the core.
The applicant further argues that there is no disclosure in Sagawa of a third UV absorber included in the surface protecting layer, especially not one having an absorption peak different from the first two.
This is not persuasive for the following reasons. Sagawa teaches the use of a combination of two hydroxyphenyltriazine-based ultraviolet absorbers (e.g., paragraph 0018) as well as a benzotriazole-based ultraviolet absorber (e.g., paragraph 0021) - i.e., three different ultraviolet absorbers. Moreover, since the absorbers have different chemical structures, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect them to have different absorption peaks.
The applicant argues that, since Sagawa teaches that the amount of ultraviolet absorber added to the surface protective layer can affect the overall performance of the layer, with too much leading to bleeding, yellowing, or cracking, one of ordinary skill in the art would not be motivated to add a third ultraviolet absorber to the surface protective layer.
This is not persuasive since one of ordinary skill in the art would have no reason to conflate the concentration of ultraviolet absorber present in a layer with the number of different absorbers in that layer.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMSEY E ZACHARIA whose telephone number is (571)272-1518. The best time to reach the examiner is weekday afternoons, Eastern time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Callie Shosho, can be reached on 571 272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAMSEY ZACHARIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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