14885369 - (D) (P.T.A.B. May. 22, 2020)

DM3D TECHNOLOGY, LLC

Patent Trials and Appeals BoardMay 22, 2020

14885369 - (D) (P.T.A.B. May. 22, 2020)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 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 APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 14/885,369 10/16/2015 Bhaskar Dutta 152043.161477 8027 24335 7590 05/22/2020 WARNER NORCROSS + JUDD LLP INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY GROUP 1500 WARNER BUILDING 150 OTTAWA AVE NW GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49503 EXAMINER MCCLURE, CHRISTINA D ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 1718 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 05/22/2020 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): patents@wnj.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte BHASKAR DUTTA Appeal 2019-004468 Application 14/885,369 Technology Center 1700 Before KAREN M. HASTINGS, MICHAEL P. COLAIANNI, and BRIAN D. RANGE, Administrative Patent Judges. RANGE, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 134(a), Appellant1 appeals from the Examiner’s decision to reject claims 1, 3–6, 9–12, and 16. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We AFFIRM. 1 We use the word “Appellant” to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42. Appellant identifies the real party in interest as DM3D Technology, LLC. Appeal Br. 2. Appeal 2019-004468 Application 14/885,369 2 CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER2 Appellant describes the invention as relating to a method of preparing a composite material with a metallic layer. Spec. ¶ 2. In particular, the invention relates to using a buffer layer between a substrate and a metallic layer in order to promote adhesion. Id. ¶ 17; see also id. ¶¶ 3–4 (explaining problems concerning adhesion of adjoining materials). The Specification suggests the method could be used to “convert soft tooling to production tooling” but does not otherwise identify particular end uses for the material. Spec. ¶¶ 52–53. Claim 1 is the only independent claim on appeal and is illustrative: 1. A method of preparing a composite article, said method comprising the steps of: providing a substrate having a melting point temperature T 1, the substrate comprising a metal or alloy comprising zinc, antimony, tin, bismuth, indium, cadmium, gallium, aluminum, copper, or combinations thereof; forming a buffer layer having a melting point temperature T2 on the substrate, wherein the buffer layer is in direct physical contact with the substrate, the buffer layer comprising a metal or alloy comprising steel, nickel, copper, or combinations thereof; and forming a metallic layer having a melting point temperature T3 on the buffer layer to prepare the composite article, the metallic layer comprising a metal or alloy comprising steel, nickelchromium-based alloys, cobalt-chromium alloys, tungsten, molybdenum, and combinations thereof; wherein Tl