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 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Matsuo et al. (US 2009/0286035).
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Regarding claims 1 and 11, Matsuo teaches a sheet joined body comprising a first sheet member 10 and a second sheet member 20 which are joined together by joining member 30 (¶ 34, see Fig. 1C). The sheet members are metal (¶ 60). The sheet members abut each other by cross section, and the joining member covers the end edge portions of the sheet members (see Fig. 1C). Matsuo teaches the joining member is a thermoplastic resin, which is joined to the sheet members by a welding operation (¶ 27). Melting and solidification of the joining member is inherent to a welding operation absent objective evidence to the contrary. See MPEP 2112.
Regarding claim 2, Matsuo teaches the thickness of the sheet members is not more than 500 μm (¶ 64), which lies within the claimed range.
Regarding claims 3-4, Matsuo teaches the sheet joined body are wound by rolls (¶ 120), which implicitly teaches a band-like shape in the longitudinal direction.
Regarding claim 5, Matsuo teaches forming a joining member on both sides of the joined sheet body (¶ 53).
Regarding claim 6, Matsuo teaches the thermoplastic resin is chosen from various polymers, including polystyrene and polycarbonate (¶ 73), which are amorphous polymers.
Regarding claim 9, Matsuo teaches the thickness of the joining member is 10-150 μm (¶¶ 70-71), which lies within the claimed range.
Regarding claim 10, Matsuo teaches using a temporary adhesive on the joining member to stick onto the sheet members (¶ 75).
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.
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuo et al. (US 2009/0286035), as applied to claim 1, further in view of Akiba et al. (JP 2021-066805).
Regarding claim 7, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed above. Matsuo does not expressly teach the joining member is an epoxy or phenoxy resin. Akiba discloses a thermoplastic phenoxy resin (¶ 46). The resin has applications including metal foils with resins and adhesives (¶ 80). It would have been obvious at the effective time of filing for the claimed invention for one of ordinary skill in the art to use the resin of Akiba for the joining member of Matsuo because Akiba recognizes its resin can be used with metal foils, and there is an expectation of success in substituting known elements the prior art recognizes as a substitute.
Regarding claim 8, Akiba teaches the resin contains an epoxy equivalent of 4,000-20,000 (¶ 44), which lies within the claimed range.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIAOBEI WANG whose telephone number is (571)270-5705. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8AM-5PM EST.
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/XIAOBEI WANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1784
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