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 .
Response to Amendment
All outstanding rejections, except for those maintained below, are withdrawn in light of applicant’s amendment filed on 5/19/2026.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior office action.
The new grounds of rejection set forth below are necessitated by applicant’s amendment filed on 5/19/2026. In particular, claim 1 has been amended to remove phenols from the UV stabilizer. Thus, the following action is properly made final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1, 3-6, 8-11, 14, 16, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lacroix (US 2011/0259464).
With respect to claims 1, 5, 6, 19, and 20, Lacroix discloses a crosslinkable silane-containing polyolefin composition (abstract) comprising a polyolefin containing at least one hydrolysable silyl group, 0.01-2 wt % of a sterically hindered amine light stabilizer, 0.01-2 wt % substituted benzotriazole ultraviolet light absorber, and 0.01-2 wt % a curing catalyst (paragraphs 0030-0037). An exemplified formulation includes 0.16 wt % sterically hindered amine light stabilizers calculated from 800 g of piperidine hindered amine light stabilizer in 18920 g of masterbatch which is diluted to 5 wt % (paragraph 0151 and 0153).
While Lacroix fails to disclose with sufficient specificity so as to anticipate the claimed amount of hindered amine light stabilizer of 0.0005-0.06 wt %, it is well settled that where the prior art describes the components of a claimed compound or compositions in concentrations within or overlapping the claimed concentrations a prima facie case of obviousness is established. See In re Harris, 409 F.3d 1339, 1343, 74 USPQ2d 1951, 1953 (Fed. Cir 2005); In re Peterson, 315 F.3d 1325, 1329, 65 USPQ 2d 1379, 1382 (Fed. Cir. 1997); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 1578 16 USPQ2d 1934, 1936-37 (CCPA 1990); In re Malagari, 499 F.2d 1297, 1303, 182 USPQ 549, 553 (CCPA 1974).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize an amount as low as 0.01 wt % of a hindered amine light stabilizer—absent a showing of unexpected or surprising results.
With respect to claim 3, the exemplified benzotriazole is 2-tert-butyl-6-(5-chlorobenzotriazol-2-yl-4-methylphenol (paragraph 0151) which reads on claimed formula (IV) when R17 is a substituted 6-carbon containing benzene ring.
With respect to claim 4, Lacroix teaches that the hindered amine light stabilizers include piperidines (paragraphs 0090-0091 and 0102) which read on claimed formula (V).
With respect to claim 8, Lacroix teaches that the polyolefin containing at least one hydrolysable silyl group is preferably polyethylene (paragraph 0061).
With respect to claim 9, the exemplified polyolefin containing at least one hydrolysable silyl group is prepared from 5 wt % of a masterbatch comprising about 38 wt % of vinyl trimethoxysilane and 90 wt % polyolefin (paragraphs 0152-0153), which provides for about 2 wt % silane groups in the polyolefin containing at least one hydrolysable silyl group.
With respect to claims 10 and 11, Lacroix teaches adding polar comonomers such as (meth)acrylates and vinylacetate (paragraph 0056) in an amount of 1-15 wt % (paragraph 0060).
With respect to claims 14 and 16, Lacroix teaches that the composition is used to make articles such as pipes (abstract).
Claims 7, 12, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lacroix (US 2011/0259464) in view of Nylander (US 2010/0267869).
The discussion with respect to Lacroix in paragraph 5 above is incorporated here by reference.
Lacroix discloses that the curing catalyst includes arylsulfonic acids, however, it fails to disclose that the sulfonic acid has 10-200 carbon atoms.
Nylander discloses a UV stabilized crosslinkable polyolefin composition comprising a crosslinkable polyolefin with hydrolyzable silane groups and a silanol condensation catalyst (abstract) and teaches that preferred acidic silanol condensation catalysts are sulfonic acids (paragraph 0053), wherein the acidic catalysts allow crosslinking to quickly take place at room temperature (paragraph 0051). Particularly preferred is an organic aromatic sulfonic acid having 10-200 carbon atoms (paragraph 0059) having formula Ar(SO3H)x where x is at least one (paragraph 0056). The aromatic group Ar can be substituted with C1-C30 hydrocarbyl groups (paragraph 0058).
Given that both Lacroix and Nylander are drawn to a UV stabilized crosslinkable polyolefin composition comprising a crosslinkable polyolefin with hydrolyzable silane groups and an arylsulfonic acid as silanol condensation catalyst and further given that Nylander teaches that an advantageous acidic silanol condensation catalyst is a sulfonic acid compound like claimed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the organic aromatic sulfonic acid silanol condensation catalyst of Nylander in the composition taught by Lacroix.
Claims 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lacroix (US 2011/0259464) in view Tsukada (US 6,232,376)).
The discussion with respect to Lacroix in paragraph 5 above is incorporated here by reference.
Lacroix teaches that the composition is used in pipes (abstract) but fails to disclose a film or layer of a wire or cable.
Tsukada discloses a curable polyolefin composition comprising polyolefin, unsaturated alkoxysilane, silanol condensation catalyst, and light stabilizers. Tsukada states that the polyolefin composition is used for insulating a cable or in pipes or films (col. 9, lines 8-16).
Given that both Lacroix and Tsukada are drawn to stabilized compositions comprising a crosslinkable silane-containing polyolefin and further given that compositions within the same field of endeavor as one another can be used in films or as a layer in wire as taught by Tsukada, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to prepare a film or coated wire or cable with the composition taught by Lacroix.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/19/2026 have been fully considered but thy are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection set forth above.
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.
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/VICKEY NERANGIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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