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 .
Note
Applicant’s response filed on 10/21/2025 has been fully considered. Claims 1, 2, 5 and 22 are amended, claims 4, 7, 11 and 26 are canceled, claims 28-30 are added and claims 1-3, 5, 6, 8-10, 12-25 and 27-30 are pending. Claims 10, 12, 13 and 15-25 are currently withdrawn as non-elected invention.
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 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Busbee et al. (US 2017/0253751 A1) in view of Wolf et al. (US 10,428,248 B1).
Claim 29: Busbee teaches a coating composition [0160] comprising a fluoropolymer functional filler [0137], an aqueous medium [0112], surfactants [0062] and a xanthan gum water soluble polymer as an adhesion modifier [0123]. Busbee teaches the adhesive modifier may include a dissolved polymer such as xanthan gum [0015]. Busbee the functional filler comprises polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) particles [0137]. Busbee does not teach the claimed amount of xanthan gum. However, Wolf teaches a coating composition comprising a xanthan gum additive in an amount of 0.0001-10 wt% (col. 6, lines 44-52). Busbee and Wolf are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor that is the coating composition art. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teaching of Wolf (i.e., limiting the content of the xanthan to 0.001-10 wt%) with the invention of Busbee, and the motivation for combining would be to control flow property of the coating composition.
Claim 30: Busbee the functional filler comprises polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) particles [0137].
Response to Arguments
Applicant asserts that the melting point of PTFE is 327 ̊C, and further argues that it is clear that polyurethanes, acrylics, alkyds, PVC, styrene butadiene, vinyl acetate, vinyl acetate ethylenes, vinyl maleate, and/or vinyl versatate have melting or decomposition points below 300°C. This argument is not persuasive for the following reason. Evidence shows the decomposition point of acrylic powder or fiber can be as high as 400 ̊C (see [0053] of Gadkaree et al. (US 2007/0265161 A1)) which is greater than the melting point of PTFE which is 327 ̊C.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 14, 27 and 28 are allowed.
Claims 1 and 28 exclude presence of the required polymer particles of Busbee.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Correspondence
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BS
February 17, 2026
/BETELHEM SHEWAREGED/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1785