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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of an adhesive laminate in the reply filed on July 2, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that it should be no undue burden on the Examiner to consider all the claims in the single application. This is not found persuasive because the requirement of unity of invention in this national stage application has not been fulfilled (lack of technical relationship among the inventions or groups involving one or more of the same or corresponding special technical feature).
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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) 1, 2, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15-17, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ooshima (JP 06049422, of record) in view of Choi (US 9,426,878, of record).
Ooshima is directed to an assembly comprising a nonwoven base layer and a pressure sensitive adhesive layer positioned on a first surface of said base layer, wherein a thickness of the pressure adhesive layer is between 50 and 100 microns and preferably between 50% and 80% of such a thickness (25-80 microns) is impregnated into said base layer. Ooshima further includes an exemplary assembly in which the base material as a whole has a thickness of 43 microns, a portion of said base layer that includes or is impregnated with adhesive is 35 microns, a portion of said base layer that is devoid of adhesive is 8 microns, and an adhesive thickness outside of the base layer is 15 microns (based on total adhesive thickness being 50 microns) (Paragraphs 37-39). In such an instance though, Ooshima is silent with respect to the glass transition temperature of said pressure sensitive adhesive layer.
In any event, the claimed glass transition temperature values are consistent with those that are conventionally associated with pressure sensitive adhesive materials, as shown for example by Choi (Column 3, Lines 4+). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to use any number of glass transition temperatures for the pressure sensitive adhesive of Ooshima, including that required by the broad range of the claimed invention, absent a conclusive showing of unexpected results.
Regarding claim 2, Ooshima teaches the use of rubber-based pressure sensitive adhesives (Paragraph 30).
With respect to claims 9 and 10, the non-woven fabric of Ooshima can be formed with PET fibers and polyamide fibers (Paragraph 13).
As to claims 12 and 13, given that between 50% and 80% of the base layer can be impregnated with adhesive, it is evident that the nonwoven fabric would have an area percentage that is fully encompassed by the claimed range between 5% and 50%.
Regarding claims 15-17, 19, and 20, the nonwoven fabric of Ooshima has a basis weight between 5 and 50 g/m2 (Paragraph 10).
Claim(s) 3, 8, 11, 14, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ooshima and Choi as detailed above and further in view of Cervellati (US 4,973,497, newly cited).
As detailed above, Ooshima is directed to an assembly comprising a non-woven fabric and a pressure sensitive adhesive or PSA (e.g. rubber-based pressure sensitive adhesive). In such an instance, though, Ooshima is silent with respect to a viscosity of said rubber-based PSA.
In any event, the claims define an extremely broad range of viscosities (particularly in light of the range being open ended) that are consistent with well-known and conventional rubber-based PSAs, as shown for example by Cervellati (Column 1, Lines 23-29). It is emphasized that a fair reading of Ooshima does not limit the viscosity of the rubber-based PSA and the claimed viscosities are consistent with those found in commercially available rubber-based PSAs. Additionally, it is noted that both Ooshima and Applicant are directed to assemblies including rubber-based pressure sensitive adhesives (suggesting that mechanical properties and characteristics would be similar). Additionally, Applicant has not provided a conclusive showing of unexpected results for an adhesive having a viscosity in accordance to the broad range (open ended) of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN R FISCHER whose telephone number is (571)272-1215. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-2:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Katelyn Smith can be reached at 571-270-5545. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Justin Fischer
/JUSTIN R FISCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749 September 1, 2026
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