DETAILED ACTION
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 15-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on December 3, 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
Claims 1-10, 12-14 and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over YAMANAKA (US-2013/0081764) in view of KIKUCHI (WO-2023282311).
Claim 1: Yamanaka teaches a pressure sensitive adhesive tape comprising, in the following order, a pressure sensitive adhesive ("PSA") layer A (Yamanaka, Figure 2, numeral 13), peelable layer C (Yamanaka, Figure 2, numeral 12), and a viscoelastic substrate B (Yamanaka, Figure 2, numeral 14). See also, para. 0161, para. 0252-0255, and Figure 2. The peelable layer C comprises an exothermic film which is heat-generating (Yamanaka, para. 0115 and para. 0148 & 0150). Therefore, the peelable layer C containing exothermic film is equivalent to the claimed "heat-generating element". The viscoelastic substrate B comprises a thermoplastic resin, in particular, acrylic resin, rubber polymer, silicone polymer or urethane polymer, and hollow fillers, preferably, inorganic hollow fillers (Yamanaka, para. 0064, 0067 and 0080). Therefore, the viscoelastic substrate B of Yamanaka is equivalent to the claimed "melt-softening layer". In the alternative, Yamanaka teaches a melt- softening layer comprising inorganic and organic hollow fillers, with the emphasis that inorganic hollow fillers are preferred (Yamanaka, para. 0082); therefore, the POSITA would be motivated to utilize inorganic hollow microparticles in the melt-softening layer (i.e. the viscoelastic layer B of Yamanaka). However, Yamanaka does not teach the configuration in which the heat-generating layer has a pair of portions extending from the outer peripheries of the PSA layer and the melt-softening layer. In the same field of endeavor, i.e. PSA tape comprising an adhesive layer, a heat-generating layer and a heat-softening layer in that order, Kikuchi teaches that the intermediate layer, which is the heat-generating layer to be constructed to have a pair of exposed extensions extending from the outer peripheries of the two layers surrounding the heat-generating layer in order to improve heat-generating efficiency (See Kikuchi, translation copy, page 16, 6th and 7th paragraphs, and Figures 1C and D). In light of Kikuchi’s teaching, the POSITA would be motivated to modify the PSA tape of Yamanaka to include the two extension pairs on the heat-generating layer in order to enhance the heat efficiency of the PSA tape.
Claim 2: Yamanaka teaches the polymer in the melt-softening layer including a styrene-butadiene block copolymer (Yamanaka, para. 0105); styrene is an aromatic vinyl compound and butadiene is a conjugated diene compound. Thus Yamanaka teaches the claimed block copolymer.
Claim 3: Yamanaka teaches the content of the microparticles in the melt- softening layer (i.e. viscoelastic layer) not be limited, but preferably from 1 to 20 on wt% basis (Yamanaka, para. 0085) and thus it is within or overlapping the claimed range of 5 to 80 on vol% basis.
Claim 4: Yamanaka teaches the microparticles (hollow fillers) having an average particle diameter of 5 to 200 µm or 30 to 100 µm (Yamanaka, para. 0083) which is well within the claimed range of 1 to 200 µm.
Claim 5: Yamanaka teaches the hollow particles be preferably hollow glass microparticles (Yamanaka, para. 0081)
Claim 6: Yamanaka teaches the melt-softening layer (i.e. viscoelastic layer) having a thickness of 100 µm or more (Yamanaka, para. 0108) which is within or overlapping the claimed thickness range of 10 to 200 µm.
Claim 7: Yamanaka does not report the thermal conductivity of the melt- softening layer (i.e. viscoelastic layer); however, thermal conductivity directly corresponds to the fillers in a layer. Here, the melt-softening layer comprises the same type of fillers (i.e. hollow glass fillers) in essentially the same content (see claims 3-4 above), thus it is necessarily inherent or would have been expected that the melt- softening layer of Yamanaka possesses a thermal conductivity within the claimed range.
Claim 8: Yamanaka does not report the loss tangent of the melt-softening layer; however, because the melt-softening layer comprises the same polymer (see claim 2 above), it is expected that the melt-softening layer of Yamanaka exhibits a loss tangent within the claimed range.
Claim 9: Yamanaka does not report the temperature of the PSA layer as compared to the melt-softening layer at which each layer reached a loss tangent of 0.8 or more; however, because the PSA layer and the melt-softening layer in the PSA tape of Yamanaka comprise the same polymers (see claims 1-2 above), it is expected that the relative temperature between these layers is the same as claimed.
Claim 10: Yamanaka teaches the exothermic material including a metal foil, graphite carbon (Yamanaka, para. 0113) which materials typically exhibit a volume resistivity of at least 20 µΩ.cm.
Claim 12: Yamanaka teaches the pressure sensitive adhesive tape as discussed in claim 1 above, further comprising a pressure sensitive adhesive layer D on a surface side of the melt-softening layer opposite to a surface of the exothermic layer, i.e. the claimed heat-generating element. See Yamanaka, para. 0161, para. 0252-0255, and Figure 2, numeral 11.
Claim 13: Yamanaka teaches that the melt-softening layer could also be peelable (i.e. debonded) upon exposure to heat (Yamanaka, para. 0178). heated.
Claim 14: Yamanaka teaches the exothermic film being in the peelable layer (see claims 1 above), comprising a metal foil (see claim 10 above), and being peelable by application of electric current (Yamanaka, para. 0184); therefore, the heat-generating element (i.e. exothermic layer) is an electrically conducting element that generates heat through electrical conduction and is peeled off when the conducting element generates heat.
Claims 19-21: Kikuchi teaches forming a pair of exposed extensions in the intermediate layer (which is the heat-generating layer) extending from the outer peripheries of the two layers surrounding it, which are the PSA layer and the melt-softening layer, wherein the pair of extending portions is separately positioned on two sides opposite to each other on the outer peripheries of the PSA layer and the melt-softening layer; wherein the pair of extending portions is separately positioned on approximate diagonal lines in the outer peripheries of the PSA layer and the melt-softening layer; or wherein the pair of extending portions is positioned on the same side in the outer peripheries of the pressure sensitive adhesive layer and the melt-softening layer and wherein the heat-generating element has a U-shape or a zigzag shape. See Kikuchi, translation copy, page 16, last five paragraphs and Figures 1C and 1D.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot in view of the new reference (Kikuchi) as applied in the rejection herein above.
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HOA (Holly) LE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1788
/HOA (Holly) LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1788
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