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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/26/2026 has been entered.
The previous prior art rejection under Treece et al (US 20130029068 in view of Garriga et al (US
20180194117) and Treece in view of Garriga and further in view of Shell Tung et al (US 6025405), maintained.
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 5, 7, 14 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Treece et al
(US 20130029068), cited in IDS and previous Office Action in view of Garriga et al (US
20180194117), cited in previous Office Action.
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Treece in view of Garriga as applied to claims 5, 7, 14 and 18 above, and further in view of Shell Tung et al (US 6025405) cited in previous Office Action.
The rejection can be found in the FINAL office action mailed 7/28/2025 and is herein incorporated by reference
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Treece teaches away from a copolyester comprising 65-85 mole% of ethylene glycol (EG) residues, because the reference discloses 88- 93 mole% range for the component above and Garriga cannot be properly combined with Treece.
Examiner disagrees. As stated in the previous Office Action, Garriga discloses that 2, 2, 4, 4 - tetramethyl 1,3 -cyclobutanediol - modified polyesters is resistant against bending and kinking under mechanical load (see 0007).
Therefore, it would have been obvious toa person of ordinary skills in the art to use polyester at
the claimed EG/2, 2, 4, 4 - tetramethyl 1,3 -cyclobutanediol ratios in order to obtain a polymer are
resistant against bending and kinking under mechanical load.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY LISTVOYB whose telephone number is (571)272-6105. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Heidi Riviere Kelley can be reached at (571) 270-1831. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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GL
/GREGORY LISTVOYB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765
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