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 of claims 1-12 and 18-20 in the reply filed on 4 June 2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 13-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4 June 2026.
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(s) 1-12 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsu (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2023/0166329), in view of Cohen et al. (U.S. Patent 10,254,499). Regarding Claim 1, Hsu shows that it is known to carry out an additive manufacturing method comprising: feeding a filament material through a capillary tool towards a substrate (0046, element 40); oscillating the capillary tool simultaneously with feeding the filament material through the capillary tool (0046, element 50); compressing the filament material from an uncompressed state to a compressed state, wherein the compressed state has an increased width and decreased height compared to the uncompressed state (0019, 0044); translating the capillary tool horizontally to form a first layer (0046); and translating the capillary tool vertically to form further layers upon the first layer until formation of a final component is formed (0046), wherein the final component is formed without melting of the filament material (claim 2). Hsu teaches that the various aspects of the final product are variable (0054), but he does not specifically describe the tensile strength of the final product. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to design a process which creates a product with any appropriate tensile strength, such as that which is claimed, because where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed by the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (MPEP 2144.05 (II)(A)). Hsu does not specifically describe the cross section of the filament. Cohen et al., hereafter “Cohen,” show that it is known to carry out a method of applying a filament to a substrate, wherein the filament material is a circular cross section (Column 62, lines 30-35). It would have been obvious to use any appropriate filament cross section, such as Cohen suggests, in Hsu’s method because there is art recognized suitability for using a circular cross section filament (MPEP 2144.07).
Regarding Claim 2, Hsu shows the method of claim 1 above, including that the part configuration is predetermined as necessary (0040, 0044), but he does not show the claimed overhang angle. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to design a process which has any appropriate overhang/design angle, such as that which is claimed, because where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed by the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (MPEP 2144.05 (II)(A)).
Regarding Claim 3, Hsu shows the method of claim 1 above, including one wherein oscillating the capillary tool includes oscillating the capillary tool at 35-80 kHz at an amplitude of 1.0 micrometer (0008).
Regarding Claims 4-5, Hsu shows the method of claim 1 above, including compressing as desired (0053). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to design a process which compresses the filament to a desired amount, such as that which is claimed, because where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed by the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (MPEP 2144.05 (II)(A)).
Regarding Claim 6, Hsu shows the method of claim 1 above, including that the application path can be variable (0053), but he does not show the claimed perimeter/infill. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to design a process which has any appropriate path design, such as that which is claimed, because where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed by the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (MPEP 2144.05 (II)(A)).
Regarding Claims 7 and 18, Hsu shows that it is known to carry out an additive manufacturing method comprising: feeding a filament material through a capillary tool towards a substrate (0046, element 40); oscillating the capillary tool simultaneously with feeding the filament material through the capillary tool (0046, element 50); compressing the filament material from an uncompressed state to a compressed state, wherein the compressed state has an increased width and decreased height compared to the uncompressed state (0019, 0044); translating the capillary tool horizontally to form a first layer (0046); and translating the capillary tool vertically to form further layers upon the first layer until formation of a final component is formed (0046), wherein the final component is formed without melting of the filament material (claim 2). Hsu teaches that the various aspects of the final product are variable (0054) and general conditions of energy usage (0001, 0008-0009), but he does not specifically describe the tensile strength of the final product or formation energy usage. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to design a process which creates a product with any appropriate energy amount to yield desired tensile strength, such as that which is claimed, because where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed by the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (MPEP 2144.05 (II)(A)). Hsu does not specifically describe the cross section of the filament. Cohen shows that it is known to carry out a method of applying a filament to a substrate, wherein the filament material is a circular cross section (Column 62, lines 30-35). It would have been obvious to use any appropriate filament cross section, such as Cohen suggests, in Hsu’s method because there is art recognized suitability for using a circular cross section filament (MPEP 2144.07).
Regarding Claim 8, Hsu shows the method of claim 7 above, including that the part configuration is predetermined as necessary (0040, 0044), but he does not show the claimed overhang angle. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to design a process which has any appropriate overhang/design angle, such as that which is claimed, because where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed by the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (MPEP 2144.05 (II)(A)).
Regarding Claims 9 and 19, Hsu shows the method of claim 7 above, including one wherein oscillating the capillary tool includes oscillating the capillary tool at 35-80 kHz at an amplitude of 1.0 micrometer (0008).
Regarding Claims 10-11, and 20, Hsu shows the method of claim 7 above, including compressing as desired (0053). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to design a process which compresses the filament to a desired amount, such as that which is claimed, because where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed by the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (MPEP 2144.05 (II)(A)).
Regarding Claim 12, Hsu shows the method of claim 7 above, including that the application path can be variable (0053), but he does not show the claimed perimeter/infill. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to design a process which has any appropriate path design, such as that which is claimed, because where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed by the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (MPEP 2144.05 (II)(A)).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONICA HUSON whose telephone number is (571)272-1198. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a-4p.
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MONICA ANNE HUSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1742
/MONICA A HUSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
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