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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, and 9-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki et al (2016/0177074A1 from IDS of 8-21-25).
With regard to claim 1, Suzuki discloses a nonlinear-resistance resin material (para 0001 and fig.2) comprising: a plurality of first particles 13 having nonlinear resistance characteristics that: exhibit insulation properties when a voltage lower than a threshold value is applied; and exhibit conductivity when a voltage equal to or higher than the threshold value is applied (see para 0047: particles 13 “ZnO microvaristors); a first resin phase (12, “nylon”)that: contains second particles (see para 0043, conductive powder) that are semiconducting or conducting; covers at least partially surfaces of some or all of the plurality of first particles (13, see Fig. 2A); and a second resin phase (see para 0046 polyethylene…first resin material) having insulation properties and filling voids 11 where none of the first particles 13 and the first resin phase 12 exists, wherein the first particles 13 adjacent to each other are bound and electrically connected to each other via the first resin phase (12 and see Figs. 2A-2B).
With regard to claim 13, Suzuki discloses a manufacturing method of a nonlinear-resistance resin material 10, the method comprising: a mixing step of: mixing a plurality of first particles 13 having nonlinear resistance characteristics that exhibit insulation properties when a voltage lower than a threshold value is applied and exhibit conductivity when a voltage equal to or higher than the threshold value is applied (see para 0047, particles 13 are ZnO microvaristors) with a first resin phase (12,”nylon”) containing second particles (see para 0043, “conductive powder”) that are semiconducting or conducting; and covering at least partially surfaces of some or all of the plurality of first particles (13, see Fig. 2A) with the first resin phase 12, a pressure forming (injection molding, step 4 of Fig. 1) step of forming a nonlinear-resistance resin material (step 1), including the first particles (step 2) covered with the first resin phase (step 3), into a predetermined shape (intrinsic to injection molding disclosed as step 4 of Fig. 1); and a combination step (S3, see Fig. 1)of combining the formed nonlinear-resistance resin material 10 with a second resin phase having insulation properties.
With regard to claims 2 and 3, Suzuki discloses in table 1 percentage values for the components within the ranges recited in the claims (para 0054).
With regard to claim 4, paras 67-71 discloses relations regarding the average diameters of the first and second particle types.
With regard to claims 11 and 12, Suzuki in para 0001 recites the usage of the nonlinear resistance material in a protective resistor, with grounding one electrode of such a resistor essential to the operation of such protective resistors.
With regard to the aggregation limitations of claims 9 and 10, all of the materials recited in Suzuki are aggregations because the definition of aggregation allows the atoms of the material to serve as primary particles and the 20pm (picometer=trillionth of a meter) limit of claim 10 relates to the size of atoms and molecules.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: dependent claim 5 recites: “The nonlinear-resistance resin material according to claim 4, comprising: the first particles of two or more types, the first particles of the two or more types being different in particle size distribution, wherein a particle size distribution of all the first particles has two or more local maximum values at which a proportion of presence of the first particles is locally maximized”, which is a feature that has not been taught or been fairly suggested by the prior art of record.
Claim 8 recites a varistor percentage range that has not been taught or fairly suggested by the recited “primary component” of paras 0003 and 0028 of Suzuki.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN W JACKSON whose telephone number is (571)272-2051. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30-3:00.
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, Monica Lewis can be reached at 571-272-1838. 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.
SWJackson
March 5, 2026
/STEPHEN W JACKSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838