Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 16, 2026
Application No. 19/134,772

PILE YARN FOR TOWEL CLOTH, MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF, TOWEL CLOTH, AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jun 02, 2025
Examiner
PATEL, TAJASH D
Art Unit
3732
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
Izawa Towel Co., LTD
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
86%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allow Rate
1266 granted / 1567 resolved
+10.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +5% lift
Without
With
+5.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
35 currently pending
Career history
1602
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.3%
-38.7% vs TC avg
§103
45.6%
+5.6% vs TC avg
§102
11.7%
-28.3% vs TC avg
§112
25.0%
-15.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1567 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . 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. Claims 1-4 and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goenka et al. (US 2018/0347080). Goenka et al. (hereinafter Goenka) discloses a pile yarn for towel cloth, subparagraph 31 which is a pile yarn to be used for a towel cloth woven as a pile woven fabric including a pile yarn, a warp ground yam (1020) and a weft ground yarn (104), subparagraphs 32 and 60 wherein the pile yarn is a sheath-core spun yarn in which a core cotton fiber is twisted in one direction about a sheath core spun yarn/sliver that is arranged parallel to a yarn axis, subparagraphs 55 and 72 and as shown in figure 3a. The water soluble fiber yarn is a water soluble PVA yarn being dissolved/dissolution when the pile woven fabric is bleached, subparagraph 38. However, Goenka does not show the water soluble fiber yarn wound in reverse direction in which the core cotton fiber is twisted. Subparagraph 55 of Goenka discloses the spun yarns can be twisted in reverse direction with S twist. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention that the water soluble fiber yarn wound over the core cotton fiber of Goenka can be reversed twisted in S counter-clock direction, etc. depending of draft speed of winding machine or as required for particular application thereof. With regard to claim 2, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective date of the pile yarn of Goenka is substantially air -spun yarn when being drafted through step 206, subparagraph 60. With regard to claim 3, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective date of the core and sheath fibers of Goenka as shown in figures 3A and 4A are substantially switched to each other by migration and/or blending as known in the textile art or as required for a particular application thereof. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goenka as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Debnath et al. (US 2019/0186054). Goenka discloses the invention as set forth above except for having the pile yarn with a twist multiplier for the sheath core spun yarn and the water soluble fiber yarn is in excess of 0 and not more than 4.0. Debnath et al, (hereinafter discloses) a pile yarn with a twist multiplier for the sheath core spun yarn and the water soluble fibers between 3.3 to 3.8, subparagraph 62. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention that the pile yarn with a twist multiplier for the sheath core spun yarn and the water soluble fiber yarn of Goenka can be between 3.3 to 3.8 as taught by Debnath being in excess of 0 and not more than 4.0 in order to uniformly and radially distribute fibers across cross section of the yarn during roving or as required for a particular application thereof. Allowable Subject Matter Claim 6 is 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. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Each of the prior art references cited on PTO-892 discloses a pile yarn made of weft and warp Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEJASH PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-4993. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9am -5pm. 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, Clinton Ostrup can be reached at (571) 272-5559. 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. December 12, 2025 /TAJASH D PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732
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Prosecution Timeline

Jun 02, 2025
Application Filed
Dec 13, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Apr 01, 2026
Response Filed

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
81%
Grant Probability
86%
With Interview (+5.2%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1567 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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