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 with traverse election of species, B. and C. subset a. in the reply filed on 09/17/2025 is acknowledged.
Applicant argues the following:
There is no undue burden in examining the species of Group I and II or the species (a) and (b).
However, there is undue burden for the reasons set forth in the office action mailed 9/17/25, which reasons include there would be a different field of search and/or prior art applicable to one species would likely not be applicable to the other species.
Applicant’s request for rejoinder of all the claims is denied at this time.
Applicant is also reminded of pursuing the possible filing of a Divisional. Applicant argues the search wouldn’t be burdensome. However, the Examiner has specifically pointed to all the reasons why it would be burdensome because the subject matter is divergent and/or as consistent with the MPEP. Also the record doesn’t show them to be obvious variants. Acknowledgement is made of election of species C.a. to nano-sized particles.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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.
(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.
Claims 1-4, 7-8, 10-15, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 20160165706 A1 to Clemen, Jr. et al. (herein referred to as "Clemen").
Re claims 1, 7, 11, and 18, Clemen teaches the claimed material coating system (article and process) invention comprising as shown in Fig. 3 (see below) and associated text: substrate 18, laser-ablation layers 13, 14, and topcoat 16 [36]. The topcoat includes various transparent polymer compounds and includes epoxy [9] which is inherently transparent. Clemen also discloses the use of a laser 20 which debonds the laser ablative layers and topcoat [38] and therefore the laser-ablation layer is necessarily tuned as presently claimed.
PNG
media_image1.png
435
642
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Re claims 2-4, 13-14, and 20 (structure and process relied upon in claim 1), see further [8-11, 58].
Re claims 8, 12, Clemen discloses the material coating system also comprises a reflective layer between the substrate and laser ablation layers [32, 36].
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 9-10 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20160165706 A1 to Clemen, Jr. et al. (herein referred to as "Clemen") and further in view of US20150202858A1 to Simko.
Re claims 9-10, and 19, Clemen doesn’t teach a substate of metal alloy, fiber and resin.
Simko teaches a similar laser ablated top coat on substrate, teaching it is known substrates are of [4] metal alloy, fiber and [20] resin for lightweight propellers and efficiency. See also published claim 3 and Fig. 3 and associated text.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention was made to use, add or substitute the substrate of Clemen with the metal alloy or fiber or resin of Simko for producing for lightweight propellers and efficiency. Therefore there is a reasonable expectation of success because the applied prior art teaches this would have been well within the level of ordinary skill.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAMRA L. DICUS whose telephone number is (571)272-2022. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 am 4:00 pm.
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, Callie Shosho can be reached at 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.
TAMRA L. DICUS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1787
/TAMRA L. DICUS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787