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 November 25, 2024 has been entered in the above-identified application. Claims 1-32 are canceled and new claims 33-52 have been added. Claims 33-52 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:
(a) TITLE OF THE INVENTION.
(b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS.
(c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT.
(d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT.
(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.
(f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR.
(g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.
(1) Field of the Invention.
(2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
(h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.
(i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S).
(j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.
(k) CLAIM OR CLAIMS (commencing on a separate sheet).
(l) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE (commencing on a separate sheet).
Appropriate correction is suggested.
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 (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 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.
4. Claims 33, 35, 38, 39, and 52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Carvolhoe et al. (US 2018/0037009 A1).
Carvolhoe et al. disclose wood derived multilayer glued or laminated product
(equivalent to the composite material comprising a laminate structure and a substrate of the claimed invention) having an integrated electric circuit, comprising a paper layer and conducting elements of conductive ink deposited on said paper layer, said elements being suitable for forming an electric circuit and said paper layer has a rugosity inferior to 60 μm. The paper layer may be of kraft paper. The product may comprise one or more additional kraft paper layers, in particular having a hole for receiving electric components (meeting the limitation that the laminate structure includes a plurality of slots extending from said upper surface of said laminate structure towards said substrate) such that the top surface of product remains flat. The product may include a fibreboard substrate (equivalent to the substrate of the claimed invention) of MDF. The paper layer may be a decorative paper layer glued (meeting the limitations of claims 38 and 39) with the circuit facing the substrate. The paper layer receiving deposited conductive elements can be of kraft paper. Kraft paper has shown to be capable of accommodating the thickness of the deposited elements thus preserving a flat top surface of the final product. When the product comprises a fibreboard substrate and only a paper layer of decorative paper layer glued onto said substrate, it is advantageous that the conducting elements are deposited on the face of the decorative paper layer facing the substrate, and not the substrate, which is better at accommodating the thickness of the deposited elements thus preserving a flat top surface of the final product. In one embodiment, the electrode used on the capacitive sensor of the multilayer product presents the form of intercalated combs or fingers. In another further embodiment, the multilayer product comprises at least an additional paper layer placed on or under the paper layer containing the electric circuit. In another further embodiment, the multilayer product comprises a decorative paper layer on the layer or layers of paper and the paper used in the multilayer product is simple paper, paper impregnated with melamine resin, kraft paper, kraft paper impregnated with phenolic resin, photographic paper, digital paper, polymeric film or decorative paper (meeting the limitation that the laminate comprises at least one paper and a resin layer). In another embodiment, the conductive ink used in the multilayer product is of solvent base, aqueous base, or oily base. In another further embodiment, the conductive ink used in the multilayer product contains at least a conductive material and/or polymeric material. Printing can be performed on different paper typologies like for example polymeric film, paper, decorative paper, paper impregnated with for example melamine resin, kraft paper, kraft paper impregnated with for example phenolic resin, photographic paper, decorative paper, digital paper. Kraft paper is a type of paper manufactured from a mixture of long and short cellulose fibres, originating from soft wood pulps. This mixture of fibres provides mechanical resistance characteristics with a good processing performance on machines and a relative softness. The paper may be recoated with paraffin or also laminate with polymers, e.g. plastic resins, particularly recoated or laminate with heat, provided that it retains its adhesive characteristics, mechanical resistance and softness for the described embodiments. In an embodiment the circuit is printed on decorative paper being glued by lamination or by thermo-adhesives applied by fusion or reactive polymers to a plate of MDF or HDF or other wood derived substrate such as fibreboard, for example, particle board. The additional layers also comprise at least a hole for the passage of electric connections to the conductive elements of said electric circuit. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the integration of the sensor on the laminate or compact product. Simply put, the laminate or compact products are produced using a set of sheets of paper impregnated with resin that after subject to high pressure and temperatures form a single product of high resistance. At the top of this set of sheets of paper an impregnated decorative paper 5 is placed and on the base various kraft paper sheets 6 are placed. The larger the number of kraft paper sheets were used, the higher the thickness of the final material. The thickness of the final product defines if this is a high pressure laminate (HPL) or a compact one. The sensor can be printed, by the techniques previously mentioned, on the face of the decorative paper that is not exposed to surface 5 or on the first sheet of kraft paper constituent of the laminate product 4. The remaining kraft paper sheets 6 are perforated (meeting the limitation that the laminate structure includes a plurality of slots extending from said upper surface of said laminate structure towards said substrate), via laser, in order to expose the electrode of the sensor for connection to the electronics needed for signal acquisition and transmission. After being subject to the pressing the final aspect of this laminate product is identical to that of a laminate or compact product without integrated sensor. (See Abstract and paragraphs 0001, 004, 0010-0012, 0018-0032, 0051-0079, and 0107). With regards to the limitation that the substate is flexible, the Examiner takes the position that such a limitiosn is inherent in the substate taught by over Carvolhoe et al. given that the substrate used by over Carvolhoe et al. is identical to that of the claimed invention.
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 34, 36, 37, 40-46, and 49-51 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carvolhoe et al. (US 2018/0037009 A1).
With regards to the depth and width of the slots, the number of layers, the thickness of the laminate structure, the pattern of the slots, the shape of the slots, and the basis weight or thickness of the substrate, the Examiner would like to point out that workable physical properties are deemed to be obvious routine optimizations to one of ordinary skill in the art, motivated by the desire to obtain the required properties.
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 47 and 48 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
7. 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
