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 .
Specification
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugasawa (US 5,376,454-appears on PTO-892).
Sugasawa teaches a surface coating sliding member made of rubber or plastic applied with a coating of excellent durability and high sliding property, in which the coating contains a solid lubricant and a resin matrix (see abstract). The solid lubricant maybe a sulfide such as molybdenum disulfide and tungsten disulfide, fluoride such as polytetrafluoro ethylene and fluorinated graphite, graphite and silicone powder. The solid lubricant may be used alone or as a combination of two or more of them (see col. 2, lines 50-55). From Table 1, it can be seen that the coating has a coefficient of friction that is 0.15 or greater. Also, it is seen that the examples contain 2 or more lubricants and a matrix (see Examples 1-9). The lubricants are diffused into the matrix (see col. 3, lines 4-8).
Sugasawa meets the limitations of the claim other than the operating temperature. However, no unobviousness is seen in this difference because it would be reasonable to expect that during the summer months that the air temperature would reach at least 35 oC and thus the operating temperature would also be at least 35 oC.
Claims 2-15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed amount of the lubricants, the transition metal oxide, and the claimed matrix.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is cited for teaching the general state of the art and is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CEPHIA D TOOMER whose telephone number is (571)272-1126. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Prem Singh can be reached at 571-272-6368. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CEPHIA D TOOMER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771 19037388/20260127