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 without traverse of Group I (claims 1-3, 5) in the reply filed on 3/30/2026 is acknowledged.
At least, the group I and group II belong different classification and need to be searched separately.
Although there may be some overlap of the search for the inventions there is nothing to indicate that the search would be coextensive. Further the examination on the merits of apparatus claims differs from that of method claims. Therefor the extra search and/or examination burden for addressing multiple inventions poses a serious burden to the examiner which makes the restriction requirement proper.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Pearson (WO2003/006226).
Regarding claim 1, Pearson discloses that, as illustrated in Figs. 6A-6E, a method for manufacturing a resin pipe by injecting a molten resin from one end portion toward an other end portion of a cavity extending in a mold by an injector, and then introducing a fluid or solid assist material into the cavity to discharge an extra molten resin of the molten resin from the cavity, thereby curing the molten resin in a cylindrical shape remaining in the cavity, the method comprising:
introducing the assist material from the other end portion toward the one end portion of the cavity to cause the extra molten resin discharged from the cavity to flow back into the injector; and
injecting the back-flowed molten resin from the one end portion toward the other end portion of the cavity by the injector when manufacturing a next new resin pipe (i.e., Pearson discloses as illustrated in Figs. 6A-6E, the valve member 110 is opened allowing molten plastics material to be injected from the barrel 104 into the mould cavity 108 (here, the mould cavity is considered to provide as a pipe (page 34, lines 1-16)) without packing the plastics (page 27, lines 32-35). Thereafter the gas injection step is commenced (page 27, line 37). As illustrated in Fig. 6D, after a predetermined time delay, whilst continuing to maintain gas pressure, the pressure is reduced from the moulding machine screw or piston 130 and/or the valve member 110 is opened, which enables the gas to progressively expel molten plastics material from the mould cavity 108 back into the machine cylinder or barrel 104 (for reusage later or in a new filling process), the gas forcing the piston 130 away from the mould (page 28, lines 9-16)).
Regarding claim 2, Pearson discloses that, the present invention is suitable for a wide range of thermoplastics resin materials, including glass-fibre materials which require early pressurization in order to achieve acceptable surface finishes (page 20, lines 31-35).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 3, 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pearson (WO2003/006226) as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Wolfsberger (US 11,090,847).
Regarding claims 3, 5, the base reference Pearson does not disclose that, the resin pipe is a non-straight pipe comprising a pipe passage that is bent. In the same field of endeavor, manufacturing a plastic frame, Wolfsberger discloses that, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the frame 10 having multiple bending is made by injecting thermoplastic melt into the closed shaping tool/cavity. As illustrated in Fig. 2, a fluid 22 is pressed through an injector (col. 4, lines 27-42).
It would have been obvious to use the method of Pearson to have the resin pipe made as Wolfsberger teaches that it is known to have the resin pipe having multiple bending.
It has been held that the combination of known technique to improve similar method is likely to be obvious when it does not more than yield predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007) (see MPEP2143).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHIBIN LIANG whose telephone number is (571)272-8811. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:30 - 4:30.
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, Alison L Hindenlang can be reached on 571 270 7001. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SHIBIN LIANG/Examiner, Art Unit 1741
/EMMANUEL S LUK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1744
Prosecution Insights