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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on November 4, 2025 has been entered. Claim 14 has been amended to incorporate the subject matter of a previously duplicate-numbered claim 14, which has now been cancelled. Claims 1-16 are pending in the application.
Status of the Office Action
Applicant argues that item box 2b should not have been checked in the Restriction Requirement dated September 4, 2025. The Examiner disagrees. While an initial, written Restriction Requirement is not considered to be an action on the merits in accordance with M.P.E.P. 810, it still qualifies as a “non-final” action. The Office acknowledges that the present Office Action presents the first action on the merits for the claims in this application, and therefore, it also qualifies as a “non-final” action.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, corresponding to Claims 1-7, in the reply filed on November 4, 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 8-16 are withdrawn from consideration.
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.
Claims 1 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0262132 to George (“George”) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0066175 to Wolf et al. (“Wolf”) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0261397 to Sabourin et al. (“Sabourin”).
With regard to Claims 1 and 7, George discloses a method for making a hemp-based nonwoven material using an air bonding process, wherein the nonwoven material comprises a combination of hemp fibers and second fibers. See, e.g., Abstract, entire document. George discloses that the nonwoven material is suitable for use in thermal insulation and sheet-like acoustic panels for building materials. Paragraphs [0067] and [0068]. George also teaches that the nonwoven material can be combined with a chemical suitable for imparting fire resistance. Paragraph [0033]. George disclose that the second fibers can comprise bonding fibers having a melt temperature less than 150 degrees C. and that the nonwoven fabric can be thermally bonded using heat. Paragraphs [0021], [0028], and [0037]. George discloses that hemp fibers are generated from hemp stalk using a mechanical opening process and the fibers are cleaned prior to blending with the second fibers in a predetermined proportion. Paragraph [0050]. George also discloses that the nonwoven web of fibers can be formed using an air-laid process that provides aero-entanglement, such as by using a Rando Webber. Paragraph [0051]. However, George does not disclose, in detail, the particular processing steps of mechanically opening the hemp fibers and the bonding fibers from baled form into a transversal collector, transporting the fibers to a blending box for storage, and refining the blended fibers using a fine opener. Nonetheless, such processing steps are well known in the related art and can be performed without any undue burden. Wolf is also related to nonwoven materials useful in insulation applications that provide flame barrier features. See, e.g., Abstract, entire document. Wolf teaches that “fiber 21 from compressed bales is placed first into hoppers 22 or onto a conveyor or other feeder device, where openers such as bale openers and/or fine openers 23 … begin to open the fiber bales or clumps and prepare the fibers for processing. Next, in the blending phase, the fibers are blended using multiple blending feeders 24, with different or like kinds of fiber, that weigh out specific amounts of fiber in order to achieve a precise ‘blend level’ of various fibers. The precise blend level is achieved through electronically controlled weighing devices or through other forms of precise metering that provide for sufficient accuracy of the blend. The fiber is then collected on a common conveyor or air transport system 25 where the fiber is moved to the next processing stage or optionally moved to a mixing chamber and/or additional opener.” Paragraph [0038]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to mechanically open the hemp fibers and the bonding fibers of George from baled form into a transversal collector, transport the fibers to a blending box for storage, and refine the blended fibers using a fine opener since George establishes obtaining the fibers using mechanical opening, and because Wolf sets out the particular disclosure of using a bale opener and a finer opener, along with collection and transport of the fibers between processing steps, as normal and legitimate processes for making nonwoven insulation materials in an air-laid process. With regard to the limitations of providing a first layer of fire retardant during transportation and a second layer of fire retardant during conveyance to the air-laying unit, Wolf generally establishes that “[c]hemical additives, such as fire-retardant chemicals, may optionally be added in the mixing chamber, opening device or air transport system.” Paragraph [0038]. However, Wolf does not specifically disclose adding fire-retardant chemicals at two separate instances. Sabourin is also related to nonwoven materials useful for insulation that provide fire resistant properties. See, e.g., Abstract, entire document. Sabourin also teaches that nonwoven processing utilizes bale opening to provide synthetic and cellulosic fiber, weighing to provide proper ratio percentages, and thermobonding of the composite material. Paragraphs [0097] to [0107]. Sabourin teaches that spray applications of flame retardant chemicals can be set up across multiple locations of the fibers being processed and joined to form the nonwoven fabric, and that the fibers can be treated more than one time. Paragraphs [0119] to [0123]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to provide a first layer of fire retardant during transportation and a second layer of fire retardant during conveyance of the fibers to the air-laying unit to the nonwoven material taught by the combination of George with Wolf, in order to provide additional layers of flame retardant protection to the nonwoven material, as shown to be known in the art by Sabourin. With regard to the limitation of cooling the thermally compressed fibers, Sabourin teaches that after the fibers are thermally compressed in an oven, a cooling unit of blowing air can be used to cool the fabric. Paragraph [0015]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to provide a cooling step via a cooling unit to the nonwoven material taught by the combination of George with Sabourin in order to cool the heated product more quickly, as shown to be known by Sabourin. With regard to Claim 5, George discloses that the nonwoven material can include polymeric and non-polymeric fibers. See, e.g., paragraphs [0089] to [0093]. With regard to Claim 6, George discloses that the hemp fiber can be present in an amount of 25-75% and that the second fiber can be present in an amount of 25-75%. Paragraph [0052]. Moreover, Sabourin establishes that a dry add-on amount of flame retardant should be in the range of 4% to 9%, by weight, to provide effective flame retardant performance. Table 2. In the case where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art, a prima facie case of obviousness exists. M.P.E.P. 2144.05.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over George in view of Wolf and Sabourin as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 4,640,810 to Laursen et al. (“Laursen”).
With regard to Claims 2 and 3, Wolf discloses that various machines used to form the blend of fibers can be used to provide specific and desired orientations of the fibers. Paragraph [0039. However, the combination of references does not disclose using a fiber opening willow having one or more rotating drums with spikes to orient to and comb the fibers. Laursen is related to a system for producing an air-laid nonwoven fiber web. See, e.g., Abstract, entire document. Laursen teaches that fibers blended in an airstream can be provided to a distributor unit having a rotatable cylinder drum with a rotatable shaft of extending wire members that agitate the fibers and throws them outwardly through apertures. Column 5, line 63 – column 6, line 8. Laursen teaches that this additional step or processing can assist in controlling the composition and thickness of the end product. Column 6, lines 11-15. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to utilize a fiber opening willow having one or more rotating drums with spikes to orient to and comb the fibers of George in view of Wolf and Sabourin in order to improve composition and thickness of the end product, as shown to be known by Laursen. With regard to the removal of impurities, Laursen discloses that a suction box can be used to the pull the fibers onto a forming wire, column 7, lines 20-29, which produces “a refined composition of the same homogenous mixture first achieved in the blender,” thus inherently removing impurities, such as dust, that would not be captured by the forming wire. The disclosure of Laursen of a refined composition necessitates a cleaner product be provided by its process.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over George in view of Wolf and Sabourin as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0241365 to Morgner (“Morgner”).
With regard to Claim 4, the combination of George with Wolf and Sabourin does not disclose using a pneumatic blower to deliver fibers from a fine opener to an airlaying unit. Morgner is related to apparatus, such as a mixing opener or a fine opener, for processing staple fibers in forming nonwoven fabrics. See, e.g., Abstract, paragraph [0036], entire document. Morgner discloses a pneumatic blower can be used to convey fibers. Paragraphs [0019] and [0053]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to use a pneumatic blower to deliver fibers from a fine opener to an airlaying unit in the fibers of George in view of Wolf and Sabourin in order to provide a fiber blend with less contamination and improved processing, as shown to be known by Morgner.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0335830 to Stangeland et al.
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JEREMY R. PIERCE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1789
/JEREMY R PIERCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789