Ex Parte Zhao et al

Patent Trial and Appeal BoardApr 19, 2016

11957422 (P.T.A.B. Apr. 19, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR 111957,422 12/15/2007 27280 7590 04/21/2016 THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY 200 Innovation Way AKRON, OH 44316-0001 Junling Zhao UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www .uspto.gov ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. DN2007190 9296 EXAMINER FISCHER, JUSTIN R ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 1747 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 04/21/2016 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address( es): kathleen.swisher@goodyear.com patents@ good year.com pair_goodyear@firsttofile.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte JUNLING ZHAO, ROBERT LEON BENEDICT, DAVID JOHN ZANZIG and SAMUEL PA TRICK LANDERS Appeal2014-007919 Application 11/957 ,422 Technology Center 1700 Before ADRIENE LEPIANE HANLON, TERRY J. OWENS, and CATHERINE Q. TIMM, Administrative Patent Judges. OWENS, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE The Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 134(a) from the Examiner's rejection of claims 1-3, 6-10, 12, and 14. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 6(b). The Invention The Appellants claim a pneumatic tire. Claim 1 is illustrative: 1. A pneumatic tire comprising an electronic sensing device at least partially encapsulated by an elastomeric composition, the elastomeric composition comprising: 100 parts by weight of at least one elastomer; and from 25 to 100 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of elastomer (phr) of a polyamide having a melting temperature of less than 140 Â°C, Appeal2014-007919 Application 11/957 ,422 wherein the electronic sensing device at least partially encapsulated by the elastomeric composition is disposed on an innerliner of the tire; wherein the electronic sensing device is an antenna. Shimura Krom Tsou Burkholder Waddell The References US 6,788,192 B2 US 7 ,056,979 B 1 US 7 ,226,962 B2 EP 1 362 888 Al WO 2007 /070063 Al The Rejections Sep. 7,2004 June 6, 2006 June 5, 2007 Nov. 19, 2003 June 21, 2007 The claims stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 103 as follows: claims 1- 3, 9, 12, and 14 over Shimura in view of Waddell, claims 1-3, 9, and 14 over Shimura in view of Tsou, claims 6-8 over Shimura in view of either Waddell or Tsou, further in view of Krom, and claims 9 and 10 over Shimura in view of either Waddell or Tsou, further in view of Burkholder. OPINION We affirm the rejections. The Appellants argue the claims in two groups: 1) claims 1-3 and 6- 10 and 12, and 2) claim 14 (Br. 4-5). Although additional references are applied in the rejections of claims 6-10, the Appellants do not provide a substantive argument as to the separate patentability of those claims (Br. 5). We therefore limit our discussion to claim 14 and one claim in the other group, i.e., claim 1, which is the sole independent claim. Claims 2, 3, 6-10, and 12 stand or fall with claim 1. See 37 C.F.R. Â§ 41.37(c)(l)(iv) (2012). Shimura discloses "a transponder [100] for a tire, in which the physical quantity in an atmosphere within a tire air chamber can be 2 Appeal2014-007919 Application 11/957 ,422 accurately detected by a sensor and which can be vulcanized in a state in which it is embedded in the tire" (Abstract; Figs. 6, 10). Waddell discloses a tire innerliner made from an elastomeric composition which may comprise at least one thermoplastic resin which can be a polyamide, particularly a polyamide having a softening point below 275 QC, the preferred polyamide being a linear crystalline polyamide having a softening or melting point between 160 QC and 260 QC (i-fi-f 11, 84--86). The elastomer composition is mixed "at temperatures in the range of up to the melting point of the elastomer and/or secondary rubber used in the composition in one embodiment, from 40QC up to 250QC in another embodiment, and from 1 OOQC to 200QC in yet another embodiment" (i-f 186). Tsou discloses a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) composition which can be used as a tire innerliner and comprises a blend including a halogenated elastomeric copolymer of a C4 to C7 isomonoolefin, a para- alkylstyrene and a thermoplastic polymer which can be a polyamide, the preferred polyamide being a linear crystalline polyamide having a softening point or melting point between 160 QC and 230 QC (col. 2, 11. 31--42; col. 4, 11. 61---64, col. 5, 11. 35-39; col. 8, 11. 36-37). "Melt processing temperatures of the TPE compositions will generally range from above the melting point of the highest melting polymer present in the TPE composition up to 300Q C. Preferred processing temperatures will range from 140Q C. up to 260Q C., more preferably from 150Q C. up to 240Q C." (col. 7, 11. 48-53). The Appellants argue that "Waddell and Tsou at best clearly teach a melting temperature above 160 QC" (Br. 5), whereas "[t]he presently recited melting temperature of less than 140 QC is well outside of the ranges taught 3 Appeal2014-007919 Application 11/957 ,422 in Waddell or Tsou" (id.) and "claim 14 recites a melting temperature of less than 120 QC, which is even more remote from the teaching of Waddell and Tsou" (id.). References are not limited to their preferred embodiments. See In re Kohler, 475 F.2d 651, 653 (CCPA 1973); In re Mills, 470 F.2d 649, 651 (CCPA 1972); In re Bozek, 416 F.2d 1385, 1390(CCPA1969). Instead, all disclosures in a reference must be evaluated for what they would have fairly suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Boe, 355 F.2d 961, 965 (CCP A 1966). Waddell's 160 QC-260 QC temperature range and Tsou's 160 QC and 230 QC merely are preferred embodiments (Waddell i-f 86; Tsou col. 5, 11. 37-39). Waddell's disclosure that the elastomeric composition's melt mixing temperature can be as low as 40 QC (i-f 186) would have led one of ordinary skill in the art, through no more than ordinary creativity, to use components, including the polyamide, having any melting point down to about 40 QC, such as the Appellants' less than 140 QC (claim 1) or less than 120 QC (claim 14). See KSR Int'! Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 418 (2007) (in making an obviousness determination one "can take account of the inferences and creative steps that a person of ordinary skill in the art would employ"). Tsou's disclosure that the TPE composition's preferred melt processing temperatures include 140 QC (col. 7, 11. 51-53) would have led one of ordinary skill in the art, through no more than ordinary creativity, to use components, including the polyamide, having approximately that melting point such as the Appellants' less than 140 QC (claim 1 ), and because the 140 QC temperature is merely a preferred minimum, to use 4 Appeal2014-007919 Application 11/957 ,422 components having a somewhat lower melting point such as the Appellants' 120 QC (claim 14). Thus, we are not persuaded of reversible error in the rejections. DECISION/ORDER The rejections under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 103 of claims 1-3, 9, 12, and 14 over Shimura in view of Waddell, claims 1-3, 9, and 14 over Shimura in view of Tsou, claims 6-8 over Shimura in view of either Waddell or Tsou, further in view of Krom, and claims 9 and 10 over Shimura in view of either Waddell or Tsou, further in view of Burkholder are affirmed. It is ordered that the Examiner's decision is affirmed. No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. Â§ 1.136(a). AFFIRMED 5