Appeal No. 2000-1646
Application 08/467,425
The Rejection of Claims 10-11 Over Nakamura in View of Murray
Claims 10-11 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103(a) as being unpatentable over
Nakamura in view of Murray. The Examiner has found that Nakamura discloses a
method of bonding thermoplastic materials comprising the steps of providing a first and
second polymeric material wherein the polymeric material comprises a fiber reinforced
thermoplastic material; interposing a susceptor which comprises an inductively heatable
material embedded in a thermoplastic material between the two materials and effecting
bonding by heating the susceptor. The Examiner has additionally found that Nakamura
discloses that the thermoplastic material which makes up the susceptor may be the
same as the themoplastic material in the fiber reinforced materials, and that the fibers in
the susceptor may be the same as the fibers in the fiber reinforced polymeric material.
Finally, the Examiner has found that Nakamura discloses the product made by the
process. (Examiner’s Answer, page 3, line 15 - page 4, line 4).
The Examiner has also found that Murray teaches that incorporating a fibrous
reinforcement of a non-induction heatable fiber improves the strength of a finished
article and that inductively heatable and non-inductively heatable materials may be
interwoven. Finally, the Examiner has found that Murray discloses fiberglass is a
suitable non-inductively heatable material. (Examiner’s Answer, page 4, lines 7-12).
The Examiner concludes that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill
in the art at the time the invention was made to have incorporated a fibrous
reinforcement into the weld of Nakamura, because Murray teaches this improves the
strength of the finished product. (Examiner’s Answer, page 4, lines 11-16).
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