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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Claims 9-17 in the reply filed on 11/17/25 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 1-8 and 18-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected product, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 11/17/25.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 9-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rodriguez USPA_20230136940_A1.
1. Regarding Claim 9, Rodriguez discloses a composite comprising a substrate formable for wrapping around an empty web spool, a length of the substrate sufficient to wrap the substrate around an empty web spool multiple times; a first zone coated region comprising a spool face adhesive on a first side of the substrate; a second zone coated region comprising a release coating of the first side of the substrate, the second zone coated region occupying a majority of the first side of the substrate that is not included in the first zone coated region; and a paper web adhesive coating on a second side of the substrate, the paper web adhesive coating comprising an adhesive comprising sufficient binding strength to burst a paper web being spooled on a full web spool (claim 9), and multiple tear away perforations that can be construed as strips that extend across the substrate (elements 111-113 of Fig. 1A; paragraph 0051).
2. Regarding Claim 16, Rodriguez discloses a method of preparing a turn-up composite, the method comprising cutting a substrate to a width target comprising a width of a spool face reduced by a margin distance for one or both ends, and a length based on a number of desired wraps of substrate around the spool face multiplied by a circumference of a paper spool; applying a spool face adhesive to a length of a first side of the substrate equal to or less than a circumference of the spool face; applying a release formulation to an uncoated portion of the first side of the substrate; and applying a paper web adhesive to a second side of the substrate (Claim 16).
3. Regarding Claim 10, Rodriguez discloses having a number of perforations (paragraph 0051).
4. Regarding Claim 11, Rodriguez discloses a spacing between multiple perforations is not equal to a circumference of the empty paper web spool (paragraph 0018).
5. Regarding Claims 12 and 13, Rodriguez discloses an angular cut-out at an end of the paperband composite may be placed upon the empty web spool to start a winding of the paperband composite onto the empty web spool and align angular cut-out in the paperband composite with a position to start a winding of the paperband composite onto the empty web spool in a spiral pattern (paragraph 0018).
6. Regarding Claim 14, Rodriguez discloses a spool face adhesive may have a tensile strength sufficient to hold a paperband composite in place on an empty web spool but not be sufficient to cause damage to a spool face when the paperband composite is removed (paragraph 0019).
7. Regarding Claim 15, Rodriguez discloses a paper web adhesive coating may form a bond having a tensile strength sufficient to adhere to a paper web during a turn-up operation and adhere the wrapped paperband composite to the empty web spool when the paperband composite is torn along a perforation in the paperband composite (paragraph 0020).
8. Regarding Claim 17, Rodriguez discloses cutting an edge of the substrate at an angle to a side edge to form a start of the turn-up paperband composite that may be applied to the spool face (Claim 17).
Conclusion
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/TAHSEEN KHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1781 January 10, 2026