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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1,8,9,10, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN116233289 (machine English translation provided herewith; short specification) in view of CN1840320 (machine English translation provided herewith; short specification).
Regarding claim 1, CN116233289 teaches:
1. A manufacturing method for a housing (CN116233289: shell of an electronic device), comprising:
providing a substrate, wherein the substrate comprises a metal member, the substrate comprises an appearance surface, and the appearance surface extends along the metal member (CN116233289: the metallic initial housing or shell is provided in step S110, wherein the housing has an outer surface/appearance surface that will be dyed; detailed description of fig 1);
cleaning the appearance surface (CN116233289: the initial housing or shell is degreased), and performing surface treatment on the appearance surface to form an oxide film (CN116233289: the metallic initial housing or shell undergoes an oxidation treatment in step S120, wherein a plurality of concave holes and an oxide film is formed on the surface of the housing or shell; detailed description of fig 1);
forming a colored pattern on a heat-insulating film by using a color material (CN116233289: a transfer film layer is prepared in step S130, wherein a colored pattern is formed on the transfer film layer/heat-insulating film by using pigmented dyeing particles; detailed description of fig 1); and
placing the heat-insulating film on the appearance surface, and transferring the colored pattern to the appearance surface by dye sublimation (CN116233289: a transfer film layer covers the initial housing or shell in step S140; and in step S150, by using heat sublimation, the colored pattern in transferred to the surface of the initial housing or shell; detailed description of fig 1).
However, CN116233289 does not teach using a substrate/initial housing or shell comprising a metal member and a plastic member combined with the metal member. CN1840320 teaches using a metal and plastic composite film for electronic device shells since metal and plastic composite film is advantageous over a metal film since the composite film gives the high quality metal texture feeling while also allowing for convenient processing, low costs, and complex shapes (CN1840320: abstract; technical field section; and background art section). Since CN116233289 and CN1840320 are analogous with respect to shells for electronic devices, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to replace the metallic initial housing or shell of CN116233289 with a metal and plastic composite initial housing or shell as taught by CN1840320 in order to reduce costs without compromising the feel of a high-quality metal texture.
Regarding claim 8, CN1840320 teaches degreasing the initial housing or shell, but does not teach the claimed treatment solution. Since the claimed treatment solution is well-known in the cleaning art, especially of metal substrate, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the claimed solution in the process of CN116233289 in order to effectively clean the initial housing or shell of CN116233289 so it can be prepared for the oxidation treatment.
Regarding claim 9, CN116233289 (modified) teaches using an aluminum alloy for the metallic initial housing or shell and various plastics such as ABS,PS,AS,PC, or PC/ABS alloy, but does not teach the plastic material being PPS or PBT. The claimed plastics are well-known alternatives for the plastics taught by CN116233289 (modified) since they perform the same function; thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to replace the plastic material of CN116233289 (modified) with the claimed plastic material since they are substitutable alternatives that would yield predictable results with a reasonable expectation of success. The substitution of equivalents known for the same purpose is prima facie obviousness (see, MPEP 2144.06).
Regarding claim 10, CN116233289 does not teach using a second heat-insulating film to transfer a second colored pattern to the first colored pattern by dye sublimation. Since it is well-known in the decorative art to apply multiple layers of patterns onto a substrate to achieve a desired aesthetic design, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to transfer a second colored pattern onto the first colored pattern of CN116233289 by a second transfer film layer and a second step of dye sublimation to efficiently form a desired aesthetic design.
Regarding claim 11, such is taught by CN116233289 (CN116233289: using vacuum to adsorb the transfer film layer onto the surface of the initial housing or shell).
Claims 2,3,4,5,6, and 7 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 prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. JP3661521 teaches dye sublimation. CN103722668 teaches electronic devices shells made from a metal and plastic composite.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDMUND H LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-1204. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9AM-4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xiao (Sam) Zhao can be reached at 571-270-5343. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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EHL
/EDMUND H LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1744