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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/35 USC § 103
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.
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) 1-7, 9-10, and 18-19 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fernihough et al (7,192,622).
Fernihough sets forth processes of masking cooling holes of a gas turbine component. Said process comprises the use of mask material comprising: 1) an organic material or 2) a resin of a plastic such as polyurethane, a polyurethane oligomer mixture, 2-hydroxyl methacrylate, isobornyl acrylate, maleic acid, methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate copolymer, acrylic acid, T-butyl perbenzoate, poly(isobutyl methacrylate), poly(vinyl toluene), polyproplyene or a polypropylene/polyurethane oligomer mixture, the class of polymers ketones or silicones, or any mixture thereof and 3) a photopolymerizing resin or a mixture of resins and photoinitiator which polymerize with exposure to ultraviolet light—see col. 8, lines 5-15. Fernihough sets forth the mask material may comprise from 5-95 % percent by volume of a filler material—see col. 9, lines 62-65.
Regarding claims 1, 6-7 and 18: Per examples, Fernihough set forth in the examples mask materials comprising a polyurethane acrylate, 2-hydroxyl methacrylate, isobornyl acrylate, maleic acid, methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate copolymer, acrylic acid, T-butyl perbenzoate, a photoinitiator, and up to 60 % of aluminum oxide powder. Said composition additionally comprises a fluorescing chemical agent (colorant)—see col. 10, lines 54-66. Thus, claims 1, 6-7, and 18 are anticipated.
Regarding claims 2-5 and 9-10: Fernihough does not expressly set forth the addition amounts of said mask components. However, the courts have upheld where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 124 (CCPA 1955).
Regarding claim 19: Fernihough sets forth curing by exposure to UV radiation having a wavelength of 365 nm.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 11-17 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art (see above cited reference) fails to expressly teach the claimed photoinitiators and amounts of thickening agent.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANZA L MCCLENDON whose telephone number is (571)272-1074. The examiner can normally be reached 8-5.
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/SANZA L. McCLENDON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765
SMc
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