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 .
Claim Interpretation
Claim 1 recites “cashew particles having an amount of eluted sulfate ions”, by “eluted sulfate ions”, it is taken to mean sulfate ions as would be obtained through water extraction or leaching of the cashew particles as described in instant specification paragraph [0014] which recites “the amount of sulfate ions eluted into water”.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Unno (US 20180031067 A1).
Regarding claims 1-4, Unno teaches a friction material composition (Table 1, examples 1-6) comprising:
Cashew dust (at a concentration of 5 wt.%) and potassium titanate as friction modifiers;
Phenol resin as a binder; and
Fibrillated aramid fibers as a fiber base material.
Although Unno does not teach cashew dust having an amount of eluted sulfate ions less than 500 ppm, it does teach that sulfate in the composition is a result-effective variable for rust formation and that the concentration of sulfate in the composition (as measured by a process of water leaching described in paragraph [0039]) should be less than 500 ppm. Unno further goes on to note that the sulfate ion concentration specifically of cashew dust and titanate salts should be reduced, saying "In order to enable reducing sulfate ion concentration in the friction material, with respect to titanate salts, cashew dust or the like among materials which are used in an ordinary friction material, in which sulfuric acid is used in its production process, a kind containing little sulfate ion can be used" (paragraph [0038]).
It is well-established that the optimization of result-effective variables only requires ordinary skill in the art (see MPEP 2144.05, II). Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date of the instant application would have found it obvious to reduce the amount of sulfate ions present in the friction material by producing or sourcing cashew dust with lower concentrations of sulfate ions, and through routine optimization using methods known in the art, would have expected to produce and/or use a cashew dust having a sulfate concentration of less than 500 ppm.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Saikatsu (US 20020132877 A1) teaches friction materials comprising cashew dust and potassium titanate fibers.
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/KOLTON JONES/Examiner, Art Unit 1763
/JOSEPH S DEL SOLE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1763
