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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 7/15/2025 and 12/18/2024 have been fully considered. Initialed copies of said IDSs are enclosed herein.
Drawings
The drawings filed 4/30/2024 are accepted.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Specifically, the claims held to be indefinite because the specification does not contain objective methods by which the claimed “geometric mean slope” / “geometric mean modulus” (herein understood to be synonymous) and the claimed “geometric mean tensile strength” can be determined. The lack of a clear methodology by which said values can be calculated renders the claim indefinite.
For example, with regards to the “geometric mean tensile strength”, said term is defined in paragraph 0034 as “the square root of the product of the machine direction tensile strength and the cross-machine direction tensile strength”. The claim does not specify how said value is determined, and limitations from the specification cannot be read into the claim. The tensile test in the specification (106 as published) further states that the majority of peak load values fall between 10 to 90 percent of the load cell's full-scale value, but fails to provide sufficient clarity how the test is conducted.
With regards to the “geometric mean slope” / “geometric mean modulus” said term is defined in paragraph (0033) as ““Geometric Mean Slope” (GM Slope) generally refers to geometric mean modulus of a product and is equal to the square root of the product of machine direction slope and cross-machine direction slope.” Said definition does not specify which modulus. Furthermore, slope is measured as the gradient of the least-squares line fitted to the load-corrected strain points falling between a specimen-generated force of 70 to 157 grams (0.687 to 1.540 N) divided by the specimen width (0033). It is unclear, however, how the least square line is calculated and what calculation is associated with the “load-corrected” strain points. The specification states the slope “refer to the slope of the line resulting from plotting tensile versus stretch and is an output of the MTS TestWorks….” It is unclear how said “tensile” and “stretch” are determined and what assumptions may be part of MTS TestWorks.
With regards to claim 9, said claim is further held to be indefinite because the manner in which the “Stiffness Index” is determined is indefinite for the reasons set forth above. Specifically, Stiffness Index is defined (0035) as the quotient of the geometric mean tensile slope dived by the geometric mean tensile strength.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN R KRUER whose telephone number is (571)272-1510. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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, Callie Shosho can be reached at (571) 272-1123. 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.
/KEVIN R KRUER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787