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 .
1.Claim(s) 1-6 and 10-12 are considered to be allowable over the art of record in that such art does not disclose, teach or suggest the overall aspects of forming a gasket on a workpiece by applying an energy ray curing liquid into a die cavity, bonding the die and the workpiece, curing the liquid with an energy ray to achieve a reaction rate of 20-85%, demolding the partially cured liquid and the workpiece from the die and curing the partially cured liquid to achieve a reaction rate of 85 to 100%.
2.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.
Claim(s) 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Soga 2020/0048389 (see 7 in Fig. 1).
Soga discloses a gasket 7 as a fuel cell 1 component, the gasket being molded and cured using an active energy ray—see paragraph 0018, section 17. While there is a difference in the method used to make the gasket, it is submitted that the gasket of Soga meets all the physical and chemical properties that the instant gasket would have
-- being made by the instant method-- and hence the product claims are anticipated. The patentability of product claims depends on the structure of the product, not the method by which the product is made.
3.Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATHIEU D VARGOT whose telephone number is (571)272-1211. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri from 9 to 6.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christina A Johnson, can be reached at telephone number 571 272-1176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATHIEU D VARGOT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
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