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 .
Claim(s) 2-3, 6-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Netravali et al, U.S. Patent No. 8,182,918 in view of Wang et al, WO 2020/102552A1 and Purcell et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0233945.
Netravali discloses a composition comprising 40-99.5% plant protein. See col. 2, lines 1-5. The protein can be in the form of a powder. See col. 4, lines 18-21. A crosslinker may be present in amounts of about 10 percent. See examples. The mixture can be extruded and treated under heat and pressure at a pressure of about 4-20 Mpa and 120 degrees C for about 25 minutes, which is equated with calendaring and heat compressing. See col. 4, lines 50-51. The mixture may further comprise a plasticizer. See col. 5, lines 18-20. The plasticizer can be glycerol. See col. 6, lines 13-15. The glycerol can be present in amounts of about 20 percent. See examples and table 3. The material can be mixed with fibrous reinforcing materials. See examples. The material may further comprise agar, gellan and mixtures thereof. See claims. The protein can be soy protein. See entire document and claims. The structure is biodegradable. See claims. The material could be formed into a monolayer and used as an artificial leather material.
Netravali differs from the claimed invention because it does not disclose specifically using grain protein.
However, Wang discloses a method of forming an artificial leather material and the leather material. Wang discloses forming the artificial leather from a plant product such as mycelium. Wang teaches including additional protein which can be in powdered form. The protein can be a plant protein such as pea protein, rice protein, hemp protein and soy protein. See paragraph 00249 and examples. Note that rice protein is also a grain protein. The material can further comprise a crosslinking agent such as an aldehyde. See paragraph 0235. The thus formed materials can have a thickness of 1/8inch -1 inch, a tensile strength of 1-300 Mpa, an elongation at break of less than 200%. See paragraph 00263. Wang teaches incorporating glycerin, (paragraph 00348), as well as plasticizers such as glycerol, sorbitol, triglyceride plasticizers, oil such as linseed oil, drying oils, ionic and/or nonionic glycols, polyethylene glycol and fat liquors which include mineral, animal and plant-based oils. See paragraph 00238. Wang teaches providing colored coatings and embossing. See paragraph 00168.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have employed the particular mixture of Netravali to form an artificial leather product as taught by Wang in order to produce a biodegradable leather product, and to have included the various additives and processing steps of Wang, since both Wang and Netravali are concerned with forming shapeable compositions comprising plant protein, crosslinking agents and plasticizers.
Netravali differs from the claimed invention because it does not disclose incorporating rubber into the composition.
However, Purcell teaches that compositions which are suitable for producing leathers, (paragraph 0089) from plant proteins, (paragraph 0070) may further comprise lubricants such as natural and synthetic rubbers as well as various other polymeric components in amounts of 0.1-60% by weight, (paragraph 0132).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to have included natural rubber in the composition of Netravali in order to provide flexibility to the product. See paragraphs 0290 and 0291.
Claim(s) 4-5, 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Netravali et al, U.S. Patent No. 8,182,918 in view of Wang et al, WO 2020/102552A1 and Purcell et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0233945 as applied to claims above, and further in view of IT 1247885.
Netravali discloses an artificial leather including plant protein as set forth above, but does not clearly teach that the plant protein is from wheat gluten.
However, IT ‘885 teaches that suitable plant proteins for forming artificial leathers include soy, corn and wheat gluten. See page 11, first paragraph.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to have employed wheat gluten as the protein in Netravali as taught by IT ‘885, in view of its art recognized suitability as an equivalent to corn and soy proteins for use in forming artificial leathers.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Greene et al, U.S. Patent No. 4,419,372 teaches employing wheat gluten in forming an artificial leather like material but does not disclose using the material as an artificial leather but instead as a rawhide chew toy.
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.
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, 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.
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.
/ELIZABETH M IMANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
Prosecution Insights