DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Preliminary Amendment
2. The preliminary amendment filed on September 11, 2024 has been entered in the above-identified application. Claims 3-5 are amended. Claims 1-5 are pending and under consideration.
Specification
3. The following guidelines illustrate the preferred layout for the specification of a utility application. These guidelines are suggested for the Applicant’s use.
Arrangement of the Specification
As provided in 37 CFR 1.77(b), the specification of a utility application should include the following sections in order. Each of the lettered items should appear in upper case, without underlining or bold type, as a section heading. If no text follows the section heading, the phrase “Not Applicable” should follow the section heading:
Content of Specification
(a) TITLE OF THE INVENTION: See 37 CFR 1.72(a) and MPEP § 606. The title of the invention should be placed at the top of the first page of the specification unless the title is provided in an application data sheet. The title of the invention should be brief but technically accurate and descriptive, preferably from two to seven words. It may not contain more than 500 characters.
(b) CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS: See 37 CFR 1.78 and MPEP § 211 et seq.
(c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT: See MPEP § 310.
(d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT. See 37 CFR 1.71(g).
(e) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A READ-ONLY OPTICAL DISC, AS A TEXT FILE OR AN XML FILE VIA THE PATENT ELECTRONIC SYSTEM: The specification is required to include an incorporation-by-reference of electronic documents that are to become part of the permanent United States Patent and Trademark Office records in the file of a patent application. See 37 CFR 1.77(b)(5) and MPEP § 608.05. See also the Legal Framework for Patent Electronic System posted on the USPTO website (https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019LegalFrameworkPES.pdf) and MPEP § 502.05
(f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR. See 35 U.S.C. 102(b) and 37 CFR 1.77.
(g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION: See MPEP § 608.01(c). The specification should set forth the Background of the Invention in two parts:
(1) Field of the Invention: A statement of the field of art to which the invention pertains. This statement may include a paraphrasing of the applicable U.S. patent classification definitions of the subject matter of the claimed invention. This item may also be titled “Technical Field.”
(2) Description of the Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98: A description of the related art known to the applicant and including, if applicable, references to specific related art and problems involved in the prior art which are solved by the applicant’s invention. This item may also be titled “Background Art.”
(h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: See MPEP § 608.01(d). A brief summary or general statement of the invention as set forth in 37 CFR 1.73. The summary is separate and distinct from the abstract and is directed toward the invention rather than the disclosure as a whole. The summary may point out the advantages of the invention or how it solves problems previously existent in the prior art (and preferably indicated in the Background of the Invention). In chemical cases it should point out in general terms the utility of the invention. If possible, the nature and gist of the invention or the inventive concept should be set forth. Objects of the invention should be treated briefly and only to the extent that they contribute to an understanding of the invention.
(i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S): See MPEP § 608.01(f). A reference to and brief description of the drawing(s) as set forth in 37 CFR 1.74.
(j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION: See MPEP § 608.01(g). A description of the preferred embodiment(s) of the invention as required in 37 CFR 1.71. The description should be as short and specific as is necessary to describe the invention adequately and accurately. Where elements or groups of elements, compounds, and processes, which are conventional and generally widely known in the field of the invention described, and their exact nature or type is not necessary for an understanding and use of the invention by a person skilled in the art, they should not be described in detail. However, where particularly complicated subject matter is involved or where the elements, compounds, or processes may not be commonly or widely known in the field, the specification should refer to another patent or readily available publication which adequately describes the subject matter.
(k) CLAIM OR CLAIMS: See 37 CFR 1.75 and MPEP § 608.01(m). The claim or claims must commence on a separate sheet or electronic page (37 CFR 1.52(b)(3)). Where a claim sets forth a plurality of elements or steps, each element or step of the claim should be separated by a line indentation. There may be plural indentations to further segregate subcombinations or related steps. See 37 CFR 1.75 and MPEP 608.01(i) - (p).
(l) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE: See 37 CFR 1.72 (b) and MPEP § 608.01(b). The abstract is a brief narrative of the disclosure as a whole, as concise as the disclosure permits, in a single paragraph preferably not exceeding 150 words, commencing on a separate sheet following the claims. In an international application which has entered the national stage (37 CFR 1.491(b)), the applicant need not submit an abstract commencing on a separate sheet if an abstract was published with the international application under PCT Article 21. The abstract that appears on the cover page of the pamphlet published by the International Bureau (IB) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the abstract that will be used by the USPTO. See MPEP § 1893.03(e).
(m) SEQUENCE LISTING: See 37 CFR 1.821 - 1.825 and MPEP §§ 2421 - 2431. The requirement for a sequence listing applies to all sequences disclosed in a given application, whether the sequences are claimed or not. See MPEP § 2422.01.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
4. Claims 1-5 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.
Claim 1 recites a “leak-tight flexible plastic material” however the terms “leak-tight flexible” and “flexible” are relative terms which render the claim indefinite. The terms “leak-tight” and “flexible” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Similar ambiguity exists in claim 4 which recites an “elastically compressible spring layer” and claim 5 which recites an “elastically compressible foam”.
Claim 1 recites that the “upper coating layer (3)” is “based on thermoplastic material” and further recites that “said coating layer: comprises at least 85% by mass of vulcanized thermoplastic (TPV)” however it is unclear if the recited “thermoplastic material” is separate from the “vulcanized thermoplastic (TPV)” or the same.
Appropriate correction or clarification is required.
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.
5. Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mentink (US 2020/0332927 A1).
Mentink discloses a flame-resistant hose assembly. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the hose assembly comprising a tubular inner layer (equivalent to the leak-tight plastic material of the claimed invention) and a flame-resistant layer (equivalent to upper coating layer of the claimed invention). FIG. 11 is a side view showing the hose assembly comprising a tubular inner layer, a reinforcing layer, a binder layer, and a flame-resistant layer. In a preferred embodiment, the tubular inner layer comprises polyamide. In many embodiments, the tubular inner layer comprises polyamide (equivalent to the plastic of the leak-tight plastic material of claimed invention). The flame-resistant layer is disposed about the exterior radial surface of the tubular inner layer and there may be one or more intermediate layers (equivalent to lower support layer of claimed invention) disposed between the tubular inner layer and the flame-resistant layer. In such embodiments, the flame-resistant layer is disposed about the exterior radial surface of the tubular inner layer with one or more intermediate layers disposed therebetween. For example, referring now to the hose assembly 10 of FIGS. 5 and 6, the embodiment shown includes the tubular inner layer 12, a reinforcing layer 20 disposed about the tubular inner layer 12, and the flame-resistant layer 18 disposed about the reinforcing layer 20. Alternatively, there may be additional layers disposed about the exterior radial surface of the flame-resistant layer and can include one or more flame resistant layers. In some preferred embodiments, the polymeric binder of the flame-resistant layer comprises a rubber and a thermoplastic. In such embodiments, the flame-resistant material can be described as a thermoplastic elastomer or as a thermoplastic vulcanizate (“TPV”) (equivalent to the thermoplastic material and/or the TPV of the claimed invention). For example, in some such preferred embodiments, the polymeric binder comprises EPDM and polypropylene. In typical embodiments, the TPV is a composition which includes thermoplastic, elastomer, and additives such as plasticizers, fillers (equivalent to the dispersed filler of claimed invention), colorants, heat stabilizers, etc. in an amount of from about 1 to about 35 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the TPV. In various embodiments, the flame-resistant material includes the polymeric binder in an amount of from about 10 to about 95, alternatively from about 45 to about 90, alternatively from about 60 to about 90, alternatively from about 65 to about 85, parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the flame-resistant material. The flame-resistant material may also include one or more additives. Suitable additives may include, but are not limited to, curatives, processing additives, adhesion promoters, antioxidants, ultraviolet light stabilizers, fillers, thixotropic agents, silicones, dyes/colorants, and combinations thereof. For example, in one embodiment, the flame-resistant material comprises reinforcing fibers such as glass fibers, which are also flame resistant. In some embodiments, the tubular inner layer 12 and the flame-resistant layer 18 can be chemically bonded (e.g. crosslinked) with one another and/or mechanically bonded with one another. The hose may also include char/flame resistant layer foams (equivalent to the elastically compressible foam layer of the claimed invention) that maintain a closed surface/coverage of the inner tubular layer which reduces oxygen access. The hose may be used in motor vehicle applications. (see Abstract and paragraphs 0003, 0011, 0021, 0022, 0030, 0032-0041, 0058-0089, and 0111).
With regards to the process limitations of claim 4, Applicants are reminded that the patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process.
With regards to the concentration limitations of the support layer, the mineral filler, the vulcanized thermoplastic (TPV), and the dispersed filler, the Examiner would like to point out that workable physical properties and concentrations are deemed to be obvious routine optimizations to one of ordinary skill in the art, motivated by the desire to obtain the required properties.
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEEBA AHMED whose telephone number is (571)272-1504. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7am-6pm.
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, CALLIE SHOSHO can be reached at 571-272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHEEBA AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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