DETAILED ACTION
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, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Mellor et al (WO 2018134608 in which the US Publication 20190381766 is being used for citation).
As to claims 1, 6, and 7, Mellor discloses a laminated glass comprising an outer glass sheet, an inner glass sheet (substrate) and multiple polymer intermediate layer between the outer and inner glass sheet. The intermediate layer has a first and second busbar and heating wires connected to the busbars. The busbars (312) with conductive members (coating) are formed on a substrate layer 311 (coating, paragraph 102). The busbars can be formed integrally on the substrate 311 by chemically etching the metal foils therefore the busbars will contain an etching element (paragraph 104). The electrically conductive material is not heat treated above 500 degrees Celsius and also less than 300 Celsius (paragraph 126 and 137). The location of the busbars can be seen in figures 5 and 6.
As to claim 3, the busbars can be made a tin-plated copper (paragraph 108).
As to claim 4, the busbars are fixed to the adhesive layers by soldering. Therefore, the busbars would be considered to be formed from a soldering paste.
As to claim 9, the electrically conductive material can be a wire (abs).
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mellor et al (WO 2018134608 in which the US Publication 20190381766 is being used for citation) in view of Fuyao (CN 102795793 which has been machine translated).
As to claims 2, Mellor anticipates claim 1 for the reasons noted above, however is silent to the specifics of the coating layer.
Fuyao discloses a laminated glass, particularly a laminated glass with high heat reflectivity and electric heating function for vehicles. The laminate comprises two sheets of glass substrates with an intermediate polymer layer between the two glass substrates. A low radiation film layer and busbar are coated on one surface of the substrate. The low radiation film is comprised of conductive material such as a transparent conductive metal oxide/ silver or Tin. Fuyao further discloses that the low radiation film can comprise two or three layers of silver.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the substrate layer of Mellor with the low radiation film layer of Fuyao as the use of the low radiation film would be a suitable alternative to the film of Mellor as both films are transparent films used within windshields. See MPEP 2144.06. Further the film of Fuyao would provide additional benefits to the laminate of Mellor such as reflecting infrared radiation transmission.
Claims 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mellor et al (WO 2018134608 in which the US Publication 20190381766 is being used for citation) in view of Akeyoshi (GB 1194090).
As to claims 5 and 8, Mellor anticipates claim 1 for the reasons noted above, however is silent to the specifics of the using ultrasonic vibration and bending the substrate prior to applying the conductive material.
Akeyoshi discloses an electrically heatable glass that is forms the glass substrate and bends and shapes the glass substrate prior to adding the busbars by ultrasonic vibration.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Mellor and formed the glass panel as suggested by Akeyoshi as it would be a suitable alterative to form and bend the glass prior to applying the busbar by ultrasonic vibration.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER M POLLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-5734. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 8am till 4:30 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Ruthkosky can be reached at 5712721291. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHRISTOPHER M POLLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1785
Prosecution Insights