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 § 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wa [WO2015/152325, machine translation provided].
Wa discloses a method for manufacturing a layered product by which a plurality of sheets are layered to manufacture the layered product, the method comprising: a first arranging step of continuously arranging first sheet materials (P1 or P2) in a transfer passage (transport path 3) for performing transfer of the sheets along a transfer direction of the transfer passage (Figure 1; paragraphs 0018, 0021-23); and a second arranging step of continuously arranging second sheet materials (P4) along the transfer direction (3) above the first sheet materials (P1 or P2) arranged in the transfer passage, wherein in the second arranging step (Figure 1; paragraph 0068-0082), the second sheet materials are arranged at downstream positions of the transfer passage with respect to arrangement positions of the first sheet materials (see Figure 1), and in the first arranging step and the second arranging step, an arrangement pitch of the first sheet materials or the second sheet materials in the transfer direction is adjustable by tilting the first sheet materials or the second sheet materials with respect to the transfer direction (paragraph 0039-54, 0072-0086).
With respect to claim 2, Wa discloses in the first arranging step and the second arranging step, the arrangement pitch of the first sheet materials or the second sheet materials in the transfer direction is adjustable by adjusting an angle at which the first sheet materials or the second sheet materials are inclined with respect to the transfer direction (paragraph 0054).
With respect to claim 3, Wa discloses the first sheet materials and the second sheet materials are sheet materials having a parallelogramic shape with two opposite angles which are acute angles, and in the first arranging step and the second arranging step, the arrangement pitch of the first sheet materials or the second sheet materials in the transfer direction is adjustable by arranging one side of the first sheet materials or the second sheet materials to be inclined with respect to the transfer direction (Figure 1; paragraph 0034, 0038).
With respect to claim 4, Wa discloses a first heat-fusing step of performing heat fusion of the first sheet materials arranged in the first arranging step to previously arranged first sheet materials; and a second heat-fusing step of performing heat fusion of the second sheet materials arranged in the second arranging step to previously arranged second sheet materials, wherein in the first heat-fusing step and the second heat-fusing step, a heat fusion possible range having a width in the transfer direction is set, the heat fusion is performed on the first sheet materials and the previously arranged first sheet materials within the heat fusion possible range, and the heat fusion is performed on the second sheet materials and the previously arranged second sheet materials within the heat fusion possible range, and in a case where no heat fusion is performable on the first sheet materials or the second sheet materials within the heat fusion possible range in the first heat-fusing step and the second heat-fusing step, arrangement positions of the first sheet materials in the transfer direction in the first arranging step or arrangement positions of the second sheet materials in the transfer direction in the second arranging step are adjusted (paragraph 0056-0060).
With respect to claim 5, Wa discloses the first sheet materials and the second sheet materials are fiber sheets in which fibers are arranged in a certain direction (paragraph 0019, 0031).
With respect to claim 6, Wa discloses a device for manufacturing a layered product which layers a plurality of sheets to manufacture the layered product, the device comprising: a first arrangement unit (6) configured to continuously arrange first sheet materials in a transfer passage for performing transfer of the sheets along a transfer direction of the transfer passage; a second arrangement unit (15) configured to continuously arrange second sheet materials along the transfer direction above the first sheet materials arranged in the transfer passage; and an arrangement adjusting unit configured to tilt the first sheet materials or the second sheet materials arranged in the transfer passage with respect to the transfer direction, and configured to adjust an arrangement pitch of the first sheet materials or the second sheet materials in the transfer direction (paragraph 0039-54, 0068-0086: Figure 1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL MCNALLY whose telephone number is (571)272-2685. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/DANIEL MCNALLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
DPM
March 13, 2026