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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 7, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 2, and 4-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kono (JP 07-082420, newly cited) in view of Yasukawa (JP 2018-193465, of record).
Kono is directed to a tire composition comprising natural rubber (first component in Table 1), epoxidized natural rubber or modified diene rubber (second component in Table 1), cellulose fibers (CF), and carbon black (e.g. 50 phr of HAF) (Paragraphs 7-14 and Table 1). In such an instance, though, Kono fails to describe said cellulose fibers as being modified with phosphoric acid.
Yasukawa is similarly directed to a tire construction including cellulose nanofibers (Paragraphs 7 and 71). More particularly, Yasukawa teaches the use of phosphoric acid groups to modify cellulose fibers in order to improve dispersion and provide high tensile strength. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the cellulose fibers of Kono with phosphoric acid groups to obtain the benefits detailed above. It is additionally noted that Yasukawa broadly teaches the use of any number of common natural rubber and synthetic rubber materials, including modified natural rubbers (Paragraphs 52-60)- this suggest that there is a reasonable expectation of success when modifying the rubber composition of Kono formed with natural rubber and epoxidized natural rubber in accordance to the claimed invention.
Lastly, regarding claim 1, Kono teaches preferred fiber diameters as small as 0.1 microns (100 nm) and such is seen to correspond with a “nanofiber”.
With respect to claim 2, Kono teaches a fiber loading between 3 phr and 20 phr (Abstract) and such is fully encompassed by the broad range of the claimed invention.
As to claim 4-6, Ko Lee teaches a composition including 20-80 phr of epoxidized natural rubber (Abstract and Table 1- multiple exemplary compositions include ENR (second component in Table) at loadings in accordance to the claimed invention).
Regarding claim 9, exemplary compositions of Kono include 50 phr of carbon black. It is well recognized that tire compositions are not limited to a single carbon black loading but rather are more broadly inclusive of a broad range of carbon black loadings. Given an exemplary loading of 50 phr, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to use additional carbon black loadings on the order of 50 phr and such includes the loading range required by the claimed invention. Absent a conclusive showing of unexpected results, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to include 60 phr to 80 phr of carbon black in the rubber composition of Kono.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 2, and 4-9 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN R FISCHER whose telephone number is (571)272-1215. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-2:00.
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Justin Fischer
/JUSTIN R FISCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749 January 12, 2026