DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Preliminary Amendment
2. The preliminary amendment filed on March 19, 2025 has been entered in the above-identified application. Claims 5 and 6 are amended. Claims 1-12 are pending and under consideration.
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.
3. Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mihara et el. (US 2015/0259497 A1).
Mihara et al. disclose vinyl chloride plastisol composition (equivalent to the coating film composition of the claimed invention) contains a vinyl chloride resin (equivalent to the polymer resin composition of the claimed invention and meeting the limitations of claim 2) and a plasticizer (equivalent to the plasticizer of the claimed invention) as main ingredients. A thermally expandable microcapsule (equivalent to the foaming capsule of the claimed invention) is added in a range of 2 parts by weight to 12 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight of the vinyl chloride resin (meeting the concentration limitations as recited in claim 1) and a median diameter in a range of 5 to 50 microns (meeting the limitations of claim 4). A non-expandable hollow filler, such as silica, is added in a range of 10 parts by weight to 50 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight of the vinyl chloride resin. (equivalent to the silica of the claimed invention and meeting the concentration limitations as recited in claim 1). Mihara et al. teach that there is no limitation in configurations, components or ingredients, mixing, quality of materials, manufacturing methods and the like used for other parts or elements of the vinyl chloride plastisol composition. For example, the plastisol composition may contain a stabilizer, a pigment, a leveling agent, and/or a thixotropy adding agent (meeting the limitations of claim 5). The coating film is formed on a surface of a steel sheet for automobiles in a painting process in order to prevent the chipping phenomenon. The inorganic hollow filler may be glass balloons, silica balloons (equivalent to the silica of the claimed invention). The thermally expandable microcapsules start expanding when heated wherein a thermoplastic resin or the like constituting the shell starts softening and the vaporizable substance such as a hydrocarbon contained in the shell starts vaporizing to increase an internal pressure thereof at the same time. The microcapsule that encloses an organic solvent (as a core) of a low boiling point with a thermoplastic resin (as a shell), for example. The thermoplastic resin (as a shell) may be a vinylidene chloride, an acrylonitrile, an acrylonitrile-vinylidene chloride copolymer, an acrylonitrile-methyl methacrylate copolymer, and the like (meeting the limitation that the foaming agent is included in a thermoplastic plastic cell structure as recited in claim 1). The hollow microspheres or microballoons form uniform small closed cells inside the coating film. The non-expandable hollow filler may have a median diameter in a range of 10 to 50 micrometers. As the plasticizer for plasticizing a vinyl chloride resin, basically, any type of plasticizers may be used and examples include phthalic acid ester series may be used such as a dibutyl phthalate (DBP), a dihexyl phthalate (DHP), a di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DOP), a di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP), a diisooctyl phthalate (DIOP), a didecyl phthalate (DDP), a dinonyl phthalate (DNP), a diisononyl phthalate (DINP), a dimethyl phthalate (DMP), a diethyl phthalate (DEP), a bis-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), a C6-C10 mixed higher alcohol phthalate (meeting the limitations of claim 3), a butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), an octyl benzyl phthalate, a nonyl benzyl phthalate, and a dimethylcyclohexyl phthalate (DMCHP). It is preferable to mix the plasticizer in a range of 40 parts by weight to 400 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight of the vinyl chloride resin (meeting the concentration limitation as recited in claim 1). The coating film offers sound insulation and chipping and is applied as a paint material for the undercoating of the automobile. However, the vinyl chloride plastisol composition may be used for another application such as an application as a sealing material or an adhesive as well. (See Abstract and paragraphs 0002, 0004, 0015-0026, 0034-0035, 0040-0049, 0055-086).
With regards to the limitation that the weight ratio between the foaming capsule and the silica is 1:1 to 1:10, the Examiner would like to point out that workable physical properties such as concentrations or weight ratios are deemed to be obvious routine optimizations to one of ordinary skill in the art, motivated by the desire to obtain the required properties.
4. Claims 6-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mihara et el. (US 2015/0259497 A1) in view of Ito et al. (US 5480714 A).
Mihara et al. disclose vinyl chloride plastisol composition (equivalent to the anti-dew condensation layer that includes a porous coating layer as recited in claim 6) contains a vinyl chloride resin (equivalent to the polymer resin composition of the claimed invention) and a plasticizer (equivalent to the plasticizer of the claimed invention) as main ingredients. A thermally expandable microcapsule (equivalent to the foaming capsule of the claimed invention) is added in a range of 2 parts by weight to 12 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight of the vinyl chloride resin (meeting the concentration limitations as recited in claim 1) and a median diameter in a range of 5 to 50 microns. A non-expandable hollow filler, such as silica, is added in a range of 10 parts by weight to 50 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight of the vinyl chloride resin (equivalent to the silica of the claimed invention and meeting the concentration limitations as recited in claim 1). Mihara et al. teach that there is no limitation in configurations, components or ingredients, mixing, quality of materials, manufacturing methods and the like used for other parts or elements of the vinyl chloride plastisol composition. For example, the plastisol composition may contain a stabilizer, a pigment, a leveling agent, and/or a thixotropy adding agent. The coating film is formed on a surface of a steel sheet (meeting the limitations of claims 6 and 7) for automobile in a painting process in order to prevent the chipping phenomenon. The inorganic hollow filler may be glass balloons, silica balloons (equivalent to the silica of the claimed invention). The thermally expandable microcapsules start expanding when heated wherein a thermoplastic resin or the like constituting the shell starts softening and the vaporizable substance such as a hydrocarbon contained in the shell starts vaporizing to increase an internal pressure thereof at the same time. The microcapsule that encloses an organic solvent (as a core) of a low boiling point with a thermoplastic resin (as a shell), for example. The thermoplastic resin (as a shell) may be a vinylidene chloride, an acrylonitrile, an acrylonitrile-vinylidene chloride copolymer, an acrylonitrile-methyl methacrylate copolymer, and the like (meeting the limitation that the foaming agent is included in a thermoplastic plastic cell structure as recited in claim 1). The hollow microspheres or microballoons form uniform small closed cells inside the coating film (meeting the limitations that the porous coating layer includes closed pores as recited in claim 6). The non-expandable hollow filler may have a median diameter in a range of 10 to 50 micrometers. As the plasticizer for plasticizing a vinyl chloride resin, basically, any type of plasticizers may be used and examples include phthalic acid ester series may be used such as a dibutyl phthalate (DBP), a dihexyl phthalate (DHP), a di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DOP), a di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP), a diisooctyl phthalate (DIOP), a didecyl phthalate (DDP), a dinonyl phthalate (DNP), a diisononyl phthalate (DINP), a dimethyl phthalate (DMP), a diethyl phthalate (DEP), a bis-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), a C6-C10 mixed higher alcohol phthalate, a butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), an octyl benzyl phthalate, a nonyl benzyl phthalate, and a dimethylcyclohexyl phthalate (DMCHP). It is preferable to mix the plasticizer in a range of 40 parts by weight to 400 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight of the vinyl chloride resin (meeting the concentration limitation as recited in claim 1). The coating film offers sound insulation and chipping and is applied as a paint material for the undercoating of the automobile. However, the vinyl chloride plastisol composition may be used for another application such as an application as a sealing material or an adhesive as well. (See Abstract and paragraphs 0002, 0004, 0015-0026, 0034-0035, 0040-0049, 0055-086).
Mihara et el. fails to teach that there is a pretreatment layer in the coated metal plate as recited in claim 6.
However, Ito et al. disclose coatings on an external automotive trim such as the undercarriage of an automobile. The intermediate layer is a primer layer used for improving the oil resistance, moisture resistance, weather resistance and the like in addition to performance characteristics such as resistance to chipping. FIG. 1 is a partially sectional view of the rocker molding 1 and is composed of a main body of molding, 1a, as the main body of the molded article, a primer layer, 2, formed as an intermediate coating layer on the surface of the main body of the molding, 1a, and a finish coating layer formed on the surface of the primer layer, 2. The primer layer, 2, is composed of a resin constituent consisting of an amine-modified acrylic resin, a hard resin, pigments, additives, an epoxy resin and a chlorinated polypropylene, and a large number of urethane beads. (See Abstract, Column 1, lines 24-1, Column 2, lines 30-35, and Column 5, lines 42-58).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to add a primer layer in between the metal layer and vinyl chloride coating layer as taught by Mihara et al. given that Ito et al. specifically teach that an acrylic-based primer layer provides oil resistance, moisture resistance, weather resistance and resistance to chipping. With regards to the thickness of the base metal plate, the thickness of the pretreatment layer, the thickness of the porous coating layer, and the average particle diameter of the closed pores, the Examiner would like to point out that workable physical properties such as concentrations or weight ratios are deemed to be obvious routine optimizations to one of ordinary skill in the art, motivated by the desire to obtain the required properties.
Conclusion
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEEBA AHMED whose telephone number is (571)272-1504. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7am-6pm.
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/SHEEBA AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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