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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I claims 1-9 in the reply filed on July 13, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claim 10 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 5-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (CN112009060A) with machine translation in view of Sun (CN114016209A) with machine translation. Claim 2: Evidence provided for definition of "grammage" (On-line Oxford English Dictionary) - https://www.oed.com/dictionary/grammage
Regarding Claim 1, Li discloses the preparation of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) floorboard (abs, paragraph [0007] environmentally friendly flooring made of polyethylene terephthalate-1,4-cyclohexanediol (PETG) material), whereby the flooring comprises a wear-resistant layer and a printing layer (Figs. 1,2 paragraphs [0021] [0041] semi-finished product has a UV coating layer applied, wear-resistant layer – 2 decorative layer – 3) to obtain a composite layer (paragraph [0009]).
Li additionally provides at least one PET felt panel on a backside of the printing layer of the composite layer (Figs.1,2 paragraphs [0011] [0020] substrate layer is an extruded PETG sheet; decorative layer bonded to upper surface to the substrate layer), and
providing a coating at least one ultra-violet ray (UV) paint layer on a surface of the wear-resistant layer of the composite panel (Figs. 1,2 paragraph [0049] UV coating layer on top of wear-resistant layer), and then cutting into required sizes and processing edges to obtain the PET floorboard (paragraph [0021] after cutting, grooving, and applying sound-absorbing layer, the environmentally friendly flooring product is obtained).
However, Li discloses that its composite method is a continuous extrusion process with online bonding and not a hot-melt compounding process (paragraphs [0009] [0041]) and while Li discloses that the melt of the extrusion for the wear-resistant and decorative layer involve cooling (paragraphs [0043] [0044]) this is not a cold-pressing for shaping after a hot-pressing for fusion attachment.
In the same field of endeavor, Sun discloses a method of preparing a PPF (polypropylene fiber) composite floorboard (abs, paragraph [0004]) by means of hot-melt compounding a printing layer and a wear-resistant layer to obtain a composite layer (Fig. 3 paragraphs [0009] [0027] [0082] floor included a PPF substrate – Y3 formed by hot pressing into a felt, and a PVC decorative surface layer – Y1 including a PVC wear-resistant layer, a PVC color film layer and a PVC base layer formed by hot pressing these layers together) ; and then performing hot-pressing for fusion attachment and cold-pressing for shaping to obtain a composite panel (Fig. 2 paragraphs [0072] [0082] where the previously hot-pressed composite layers – paragraph [0014] Step 4: PPF substrate layer – Y3 obtained by hot pressing and – paragraph [0027] - the PVC decorative surface layer – Y1 is formed by hot pressing is fused via a connecting adhesive layer – Y2 ). This is followed by cold-pressing for shaping (Fig. 2 paragraph [0079] hot press cooling device – T270 cool to form a profile).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the disclosure of Li with the teachings of Sun whereby a method of preparing a PET floorboard using continuous extrusion to form a composite panel and comprising a PET felt panel on a backside of a previously extruded printing and wear-resistant layer with coating of a UV paint layer on the surface of the wear-resistant layer of the composite panel followed by cutting into required sized and processing edges to obtain the finished floorboard, as disclosed by Li,
would also include that the process utilizes a hot-melt compounding of the printing and wear-resistant layers to obtain a composite layer and that the PET felt panel is hot-pressed for fusion attachment and cold pressed for shaping to obtain a composite panel.
The person skilled in the art would be motivated to use the hot pressing of the felt panel (substrate) for fusion attachment and cold-pressing for shaping because this technique provides good strength, hardness and toughness greatly improving the quality and life of the product (paragraph [0082]).
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Li and Sun disclose all the limitations of claim 1 and both Li and Sun disclose various limitations of claim including that the printing layer is made of polyethylene terephthalate-I ,4-cyclohexanedimethyleneterephthalate (PETG) material (Li – paragraph [0013]), and a thickness of 0.05-0.15 mm (Li – paragraph [0013] thickness of 0.07-.1 mm which is encompassed by the limitation);
the wear-resistant layer is made of PETG material, (paragraph [0012]) and a thickness of 0.05-0.7 mm; (Li – paragraph [0013] thickness of 0.07-.1 mm which is encompassed by the limitation)
a density of 150-450 kg/m3, (Sun- where the PPF substrate has a density of 0.9g/cm3 to 1.3 g/cm3 which equates to 900/kg/m3 to 1,300 kg/m3 and a thickness of 3-30 mm (Sun- paragraph [0082] 3 to 6 mm thick which is encompassed by the limitation);
the UV paint is acrylate or polyurethane (paragraph [0042] UV coating layer is an acrylic polyurethane coating),
However, neither Li nor Sun disclose that the PET felt panel) has a density of 1300-1400 kg/m3 where the limitation is a density of 0.9g/cm3 to 1.3 g/cm3 which equates to 900/kg/m3 to 1,300 kg/m3 and no densities are disclosed for the printing layer and the wear-resistant layer.
But it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use the range of a density of 0.9g/cm3 to 1.3 g/cm3 for the PET felt panel since the claimed ranges and the prior art ranges are close enough that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties and further being motivated to ensure that no cracking occurs upon deflection of the felt panel (substrate0 (Sun – paragraph [0028]). Additionally, while no specific densities are specifically selected for the printing layer (decorative layer) and the wear-resistant layer by Li or Sun, but
it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use these claimed density ranges since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. One would have been motivated to use these density ranges for the purpose of providing a small density and a resultant light weight product (Sun-abs, paragraph [0028]). Moreover, Sun discloses that its felt panel is made of PPF material and not PET material and, therefore, this could account for the deviation in density range. However, one with ordinary skill would still be motivated to use an optimum density range resulting in a light weight product.
However, neither Li nor Sun disclose that the UV paint has a grammage of 5-60 g/m2 and that the felt panel substrate has a grammage of 1-10 kg/m2, [Note: “grammage is defined as a measure of weight per unit area of paper and fabric, typically given in units of grams per square meter – from On-line Oxford English Dictionary see website URL above].
But it would have It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use this range of grammage for the PET felt panel and the UV paint since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. One would have been motivated to use these grammage ranges for both the PET felt panel and the UV paint for the purpose of maintaining a light weight product (Sun – abs paragraph [0002]).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Li and Sun disclose all the limitations of claim 1 and Li further discloses that the method includes preparing the composite panel by overlapping at least one PET felt panel and base film layer (Fig. 1 paragraphs [0014] [0015] [0041] balancing layer – 6 laminated below the substrate layer where the balancing layer is a film based on thickness and from Fig. 1), then performing the hot-pressing for fusion attachment and the cold-pressing for shaping,
Wherein, in the prepared composite panel, the base film layer is arranged on the backside of the outermost PET felt panel of the at least one PET felt panel (Fig. 1 paragraph [0049] where the sequence places the balancing layer below the substrate layer substrate layer – 4 balancing layer – 6 where the composite method is hot-pressing).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Li and Sun disclose all the limitations of claim 5 and Li further discloses that the film layer is made of PETG material (paragraph [0049]), and a thickness of (paragraph [0015] thickness of balancing layer is 0.1-0.7 mm) which is overlapping the claimed range of 0.05-0.30 mm where prior art which teaches a range within, overlapping or touching the claimed range is anticipated if the prior art range discloses the claimed range with “sufficient specificity” (MPEP § 2131.03).
However, while Li discloses that this balance layer has components that are 100 parts PETG, 0.1-0.5 parts UV stabilizer, 0.5-1.5 parts antioxidant, and 0-100 parts calcium carbonate powder, it does not explicitly disclose that it has a density of 1300-1400 kg/m3
But it would have It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use this range of base film layer density since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. One would have been motivated to use this density range for the base film layer (balancing layer) for the purpose of maintaining the PETG material having high Vicat softening point, good toughness, high hardness and strength, and good weather resistance, chemical resistance, and impact resistance (paragraph [0032]).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Li and Sun disclose all the limitations of claim 1 and Li further discloses that its method includes: attaching a floor mat layer on the bottommost layer of the PET floorboard by an adhesive (Figs. 1, 2 paragraph [0021] sound-absorbing layer bottommost, sound-absorbing layer – 5); and the floor mat layer is made of irradiation cross-linked polyethylene (IXPE) foam material and a thickness of 0.5-3.0 mm (paragraph [0047] sound-absorbing layer – 5 is a 1.0 mm thick IXPE foam film). However, Li does not disclose that its floor mat layer (sound-absorbing layer has a density of 50-200 kg/m3.
But it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use this range of floor mat layer density since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. One would have been motivated to use this density range for the purpose of maintaining the functions of sound insulation, sound absorption, shock absorption, and cushioning, which can improve the service life of the floor (paragraph [0032]).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Li and Sun disclose all the limitations of claim 1 and both Li and Sun further disclose that the hot-melt compounding is conducted by rolling and bonding (Li - paragraph [0066] and regarding the hot-melt compounding of Sun - paragraph [0009]),where Sun further discloses that the hot-pressing for fusion attachment is conducted under a temperature of 120-240 ° C, a pressure of 1-15 MPa, for 120-1200 s (paragraph [0015] preferably the hot pressing parameters are hot pressing temperature of 140-160 ° C, hot pressing pressure 10-15 MPa and hot pressing time 20-40 min (1200 s - 2400 s) where the temperature, pressure and time ranges overlap such that if prior art which teaches a range within, overlapping or touching the claimed range is anticipated if the prior art range discloses the claimed range with “sufficient specificity” (MPEP § 2131.03).
However, neither Li nor Sun disclose that the hot melt compounding with rolling and bonding is under a temperature of 140-210°C; and that the cold-pressing for shaping is conducted under cooling with circulating water at normal temperature, a pressure of 3-25 MPa, for 150-1500 s.
But it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use these ranges for the rolling and bonding and the cold-pressing step since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. One would have been motivated to use these parameters for the purpose of optimizing the hot-pressing process providing good strength, hardness and toughness, greatly improving the quality and life of the product (Sun - paragraph [0082]).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Li and Sun disclose all the limitations of claim 1 and neither Li nor Sun disclose sequentially performing heat treatment, cold treatment and standing treatment on the obtained PET floorboard,
wherein the heat treatment is conducted under a temperature of 70-140°C for 15-150 s, the cold treatment is conducted under a temperature of 10-50°C for 30-300 s, and the standing treatment is standing at 20-28°C for 12-72 h;
the heat treatment and the cold treatment are repeated for 1-2 times before the standing treatment.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use these ranges for the sequential performing of heat treatment, cold treatment and standing treatment on the obtained PET floorboard since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
One would have been motivated to these parameters for the purpose of providing a final product that achieves the goals of being sturdy, durable and environmentally friendly (paragraph [0082]).
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (CN112009060A) with machine translation in view of Sun (CN114016209A) with machine translation as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ding (CN206201617U) with machine translation.
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Li and Sun disclose all the limitations of claim 2 but do not disclose that a composite panel is prepared by overlapping a plurality of PET felt panels and a glass fiber layer followed by hot-pressing for fusion attachment and cold-pressing for shaping.
In the same field of endeavor, Ding teaches a method of making a novel passenger car floor with an upper skin layer, core layer a lower skin layer an environmentally friendly tie layer and a cushioning vibration dampening sound absorbing layer (Fig. 2 abs paragraph [0028] upper surface layer – 3 core layer – 4 lower surface layer – 5, environmentally friendly adhesive layer – 6 and absorption layer – 7). Ding also discloses a plurality of felt panels made of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene composite material (LWRT) which form a core layer formed by hot pressing a felt produced by a blending process of glass fiber and polymer fiber (Fig. 2 paragraphs [0008] [0053] core layer – 4). A multilayer composite is obtained by providing a plurality of the LWRT scraps whereby the core layer is formed by stacking single or multiple layers of woven (fiber) materials (paragraph [0071]) and these plurality of felt panels are arranged on the backside of the upper skin layer (which could constitute a printing layer) and are stacked vertically and combined with a glass fiber layer arranged between the felt panels (Fig. 2 paragraphs [0034] [0037] [0048] upper layer – 3 and lower layer – 5 consist of two layers of glass fiber fabric reinforced where the core layer – 4 composed of seven layer of woven material stacked vertically where they are hot pressed and cold pressed for shaping).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the combination of Li and Sun with the teachings of Ding whereby a method of making a PET floorboard by providing at least one PET felt panel with a printing layer and wear-resistant layer which is previously hot-melt compounded is hot-pressed for fusion attachment and cold-pressed for shaping, as disclosed by Li/Sun
would also include that a plurality of PET felt panels are overlapped and hot-pressed with a glass fiber layer for fusion attachment and cold-pressed for shaping such that the plurality of PET felt panels are arranged on the backside of the printing layer and the glass fiber layer is arranged between the plurality of PET felt panels, as taught by Ding.
One would be motivated to include this feature because a glass fiber added as a reinforcement to a core composite material has the advantages of high strength, impact resistance and recyclability which means providing scrap material thus lowering the cost (paragraphs [0007] [0008]).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Li, Sun and Ding disclose all the limitations of claim 3 and Ding further discloses that the glass fiber layer is made of glass fiber felt whose surface has been dipped with an adhesive (paragraphs [0048] [0053] woven materials are combined with glass fiber fabric reinforced polypropylene impregnation layer; upper surface layer – 3 and lower surface layer – 5 are composed of two layers of unidirectional glass fiber reinforced polypropylene impregnation layers where the impregnation is the result of adhesive exposure).
However, Ding is silent as to the glass fiber felt having a grammage of 150-500 g/m2 [Note: see rejection notes above for definition of grammage].
But it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use this range of grammage for the glass fiber felt since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
One would have been motivated to use these parameters for the purpose of bonding the floorboard in order to achieve a high-strength, lightweight, recyclable, low-cost floor composite material (paragraph [0061]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE K. SWIER whose telephone number is (571)272-4598. The examiner can normally be reached M-F generally 8:30 am - 5:30 pm PST.
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/WAYNE K. SWIER/ Examiner, Art Unit 1748
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