CTNF 18/701,980 CTNF 80377 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Information Disclosure Statement The prior art documents submitted by applicant in the Information Disclosure Statements filed on April 17, 2024, and May 6, 2025 have all been considered and made of record (note the attached copies of form PTO-1449). Drawings Two sheets of drawings were filed on April 17, 2024 and have been accepted by the examiner. Inventorship 07-20-02-aia AIA 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamakubo (US 2021/0009854 A1, herein “Hamakubo”) . Regarding claims 1-3, 5, Hamakubo discloses a resin composition for optical fiber coating, the resin composition comprising a photopolymerizable compound (urethan methacrylate oligomer and epoxy methacrylate oligomer, and a monofunctional monomer, Paras [0035], [0041], [0042]), a photopolymerization initiator (para [0035]), and a surface-treated titanium oxide particles, or aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide, and zirconium dioxide (Paras[ 0023]-[0024], and [0029]), wherein a content of the surface-treated titanium oxide particles is 1% by mass or more and less than 45% by mass based on the total amount of the base resin composition (Para [0031]). However, Hamakubo does not teach the surface-treated titanium oxide particles is 0.6% by mass or more and less than 25% by mass based on the total amount of the resin composition. Nor does Hamakubo discloses the content amount is 1% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize that the claim range is so close to claimed range that prima facie one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties (MPEP §2144.05 (I)). Hamakubo discloses the surface-treated titanium oxide particles content by mass has good dispersions of the particles in the resin and allows the tough resin layer to be easily formed (Para [0031]). Claim 4. Hamakubo discloses an average primary particle diameter of the surface-treated titanium oxide particle is 500 nm or less, which reads on the claimed range of 300 nm or less . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamakubo in view of Iwaguchi et al. (US 2018/0156996 A1, herein “Iwaguchi”) . Hamakubo discloses the resin composition of claim 1 and further discloses a primary resin layer (14) being in contact with the glass fiber (13) and coating the glass fiber, and a secondary resin layer (15) coating the primary resin layer (14), but Hamakubo is silent as to the resin is colored. Regarding claim 6, Iwaguchi teaches a resin composition with urethane methacrylate and epoxy methacrylate (Para [0037], [0047]). Furthermore, the coating has a colored layer contains a pigment for ease of identification of optical fibers (Para [0034]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize adding pigments to the resin compound as a visual identification of different optical fibers. One would be motivated to color code the optical fiber for ease of maintenance functions such as patching, replacement etc. Regarding claim 7, Iwaguchi further teaches the primary resin layer (22) being in contact with the glass fiber (10), the secondary resin layer (24) coating the primary resin layer, a colored resin layer coating the secondary resin layer (Para [0032]), wherein the colored resin layer contains a cured product of the resin composition (Para [0062] and Claim 4). Regarding claim 8, Iwaguchi further teaches the primary resin layer (22) being in contact with the glass fiber (10), the secondary resin layer (24) coating the primary resin layer, the secondary resin layer contains a cured product of the resin composition (Para [0062]). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Erin D Chiem whose telephone number is (571)272-3102. The examiner can normally be reached 10 am - 6 pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas A. Hollweg can be reached at (571) 270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ERIN D CHIEM/Examiner, Art Unit 2874 /THOMAS A HOLLWEG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874 Application/Control Number: 18/701,980 Page 2 Art Unit: 2874 Application/Control Number: 18/701,980 Page 3 Art Unit: 2874 Application/Control Number: 18/701,980 Page 4 Art Unit: 2874 Application/Control Number: 18/701,980 Page 5 Art Unit: 2874
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