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 .
Claims 1-8,11,16-18 and 103-110 are pending. Claims 9-10,12-15 and 19-102 have been cancelled. Claims 1,5,6,8,11,16 and 17 have been amended. Claims 103-110 are new. Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 104-110 in the reply filed on December 30, 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 1-8,11,16-18,and 103 to 110 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
Claims 104-110 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Needham (WO 00/34555) in view of Weiss (US 6,085,395).
Needham teaches producing colored filaments from polyamides, polyesters, polyolefins and combinations thereof by coextrusion in a concentric structure (page 7, lines 5-16) and using filament bundles to produce textile materials (page 8, lines 3-10). Needham teaches producing shade differences such a color difference to produce a desired color pattern or characteristic (page 8, lines 18-20). Needham teaches the diameter and thickness of the filaments can be chosen based on a desired level of functionality of the application of the filament (page 7, lines 17-22). Needham teaches randomized color addition and the ability to produce many color interactions (page 7, lines 1-3)
Needham does not teach yarns.
Weiss teaches producing muticolored yarns by combining differently colored filaments (column 2, lines 5-8) wherein the filament bundles differ in polymer type, color or dyeability (column 2, lines 34-37).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the filaments of Needham by making them into yarns as Weiss teaches yarns for textile applications are conventionally made of filament bundles that differ in color, dyeability or polymer composition and Needham invites the inclusion of the filament and filament bundles in textile applications. Regarding the selection of the colors for the first second and third filaments and the average denier between locations, Needham clearly teaches randomly adding coloration across the length of the filaments and using different polymers with different colors in concentric rings across the radial cross-section of the filament. Needham teaches the coloration pattern across the cross-section and length can be determined based on the desired color pattern and is therefor a design choice. Needham further teaches the diameter and thickness of the yarn can be determined based on the desired level of functionality for the filament application and teaches straight fibers of specific diameters indicating a single diameter for the length of the filament can be chosen which is substantially constant with less than 5% variation between different locations on the filament. Combining different types of uniquely colored individual filaments into the fiber bundles and yarns is obvious to arrive at the claimed invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMINA S KHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5573. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-5:30pm EST.
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/AMINA S KHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
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