DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are pending.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected.
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 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 (AIA )
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by:
KIM (US 2006/0030664).
KIM ‘664 disclose molded electronic components (e.g., enclosures for electrical equipment, automative engine parts, electrical connectors, electrical motor parts, etc.) formed from a flame retardant polyester molding composition comprising:
(a) a polyester (corresponding to the recited “resin material”);
(b) a polycarbonate;
(c) an impact modifier;
(d) titanium dioxide (corresponding to the recited “inorganic flame-retardant aid contains at least one element selected from Group IV elements”);
(e) a flame retarding amount of a halogenated flame retardant (e.g., tetrabromobisphenol A polycarbonate oligomer; polybromophenyl ether; brominated polystyrene; brominated imides; brominated polycarbonate; etc.) (corresponding to the “recited brominated flame retardant”).
(entire document, e.g., paragraph 0012, 0019-0033, 0045-0046, 0074-0077, 0092, etc. ; Table 1, etc.)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 (AIA )
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.
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) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• KIM (US 2006/0030664).
Claims 1, 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by KIM (US 2006/0030664) as stated above. However, in the event the claims are not anticipated, the claims are obvious for the following reasons:
KIM ‘664 disclose molded electronic components (e.g., enclosures for electrical equipment, automative engine parts, electrical connectors, electrical motor parts, etc.) formed from a flame retardant polyester molding composition comprising:
(a) a polyester (corresponding to the recited “resin material”);
(b) a polycarbonate;
(c) an impact modifier;
(d) titanium dioxide (corresponding to the recited “inorganic flame-retardant aid contains at least one element selected from Group IV elements”);
(e) a flame retarding amount of a halogenated flame retardant (e.g., tetrabromobisphenol A polycarbonate oligomer; polybromophenyl ether; brominated polystyrene; brominated imides; brominated polycarbonate; etc.) (corresponding to the “recited brominated flame retardant”).
(entire document, e.g., 0012, 0019-0033, 0045-0046, 0074-0077, 0092, etc. ; Table 1, etc.)
Regarding claims 1, 3-5, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use flame retardant polyester molding compositions of KIM ‘664 to form known molded electronic components (e.g., enclosures for electrical equipment, automative engine parts, electrical connectors, electrical motor parts, etc.)
Regarding claim 2, one of ordinary skill in the art would have used flame retardant polyester molding compositions of KIM ‘664 to form known molded components (e.g., bases, housings, etc.) containing electronic components (e.g., electrical contacts, coils, etc.).
Regarding 6-11, one of ordinary skill in the art would have minimized the thickness of molded electronic parts formed from the flame retardant polyester molding compositions of KIM ‘664 in order to produce smaller components (e.g., relays, switches, etc.) and/or to reduce weight.
Claim(s) 2-4, 6-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• KIM (US 2006/0030664),
as applied to claims 1-11 above,
and further in view of SAIKI ET AL (US 5,814,696).
SAIKI ET AL ‘696 discloses that it is well known in the art to form thin molded articles (e.g., relay components, such as a relay contact, a base for fixing electromagnetic coils, a relay card, a relay case for housing an entire relay, relay body, etc.) from bromine-containing flame retardant polyester resin molding compositions, wherein an illustrative example of a thin molded article has a thickness of 0.5 mm (e.g., for a relay case). The reference further discloses that it is well known in the art to incorporate metal oxide fillers (e.g., titanium oxide, zircon oxide, lead oxide) (alternatively corresponding to the recited “inorganic flame-retardant aid contains at least one element selected from Group IV elements”) in bromine-containing flame retardant polyester resin molding compositions in order to modify electrical or thermal characteristics. (line 25-31, col. 3; line 57, col. 5 to line 15, col. 6; line 22-36, col. 8; line 32-50, col. 10; etc.)
Regarding claims 2-4, 6-11, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use flame retardant polyester molding compositions of KIM ‘664 to form known thin (e.g., 0.5 mm or less) molded components (e.g., relay components, such as a relay contact, a base for fixing electromagnetic coils, a relay card, a relay case for housing an entire relay, relay body, etc.) containing electronic components (e.g., electrical contacts, coils, etc.) as suggested in SAIKI ET AL ‘696.
Further regarding 6-11, one of ordinary skill in the art would have minimized the thickness of molded electronic parts formed from the flame retardant polyester molding compositions of KIM ‘664 in order to produce smaller components (e.g., relays, switches, etc.) and/or to reduce weight.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
HEPP (US 4,636,544) disclose flame retardant polyester compositions containing brominated flame retardants and titanium oxide.
HE ET AL (US 2023/0323087) and HIRSCHSOHN ET AL (US 2019/0249004) disclose flame retardant polyester compositions containing brominated flame retardants and other flame retardants for molding electronic components
GAUDINAT (US 2023/0290596) disclose titanium-based flame synergists.
YAMAMOTO ET AL (US 2016/0304712) disclose thin-walled molded relay cases.
NAKANISHI ET AL (US 5,440,285) and BRANDON (US 5,038,123) disclose electrical relays with housings
BAUER ET AL (US 2005/0143503) and BAUER ET AL (US 2005/0272839) disclose phosphorus-based flame retardants comprising titanium or zirconium.
OSAMU ET AL (US 2004/0176511) and YAMAMOTO ET AL (US 2014/0336326) disclose thin-walled flame-retardant polyester molded articles.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Vivian Chen (Vivian.chen@uspto.gov) whose telephone number is (571) 272-1506. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 6 PM. The examiner can also be reached on alternate Fridays.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Callie Shosho, can be reached on (571) 272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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July 25, 2026
/VIVIAN CHEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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