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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 11-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hennig et al (US 2013/0063296).
Re claim 1, Hennig et al disclose an electromagnetic shield comprising
a first material configured for reflection and/or absorption of electromagnetic radiation [0023] that includes a polymer matrix with magnetic nanoparticles dispersed therein (abstract).
Re claim 2, wherein the first material further includes conductive nanoparticles (metallic nanoparticles) [0037] dispersed in the polymer matrix, and the amounts of the magnetic nanoparticles and the conductive nanoparticles within the polymer matrix [0242] are tailored to provide a predetermined amount of absorption and reflection (radiation absorber) [0025], respectively.
Re claim 3, wherein the conductive nanoparticles include multiwalled carbon nanotubes, graphene, metallic nanoparticles [0037], or combinations thereof.
Re claim 4, wherein the electromagnetic shield is formed of the first material alone (abstract) or in combination with one or more other polymer-based materials.
Re claim 11, providing an electromagnetic shield between a source of electromagnetic radiation (cellular phone) and an object (head) [0223], [0024], wherein the electromagnetic shield includes a first material configured for reflection and/or absorption of electromagnetic radiation [0023] that includes a polymer matrix with magnetic nanoparticles dispersed therein (abstract).
Re claim 12, forming the first material to include the polymer matrix with the magnetic nanoparticles dispersed therein (abstract) and conductive nanoparticles (metallic nanoparticles) [0037] dispersed therein; and tailoring the amounts of the magnetic nanoparticles and the conductive nanoparticles within the polymer matrix to provide a predetermined amount of absorption and reflection (radiation absorber) [0025], respectively.
Re claim 13, wherein the conductive nanoparticles include multiwalled carbon nanotubes, graphene, metallic nanoparticles [0037], or combinations thereof dispersed within the polymer matrix.
Re claim 14, further comprising forming the electromagnetic shield of the first material alone (abstract) or in combination with one or more other polymeric-based materials.
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.
Claim(s) 5, 6, 10, 15, 16, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hennig et al (US 2013/0063296) in view of Braley et al (US 2018/0077828).
Re claims 5, 15, wherein the electromagnetic shield includes a substrate and the first material is coating formed on the substrate (laminated onto substrates) [0021], but does not disclose the substrate made of metal.
The teaching as discussed above does not disclose wherein the first material includes reinforcing fibers dispersed within the polymer matrix (re claims 6, 16), wherein the electromagnetic shield is installed in an aircraft and electrically grounded (re claims 10, 20).
Braley et al teach the use of a metal substrate (204) [0039] and reinforcing fibers dispersed within the polymer matrix [0078], the electromagnetic shield is installed in an aircraft and electrically grounded (EMI shielding and/or lightning protection of aircraft) [0122].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use metal for the substrate and include reinforcing fibers with the polymer matrix and install in an aircraft of Hennig et al for forming a rigid substrate, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9, 17-19 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.
Communication
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/HUNG V NGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841