DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1, 2 and 4-8 are pending as amended on 5/15/2026. Claims 2, 4 and 5 stand withdrawn from consideration. No new grounds of rejection have been made. Therefore, this action is properly made final.
Any rejections and/or objections made in the previous Office action and not repeated below are hereby withdrawn. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1, 6 and 8 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takezawa et al (US 4690969) in view of Ishio et al (JP 03111451A, included machine translation cited herein). The reasons are the same as previously set forth in paragraphs 8-13 of the action dated 2/17/2026.
Claim(s) 7 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takezawa et al (US 4690969) in view of Ishio et al (JP 03111451A, included machine translation cited herein), and further in view of Imai et al (US 2016/0251498). The reasons are the same as previously set forth in paragraphs 15-18 of the action dated 2/17/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments and Declaration under 37 CFR 1.132 filed 5/15/2026 have been fully considered.
Applicant argues (p 6) that Supplemental Example 3 provided in the Declaration submitted on 5/15/2026 resolves the concern raised in paragraphs 25-27 that there is no set of instant examples which can be analyzed to determine whether superior performance is obtained across the entire claimed range of nickel contents (0.1 to 1.0) when the copper content is set to 1.0, and, across the entire claimed range of copper contents (0.1 to 1.0) when the nickel content is set to 1.0. The examiner agrees that Supplemental Example 3, in combination with the previously provided and discussed examples, is sufficient to establish that superior performance (improved melt stability in the exemplified poly-p-phenylene sulfide attributed to a synergistic combination of the exemplified copper and nickel compounds) is achieved when the contents of copper and nickel have any values within the claimed ranges.
However, as discussed in the previous action, evidence of nonobviousness must be commensurate in scope with the claims which the evidence is offered to support. See MPEP 716.02(d). Therefore, if Applicant wishes to overcome the present rejection by showing unexpected results, Applicant must provide sufficient evidence to show that unexpected results would be obtained for all species encompassed by the present claims. The data provided remains insufficient to demonstrate that unexpected synergy is achieved for any composition encompassed by the instant claims, for at least the reasons discussed in paragraph 28 of the previous action:
The compositions of the instant examples utilize a specific polyarylene sulfide (i.e., a poly (p-phenylene sulfide) homopolymer formed via a specific method). In contrast, the instant claims generically recite a “polyarylene sulfide,” which encompasses homopolymers and copolymers having structures other than the exemplified poly(p-phenylene sulfide).
The compositions of the instant examples utilize a specific copper halide compound (copper (II) chloride or copper (I) iodide), and nickel (II) iodide hexahydrate. In contrast, the instant claims encompass compositions comprising any copper halide compound having a decomposition temperature higher than 400 C (not limited to copper (II) chloride or copper (I) iodide), and any nickel halide (not limited to nickel (II) iodide hexahydrate).
As set forth above, if Applicant wishes to overcome the present rejection by showing unexpected results (i.e., superior melt stability/unexpected synergy associated with both nickel and copper contents being within the presently claimed ranges), Applicant must provide sufficient evidence to show that unexpected results would be obtained for any species of polyarylene sulfide which is encompassed by the generic term, and for any species of nickel halide and copper halide which are encompassed by the present claims.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RACHEL KAHN whose telephone number is (571)270-7346. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8-5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached at 571-272-1302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RACHEL KAHN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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