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 § 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.
Claim(s) 21-40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 20200399904 to Vido in view of US Pub No. 2003/0215594 to Hamdar.
Regarding Claims 21, 25-29, 33 and 39
Vido teaches a roofing underlayment comprising a reinforcement having a first reinforcement surface and a second reinforcement surface such as a glass matt and a first film having a first film surface and a second film surface wherein the first reinforcement surface is adhered to the second film surface (Id., abstract, paragraph [0016], [0022]-[0029]). Vido teaches that the composite may comprise a first adhesive layer on the second side of the reinforcement surface and a second adhesive layer opposite the glass mat, an asphalt adhesive coating would necessarily at least partially impregnate the nonwoven reinforcement layer (Id., paragraphs [0017], [0022], [0036]-[0038], [0044]).
Vido does not appear to teach the inclusion of gripping structures. However, Hamdar teaches a skid resistant moisture barrier such as for roofing underlayment comprising a coating layer and a plurality of gripping structure formed in the coating (Hamdar, abstract, paragraph [0048], [0056], [0067]). Hamdar teaches that the gripping structure has a height between 5 and 15 mils which is equivalent to between 127 and 381 micrometers, overlapping the claimed range of between 150 and 250 micrometers, a maximum cross-sectional dimension between 0.07 and 0.7 mm which is equivalent to 70 to 700 micrometers, overlapping the claimed range of between 350 and 550 micrometers (Id., paragraph [0054], [0059]). Hamdar teaches that the gripping structures may be included in an amount of between 3 and 36 per cm which combined with the above cross-sectional dimensions, would result in a pitch between approximately 0 and 3,000 micrometers, overlapping the claimed range of between 600 and 1,200 micrometers (Id., paragraph [0062]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to form the composite of Vido and to include the gripping elements of Hamdar, motivated by the desire to form a conventional underlayment having improved gripping properties to increase safety and convenience (Id., paragraph [0094]).
Regarding Claims 22-24, 30-32 and 34-38
Regarding the retention rate, coefficient of friction in dry conditions, wet conditions and sawdust conditions, and the shore D hardness of the gripping elements, although the prior art does not disclose the hardness and coefficient of friction, the claimed properties are deemed to naturally flow from the structure in the prior art since the prior art combination teaches an invention with a substantially similar structure, physical dimensions and chemical composition as the claimed invention. Products of identical structure and composition cannot have mutually exclusive properties. The burden is on the Applicants to prove otherwise.
Regarding Claim 40
The prior art combination teaches that the total thickness of the underlayment tis between 0.2 mm and 1.25 mm which is equivalent to between 200 micrometers and 1,250 micrometers which overlaps the claimed range of between 125 and 2,500 micrometers.
Regarding the length and width of the underlayment, these dimensions would be design choices based on the intended specific application and packaging/transport requirements. Alternatively, it should be noted that the length and width of the underlayment are result effective variables. As the dimensional size increases, the material covers a greater surface area at the expense of bulk and weight. Absent unexpected results, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to optimize the length and width since it has been held that where general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 105 USPQ 233 (CCPA 1955). In the present invention one would have been motivated to optimize the length and width in order to balance both surface area coverage and ease of transport, storage and handling due to weight and bulk.
Conclusion
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/VINCENT TATESURE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786