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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 9-24, 28-38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gaines et al, U.S. Patent No. 3,058,863 in view of Mason et al, U.S. Patent No. 5,024,897.
Gaines discloses a composite material comprising a polyethylene or polypropylene fabric ply such as a woven fabric having a polyolefin film on one or both sides. The film is applied extrusion. The film can have a thickness of 1-20 mils. See col 1, lines 58 – col. 2, line 40. The film can be formed by extruding, drawing, applying to the fabric layer and laminating with pressure. See col. 2, line 61 – col. 3, line 59. While Gaines teaches polyethylene and polypropylene it does not explicitly teach HDPE, however, since HDPE is a well-known type of polyethylene, it would have been obvious to have selected from among well-known and conventional types of polyethylene to form the structure of Gaines.
Gaines differs from the claimed invention because it does not disclose that the polyolefin film includes an additive as claimed.
However, Mason discloses a composition comprising 50-99.4 percent by weight of polyolefin, 0.5-50 weight percent polyamide and 0.1-10 percent by weight of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer. See col. 1, lines 48-55. The polyolefins can be polyethylene or polypropylene. See col. 2, lines 59-64. The composition can be used to form films and laminates. See col. 5, lines 63-65. The films can be from 0.5-5 mils. See col. 6, lines 10-17. The films are especially useful in forming materials requiring excellent barrier resistance. See col. 6, lines 21-25.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have included EVOH and polyamide to the polyolefin of Gaines in order to provide an improved structure having excellent barrier resistance. Once the additive was present in the film of Gaines, it is reasonable to expect that the structure of Gaines would have the claimed barrier properties.
Claim(s) 6-8, 25-27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gaines in view of Mason as applied to claims above, and further in view of Baines, U.S. Patent No. 10,799,07.
Gaines in view of Mason does not disclose providing a coating on one or both sides of the fabric layer.
However, Baines discloses coating a fabric layer with an antimicrobial coating before the fabric is bonded to an impermeable film such as a polyolefin film. See abstract and col. 1, lines 28-64; col. 3, lines 30-41.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have applied a coating on one or both sides of the fabric of Gaines in order to provide antimicrobial properties and to have coated the side of the fabric which was not going to be bonded so that the fabric face which was exposed would have the antimicrobial properties.
Applicant's arguments filed 11/29/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Mason does not include a fabric layer at all and that to add an additive to improve gas impermeability would be impermissible hindsight.
However, both Mason and Gaines are drawn to polyolefin structures which can be formed into laminates. Mason teaches that including the claimed additives provides the property of gas impermeability. To include the additive would not degrade the structure of Gaines but would provide an improvement. Therefore, one of ordinary skill would have had the reasonable expectation that incorporating the additives of Mason would improve the laminate of Gaines by allowing it to be impermeable to gas. In response to applicant's argument that the examiner's conclusion of obviousness is based upon improper hindsight reasoning, it must be recognized that any judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based upon hindsight reasoning. But so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill at the time the claimed invention was made, and does not include knowledge gleaned only from the applicant's disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971).
Applicant’s argument has overcome the 112 rejection.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH M IMANI whose telephone number is (571)272-1475. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Wednesday 7AM-7:30; Thursday 10AM -2 PM.
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/ELIZABETH M IMANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789