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. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 1, it is not clear what is meant by fibers comprising a textile material. A textile is another word for fabric. How would fibers comprise a fabric? Are the fibers made with a woven or knitted construction? Or does this mean that the second component in the FIR fibers besides copper and graphene is a material from which fibers/textiles can be made, for example, cotton, rayon, polymers, etc.? It appears from the specification that the recitation of a textile material refers to a material from which a fiber can be formed but the claims as written are not clear. Additionally, it is not clear what is meant by a “yarn composition”, specifically, a composition would generally refer to the components which make up a yarn, for example, polymeric material, pigments, fillers, etc., however, the claim recites that the FIR fibers are interwoven with textile fibers to form the FIR yarn composition, which would appear to mean that the claims are drawn to a woven fabric. The claimed structure is not clear.
In claim 7, does the recitation of “melting copper power” mean that the mixture of copper, graphene and the textile material are heated to over 1900 degrees Fahrenheit in order to melt the copper? Or does this meant that the textile material which can be a polymer and the copper and graphene are added to the melt?
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knott, U.S. Patent No. 10,470,509 in view of KR 102534123B1.
Knott discloses garments or other textile which include fibers which have been infused with or coated with far infrared generating materials. See abstract. The fibers can include natural fibers such as cotton, wool, ramie, hemp, linen, and the like, synthetic fibers such as polyester, polyamides ( nylons), polyolefin, polyaramids, polyurethanes, acetates, rayon, acrylics and the like, or inorganic fibers. Specific polyesters include polyethylene terephthalate and nylon 6 and nylon 6-6. Specific polyurethanes include spandex. See col. 7, lines 38 -60. The fibers can have any denier that imparts comfort to a wearer. See col. 7, lines 60-65. The far infrared generating materials can be add in amount of 0.25-5% of the weight of the fiber and the fibers containing the far infrared generating materials can be incorporated into fabrics in amounts of 30-100% of the total fabric. The fabrics can be woven. See col. 10, lines 14-39. Suitable FIR generating material include metal oxides of copper, silicon, as well as carbon. See col. 10, lines 1-8. Since metal oxides are used, oxygen would necessarily be present in the form of the metal oxides. The materials can be incorporated into the fibers during production such as adding the metal oxides and carbon during melt spinning. See examples.
Knott differs from the claimed invention because it does not teach adding graphene to the composition.
However, KR’123 teaches adding graphene to a polymeric melt wherein the resulting mixture can be extruded into yarns. KR ‘123 teaches that graphene is a far infrared generating material. See abstract. KR ‘123 teaches that the resulting yarns have improved antibacterial performance as well as lubricity, UV blocking, electrically conductive, etc. See page 5, first 5 paragraphs.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have included graphene to the melt of Knott in view of the teaching of KR ‘123 that graphene was a known alternative far infrared generating additive useful in making yarns.
With regard to the particular diameter of the yarns, Knott teaches that the yarns can be formed to any diameter depending on the intended use.
With regard to the particular amounts of copper and graphene, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to select the amounts of the graphene and copper which produced the desired properties in the final yarn.
With regard to the use of rubber in the composition, since Knott teaches including elastomers, it would have been obvious to have included known elastomers such as rubber in amounts suitable to provide the desired degree of elasticity to the yarn.
With regard to the particular proportions of oxygen, silicon, copper and graphene, since the materials are added as far infrared generating materials, it would have been obvious to have selected a suitable amount which generated sufficient far infrared without using excessive materials which would be expensive and which would have a negative impact on the hand of the fabric.
With regard to the relative amounts of graphene in the first and second yarns, since the far infrared generating materials are present in from 30-100 percent of the fabric, it would have been obvious to have selected the amount of graphene present in the first and second yarns which produced the desired properties in the target fabric. See col. 10, lines 23-39.
With regard to the properties of FIR emissivity and FIR temperature range, it is reasonable to expect that once graphene was added to the composition of Knott that the claimed properties would either necessarily be present, or else it would have been obvious to have selected the particular amounts of the FIR emitting additives and the particular polymers used in order to arrive at a material having the desired FIR emissivity and FIR temperature range as claimed.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lin, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0372670. Lin discloses adding graphene to yarns but does not teach adding the graphene to the polymer melt.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH M IMANI whose telephone number is (571)272-1475. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Wednesday 7AM-7:30; Thursday 10AM -2 PM.
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/ELIZABETH M IMANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
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