DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/10/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-3 and 5-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “enabling polar monomer grafted polypropylene in formula (1) or formula (2)” in lines 4-5. The claim is indefinite because there are no formulas in the claim, nor is there any formulas in the specification, let alone a formula (1) and a formula (2). It is unclear as to what “formula (1)” and “formula (2)” are referring. Formula (1) and formula (2) therefore lack antecedent basis. None of claims 2-3 or 5-13 clarify the issue, as these claims also do not contain a formula (1) or a formula (2), and therefore, claims 1 and all claims dependent thereon (2-3 and 5-13) are indefinite. The issue raises the questions, what is formula (1) and what is formula (2)? Again, there are no formulas in the instant specification.
The Examiner explained the issue in a discussion with Derion Reid on 12/16/2025 and proposed Examiner’s Amendments as follows:
Claim 1, line 5, delete “in formula (1) or formula (2)”; line 8, delete “in formula (1),”; lines 12-14, delete “in formula (2), the polar monomer is selected from at least one of dimethylamino methacrylate, epoxy acrylate, trimeric acrylic isocyanurate, and acrylamide; and the component A is selected from at least one of polyisocyanate and polyethylene oxide;”; and lines 15-16, delete “in each formula”.
The Applicant indicated in a voicemail message left on 12/22/2025 that the proposed amendments were not accepted.
Prior Art
The claims are indefinite for the reasons discussed above. However, there are no prior art rejections over the instant claims.
The closest prior art references are the following: (1) CN 108285574 and (2) Bambara (US 2005/0159496).
CN 108285574 teaches a composition comprising a polypropylene modifier, the modifier comprising 98-99.8wt% of a poly(propylene-graft-polar monomer) and from 0.1 to 1.9wt% of a compound A and from 0.1 to 1.9wt% of a compound B. See page 6, third full paragraph of the translation. The composition comprises 75-91wt% of polypropylene, from 5 to 15wt% of the modifier, and from 4 to 10wt% of a foaming agent (see page 7, second full paragraph of the translation). Examples of the polar monomer include at least one of maleic anhydride, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, methyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate, and glycidyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, butyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, isooctyl acrylate, ethyl methacrylate, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, (see page 6, first paragraph of the translation). The reaction temperature disclosed in CN ‘574 is from 150 to 220ºC (see page 6, fifth paragraph of the translation). The grafting rate of the poly(propylene-grafted-polar monomer) modifier in CN ‘574 is 0.1 to 3% by weight, preferably 0.54 to 2% by weight (page 6, second full paragraph of the translation). The poly(propylene-grafted-polar monomer) modifier reacts chemically with the amino-containing compound (compounds A and B) to obtain the modifier. CN 108285574 teaches that the compound A is selected from 4,4’-diaminodiphenyl ether phenoxyalanine, 3,4’-diaminophenyl ether and 3,3’,4,4’-tetraaminodiphenyl ether (page 5, fifth full paragraph of the translation). Examples of compound B include tetraethylene pentaamine, triethylene diamine, diethylene diamine, triethylene tetramine, p-phenylenediamine, m-phenylenediamine, and 1,12-diaminododecane. Examples of foaming agent include at least one of azodicarbonamide, sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, sodium carbonate, ammonium carbonate, and 4,4’-oxybisbenzenesulfonyl hydrazide (page 7, first full paragraph of the translation).
The foamable composition of CN ‘574 is formed by blending the polypropylene, the modifier, and the foaming agent at a temperature of 150-180ºC and extrusion granulation of the blend (which is extrusion and pelletizing; see page 7, third paragraph of the translation) to form. The foamable composition masterbatch is pressed and molded (which is necessarily compression foam molding) at a temperature of from 180 to 210ºC at a pressure of 0.1 to 0.2 MPa for 5 to 15 minutes to obtain a foamed polypropylene molding. CN ‘574 teaches that the foaming ratio of the foamed polypropylene is 12 to 15 times.
Bambara teaches a polymer foam which can be formed from polypropylene (abstract) which uses nitrogen or carbon dioxide as foaming agents.
CN ‘574, alone or in view of Bambara, fails to teach that the poly(propylene-grafted-polar monomer) modifier is in contact with a component selected from polyisocyanate and polyethylene oxide as required by the instantly claimed invention. It would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine and/or react the poly(propylene-grafted-polar monomer) modifier of CN ‘574, alone or in view of Bambara, with polyisocyanate or polyethylene oxide as required by the instantly claimed invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to K. B BOYLE whose telephone number is (571)270-7338. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 am to 5pm, Monday - Friday.
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/K. BOYLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766