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 .
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4,7,12-17 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 5093036 (US ‘036).
As to Claim 1, US ‘036 discloses a polymer thick film composition that has positive temperature coefficient properties (Col. 2, lines 24-26) which is a blend of a polymer, carbon black with low pH and solvent (Col. 2, lines 31-36) wherein the polymer can be a copolymer containing vinylidene fluoride and hexafluoropropylene (Col. 3, lines 40-41). The composition displays a volume resistivity 1500 (Ex. 3, Table 1) which translates to a sheet resistance of 600000 ohm/sq taken on a 0.0025 cm or 25 micron thickness sheet (Col. 5, line 12) wherein the curing step includes at step at 121 deg C for 15 minutes (Col. 6, line 16).
As to Claims 2-4, see discussion of Claim 1.
As to Claim 7, US ‘036 discloses the use of carbon blacks with low pH but does not specify oxidized carbon black as required by the instant claim.
US 4980541 discussed the concept of oxidized carbon black and low pH carbon blacks as being equivalent ideas in the art as the low pH carbon blacks have a high volatile content due to the presence of oxygen on the surface of the carbon black due to an oxidation post process step (Col. 2, lines 54-69 to Col. 3, line 1).
Therefore one of ordinary skill in the art would understand the low pH carbon black to be equivalent of the oxidized carbon black of the instant claims.
As to Claim 12, the loading level of carbon black is at least 4 % (Col. 4, line 19).
As to Claims 13-17, see discussion of claims above.
As to Claim 19, US ‘036 disclose an article e.g. a heater made from the prior art composition (Col. 4, line 18).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US ‘036 in view of US 20140305923 (US ‘923).
As to Claim 5, US ‘036 fails to disclose the solvents as required by the claim.
As to the difference, US ‘923 discloses an organic medium for a PTC polymer thick film composition wherein the medium is comprised of vinylidene fluoride and hexafluoropropylene copolymer blended with triethyl phosphate solvent which is shown to have a good wettability, good drying and appropriate thixotropic characteristics (para. 0016—0018).
It would have been obvious to substitute the solvents of US ‘036 with the solvent of US ‘923 for the purposes of achieving the advantages of the binder as recited in US ‘923 reference.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6,8-11,18 and 20 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.
As to the claims above, none of the prior art discloses the mixtures of solvents as required by Claim 6 nor the oxidized carbon black with the properties 8-11,18 and 20 and there is no teaching, suggestion or motivation in the prior art to arrive at the claimed composition.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAISON P THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-8917. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 9:00 am-3:30 pm EST.
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, Robert Jones can be reached at (571) 270-7733. 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.
/J.P.T/Examiner, Art Unit 1762
/jt/ 4/15/2026
/MARK KOPEC/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1762
Prosecution Insights