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 .
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 1, it is not clear what is meant by fibers comprising a textile material. A textile is another word for fabric. How would fibers comprise a fabric? Are the fibers made with a woven or knitted construction? Or does this mean that the second component in the FIR fibers besides obsidian is a material from which fibers/textiles can be made, for example, cotton, rayon, polymers, etc.? It appears from the specification that the recitation of a textile material refers to a material from which a fiber can be formed but the claims as written are not clear. Additionally, it is not clear what is meant by a “yarn composition”, specifically, a composition would generally refer to the components which make up a yarn, for example, polymeric material, pigments, fillers, etc., however, the claim recites that the FIR fibers are interwoven with textile fibers to form the FIR yarn composition, which would appear to mean that the claims are drawn to a woven fabric. The claimed structure is not clear.
In claim 7, it is not clear is the claimed base polymer is the same as or different from the first textile material.
In claim 9, it is not clear what is meant by the fibers comprise 5% by weight of the masterbatch pellets. Are the pellets in the form of pellets while in the fibers? The claimed structure is not clear.
In claim 14, it is not clear what is meant by the FIR composition is configured to be incorporated into a textile product. It is not clear how the FIR composition is configured, for example shaped, put together, chemically modified or how the claimed FIR composition differs from the same composition which was not so configured. The claimed structure is not clear.
In claim 15-20, it is not clear what is meant by the obsidian powder comprises oxygen, aluminum, silicon, potassium, magnesium iron, sodium and tungsten. Obsidian includes a plurality of oxides but does not include free oxygen, aluminum etc. The claimed structure is not clear.
CN105394836A CN ‘836 discloses a cloth comprising 20% black obsidian added to the fibers making up the fabric. See abstract. The obsidian can be present as a nanosized fiber or powder. The material can be a natural or synthetic macromolecule or inorganic material. The obsidian can be added into a melt or solution of the material to be formed into a fiber during its formation. The fibers can then be made into articles of clothing. See page 2, second half of the page, of the machine translation.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 3-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seaok et al, U.S. Patent No 5,958,328.
Seaok discloses a fiber that generates infrared rays. See abstract. The fiber is formed by melting a polymer such as acrylic, nylon, or polyester, grinding a mineral such as obsidian into a powder having a size of 800-12500 mesh, adding the powder into the melt in amounts up to 5 percent and extruding. The resulting fibers is then mixed with other fibers such as cotton, wool, silk or chemical fibers to manufacture textiles including garments, wadding, yarn, bedding and health products. See col. 2, lines 1-29. The powder can be obsidian. See claim 5.
Seaok differs from the claimed invention because it does not clearly teach that the fabrics formed are woven, however, it is noted that it is well-known and conventional to form garments, beddings and other textiles by weaving, and therefore it would have been obvious to have formed the garments, bedding and other textiles by weaving. With regard to the particular FIR emissivity, and FIR temperature rise, since Seaok teaches incorporating the obsidian into the fibers and then combining with other fibers, it is reasonable to expect that either the fibers and fabrics would necessarily possess the claimed properties, or else, in the alternative, it would have been obvious to have incorporated a suitable amount of the obsidian which produced fibers and fabrics which had the desired FIR emissivity and temperature rise. It further would have been obvious to have used well known and conventional types of polyesters and nylons such as polyethylene terephthalate and nylon 6 to form the obsidian containing fibers as well as the other types of fibers which made up the garments, beddings and other types of textiles disclosed in Seaok. Additionally, with regard to the particular amounts of the obsidian, it would have been obvious to have selected the amount of obsidian which produced the desired FIR properties in the resulting fabric. Finally, since Seaok teaches adding obsidian, it is reasonable to expect that the obsidian would have a general composition in line with that set forth in claims 15-20, since obsidian is a naturally occurring material.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seaok in view of CN105394836A.
Seaok discloses fibers and fabrics comprising obsidian as set forth above.
Seaok differs from the claimed invention because it does not disclose employing nanofibers.
However, CN ‘836 discloses a cloth comprising 20% black obsidian added to the fibers making up the fabric. See abstract. The obsidian can be present as a nanosized fiber or powder. The material can be a natural or synthetic macromolecule or inorganic material. The obsidian can be added into a melt or solution of the material to be formed into a fiber during its formation. The fibers can then be made into articles of clothing. See page 2, second half of the page, of the machine translation.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have incorporated nanofibers of obsidian as taught by CN ‘836 in view of its art recognized suitability for the purpose of forming obsidian containing fibers.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Knott, U.S. Patent No. 10,470,509. Knott discloses garments or other textile which include fibers which have been infused with or coated with far infrared generating materials. See abstract. The fibers can include natural fibers such as cotton, wool, ramie, hemp, linen, and the like, synthetic fibers such as polyester, polyamides ( nylons), polyolefin, polyaramids, polyurethanes, acetates, rayon, acyrlics and the like, or inorganic fibers. See col. 7, lines 38 -60. The fibers can have any denier that imparts comfort to a wearer. See col. 7, lines 60-65. The far infrared generating materials can be add in amount of -.25-% of the weight of the fiber and the fibers containing the far infrared generating materials can be incorporated into fabrics in amounts of 30-100% of the total fabric. See col. 10, lines 14-39. Knott does not clearly teach incorporating obsidian per se.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH M IMANI whose telephone number is (571)272-1475. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Wednesday 7AM-7:30; Thursday 10AM -2 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marla McConnell can be reached at 571-270-7692. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ELIZABETH M IMANI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
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