DETAILED ACTION
The following Office action concerns Patent Application Number 18/828,464. Claims 21-40 are pending in the application.
The applicant’s amendment filed May 15, 2026 has been entered.
The previous grounds of rejection are maintained in this action and discussed below.
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 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.
Claims 21-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Mazyar et al (US 2013/0165353).
Mazyar et al teaches a method of applying a conductive coating to a surface (par. 62, 66, 69). The coating composition comprises carbon nanotubes, boron nitride nanotubes, solvent, and polar polymer (par. 18, 50-51; Fig. 1). The nanotubes are dispersed in the fluid medium (par. 51; Fig. 1). The carbon nanotubes are functionalized with an hydroxy functional group, which is the claimed functional group and is inherently capable of hydrogen bonding (par. 30-31). The polar polymer includes polyacrylic acid (par. 65). Polyacrylic acid contains a -COOH functional group which is the claimed functional group and is hydrophilic and inherently capable of forming a hydrogen bond. Polyacrylic acid is inherently self-curing as that term is defined in the instant specification. The functionalized carbon nanotubes and the polymer binder (polyacrylic acid) form an electrostatic attraction (par. 54, 65).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to select polyacrylic acid as the polar polymer in the coating composition because Mazyar et al teaches that polyacrylic acid is capable of bonding with the functionalized nanoparticles and polyacrylic acid is a polar polymer (par. 65).
The amount of nanomaterial is 1-30 % by weight (par. 72). By subtraction, the amount of fluid component is 70-99 % by weight. The fluid medium includes water (par. 71). The size of the nanotubes is 250 nm or less (par. 14). The boron nitride nanotubes include single walled nanotubes (par. 18).
The nanomaterials improve the electrical conductivity of the coating composition (par. 62). An increase in conductivity provides a decrease in electrical resistance. The decrease in resistance would be expected to be at least 20 %, since the composition contains 1-30 % by weight of the conductive nanomaterial, which substantially overlaps the claimed amount of 0.5-10 % by weight.
The composition is applied to a substrate by spray coating (par. 66). It would have been obvious to a person or ordinary skill in the art to apply the spray coating manually or by a machine. The substrate (surface) includes ceramic (par. 97). Ceramic is inherently capable of static charge buildup. The method includes free radical polymerization and cross-linking (par. 44-45, 65). Polymerization and cross-linking are equivalent to curing. The coating is stretchable and flexible (par. 65). The composition is used to coat tubing (par. 60). Tubing is a container.
The coating is used as a seal coating or a barrier coating (par. 69). Mazyar et al does not require the coating to contain cracks. Furthermore, it is obvious and implicit that a seal coating or barrier coating should not contain cracks. It would have been obvious to a person or ordinary skill in the art not to include cracks in the coating.
The nanomaterials improve the thermal conductivity of the coating composition (par. 69, 72). The increase in thermal conductivity would be expected to be at least 10 %, since the composition contains 1-30 % by weight of the nanomaterial, which substantially overlaps the claimed amount of 0.5-10 % by weight.
The coating composition further comprises diamond and metal oxide nanoparticles (par. 16). Diamond and metal oxide materials are well-known to reflect light.
Response to Arguments
The applicant suggests that an hydroxy functional group is not capable of hydrogen bonding. However, no evidence is presented to support this argument. In addition, hydroxy group is the claimed functional group. Since Mazyar et al teaches an hydroxy functional group, the limitations regarding a functional group capable of hydrogen bonding are satisfied.
Regarding the selection of polyacrylic acid, the list of possible binders is finite and includes polymers well known in the art as binders. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to select polyacrylic acid since the reference teaches that it is a suitable binder.
Examiner’s Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to William Young whose telephone number is (571) 270-5078. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew, can be reached at 571-272-2817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000./WILLIAM D YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761 June 5, 2026
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