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 .
Response to Amendment
The Preliminary Amendment filed August 8, 2024 has been entered and considered with the Office Action below.
Claims 5 and 6 have been added.
Drawings
The drawings were received on August 8, 2024. These drawings are accepted.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 1-6 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.
Regarding claim 1: Claim 1 is considered indefinite for the following reasons:
Line 3 requires that the “the wire meshes adjacent to each other…are relatively rotated” however the claim fails to indicate what the meshes are rotated relative to. For the purposes of examination, the meshes are being treated as being rotated relative to each other.
Lines 7 and 8 require that the “opening lengths of apertures of the wire meshes” be within a range however it is unclear what the rang is. The recitation of “1.2 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less” fails to provide an upper and lower limit of a range. A recitation of a range would be written indicating a value is between an upper limit and a lower limit. Lines 7 and 8 merely provide two values, 1.2 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less, without relating them to an upper or lower limit.
The recitation of “1.2 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less” is considered generally confusing as it is not written as a range and the dimension of the aperture cannot be both 1.2 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less.
Assuming that the recitation of “1.2 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less” is intended to read “between 1.2 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less”, further confusion arises in that “1.22 mm or more” covers a value that is greater than 1.5 mm and “1.55 mm or less” covers a value that is less than 1.22 mm”. As such, the range has no defined upper and lower limit.
Regarding claim 2: Claim 2 requires a range written in a manner similar to that in claim 1. The range in claim 2 is considered indefinite for the following reasons.
Regarding claims 4-6: Claims 4-6 are directed to “Pipes containing a porous material” and require the “wire mesh laminated porous material” of claims 1-3 respectively however there is no correlation between the porous material and the wire mesh laminated porous material. As such, it is not clear if the porous material and the wire mesh laminated porous material are the same material. For the purpose of examination, the two materials are being treated as the same.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cresswell (US 2,820,985).
Regarding claim 1: Cresswell discloses a wire mesh laminated porous material 10,
wherein a plurality of wire meshes 12, 14 are laminated 2:46-3:17 with an interval interface in between, and the wire meshes adjacent to each other in a lamination direction are relatively rotated and laminated 3:1-17, Fig 2,
when wire mesh lines of the wire meshes laminated are projected onto a projection surface orthogonal to the lamination direction, a proportion of a projection area of the wire mesh lines of the wire meshes occupying the projection surface is 85% or more Fig 1, 2, and
opening lengths of apertures of the wire meshes are set in a range of 1.2 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less 3:18-24.
Regarding claim 2: Wherein the interval between the wire meshes adjacent to each other in the lamination direction is in a range of 0.15 mm or more and 0.20 mm or less touching so less than 0.20 mm.
Regarding claim 3: Wherein the wire meshes laminated have the same aperture and wire diameter 2:46-3:17.
Regarding claims 4-6: Cresswell discloses pipes 16 containing a porous material Fig 3,
wherein the above described wire mesh laminated porous material is disposed inside a pipe body Fig 3, and
the wire mesh laminated porous material is disposed so that the wire meshes are laminated in an extension direction of the pipe body Fig 3, 4:10-20.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Amamiy (JP 2016/022433 A).
Regarding claim 1: Amamiy discloses a wire mesh laminated porous material 1 – Fig 3,
wherein a plurality of wire meshes 1a, 1b are laminated with an interval in between Fig 3, and the wire meshes adjacent to each other in a lamination direction are relatively rotated and laminated Fig 2,
when wire mesh lines of the wire meshes laminated are projected onto a projection surface orthogonal to the lamination direction, a proportion of a projection area of the wire mesh lines of the wire meshes occupying the projection surface is 85% or more Fig 2, 4, and
opening lengths of apertures of the wire meshes are set in a range of 1.2 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less less than 1.5 mm, bottom of page 2 of the provided translation.
Regarding claim 2: Wherein the interval between the wire meshes adjacent to each other in the lamination direction is in a range of 0.15 mm or more and 0.20 mm or less Fig 3, Abstract.
Regarding claim 3: Wherein the wire meshes laminated have the same aperture and wire diameter Fig 2.
Regarding claims 4-6: Amamiy discloses pipes 3 containing a porous material Fig 1,
wherein the above described wire mesh laminated porous material is disposed inside a pipe body Fig 1, and
the wire mesh laminated porous material is disposed so that the wire meshes are laminated in an extension direction of the pipe body Fig 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER H GAY whose telephone number is (571)272-7029. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 6-3:30 and every other Friday 6-11.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anita Y Coupe can be reached at (571)270-3614. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JENNIFER H GAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
JHG
6/25/2026
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