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
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 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.
Claims 17-19, 21, 23, 25, 26 and 28-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Blank et al. (US Publication 2005/0064181).
With respect to claim 17, Blank et al. teaches a double-sided reusable cliche tape for removably attaching a flexographic printing cliche on a printing cylinder or printing sleeve, comprising:
(i) an adhesive layer (9) on a cylinder side of the cliche tape (Figure 1);
(ii) a foam layer (8) comprising a polyethylene (PE) or polyurethane (PU) foam (Paragraph 0175);
(iii) a reinforcing layer (5) comprising a polyester film; and
(iv) a layer of a photopolymer compound (3) on a cliche side of the cliche tape (1, 2),
wherein the photopolymer compound (3) is used as a pressure-sensitive adhesive for attaching the printing cliche on the cliche tape (1, 2, Figure 1) using adherent and sticky characteristics of the photopolymer compound (Figure 1, Paragraphs 0162-0174), and
wherein the foam layer (8) has a thickness in the range of 150-500
µ
m (Paragraph 0224).
With respect to claim 18, Blank et al. teaches the foam layer (8) and the reinforcing layer (5) are arranged such that the foam layer (8) is closer to the cylinder side and the reinforcing layer is closer to the cliche side (Paragraph 0123, Figure 1).
With respect to claim 19, Blank et al. teaches the foam layer (8) comprises the PU foam (Paragraphs 0159, 0175).
With respect to claim 21, Blank et al. teaches the reinforcing layer has a thickness in the range of 19-100 µm (Paragraph 0176).
With respect to claim 23, Blank et al. teaches the cliche tape further comprises an additional adhesive layer (7) arranged between the foam layer (8) and the reinforcing layer (5).
With respect to claim 25, Blank et al. teaches the adhesive layer (9) and/or the additional adhesive layer (7) comprises a pressure-sensitive adhesive (Paragraphs 0171, 0179, 0182).
With respect to claim 26, Blank et al. teaches the cliche tape further comprises a layer of a polyolefin film between the adhesive layer (9) on the cylinder side and the foam layer (8, Paragraphs 0159, 0175).
With respect to claim 28, Blank et al. teaches the reinforcing layer (5) comprises a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film (Paragraph 0169).
With respect to claim 29, Blank et al. teaches the photopolymer compound (3) is obtained by polymerizing a mixture comprising at least one hydroxyl- terminated polybutadiene and at least one isocyanate source (Paragraphs 0061, 0062, 0119).
With respect to claim 30, Blank et al. teaches the mixture further comprises at least one mono-, di-, tri- or polyfunctional (meth)acrylate (Paragraph 0119).
With respect to claim 31, Blank et al. teaches a method for producing printed matter by flexographic printing comprising:
attaching the adhesive layer (9) of the cliche tape (double-sided PSA tape) on a printing cylinder or printing sleeve (Abstract, Paragraphs 0003, 0015, 0019, 0165, 0173, 0175 and many reference throughout the prior art),
attaching a flexographic printing cliche (1, 2) on the layer of a photopolymer compound (3) of the cliche tape (Figure 1, (Figure 1, 0162-0174)0162-0174), and
producing printed matter on a flexographic printing press (Paragraphs 0002, 0003).
With respect to claim 32, Blank et al. teaches removing the flexographic printing cliche from the layer of a photopolymer compound of the cliche tape (Paragraphs 0003, 0024).
With respect to claim 33, Blank et al. teaches removing the cliche tape from the printing cylinder or printing sleeve (Paragraphs 0003, 0024, 0199).
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 20, 22, 34 and 36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blank et al. (US Publication 2005/0064181).
With respect to claim 20, Blank et al. teaches the claimed invention including a photopolymer compound (3), however does not explicitly disclose the layer of the photopolymer compound has a thickness in the range of 100-350 µm.
However, it has been held that held that where general conditions are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105USPQ 233.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide layer of the photopolymer compound has a thickness in the range of 100-350 µm as claimed since such a modification would result in fully conforming to a cylinder without excessive stress, thereby improving adhesion and reducing the risk of delamination.
With respect to claim 22, Blank et al. teaches the claimed invention including a foam layer (8), however does not explicitly disclose the foam layer has a thickness in the range of 250-370 µm.
However, it has been held that held that where general conditions are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105USPQ 233.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a foam layer with a thickness in the range of 250-370 µm as claimed since such a modification would result in maintaining continuous contact pressure thereby maintaining seal integrity.
With respect to claim 34, Blank et al. teaches a double-sided reusable cliche tape for removably attaching a flexographic printing cliche on a printing cylinder or printing sleeve, comprising:
(i) an adhesive layer (9) on a cylinder side of the cliche tape (Figure 1);
(ii) a film layer (5); and
(iv) a layer of a photopolymer compound (3) on a cliche side of the cliche tape,
wherein the photopolymer compound is used as a pressure-sensitive adhesive for attaching the printing cliche on the cliche tape using adherent and sticky characteristics of the photopolymer compound (Figure 1, Paragraphs 0162-0174).
However, it has been held that held that where general conditions are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105USPQ 233.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a film layer has a thickness in the range of 23-370 µm as claimed since such a modification would result in good flexibility allowing for reduced defects and uniform coating.
With respect to claim 36, Blank et al. teaches the double-sided reusable cliche tape, wherein one or more of: (i) the cliche tape further comprises a cover layer arranged on top of the layer of a photopolymer compound on the cliche side; (ii) the photopolymer compound is obtained by polymerizing a mixture comprising at least one hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene and at least one isocyanate source; and (iii) the adhesive layer (9) comprises a pressure-sensitive adhesive (Paragraphs 0171, 0179, 0182).
Claims 24 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blank et al. (US Publication 2005/0064181) in view of Takahira et al. (JP2000239624).
With respect to claim 24, Blank et al. teaches the claimed invention including an adhesive layer 5, however Blank et al. does not explicitly disclose the adhesive layer and/or the additional adhesive layer has a thickness in the range of 15-35µm.
Takahira et al. teaches an adhesive layer that has a thickness in the range of 15-35µm (Paragraph 0030).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the present invention was made to modify the adhesive layer taught by Blank et al. since it would require obvious substitution of a known adhesive layer with an adhesive layer with a thickness of 15-35µm as taught by Takahira et al. for the purpose of providing a conformability that thereby maintains a uniform bond along a surface of medium such as a cylinder or between layers.
With respect to claim 35, Blank et al. teaches the claimed invention including an adhesive layer (9) and photopolymer compound (3), however Blank et al. does not explicitly disclose one or more of: (i) the adhesive layer has a thickness in the range of 15-35 µm; and(ii) the layer of a photopolymer compound has a thickness in the range of 100-350 µm.
Takahira et al. teaches an adhesive layer that has a thickness in the range of 15-35µm (Paragraph 0030).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the present invention was made to modify the adhesive layer taught by Blank et al. since it would require obvious substitution of a known adhesive layer with an adhesive layer with a thickness of 15-35µm as taught by Takahira et al. for the purpose of providing a conformability that thereby maintains a uniform bond along a surface of medium such as a cylinder or between layers.
However, with respect to the layer of a photopolymer compound has a thickness in the range of 100-350 µm, it has been held that held that where general conditions are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105USPQ 233.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide layer of the photopolymer compound has a thickness in the range of 100-350 µm as claimed since such a modification would result in fully conforming to a cylinder without excessive stress, thereby improving adhesion and reducing the risk of delamination.
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blank et al. (US Publication 2005/0064181) in view of Hambrick, Jr. (US Publication 2006/0216503).
With respect to claim 27, Blank et al. teaches the claimed invention with the exception of the cliche tape further comprises a cover layer arranged on top of the layer of a photopolymer compound on the cliche side.
Hambrick teaches a cover layer (112) arranged on top of the layer of a photopolymer compound (adhesive 110 functions as a photopolymer compound) on the cliche side.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the present invention was made to modify the invention taught by Blank et al. to provide a cover layer as taught by Hambrick, Jr. for the purpose of improving adhesion thereby preventing delamination.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Takahira (JP2000239624) and Schuhmann (DE102015112206) teaches adhesive carrier layers on a cylinder.
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/Marissa Ferguson-Samreth/Examiner, Art Unit 2853
/CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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