Appeal No. 2003-0625 Page 3
Application No. 09/954,729
(microspheres 12) and curing the polymeric coating precursor, such that the optical
elements are supported by the polymeric intermediate layer (col. 2, lines 60-67; col. 6,
lines 19-47).1 One of the two preferred polymeric coatings is poly(urethane-ureas) (col.
4, lines 26-43). The polymeric coating can contain other components including dyes
and metal flakes (col. 5, lines 32-34). Billingsley does not indicate that a dye can be
covalently bonded to the polymer.
Maeda discloses a method for making a colored polyurethane synthetic leather
(col. 1, lines 12-13). The coloring is provided by a complex metal dye which bonds to
the synthetic leather substrate through urea or urethane type covalent bonds (col. 4,
lines 12-15; col. 5, lines 4-5; col. 6, lines 25-27). The covalent bonding improves the
washing fastness and reduces the bleeding of the dyed substrate (col. 4, lines 15-16;
col. 6, lines 29-33).
The examiner points out that Billingsley desires laundering durability (col. 4, line
20; col. 6, line 41), and argues that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in
the art to use Maeda’s reactive dye as Billingsley’s dye so that covalent bonds are
formed between the dye and Billingsley’s poly(urethane-urea) which provide the dyed
poly(urethane-urea) with high washing fastness (answer, page 4).
1 The intermediate layer has adjacent to it, on the side opposite to the microspheres, a reflective
metal layer (16), adjacent to which is a polymeric binder layer (14), adjacent to which is a substrate (20)
(col. 2, lines 60-67; figure 1). The reflective metal layer, which has, typically, a thickness of about 50-150
nanometers (col. 5, lines 10-11), is sufficiently thin that, Billingsley believes, there is bonding between the
intermediate layer and the binder layer (col. 6, lines 37-47).
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