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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN 202111358136.6, filed on 11/16/2021.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed with the written response received on 10/18/2024 have been considered and an action on the merits follows. As directed by the amendment, claims 1-10 have been amended; and claims 11-20 have been added. Accordingly, claims 1-20 are pending in this application.
Drawings
The replacement drawings were received on 10/18/2025. These drawings are acceptable and hereby entered.
Specification
The replacement abstract was received on 10/18/2025. This abstract is acceptable and hereby entered.
The amendment to the specification was received on 10/18/2025. This amendment is acceptable and hereby entered.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-6, 8-15 and 17-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 2-6, 8-15 and 17-20 recite “the method according to claim….” It is suggested the preamble of each claim is rephrased to recite “the method for manufacturing the artificial turf according to claim….” for consistency with the independent claims, which these claims depend from.
Claim 6 recites “selecting warp yarns and weft yarns.” It is suggested the claim is rephrased to recite “selecting the warp yarns and the weft yarns” since claim 2 already recites “warp yarns and weft yarns.”
Claim 12 recites “first ends of artificial turn yarns.” It is suggested the claims is rephrased to recite “first ends of the artificial turf yarns” for consistency with claim 11.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1, 2 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JPH06128862A to Morita (hereinafter “translated Morita”).
For claim 1, Morita discloses a method for manufacturing an artificial turf (process of obtaining tufted pile fabric, abstract), comprising the following manufacturing steps: providing a base cloth (primary base cloth 12 is provided, page 5 of translated Morita) having a surface (surface of 12); providing artificial turf yarns (pile yarns 13 are provided, page 5 of translated Morita); implanting the artificial turf yarns in step on the base cloth in step by tufting (pile yarns are tufted onto primary base cloth 12), and applying an adhesive to the surface of the base cloth (backing adhesive is applied to the cloth, page 9 of translated Morita); and blowing air to the base cloth having the adhesive applied thereto through an air blowing device to obtain the artificial turf after the adhesive is cured (a high-pressure air flow is applied to the backing-coated surface of the backing adhesive to the cloth, and therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand an applicator of high-pressure air flow would inherently necessitate an air blowing device, page 9 of translated Morita) (see figure of Morita provided below).
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For claim 2, Morita discloses the method for manufacturing an artificial turf according to claim 1, wherein the base cloth in step comprises warp yarns (15a and 15b) and weft yarns (11A, 11B, 11C), and the warp yarns and the weft yarns are cross-woven with each other (yarns 15a and 15b are cross-woven with 11a, 11b, and 11c; see the figure of Morita above).
For claim 16, Morita teaches a method for manufacturing an artificial turf (process of obtaining tufted pile fabric, abstract), the method comprising: implanting artificial turf yarns on a surface of a base cloth by tufting (pile yarns 13 are implanted into surface of 12, page 3 of the translated Morita), and applying an adhesive to the surface of the base cloth (adhesive is applied to the cloth, page 9 of translated Morita); applying a bonding layer to the surface of the base cloth, the surface being opposite to a side of the base cloth having the artificial turf yarns tufted (once settled in onto the back of the base cloth, the adhesive is considered as functioning as a bonding layer that is bounded to the back surface of the base cloth and see claim 20 describing the bonding layer as the adhesive being blown by air); and blowing air to the base cloth having the adhesive applied thereto through an air blowing device to obtain the artificial turf after the adhesive is cured (a high-pressure air flow is applied to the backing-coated surface of the backing adhesive to the cloth, and therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand an applicator of high-pressure air flow would inherently necessitate an air blowing device, page 9 of translated Morita) (see figure of Morita provided in the discussion for claim 1 above).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 3-6, 11-12, and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 5,109,784 A to Lepe-Cisneros.
For claim 3, Morita discloses the method according to claim 1, but does not specifically disclose wherein the adhesive is applied via scraping or roller coating, and the air is blown out by the air blowing device at an air pressure of 1-4 MPa.
However, attention is directed to Lepe-Cisneros teaching an analogous method of forming tufted articles (Abstract of Lepe-Cisneros). Specifically, Lepe-Cisneros teaches, after the tufted article exits the tufting machine it is pulled through an adhesive application station and passes rollers for purposes of effectively bonding the tufted components to each other (col. 4, line 45 to col. 5, line 7 of Lepe-Cisneros). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date wherein Morita would be further modified wherein the adhesive is applied via or roller coating, as taught by Lepe-Cisneros, for purposes of effectively bonding the tufted components to each other (col. 4, line 45 to col. 5, line 7 of Lepe-Cisneros) and to evenly distribute the adhesive to the base layer as is known in the art.
As modified, Morita does not specifically disclose the air is blown out by the air blowing device at an air pressure of 1-4 MPa. However, as discussed above, the modified Morita teaches the general conditions for providing an effective amount of air pressure. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date wherein the modified Morita would be further modified wherein the step of blowing air specifically provides for air pressure of 1-4 MPa since it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable range by routine experimentation (See MPEP 2144.05(II)). In this case, there are relevant facts for supporting a modification to the claimed range by routine optimization. Specifically, one skilled in the art would recognize the air blowing pressure range could be obtained for proposes ensuring the water-permeable holes are not blocked by the adhesive which is a stated goal of Morita (see page 9 of the translated Morita).
For claim 4, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 2, but does not specifically disclose wherein a cross section of the warp yarn is a flat structure, and the weft yarns comprise first yarns and second yarns, wherein a cross section of the first yarn is a circular structure, a cross section of the second yarn is a flat structure, and the first yarns and the second yarns are interlaced.
However, Morita does teach the tape yarns can also be used for the warp yarns (page 9 of translated Morita). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to reverse or interchange the warp and weft yarns into the claimed arrangement and orientation since Morita teaches tape yarns can be used in either direction and tape yarns can be interchanged with the other warp yarns, and the modification represents a mere change in orientation or arrangements of known flat yarn elements for providing the predictable result of providing for functional spacing of the piles yarns “S” (see fig. of Morita) (see MPEP 2144.04(IV). Further, the specification does not provide for any criticality or unexpected results not already disclosed by Morita for having pile spacing formed by flattened yarns in a given direction.
For claim 5, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein a cross section of the weft yarn is a flat structure (tape yarns 11), and the warp yarns comprise first yarns and second yarns (15A and 15B), wherein a cross section of the first yarn is a circular structure (circular yarns 15A, see fig. of Morita),
The modified Morita does not specifically disclose a cross section of the second yarn is a flat structure, and the first yarns and the second yarns are interlaced.
However, Morita does teach tape yarns can be used for the warp yarns (page 9 of translated Morita). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to reverse or interchange the warp and weft yarns into the claimed arrangement and orientation since Morita teaches tape yarns can be used in either direction and tape yarns can be interchanged with the other warp yarns, and the modification represents a mere change in orientation or arrangements of known flat yarn elements for provided the predictable results of providing for functional spacing of the piles yarns “S” (see fig. of Morita) (see MPEP 2144.04(IV). Further, the specification does not provide for any criticality or unexpected results not already disclosed by Morita for having pile spacing formed by flattened yarns in a given direction.
For claim 6, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein providing the base cloth comprises selecting warp yarns and weft yarns; placing the warp yarns and the weft yarns on a weaving machine for weaving; and performing shaping and coiling operations to obtain the base cloth (see page 5 of the translated Morita and it is also noted that the steps of weaving together the warp yarns (15A, 15B) and the weft yarns (11A, 11B, and 11c) in machine for tufting threads are considered necessary and inherent steps for forming the woven article in the figure of Morita).
For claim 11, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising: forming pinholes in the base cloth for accommodating the artificial turf yarns, wherein the implanting the artificial turf yarns comprises tufting the artificial turf yarns and inserting the artificial turf yarns into the pinholes (see figure of Morita wherein piles 17 are inserted in pinholes between warps 15A and 15B).
For claim 12, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 11, wherein the inserting the artificial turf yarns into the pinholes of the base cloth comprises passing first ends of artificial turf yarns, which are tufted in the base cloth, through respective ones of said pinholes thereby forming respective protrusions (see figure of Morita wherein piles 17 have ends tufted into surface of 12).
For claim 14, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 13, wherein the applying the bonding layer comprises applying the bonding layer to the surface of the base cloth with one or more portions of the bonding layer partially penetrating into said pinholes for fixing the artificial turf yarns (see page 5 of the translated Morita wherein the piles are coated with backing adhesive by backing the pile without blocking at least a part of the base fabric)
For claim 15, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 14, wherein after applying the bonding layer to the surface of the base cloth, the method comprises: blowing air through the air blowing device to the base cloth that is implanted with said artificial turf yarns inserted in said pinholes; and forming, via air passing through the pinholes, water permeable holes in the bonding layer, wherein the water permeable holes are in communication with the pinholes and configured to facilitate seepage of water through the artificial turf (see page 9 of the translated Morita wherein the high pressure air flow ensures the adhesive backing does not block the water-permeable holes).
Claims 7, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of CN108951198A (hereinafter translation of CN108951198A).
For claim 7, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 1, but does not specifically disclose wherein providing the artificial turf yarns comprises: placing granules in a wire drawing machine; adding a drawing liquid to the wire drawing machine; controlling a drawing temperature and a retraction ratio; performing wire drawing treatment on the granules through a wire drawing process; and performing, shaping and winding operations to obtain the artificial turf yarns.
However, attention is directed to CN108951198A teaching placing granules in a wire drawing machine; adding a drawing liquid to the wire drawing machine; controlling a drawing temperature of 100°C-120°C, and a retraction ratio of 0.95-0.97; performing wire drawing treatment on the granules through a wire drawing process; and performing, shaping and winding operations to obtain the artificial turf yarns (see claim 1 of the translation of CN108951198A). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date wherein the modified Morita would be further modified to comprises the method steps of placing granules in a wire drawing machine; adding a drawing liquid to the wire drawing machine; controlling a drawing temperature to 100°C-120°C and a retraction ratio 0.95-0.97; performing wire drawing treatment on the granules through a wire drawing process; and performing, shaping and winding operations to obtain the artificial turf yarns, as taught by CN108951198A, for purposes of providing a tufted article with effective tensile strength and improved service life (see page 7 of the translated CN108951198A).
For claim 9, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 7, wherein the drawing temperature is 100°C-150°C (100°C-120°C, see discussion for claim 7 above).
For claim 10, the modified Morita teaches the method for manufacturing an artificial turf according to claim 7, wherein the retraction ratio is 0.90-0.98 (0.95-0.97 see discussion for claim 7 above).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita in view of CN108951198A, as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of US 5,413,832 A to Willey.
For claim 8, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 7, but does not specifically disclose wherein the granules are selected from one or more of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and polyamide.
However, attention is directed to Willey teaching materials for forming a tufted pile fabric wherein the materials preferably include polyamide nylon and other polyesters such as polyethylene and polypropylene for providing a material that is compatible with an extrusion process (col. 4, lines 21-43 of Willey). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date wherein the granules are selected from one or more of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and polyamide for purposes of providing a material that is capable of being compatible with the extrusion process, as taught by Willey (col. 4, lines 21-43 of Willey).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of CN108951198A (hereinafter translation of CN108951198A).
For claim 17, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 16, but does not specifically disclose, wherein prior to implanting the artificial turf yarns on the surface of the base cloth, the method comprises manufacturing the artificial turf yarns by: performing a wire drawing treatment on granules at a drawing temperature of 100°C to 150°C and a retraction ratio of 0.90 to 0.98; and performing shaping and winding operations to obtain the artificial turf yarns from the granules.
However, attention is directed to CN108951198A teaching placing granules in a wire drawing machine; adding a drawing liquid to the wire drawing machine; controlling a drawing temperature of 100°C-120°C, and a retraction ratio of 0.95-0.97; performing wire drawing treatment on the granules through a wire drawing process; and performing, shaping and winding operations to obtain the artificial turf yarns (see claim 1 of the translation of CN108951198A). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date wherein the modified Morita would be further modified wherein prior to implanting the artificial turf yarns on the surface of the base cloth, the method comprises manufacturing the artificial turf yarns by: performing a wire drawing treatment on granules at a drawing temperature of 100°C-120°C and a retraction ratio 0.95-0.97; and performing shaping and winding operations to obtain the artificial turf yarns from the granules, as taught by CN108951198A, for purposes of providing a tufted article with effective tensile strength and improved service life (see page 7 of the translated CN108951198A).
Claims 18, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morita.
For claim 18, Morita teaches the method according to claim 16, wherein prior to implanting the artificial turf yarns on the surface of the base cloth, the method comprises: forming the base cloth from warp yarns (15a and 15b) and weft yarns (11a, 11b, 11c) that are cross-woven and interlaced with each other (yarns 15a and 15b are cross-woven with 11a, 11b, and 11c; see the figure of Morita above).
The modified Morita does not specifically disclose wherein: a cross section of the warp yarn is a flat structure, and the weft yarns comprise interlaced first yarns and second yarns, wherein a cross section of the first yarn is a circular structure, and a cross section of the second yarn is a flat structure; or a cross section of the weft yarn is a flat structure, and the warp yarns comprise interlaced first yarns and second yarns, wherein a cross section of the first yarn is a circular structure, and a cross section of the second yarn is a flat structure.
However, Morita does teach tape yarns can be used for the warp yarns (page 9 of translated Morita). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to reverse or interchange the warp and weft yarns into the claimed arrangement and orientation since Morita teaches tape yarns can be used in either direction and tape yarns can be interchanged with the other warp yarns, and the modification represents a mere change in orientation or arrangements of known flat yarn elements for provided the predictable results of providing for functional spacing of the piles yarns “S” (see fig. of Morita) (see MPEP 2144.04(IV). Further, the specification does not provide for any criticality or unexpected results not already disclosed by Morita for having pile spacing formed by flattened yarns in a given direction.
For claim 19, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 16, wherein prior to implanting the artificial turf yarns on the surface of the base cloth, the method comprises: forming pinholes in the base cloth for accommodating the artificial turf yarns, wherein the implanting the artificial turf yarns on the surface of the base cloth comprises tufting the artificial turf yarns and inserting the artificial turf yarns respectively into the pinholes (see figure of Morita wherein piles 17 are inserted in pinholes between warps 15A and 15B), wherein the inserting the artificial turf yarns into the pinholes comprises passing first ends of the artificial turf yarns tufted in the base cloth through respective ones of said pinholes to form respective protrusions with the first ends contacting the bonding layer (see figure of Morita wherein piles 17 have ends tufted into surface of 12 and the bottom of the piles are configured for contacting the bonding layer described in the discussion for claim 16).
For claim 20, the modified Morita teaches the method according to claim 19, wherein the applying the bonding layer comprises applying the bonding layer to the surface of the base cloth with one or more portions of the bonding layer partially penetrating into said pinholes for fixing the artificial turf yarns, and after applying the bonding layer to the surface of the base cloth, the method comprises: blowing air through the air blowing device to the base cloth that is implanted with the artificial turf yarns inserted in said pinholes; and forming, via air passing through the pinholes, water permeable holes in the bonding layer, wherein the water permeable holes are in communication with the respective pinholes and are configured to facilitate seepage of water through the artificial turf (a high-pressure air flow is applied to the backing-coated surface of the backing adhesive to the cloth, and therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand an applicator of high-pressure air flow would necessitate an air blowing device, page 9 of translated Morita) (see page 9 of the translated Morita wherein the high pressure air flow ensures the adhesive backing does not block the water-permeable holes).
Conclusion
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/ERICK I LOPEZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3732