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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I in the reply filed on 1/20/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 17, 18 and 23 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected groups, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 01/20/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sang et al. (WO 2019/133405). It is noted that when utilizing WO 2019/133405, the disclosures of the reference are based on US 2020/0316823 which is an English language equivalent of the reference. Therefore, the column and line numbers cited with respect to WO 2019/133405 are found in US 2020/0316823.
Regarding claim 1, Sang discloses a surfacing material (abstract) comprising a UV blocking layer 22 comprising thermoplastic polymer, i.e. UV resistant polymer layer, (fig. 3, 0019), a curable resin layer 21 cured by heating at elevated temperature, i.e. thermocurable resin layer, (fig. 3, 0031, 0033) and a textile carrier 23, i.e. a fibrous support, (fig. 3, 0015) wherein a first surface of the UV resistant polymer layer forms an outermost surface of the surfacing material and the second surface of the UV resistant polymer layer contacts a first surface of the thermocurable resin layer and the second surface of the thermocurable resin layer contacts a first surface of the fibrous support (fig. 3).
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) 2-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sang (US 2020/0316823) in view of Collette et al. (US 2020/0276795).
Regarding claims 2-8, Sang in view of Collette discloses the surfacing material of claim 1, wherein the UV resistant layer comprises thermoplastic polyurethane (0023) and the thickness of the UV resistant layer is 10 to 250 microns (0028).
Sang does not disclose polyurethane properties.
Collette discloses multilayer film used in automobiles (0039) wherein the thermoplastic polyurethane polymer film is used to protect surface from adverse environmental condition (0002) wherein the polyurethane is Argotec 49510 (0020). Given that Collette discloses the same polyurethane as disclosed in the present specification, it is clear that the polyurethane of Collette would have the same properties as claimed in present claims.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the specific polyurethane of Collette in the polyurethane layer of Sang to obtain surface protection from adverse environmental condition.
Regarding claims 9-14, Sang in view of Collette discloses thermocurable resin comprises epoxy resin (0034) and the fibrous support is a continuous nonwoven material (0015, 0069). However, Sang in view of Collette does not disclose an areal weight of the thermocurable resin and an areal density of the fibrous support.
Since the instant specification is silent to unexpected results, the specific areal weight and areal density of thermocurable resin and fibrous support are not considered to confer patentability to the claims. As the weight and thickness of the surface material is a variable that can be modified, among others, by adjusting the areal weight and areal density of thermocurable resin and fibrous support, the precise areal weight and areal density would have been considered a result effective variable by one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made. As such, without showing unexpected results, the claimed areal weight and areal density cannot be considered critical. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have optimized, by routine experimentation, the areal weight and areal density of thermocurable resin and fibrous support in surfacing material to obtain the desired weight and thickness (In re Boesch, 617 F.2d. 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980)), since it has been held that where the general conditions of the claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. (In re Aller, 105 USPQ 223). Given that the continuous nonwoven fibrous support of Sang in view of Collette is the same as claimed in present claim, it is clear that the continuous nonwoven fibrous support of Sang in view of Collette would have the same properties as presently claimed.
Regarding claim 15, Sang in view of Collette discloses the surfacing material of claim 1, wherein Sang comprising electrically conductive metal screen, i.e. electrically conductive metal mesh layer, (0029-0030).
Regarding claim 16, Sang in view of Collette discloses the surfacing material of claim 1, wherein the fibrous support is a layups impregnated by thermocurable resin, i.e. a second layer of fibrous reinforcement is impregnated by thermocurable resin (0007, 0067-0068).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMIR SHAH whose telephone number is (571)270-1143. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am - 5:00pm.
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/SAMIR SHAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787