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 § 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 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brady et al (US 2009/0258187).
Regarding claims 1 and 3, Brady discloses a method for applying a protective coating onto a glass surface to protect it during transportation (paragraph [0002]). The coating may comprise high pH, aqueous soluble coating materials such as acrylic and acrylic acid copolymers, ethylene acrylic acid copolymers, methacrylate and methacrylic acid copolymers, cellulosic coatings, water-soluble polyester coatings, and other water soluble materials known in the art that can be removed using a water-based, non-abrasive cleaning method (see paragraph [0031]). It is the examiner’s position that such polymeric coating materials inherently have the same thermoplasticity as that claimed by the applicant. The coating is cured using heat (Table 2).
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) 2 and 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brady et al (US 2009/0258187) as described above in view of Asai et al (US 2010/0080989).
Regarding claims 2, 4 and 6-8, Asai discloses an adhesive coating material that contains a light-absorbing agent such as 0.01% by weight acetonitrile solution which absorbs laser light at a specific frequency (see claim 1). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art employ a laser light-absorbing agent, as taught by Asai, in the method of Brady in order to provide the predictable result of imparting desirable physical properties to the materials.
Regarding claim 5, it is the examiner’s position that removing parts of the coating relates to a mere shape or form that is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art, absent any showing of unexpected results.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES D SELLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1237. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Phillip Tucker can be reached at 571-272-1095. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JAMES D. SELLS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1745
/JAMES D SELLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1745
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