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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendments and remarks filed on October 1, 2025 have been entered and considered. In view of Applicant’s terminal disclaimers over US Patent Applications 18/573,782 and 18/723,979, all Double Patenting rejections from the previous Office Action have been withdrawn. Additionally, the amendment to claim 4 overcomes the claim objection set forth in the previous Office Action. However, upon an updated search, additional prior art has been located which is discussed below. Therefore, the indication of claims 1 – 7 as allowable is withdrawn. The invention as currently claimed is not found to be patentable for reasons herein below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant did not argue any merits of the previous rejection as the claims were indicated as allowable provided that the terminal disclaimers were filed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 - 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takahashi et al. (WO2018/124215), (US2021/0129488 is relied upon as the English language equivalent).
Takahashi et al. is directed to a metal-FRP composite body (Abstract).
As to claims 1 - 3, Takahashi et al. teach, as shown in Figure 1, a metal-FRP composite body 100 includes a metal member 101, an FRP layer 102 as a first fiber-reinforced resin material, and a bonding resin layer 103 interposed between the metal member 101 and the FRP layer 102. The bonding resin layer 103 is a solidified product of a phenoxy resin (A) alone or a cured product of a bonding resin composition containing 50 parts by weight or more of a phenoxy resin (A) in 100 parts by weight of resin components. The bonding resin layer 103 is provided in contact with at least one side surface of the metal member 101 and firmly bonds the metal member 101 to the FRP layer 102. Here, the bonding resin layer 103 and the FRP layer 102 may be formed on both surfaces of the metal member 101. In addition, the metal member 101 may be disposed on both sides of a laminate including the bonding resin layer 103 and the FRP layer 102 therebetween [0048]. The resin in the bonding resin layer 103 and resin matrix 104 preferably is the same resin or type of resin [0051]. Takahashi et al. teach the FRP layer 102 may be molded in advance when combined with the metal member 101 or may be in a state of the FRP molding prepreg and is preferably in a latter state in which a more uniform FRP layer 102 can be formed [0050]
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The Examiner equates the FRP layer 102 to Applicant’s “film containing an amorphous thermoplastic resin which is at least one of a thermoplastic epoxy resin and a phenoxy resin, as a main component”, the metal member 101 to Applicant’s “base material A” and bonding resin layer 103 to Applicant’s “resin B”. The Examiner submits that the resin containing phenoxy would inherently have a low heat of fusion, specifically less than 15 J/g or less. Takahashi et al. teach various method of producing the metal-FRP composite body which encompass Applicant’s “first joining step” and “second joining step”; see paragraphs [0088 – 0170].
As to claim 4, Takahashi et al. teach that the thermocompression temperature is not particularly limited, but it is, for example, in a range of 100° C. to 400° C., and preferably in a range of 150 to 300° C [0104].
As to claims 5 - 7, Takahashi et al. teach additional heat processes including thermocompression where the temperature is equal to or higher than a melting point of least one of the resin or the film [0108-0125]. The Examiner submits that thermocompression would be within the scope of “contact heating or “hot press” as required by the claim. [0111] Takahashi et al. teach temperatures ranging from 160 to 250 C with a pressure of 3 MPa [0111].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER A BOYD whose telephone number is (571)272-7783. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 5 pm with alternating Fridays off.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sri Kumar can be reached at (571) 272-7769. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JENNIFER A BOYD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1786