DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is responsive to the Applicant’s communication filed 21 April 2024. In view of this communication, claims 1-18 are pending in the application.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: it is unclear which conductor the claim is referring to in line 2 of the claim. For the purposes of the present rejection, “the conductor” is taken to mean the enameled wire as a whole but should be changed for clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-10, 14-15, and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bauer (FR 2690559 A1), hereinafter referred to as Bauer.
Regarding claim 1, Bauer teaches an enameled wire comprising:
a conductor core (12) having an outer surface (Fig. 1, page 4: conductor 12);
an electrically insulating laminate (14-22) completely covering the outer surface and formed by
at least two separate neutral outer layers (14, 18) surrounding the conductor core (12) and of a neutral polymer containing no functional filler affecting partial-discharge resistance (Fig. 1, page 4: insulating varnish 14 made of a polymer), and
a functional outer layer (16) surrounding the conductor core (12) and of a functional polymer including a functional filler increasing partial-discharge resistance of the laminate (Fig. 1, page 4: layer 16 formed from mica particles and a polymer such that the final mica content is between 10 and 90%).
Regarding claim 2, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, wherein the functional outer layer (16) is between the neutral outer layers (14, 18) (see Fig. 1 and page 4).
Regarding claim 3, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, wherein the electrical insulating laminate includes at least two such functional layers (16, 20) (see Fig. 1 and page 4).
Regarding claim 4, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, wherein the electrically insulating laminate includes at least three such neutral layers (14, 18, 22) (Fig. 1 and page 4).
Regarding claim 6, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, further comprising: an inner base layer (14) directly on the outer surface (Fig. 1, page 4: the innermost insulating layer 14 is layered directly on the surface of the conductor 12).
Regarding claim 7, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 6, wherein one of the functional layers (16) or one of the neutral layers lies directly on the inner base layer (14) (Fig. 1, page 4: the functional layer 16 is formed directly on insulating layer 14).
Regarding claim 8, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, wherein the filler of the functional layer (16) is mica, kaolin, corundum, precious corundum, silicates, aluminum oxides, sulfates, silicon dioxides, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, barium titanate, fullerenes, graphenes, graphite, tetracyanoquinodimethane, thiophenes, phthalocyanines (page 4: the functional layers 16, 20 are made from mica).
Regarding claim 9, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, wherein the base enamel layer and/or the neutral enamel layer (14, 18) and/or the functional enamel layer is formed of polyester, polyesterimide, polyesteramideimide, polyurethane, polyamide, polyimide, and/or polyamide-imide (page 4: the varnish of layers 14, 18, 22 may comprise polyesterimide, polyesters, epoxies, polyamide-imides, polyimides, polyurethanes).
Regarding claim 10, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the outer layers (14, 18, 22) is outermost on the conductor (12) (Fig. 1, page 4: the neutral layer 22 is the outermost layer on the wire).
Regarding claim 14, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, wherein the functional layer (16, 20) contains 0.5 to 15% by weight of the filler (page 4: the layers 16, 20 may comprise 10% mica).
Regarding claim 15, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, wherein the neutral layers are all formed from the same neutral varnish polymer (page 4: the varnishes 18, 22 are formed from the same varnish as the layer 16).
Regarding claim 17, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, wherein the conductor core (12) consists of copper and/or aluminum or essentially of copper and/or aluminum (page 4: conductor 12 may be copper or aluminum).
Regarding claim 18, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, wherein the conductor core (12) is a flat or round wire (page 4: conductor 12 has a circular or rectangular section).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bauer in view of Lange (DE 102014215107 A1), hereinafter referred to as Lange.
Regarding claim 5, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, but does not teach that there are at least two of the outer functional layers (16, 20) and two of the outer neutral layers (14, 18, 22). Bauer does not teach that each neutral layer is directly between two of the outer functional layers.
Lange teaches forming the neutral layers as multiple layers, such that each neutral layer would be between two of the outer functional layers (Lange page 3, paragraphs 13-14: coating 3 is a multilayer insulating coating).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form each neutral layer as multiple layers as taught by Lange because the multilayer insulator of Lange has improved adhesion properties (Lange page 3, paragraph 14). Further, it has been held that mere duplication of essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St Regis Paper Co. V. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Regarding claim 12, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, but does not teach that at least the base, neutral, and/or functional layer is formed of 8 to 80 sublayers or partial layers.
Lange teaches that at least the base, neutral, and/or functional layer is formed of 8 to 80 sublayers or partial layers (Lange page 3, paragraphs 13-14: coating 3 is a multilayer insulating coating).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the neutral layer of 8 to 80 sublayers because Lange teaches that it is mere repetition of the same dipping process to form a multilayer insulating layer and it has been held that mere duplication of essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St Regis Paper Co. V. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8. Further, it would have been routine optimization to arrive at the claimed invention and a person of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to formulate the claimed range. See In re Stepan, 868 F.3d 1342, 1346, 123 USPQ2d 1838, 1841 (Fed. Cir. 2017).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bauer in view of Knerr et al. (US 20190068020 A1), hereinafter referred to as Knerr et al.
Regarding claim 11, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, but does not teach that the laminate includes an extruded outermost outer layer of fluoroethylene propylene, ethylene-tetrafluoroethylenecopolymer, perfluoroalkoxy polymer, modified fluoroalkoxy polymer, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyether ketones, polyether ether ketone, polyaryletherketone, polyetherketoneketone, polyphenylene sulfone, polyphenylene sulfide, polysulfone, and/or thermoplastic polyimide.
Knerr et al. does teach that the laminate includes an extruded outermost outer layer of fluoroethylene propylene, ethylene-tetrafluoroethylenecopolymer, perfluoroalkoxy polymer, modified fluoroalkoxy polymer, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyether ketones, polyether ether ketone, polyaryletherketone, polyetherketoneketone, polyphenylene sulfone, polyphenylene sulfide, polysulfone, and/or thermoplastic polyimide (see Knerr et al. paragraph 28).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the outermost layer of Bauer from a suitable material such as polyetherketoneketone taught by Knerr et al. because it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious engineering choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960).
Claim(s) 13 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bauer in view of Zhang et al. (US 20230047864 A1), hereinafter referred to as Zhang et al.
Regarding claim 13, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, but does not teach that a total thickness of the laminate is 20 µm to 500 µm.
Zhang et al. does teach that a total thickness of the laminate may be 20 µm to 500 µm (Zhang et al. paragraph 40: total thickness of the coating may be 0.13mm or 130 µm).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the laminate of Bauer with a total thickness of between 20 µm and 500 µm as taught by Zhang et al. because a change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955).
Regarding claim 16, Bauer teaches the enameled wire according to claim 1, but does not teach that the neutral layers are formed of different varnish polymers.
Zhang et al. does teach that the neutral layers may be formed of different varnish polymers (see Zhang et al. paragraph 26: the different insulating coatings are formed of at least polyimide, silicone, and polyamideimide).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the neutral layers of Bauer from different varnish polymers as taught by Zhang et al. because it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious engineering choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960).
Conclusion
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/JOHN B FREAL/Examiner, Art Unit 2847
/TIMOTHY J THOMPSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2847