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 § 103
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.
Claims 1 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kohori (2019/0172606) in view of Esseghir et al. (10175439) and Yurkoski et al. (3687087) OR Kress (2023/0093106).
Kohori discloses a cable comprising: a plurality of coated electric wires (2); and a sheath (7) covering the plurality of coated electric wires, wherein the sheath includes a first sheath (9) and a second sheath (8) in order from an outer surface side of the sheath, wherein the second sheath has a smaller elastic modulus than the first sheath ([0090], the inner sheath 8 being foamed polyurethane and [0091], the outer sheath 9 being polyurethane; same materials disclosed by applicant, see [0097] and [0103] of application's publication), and wherein elastic modulus refers to tensile elastic modulus measured at 23 °C (room temp) (re-claim 1). Kohori also discloses that the second sheath is a foam ([0090]) (re-claim 4); the coated wires include coated wires having different conductor cross-sectional areas (Fig. 3) (re-claim 5); the coated wires include two coated wires having the same conductor cross-sectional areas, and the two coated wires are twisted together ([0081]) (re-claim 6); and in a cross-section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction, the roundness of the outer perimeter of the second sheath is 97% or more (Figs 1, 3, & 4, 100%) (re-claim 7).
Kohori does not disclose the elastic modulus of the first sheath and of the second sheath (re-claim 1).
Esseghir et al. discloses a cable. Esseghir et al. discloses that typical polyurethane has an elastic modulus (tensile modulus) of about 8000 psi (= 55 MPa, col. 22 lines 26-28). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to provide the first sheath (polyurethane) of Kohori with a tensile modulus of 55 MPa to meet the specific use of the resulting cable since a typical polyurethane having a tensile modulus of 55 MPa is known in the art as taught by Esseghir et al.
Yurkoski et al. discloses an insulating structure comprising a foamed polyurethane sheath having a tensile modulus of elasticity about 4000 psi (= 27.6 MPa, col. 1 lines 50-53). Kress discloses an insulating structure (Fig. 1B) comprising a first sheath (2) and a second sheath (3), wherein the second sheath (comprised of foamed polyurethane) has an elastic modulus of 30 MPa ([0179]).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to provide the second sheath (foamed polyurethane) of Kohori with a tensile modulus of 27.6 MPa, as taught by Yurkoski et al. or of 30 MPa, as taught by Kress, such that it would act as a cushion layer as taught by Yurkoski et al. OR improved the flexibility of the sheath as taught by Kress.
It is noted that in the modified cable of Kohori, the elastic modulus of the second sheath (8) is 40% to 80% of the elastic modulus of the first sheath (9), 27.6/55 = 50.2% OR 30/55 = 54.5% (re-claim 1).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot in view of new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAU N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1980. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 7am to 5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani N Hayman can be reached at 571-270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHAU N NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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