DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the amendment filed on 2/2/2026.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office 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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 2/2/2026. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the admitted prior art (see paragraphs 0003-0006 under “BACKGROUND” and Figure 10 and paragraph 0028 of the instant application) in view of Mori et al. (WO 2004/028709) and optionally further Savich (U.S. Patent 4,281,854).
Regarding claim 15, the admitted prior art discloses a general cosmetic paint film adhered onto an exterior panel of a motor vehicle (and regarding claim 16 the exterior panel is a car hood part or similar automotive body panel of a automobile/car and regarding claim 17 wherein the motor vehicle is an automobile/car, airplane, or boat), the cosmetic paint film comprising (it being noted comprising is inclusive or open-ended and does not exclude additional, unrecited elements see MPEP 2111.03): a paint film sheet (600) adhered onto a portion of the exterior panel adjacent to a corner (corner tip 604), the paint film sheet having a cut corner relief pattern (formed by a simple relief cut 601 of the type typically used to accommodate the corner tip) corresponding to a recess along an edge of the cut paint film sheet from an edge including the corner of the substrate, the paint film sheet arranged such that at least a portion of the corner is within the cut corner relief pattern (see paragraphs 0003-0006 under “BACKGROUND” and Figure 10 and paragraph 0028 of the instant application).
As to the limitations in claim 15 of “a corner patch adhered onto a corner of an exterior panel of the motor vehicle” and “wherein the paint film sheet overlaps and is bonded with the corner patch to provide a continuous paint film over at least the corner of the exterior panel”, the admitted prior art does not expressly teach a corner patch wherein the corner is exposed and easily seen (see paragraph 0006 under “BACKGROUND” and Figure 10 of the instant application). Protective paint film for exterior decoration of a vehicle is known in the art to decorate and protect portions (i.e. including less than the entire surface) of the surface of the vehicle such as at corners as taught by Mori (Page 2, lines 8-20 and Page 3, lines 13-22 and Page 10, lines 11-12). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention the admitted prior art further comprise a corner patch of protective paint film as taught by Mori adhered onto and completely covering the exposed corner of the exterior panel of the motor vehicle to protect and decorate the exposed and easily seen corner and including wherein the paint film sheet necessarily then (as the patch covers the corner) partially overlaps (i.e. to have something in common with) under an edge of the corner patch or (partially or completely) overlaps an abutting side edge of the corner patch and the paint film sheet is bonded along with the corner patch to the exterior panel to provide a continuous paint film over at least the corner of the exterior panel.
As to the limitation in claim 15 of “a corner relief pattern corresponding to a recess along an edge of the paint film sheet”, as noted above the admitted prior art teaches the cut corner relief pattern corresponding to a recess (i.e. a space set back, a receding space, etc.) along an edge of the cut paint film sheet from an edge including the corner of the substrate. In the event it is somehow considered the admitted prior art does not necessarily teach the limitation as a function of the simple relief cut (601) of the type typically used to accommodate the corner tip is a straight cut the following optional rejection is made. It is well understood by one of ordinary skill in the art of relief cutting a sheet material (38) along an edge to accommodate a corner tip of a substrate (36) the cut is curved (34/48) or straight (34A/48A) or any suitable shape to effect relief as evidenced by Savich (Figures 11A, 12 and 20A and Column 21-38 and Column 5, lines 1-6). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention the cut corner relief pattern taught by the admitted prior art is a curved cut (i.e. and the cut corner relief pattern corresponding to a recess of a curve along an edge of the paint film sheet) as a simple substitution of one known shape for another to yield predictable results as is well understood by one of ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Savich.
Claims 18-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the admitted prior art and Mori and optionally further Savich as applied to claims 15-17 above, and further in view of McGuire, Jr. et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0161646).
The admitted prior art is described above in full detail. The admitted prior teaches exemplary paint film sheet is that taught by McGuire, Jr. (see paragraph 0004 under “BACKGROUND” of the instant application).
Regarding claims 18-20, McGuire, Jr. (Paragraphs 0050, 0072, 0077, and 0087) teaches the thickness of the paint film sheet is about 16 to about 2,678 micron depending on desired application (e.g. ballistic), recoverability, cost, etc. Mori teaches the thickness of the protective paint film/corner patch is about 236 to about 1,150 micron (Page 4, lines 15-20 and Page 5, lines 16-17 and Page 6, lines 5 and 25-27 and Page 7, lines 6-8) to satisfy requirements for chipping resistance, appearance and decoration performance, handling property, etc. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention the paint film sheet taught by the admitted prior art as modified by Mori and optionally further Savich is the paint film sheet taught by McGuire, Jr. as is the exemplary paint film sheet taught by the admitted prior art and to include the corner patch has a first thickness and the paint film sheet has a second thickness selected to satisfy requirements for chipping resistance, appearance and decoration performance, handling property, etc. and depending on desired application (e.g. ballistic), recoverability, cost, etc. as directed by Mori and McGuire, Jr. such as to include wherein the first thickness is less than the second thickness and wherein a ratio of the first thickness relative the second thickness ranges between 1:4 and 3:4 and wherein the first thickness is 50 microns to 200 microns, and the second thickness is 100 microns to 500 microns, it being noted in the case where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art a prima facie case of obviousness exists and similarly, a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges or amounts do not overlap with the prior art but are merely close (see MPEP 2144.05).
Regarding claim 21, McGuire, Jr. teaches the paint film sheet has a color to provide desired aesthetics (Paragraph 0064). Mori teaches the protective paint film/corner patch has a color wholly or partially having a decoration function (Page 5, lines 6-7). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention the paint film sheet taught by the admitted prior art as modified by Mori and optionally further Savich is the paint film sheet taught by McGuire, Jr. as is the exemplary paint film sheet taught by the admitted prior art. It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention the color of each of the corner patch and the paint film sheet taught by the admitted prior art as modified by Mori and McGuire, Jr. and optionally further Savich is selected to provide desired aesthetics and decoration function as directed by Mori and McGuire, Jr. to include a color of the corner patch matches a color of the paint film sheet including within an engineering vehicle exterior paint color match standard, wherein the engineering vehicle exterior paint color match standard is based on a visual assessment at 3 feet or greater wherein matters relating to ornamentation only which have no mechanical function cannot be relied upon to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art (see MPEP 2144.04).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 and 14 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The claims are allowed for the reasons set forth in paragraph 14 of the Office action mailed on 10/1/2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/2/2026 have been fully considered.
In view of the amendments filed on 2/2/2026 the objections and rejections (but for the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections of claims 15-21) set forth in the Office action mailed on 10/1/2025 are withdrawn.
Applicant argues, “Applicant submits that neither Mori nor Savich, alone or in combination, disclose a cosmetic paint film comprising “wherein the paint film sheet overlaps and is bonded with the corner patch to provide a continuous paint film over at least the corner of the exterior panel.””.
This argument is not persuasive wherein the admitted prior art as modified by Mori above teach the corner patch of the protective paint film taught by Mori adhered onto the exposed and easily seen corner of the exterior panel of the motor vehicle taught by the admitted prior art to protect and decorate the exposed corner by covering the corner and including wherein the paint film sheet necessarily then (as the patch covers the corner) partially overlaps (i.e. to have something in common with) under an edge of the corner patch or (partially or completely) overlaps an abutting side edge of the corner patch and the paint film sheet is bonded along with the corner patch to the exterior panel to provide a continuous paint film over at least the corner of the exterior panel.
Conclusion
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 JOHN L GOFF II whose telephone number is (571)272-1216. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM EST Monday - Friday.
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/JOHN L GOFF II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
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