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
Claim 9-10 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on December 11, 2025.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I (claims 1-8) in the reply filed on December 11, 2025 is acknowledged.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-8 are examined.
Claims 9-10 are withdrawn.
Claim Interpretation
The limitation “phr” has been interpreted as “parts per hundred resin”, absent a specific definition.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mishiro (JP 2002137231 A) in view Sakamoto (WO 2014061403 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Mishiro discloses a method for manufacturing a release protection film (¶ [0022] – method for producing release film), comprising:
preparing a resin material (¶ [0022] – a composition containing 3-methyl-1-butene polymer and 4-methyl-1-pentene polymer), wherein the resin material includes a polyolefin material (¶ [0022] – 3-methyl-1-butene polymer and 4-methyl-1-pentene polymer);
subjecting the resin material to an extrusion process (¶ [0022] – composition is melt-extruded from extruder 1) and a stretching process (¶ [0022] – film is then passed through stretching rolls 4, 4’, whereby it is uniaxially stretched), so as to form a resin membrane (¶ [0022] – a film uniaxially stretched film); and
forming an embossed pattern (¶ [0022] – a surface roughening treatment using an embossing roll) having a depth of from 1 µm to 5 µm onto the resin membrane (¶ [0025] – average surface roughness in range of 0.1 to 20 µm; ¶ [0040] – average roughness was 2.5 µm) by an embossing roller (¶ [0022] – feed to an embossing roll 6), so as to form the release protection film (¶ [0025] – release film produced).
Mishiro does not disclose a petroleum resin; wherein, based on a total weight of the polyolefin material being 100 phr, an amount of the petroleum resin ranges from 5 phr to 20 phr.
Sakamoto discloses a laminate film, which has a configuration in which a layer containing a polypropylene resin and/or a polyethylene resin as a main component (pg. 1, 1st full ¶ after “Description”). B layer mainly is composed of a polypropylene-based resin (pg. 4, 2nd full ¶).
Sakamoto further discloses wherein, based on a total weight of the polyolefin material being 100 phr (pg. 27, 1st full ¶ - when the total of all components of layer b is 100% by mass), an amount of the petroleum resin ranges from 5 phr to 20 phr (pg. 4, 2nd full ¶ - B layer further contains a petroleum resin; pg. 27, 1st full ¶ - layer B preferably contains petroleum resin in an amount of 0.1% by mass or more and 15% by mass or less, particularly preferably 5% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less).
Mishiro and Sakamoto disclose methods with the same or similar components performing the same or similar function in regards to forming a release film. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have applied the layer B composed of polypropylene-based resin and petroleum film in Sakamoto to the resin release film in Mishiro to form a laminate film having excellent formability, releasability, processability, water vapor barrier properties, and heat sealability (pg. 1, 1st full ¶ after “Description”) and increase the interlayer adhesion between layers A and B (pg. 25, last full ¶)
Regarding claim 2, modified Mishiro discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the release protection film is manufactured in a continuous process (¶ [0022] – composition is melt extruded, resulting far film is cooled, heated again by first heated rolls 3, 3’, passed through stretching rolls 4, 4’, the uniaxially stretched film is heated again by second heating roll 5, then fed to embossing roll 6; FIG. 1 depicts the process is continuous to form release sheet 16), and the release protection film is integrally formed (¶ [0025] – release film produced).
Regarding claim 3, modified Mishiro discloses the method according to claim 1.
Mishiro does not disclose wherein the petroleum resin is a hydrogenated petroleum resin.
Sakamoto discloses wherein the petroleum resin is a hydrogenated petroleum resin (pg. 26, 1st full ¶ - petroleum resin refers to a resin produced by polymerization, resins obtained by hydrogenating).
Mishiro and Sakamoto disclose methods with the same or similar components performing the same or similar function in regards to forming a release film. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have applied the petroleum film formed by hydrogenating in Sakamoto to the resin release film in Mishiro to form a laminate film having excellent formability, releasability, processability, water vapor barrier properties, and heat sealability (pg. 1, 1st full ¶ after “Description”) and increase the interlayer adhesion between layers A and B (pg. 25, last full ¶)
Regarding claim 4, Mishiro discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein the petroleum resin is a hydrogenated petroleum resin polymerized from a monomer having a carbon number of 5 or a hydrogenated petroleum resin polymerized from a monomer having a carbon number of 9 (pg. 26, 1st full ¶ - petroleum resin refers to a resin produced by polymerization of a portion of the byproduct oil from naphtha cracking used in the petrochemical industry (such as a C5 (carbon number 5) fraction or a C9 (carbon number 9) fraction), resins obtained by hydrogenating).
Mishiro and Sakamoto disclose methods with the same or similar components performing the same or similar function in regards to forming a release film. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have applied the petroleum film formed by hydrogenating polymerized C5 (carbon number 5) fraction or a C9 (carbon number 9) fraction in Sakamoto to the resin release film in Mishiro to form a laminate film having excellent formability, releasability, processability, water vapor barrier properties, and heat sealability (pg. 1, 1st full ¶ after “Description”) and increase the interlayer adhesion between layers A and B (pg. 25, last full ¶).
Regarding claim 5, Mishiro discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein, based on a total weight of the polyolefin material being 100 wt% (pg. 21, 1st full ¶ - layer B containing polypropylene-based resin and/or polyethylene-based resin as its main component; pg. 21, last full ¶ - 100% by mass of the polymer in layer B), the polyolefin material includes 15 wt% to 65 wt% of a propylene polymer (pg. 21, last full ¶ - layer B contains propylene-based copolymer resin, propylene-based copolymer resin is a resin having a composition in which the total amount of the propylene-derived components is more than 50% by mass but less than 100% by mass; overlaps 15 to 65 wt%) and 35 wt% to 85 wt% of an ethylene polymer (pg. 21, last full ¶ - contains components derived from monomers other than propylene monomers; therefore, ethylene polymer is less than 50% by mass but more than 0% and overlaps with 35 to 85 wt%). The ratio of the polypropylene-based resin to the polyethylene-based resin can be adjusted appropriately in consideration of the composition of the A layer and the adhesion to the functional resin layer (pg. 21, last full ¶).
Mishiro and Sakamoto disclose methods with the same or similar components performing the same or similar function in regards to forming a release film. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have applied the adjusting of the propylene-based copolymer resin with ethylene polymer in Sakamoto to the resin release film in Mishiro to form a laminate film having excellent formability, releasability, processability, water vapor barrier properties, and heat sealability (pg. 1, 1st full ¶ after “Description”) and in consideration of the composition of the A layer and the adhesion to the functional resin layer (pg. 21, last full ¶).
Regarding claim 6, Mishiro discloses the method according to claim 1.
Mishiro does not disclose wherein, based on a total weight of the polyolefin material being 100 wt%, the polyolefin material includes 50 wt% to 70 wt% of a propylene polymer, 10 wt% to 30 wt% of an ethylene polymer, and 10 wt% to 25 wt% of an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer.
Sakamoto further discloses wherein, based on a total weight of the polyolefin material being 100 wt% (pg. 21, 1st full ¶ - layer B containing polypropylene-based resin and/or polyethylene-based resin as its main component; pg. 21, last full ¶ - 100% by mass of the polymer in layer B), the polyolefin material includes 50 wt% to 70 wt% of a propylene polymer (pg. 21, last full ¶ - layer B contains propylene-based copolymer resin, propylene-based copolymer resin is a resin having a composition in which the total amount of the propylene-derived components is more than 50% by mass but less than 100% by mass; overlaps 50 to 70 wt%), 10 wt% to 30 wt% of an ethylene polymer (pg. 21, last full ¶ - contains components derived from monomers other than propylene monomers; therefore, ethylene polymer is less than 50% by mass but more than 0% and overlaps with 10 to 30 wt%), and 10 wt% to 25 wt% of an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (pg. 35, last full ¶ - resins preferably used include ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin copolymers; therefore, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer is less than 50% by mass but more than 0% and overlaps with 10 to 30 wt%).
Mishiro and Sakamoto disclose methods with the same or similar components performing the same or similar function in regards to forming a release film. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have applied the adjusting of the propylene-based copolymer resin with ethylene polymer and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer in Sakamoto to the resin release film in Mishiro to form a laminate film having excellent formability, releasability, processability, water vapor barrier properties, and heat sealability (pg. 1, 1st full ¶ after “Description”) and in consideration of the composition of the A layer and the adhesion to the functional resin layer (pg. 21, last full ¶).
Regarding claim 7, modified Mishiro discloses the method according to claim 1. Mishiro further discloses wherein a stretch ratio of the resin material in the stretching process ranges from 3.5 to 4.5 (¶ d[0022] – stretch ratio of 1 to 8 times, preferably 3 to 6 times; film has increased rigidity; In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. See MPEP § 2144.05). Therefore as the range of stretch ratio of 3-6 times and encompasses the claimed range of 3.5-4.5, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the stretch ratio through routine experimentation to have increased rigidity (¶ [0022]).
Regarding claim 8, modified Mishiro discloses the method according to claim 1. Mishiro further discloses wherein the depth of the embossed pattern formed on the resin membrane ranges from 1 µm to 3 µm (¶ [0025] – average surface roughness in range of 0.1 to 20 µm; ¶ [0040] – average roughness was 2.5 µm).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN B WOO whose telephone number is (571)272-5191. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 am - 5:00 pm ET.
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/JONATHAN B WOO/Examiner, Art Unit 1754 /SUSAN D LEONG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1754