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.
Claims 1 and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xinyv (CN 101845166).
Regarding claims 1, 7-8, Xinyv et al. teaches a hybrid fabric comprising carbon fibers and UHMWPE fibers wherein the fabric is woven and the hybrid fabric comprises the claimed amount of carbon fiber and the claimed amount of UHMWPE fiber by weight (based upon the taught volume percent and math calculations to convert to weight percent) [0008-0013 and 0023].
Regarding claim 9, the hybrid fabric is a plain weave fabric, twill weave fabric, a satin weave fabric, an unidirectional fabric or a multilayer multiaxial fabric [0023].
Regarding claim 10, the carbon fibers and UHMWPE fibers can be mixed in the warp, weft or warp and weft directions [0024].
Regarding claim 11, Xinyv et al. teach a composite comprising at least one layer of the hybrid fabric [Title and Abstract].
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 2-6 and 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xinyv (CN 101845166) in view of Ma et al. (PG Pub. 2016/0145775).
Regarding claims 2-6 and 12-20, Xinyv et al. are silent regarding the claimed twist and denier of the UHMWPE fibers and the UHMWPE fibers being monofilament. However, Ma et al. teach monofilament UHMWPE fibers with twist in the claimed range and denier in the claimed range in order to provide improved wear resistance, impact resistance, structural integrity and high strength [0010-0011 and Abstract]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the twist of UHMWPE fibers in Xinyv et al. to provide improved wear resistance, impact resistance, structural integrity and high strength and arrive at the claimed invention.
Art Not Used but Relevant
CN110218412 teaches hybrid fabric comprising carbon fibers and UHMWPE fibers wherein the fabric is woven and the hybrid fabric comprises the claimed amount of carbon fiber and the claimed amount of UHMWPE fiber by weight (based upon the taught volume percent and math calculations to convert to weight percent).
Conclusion
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/Shawn Mckinnon/Examiner, Art Unit 1789