DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1, claims 1-7 in the reply filed on 12/26/2025 is acknowledged. Claims 8-10 are withdrawn.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/26/2023 and 8/29/2024 was filed timely. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (TW 202330241 A) to Zushi et al. (hereinafter Zushi) in view of the teachings of the (US 2020/0171791 A1) to Liao et al. (hereinafter Liao)
Zushi is directed toward three-layer polyester films made with recycled materials. Zushi discloses in the Abstract that a polyester film having a haze of 2% to 15% is produced, which overlaps on Applicants range of less than 10%. Zushi discloses that up to 100% recycled materials can be used to make the film. Zushi discloses that [Used film with functional layer] The laminated film having a functional layer and a base material may be a laminated film before use or a used laminated film. In one aspect, the laminated film having a functional layer and a substrate may be a used laminated film with a functional layer (hereinafter, may be referred to as a used film with a functional layer) Zushi discloses that In the present invention, the haze must be controlled to a predetermined condition, and the used film with a functional layer preferably contains particles. For example, one or more types of inorganic particles or organic particles may be contained. The particles contained are not limited to specific inorganic particles and organic particles, for example, titanium oxide, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, silicon dioxide, alumina, talc, kaolin, clay, calcium phosphate, mica, Inorganic particles such as lithium bentonite, zirconia, tungsten oxide, lithium fluoride, and calcium fluoride; or organic polymer particles such as styrene, acrylic, melamine, benzoguanamine, and silicone. Two or more films may be added in combination. It is preferable to contain calcium carbonate or silicon dioxide with high versatility. Zushi discloses that The said polyester film base material may be single-layered, and may be multilayered of 2 or more layers. In the case of a laminated polyester film composed of two or more layers, it is preferably composed of three layers of A layer/B layer/A layer. In this case, in order to impart slipperiness for winding the film into a roll, it is preferable to contain 100 ppm to 800 ppm of particles of 2 μm or more on the A layer as the surface layer. Alternatively, a coating layer containing a binder may also be applied during film formation. In the polyester film base material in the present invention, it is preferable to contain silica particles. Zushi discloses that In one aspect, the biaxially stretched polyester film of the present invention contains material recycling raw materials at 80% by mass or more and 100% by mass or less in 100% by mass of the biaxially stretched polyester film. For example, the material recycling raw material is contained at 85 mass % or more and 100 mass % or less, for example, the material recycling raw material is contained at 90 mass % or more and 100 mass % or less. By containing more than 80% by mass, the amount of raw materials derived from petroleum can be reduced, and it can be called an environmentally friendly film. In addition, when the biaxially stretched polyester film has a multilayer structure, for example, when the above-mentioned A layer has a two-layer structure, the recycled raw materials contained in the A layer may be 80% by mass in total in the two layers. From above to below 100% by mass is properly prepared. Zushi discloses that the film is made in a three layer structure from recycled PET including used release film, but is silent regarding the use of a recycled PET bottle source.
Liao is directed toward three-layer polyester films made with recycled materials. Zushi and Liao are both directed toward three-layer polyester films made with recycled materials and therefore are analogous art. Liao teaches at paragraph [0078] that the recycled polyester film has three or more layers. Liao teaches at paragraph [0006] that sources for recycled materials includes plastic bottles and used release films. Liao teaches at paragraph [0027] that the center is the recycled layer containing the used release film materials. Liao teaches at paragraph [0100] that the film has a of about 8%, which is less than 10%. Therefore one skilled in the art would find it obvious to include recycled PET from sources that include bottles, which are readily available from consumer recycling programs.
It would be obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the filing of the disclosure of Zushi in view of the teachings of Liao to produce a low haze three layer laminate PET film that included widely available recycled bottles as a material source that forms a prime facie case of obviousness for claims 1-7.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY D WASHVILLE whose telephone number is (571)270-3262. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
8. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
9. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached at 571-272-1302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEFFREY D WASHVILLE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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