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 1-9, in the reply filed on 12-22-2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 10-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 12-22-2025.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 2, “the” should be deleted before “movement” because it is the first recitation of such movement. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-2 and 4-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Trentelman ‘143 (US 2003/0044143 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Trentelman ‘143 teaches:
a first apparatus to extrude a heated first glass material (crucible 12, Fig. 1; ¶ [0029]-[0030], [0040])
a second apparatus to extrude a heated second glass material around the first glass material (crucible 14, Fig. 1; ¶ [0029]-[0030], [0040])
a third apparatus to extrude a heated third glass material around the second glass material (crucible 16, Fig. 1; ¶ [0029]-[0030], [0040]).
Regarding claims 2 and 4, the first glass material, the second glass material, and the third glass material constitute material worked upon by the claimed apparatus. It has been held that the inclusion of material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims. See MPEP 2115. Trentelman ‘143 teaches that the disclosed invention is not limited to which materials may be used therewith (¶ [0030]). Thus it is considered that the apparatus of Trentelman ‘143 is capable of being used with the claimed glass materials.
Regarding claim 5, Trentelman ‘143 further teaches the first apparatus, second apparatus, and third apparatus each comprise a heated syringe or heated crucible (¶ [0029]-[0030], [0040]).
Regarding claim 6, Trentelman ‘143 further teaches a set of nozzles, wherein each apparatus feeds a respective nozzle of the set of nozzles (orifices 22, 24, 26, Figs. 1-2; ¶ [0031]).
Regarding claim 7, Trentelman ‘143 further teaches the set of nozzles are concentric (Figs. 1-2; ¶ [0031]).
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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Trentelman ‘143 (US 2003/0044143 A1).
Regarding claim 3, the core glass and cladding glass constitute material worked upon by the claimed apparatus. It has been held that the inclusion of material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims. See MPEP 2115. Trentelman ‘143 teaches that the disclosed invention is not limited to which materials may be used therewith (¶ [0030]). Thus it is considered that the apparatus of Trentelman ‘143 is capable of being used with the claimed glass materials. Trentelman ‘143 is silent regarding a diameter of an extruded core glass and an extruded cladding glass. However, again, this is a property of the material worked upon by the claimed apparatus. Further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to change a size of the first apparatus and the second apparatus to achieve a desired diameter of a product produced therefrom, as it has been held that a mere scaling up or down of an element is generally considered to be within the ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04.
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Trentelman ‘143 (US 2003/0044143 A1) in view of Volfson ‘295 (US 9,988,295).
Regarding claims 8-9, Trentelman ‘143 is silent regarding a moving platform, wherein each of the first apparatus, second apparatus, and third apparatus are to extrude onto a substrate on the moving platform, and regarding a controller comprising circuitry to control movement of the moving platform. In analogous art of forming optical fibers, Volfson ‘295 suggests depositing a formed optical fiber onto a substrate (spool 165/spool 220, Figs. 1-2) on a moving platform (holding element 170/spool linear stage 224, Figs. 1-2) for the benefit of collecting the formed optical fiber (column 4, lines 46-56; column 6, lines 23-26). Volfson ‘295 further suggests a controller comprising circuitry to control movement of the moving platform for the benefit of controlling tension on the formed optical fiber (column 5, line 39-column 6, line 5; column 6, lines 29-33; Fig. 3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of Trentelman ‘143 by providing a moving platform, wherein each of the first apparatus, second apparatus, and third apparatus are to extrude onto a substrate on the moving platform, and a controller comprising circuitry to control movement of the moving platform, for the benefit of collecting the formed optical fiber and controlling tension on the formed optical fiber, as suggested by Volfson ‘295.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Co-extrusion of glass materials: US 6,550,279 B1, US 6,279,352 B1, US 6,250,112 B1, US 5,814,122, US 4,729,777, US 4,521,073, US 4,466,818, US 4,385,916, US 4,197,136, US 4,118,212, US 2020/0354260 A1, FR 2 604 169 A1, JP S61-91036 A,
Additive manufacturing by extrusion of glass materials: US 2024/0368018 A1, US 2021/0269348 A1, US 2021/0101818 A1, US 2017/0291841 A1, US 2016/0151833 A1, WO 2022/096061 A1
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/ERIN SNELTING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1741