Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/384,587

COATING MATERIAL FOR A SURFACE OF AN AIRCRAFT WITH LIGHTNING PROTECTION

Non-Final OA §102§103§112
Filed
Oct 27, 2023
Examiner
AHMED, SHEEBA
Art Unit
1787
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Airbus Defence and Space GmbH
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allow Rate
890 granted / 1105 resolved
+15.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +14% lift
Without
With
+14.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
37 currently pending
Career history
1142
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
34.5%
-5.5% vs TC avg
§102
33.7%
-6.3% vs TC avg
§112
20.3%
-19.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1105 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103 §112
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. 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. 2. Claim s 11 and 12 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 11 recites that “the first flakes are connected to ground by at least one electrical terminal point .” It is unclear, from both the claims and Specification, what is meant by “the first flakes are connected to ground by at least one electrical terminal point.” Claim 12 is dependent on claim 9 and recites that “ the at least one component is a low- observable component. ” Again, it is unclear, from both the claims and Specification, what is meant by “the at least one component is a low- observable component.” Appropriate correction or clarification is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 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. (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 3. Claims 1-5 and 7 - 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Woolf et al. (US 2016/0340518 A1) . Woolf et al. disclose lightning strike protective compositions for composite structures wherein the compositions include a binder material capable of dispersing material structures therein and attaching to a surface of a substrate , and a plurality of pigment structures are dispersed in the binder material. The pigment structures include a central layer including an electrically conducting material, and outer layers formed on the central layer, in which the outer layers include an optical absorber material or a dielectric material (meeting the limitation in claim 1 that the flakes in the coating material have a non-conductive coating). The composition (equivalent to the coating material of the claimed invention) , can be used as paint, and when attached to the substrate, is capable of providing electrically conductive paths to transfer electrical current from a multi kiloamp electrical discharge within the composition. The pigment structures include an aspect ratio of length to thickness being at least 3:1 or at least 5:1 ( me e ting the limitations in claim 1 that the flakes are two-dimensional and have a ratio of thickness to average diameter of 1:3 or less) . E xemplary paint compositions can include flake pigments containing electrically conductive layers that can have a wide range of colors, as needed for aircraft, and are environmentally and mechanically robust due to the hard layers that can surround the electrically conductive layers and due to the properties of the binder system in which the flake pigments are contained. FIG. 1 shows a diagram of typical aircraft zone locations that differ in lightning strike effects. The different zones of the aircraft are shown in FIG. 1, and for each zone, there is a standard lightning strike test that involves a succession of current components as shown. Zone 1 including Zones 1 A, 1 B, and 1 C constitutes the most severe lightning strike conditions, Zone 2 including Zones 2 A and 2 B is less severe than Zone 1 , and Zone 3 involves current transport but not direct lightning strike (meeting the limitations of claim 10). In some aspects, the material pigment and coating compositions can be configured as paints that include multi-layered flake-shaped pigment with electrically conductive constituents that can provide lightning strike protection over substantial or all parts of a body to which the paint is applied, e.g., including composite aircrafts (meeting the limitations of claim 9). These electrically conductive constituents can include semiconductor materials such as silicon (meeting the limitations of claim 7) and metal materials such as aluminum. I n some examples, the exemplary flake-shaped pigments in the paint can be configured to have thicknesses of about 0.2-2 microns (meeting the limitations of claim 2) , in which typical flake lateral dimensions can be 5-60 microns (meeting the limitations of claim 3) , e.g., preferably 20-40 microns, and typical pigment volume concentrations (PVC) can be 10-30% (meeting the limitations of claim 5) , preferably 15-22%. In some embodiments, the composition can be structured to include a flake shaped pigment structure (having a high aspect ratio) in a binder material (e.g., such as paint, including an acrylic based paint binder system (meeting the limitation in claim 1 that the matrix material is polymer-based ) . The binder material can be used to mix with pigment in order to hold the pigment particles together in the formation of paint. The thicknesses and compositions of the pigment designs provide for a pigment with an electrically conducting section that is flake shaped and also that is colored without the addition of electrically insulating pigment particles. The conducting section can include any number of different types of electrically conductive materials, e.g., such as metals, metallic alloys, mixtures containing metals, and/or semiconductors. For example, preferably metals are employed in the electrically conductive section of the pigment structure, e.g., such as aluminum, copper, chromium, titanium, silver, nickel, iron, alloys thereof or other metals used for thin film coatings . Because these pigments are structured as thin flakes, for example, they tend to be situated in the paint with their flat flake faces parallel to the paint surface (meeting the limitations of claim 4) . The use of the disclosed metal flake paint composition can allow customized colors by design of the pigment structure or by blending pigments with different designs into a paint, as well as improve the electrical conductance of the paint (meeting the limitations of claim 8) (See Abstract, Figures, and paragraphs 0002, 0006, 0007, 0015, 0027-0034). With regards to the limitation that the second flakes of the metallic have an infrared emission level of not more than 0.2, the Examiner takes the position that such property limitations are inherent in the flakes taught by Woolf et al. given that the flakes taught by Woolf et al. an that of the claimed invention are identical. All limitations of claims 1-5, 7, 9, and 10 are disclosed or inherent in the above reference. 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. 4. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woolf et al. (US 2016/0340518 A1) in view of Huang et al. (US 2005/0189060 A1). Woolf et al., as discussed above, do not teach that their flakes are coated with silicon dioxide (as recited in claim 6). However, Huang et al. disclose a film formed by admixing a resin and encapsulated metallic flakes. The metallic flakes are encapsulated with a silane in a hydrolyzed condition modified with a surfactant or dispersion agent. The coated metallic flakes are formed by mixing metallic flakes with a silane in a hydrolyzed condition to form a silica layer over the metallic flakes. The silica coated flakes are modified with surfactants or dispersion agents to make "leafing" or "non-leafing" products. A cured coating is formed over the flakes which cannot be washed off with solvents. These cured coated flakes do not form agglomerates even if stored for weeks or months. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to coat the flakes taught by Woolf et al. with a silica coating given that Huang et al. specifically teach that such a coating cannot be washed off with solvents and prevents the coated flakes from form ing agglomerates even if stored for weeks or months . Conclusion 5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT SHEEBA AHMED whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-1504 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Thursday 7am-6pm . 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. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT CALLIE SHOSHO can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-1123 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SHEEBA AHMED/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 27, 2023
Application Filed
Dec 15, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12600883
PROCESS TO SYNTHESIZE/INTEGRATE DURABLE/ROBUST LOW SURFACE ENERGY "HYDROPHOBIC" DROPWISE CONDENSATION PROMOTER COATINGS ON METAL AND METAL OXIDE SURFACES
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12594750
TEXTILE FABRIC AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12595362
Polypropylene Resin Composition with Excellent Flame Retardancy and Formability
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12590365
HYDROPHILIC ANTI FOG FILM LAYER, PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR, AND APPLICATION AND PRODUCT THEREOF
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12590196
LAMINATED FILM
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
80%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+14.2%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1105 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month