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 .
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.
Claim Language
Although it is not a typically used term, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand a "sparkle particle" to be a platelet or flake pigment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Wakabayashi (JP 4,079,468).
Wakabayashi is directed to a metallic coating film comprising a metallic coating film laminated on a gray base coating film and has a light transmission of 10 to 25% in the range of 400 to 700 nm (i.e., visible light) (paragraph 0010). The gray base coating film comprises a white pigment and a black pigment (paragraph 0011). The metallic coating material contains 1 to 12 vol% of luster material (paragraph 0013). In the embodiments of Examples 2 and 3, pearl mica (i.e., a platelet or flake pigment) is used as the luster material (paragraphs 0026-0027).
The gray base coating film reads on the concealing layer of claim 1; the metallic coating material reads on the exterior color layer of claim 1; the substrate on which the gray base coating is formed reads on the base of claim 1.
While Wakabayashi does not report the area occupancy rate of luster material in the metallic coating, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the metallic layer of Wakabayashi to inherently satisfy the limitations of claim 1 since the light transmission of the layer falls entirely within the range recited in claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
The invention of claim 2 (as well as claims 3 and 4, which depend from claim 2) is directed to the vehicle exterior component including a cover of claim 1 further comprising a housing with an opening and a light source disposed inside the housing. The cover covers the opening of the housing and is capable of transmitting light from the light source.
Wakabayashi represents the closest prior art. However, Wakabayashi does not teach or fairly suggest the use of their multilayer paint system as a cover over the opening of a housing containing a light source capable of transmitting light from the light source.
Additional Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Eiehoff et al. (US 2021/0402434) is directed to a multilayer paint system comprising a substrate to which is applied one or more basecoat(s) (paragraph 0001). The system is used in the automobile industry (paragraph 0002). The basecoat(s) preferable comprise a color-preparatory layer and an effect-imparting layer formed over the color-preparatory layer (paragraph 0093). The color-preparatory layer preferably comprises black and white pigments (paragraph 0171). The effect-imparting layer comprises a platelet-shaped pigment (paragraph 0155).
Gontani et al. (US 2021/0237119) is directed to a multilayer coating film comprising a first colored coating film and a second colored coating film (paragraphs 0009-0016). The pigment of the second colored coating film is mica or a flake pigment (paragraph 0017). The first colored coating film may contain both carbon black and titanium dioxide white pigment (Table 1). The coating may be used on a vehicle body (paragraph 0108).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMSEY E ZACHARIA whose telephone number is (571)272-1518. The best time to reach the examiner is weekday mornings, Eastern time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Callie Shosho, can be reached on 571 272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAMSEY ZACHARIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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