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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 February 12, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsujii (WO 2018230600 A1, hereinafter referring to US 11,655,310 B2 as the English language equivalent) in view of Bruce (CA 3084550 A1, hereinafter referring to US 2020/0216668 A1 as the United States equivalent). Okamoto (US 2011/0291326 A1) is cited as an evidentiary reference.
Regarding claim 1, Tsujii teaches a fine cellulose fiber which is useful in forming composites (Abstract), wherein
The fine cellulose fiber has a diameter optionally ranging from 1 micron to 10 microns (col. 5, lines 5-7), which falls within the claimed fiber width range of “0.1 µm to 15 µm,” establishing a prima facie case of obviousness.
The fine cellulose fibers are reacted with urea or a urea derivative and at least a part of the hydroxy groups of the cellulose are substituted with carbamate groups (col. 2, line 65 – col. 3, line 3), which reads on the claimed “wherein the fibrous cellulose is a carbamate-modified microfiber cellulose of which hydroxy groups are partially or fully substituted with carbamate groups”
Tsujii teaches the incorporation of a filler within inventive composites containing the fine cellulose fiber (col. 10, lines 3-5), but is silent with regard to the filler being a non-interactive powder that is non-interactive with the cellulose.
In the same field of endeavor, Bruce teaches polymer compositions which may optionally contain high-density polyethylene ([0049]) and ground calcium carbonate as a filler ([0017]). Bruce teaches ground calcium carbonate is useful as a reinforcing filler for the inventive composite ([0017]).
Tsujii teaches that the inventive compositions may be made from polyethylene (col. 9, lines 57-64). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to incorporate ground calcium carbonate powder into the formulation of Tsujii as taught by Bruce for the purpose of reinforcing inventive cellulose fiber-reinforced composite. Ground calcium carbonate reads on the claimed “non-interactive powder that is non-interactive with the fibrous cellulose” because the instant specification states that calcium carbonate is a suitable non-interactive powder (see instant Specification at [0007]).
Bruce exemplifies the use of calcium carbonates with average particle sizes of 3 microns and 12 microns ([0185]-[0187]), which falls within the claimed range of “ 1 µm to 10000 µm,” establishing a prima facie case of obviousness.
Bruce further teaches the incorporation of between 10 and 90 wt % of filler with respect to the composite product (p. 29, claim 1). Additionally, Tsuji teaches the mixing ratio of the cellulose fibers and resin ranging from a ratio of 1/99 to 40/60 (col. 9, line 65 – col. 10, line 1). The composition of Tsuji as modified by Bruce may therefore include approximately 1 to 40 parts of fiber, and approximately 11 to 1,000 parts of calcium carbonate filler. The percentage range of calcium carbonate with respect to the amount of cellulose fiber within the modified formulation may therefore range from about 28% to about 90,000%, which overlaps the claimed range of “1 to 9900 mass%,” establishing a prima facie case of obviousness.
Regarding the newly-added limitation requiring that at least 20% of the carbamate-modified microfiber cellulose has a fiber length over 0.02 mm, Tsujii teaches that the cellulose fibers have a length within the range of 1- 5,000 microns (col. 19, line 28). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to select fibers wherein 100% of the sample falls within the range of Tsujii, since this range is described as being suitable for the composition – one having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated by the disclosure of appropriate lengths to ensure that no portion of the fibers fall outside of the claimed range. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to utilize fibers which completely fall within the range of 1-5,000 microns. The length range overlaps the claimed range of “over 0.02 mm,” and the amount of 100 % within said range overlaps the claimed proportion of “at least 20%,” establishing prima facie cases of obviousness.
Regarding claim 2, Tsujii as modified is silent with regard to the claimed “non-interactive powder” not forming covalent or metallic bonding with the fibrous cellulose in an aqueous medium. Nevertheless, Tsujii as modified by Bruce above results in a composition that is structurally identical to the claimed material, which contains all of the same components. Products of identical chemical compositions cannot have mutually exclusive properties. Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, a prima facie case of obviousness has been established. See MPEP 2112.01. The claimed non-interactivity will therefore necessarily be present in Tsujii as modified by Bruce and as applied to claim 1, above.
Regarding claim 3, Bruce teaches the incorporation of ground calcium carbonate (Abstract), which reads on “calcium carbonate” from the claimed list.
Regarding claim 4, Bruce teaches the incorporation of ground calcium carbonate (Abstract), which reads on the claimed “heavy calcium carbonate.”
Regarding claims 5, 6, and 11, Tsujii teaches inventive examples comprising the formation of a pre-mixture containing the cellulose fibers and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) beads (col. 16, example 2). This pre-mixture is subsequently diluted within more HDPE polymer during an extrusion process to form the inventive composite (col. 9, lines 43-56). Tsujii teaches the addition of a filler in the inventive composition and does not require the addition of said filler during a particular step within said example. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to add the filler of Tsujii during the dispersion step within said example. Tsujii teaches the particular use of Flo-Beads HE-3040 from Sumitomo Seika (col. 16, Example 2), which has an average particle size of 11 microns (c.f. Okamoto at [0064]). Meanwhile, Bruce teaches that the average particle size of the calcium carbonate material may be 3 microns ([0185]). The particle size ratio of the calcium carbonate to HDPE resin is therefore 3 microns to 11 microns, which simplifies to approximately 1: 3.67, which falls within the claimed ranges of “1 : 0.1 to 1 : 10000” and “1 : 0.01 to 1 : 100,” establishing prima facie cases of obviousness.
Regarding claim 7, Tsujii teaches that the fiber length of the inventive cellulose fibers ranges from 1 to 5,000 microns (col. 19, lines 26-30). This range translates to a range of 0.001 to 5 mm, which encompasses the claimed range of “0.10 to 2.00 mm,” establishing a prima facie case of obviousness.
Regarding claim 8, Tsujii as modified by Bruce teaches a fine cellulose fiber which is useful in forming composites (Abstract), wherein composites formed from the inventive cellulose fiber may comprise a filler (col. 1, lines 3-5) which is calcium carbonate, as taught by Bruce. As described above, the claimed “non-interactive” characteristic is necessarily present in the teachings of Tsujii as modified by Bruce. Furthermore, the cellulose fibers of Tsujii are at least partially converted into a carbamate (col. 2, line 65 – col. 3, line 3), and the fiber diameter optionally ranges from 1 micron to 10 microns (col. 5, lines 5-7) which falls within the claimed range of “0.1 µm to 15 µm,” establishing a prima facie case of obviousness. Furthermore, as described in the rejection of claim 1, above, Bruce exemplifies the use of calcium carbonates with average particle sizes of 3 microns and 12 microns ([0185]-[0187]), which falls within the claimed range of “ 1 µm to 10000 µm,” establishing a prima facie case of obviousness. Finally, as described in the rejection of claim 1, above, The percentage range of calcium carbonate with respect to the amount of cellulose fiber within the modified formulation may range from about 28% to about 90,000%, which overlaps the claimed range of “1 to 9900 mass%,” establishing a prima facie case of obviousness
Also as described above, Tsujii teaches the formation of composite pre-mixtures, containing HDPE powder (col. 16, Example 2), which reads on the claimed “wherein part or all of the resin is powdered resin.”
The modified cellulose fibers of Tsujii further meet the claimed amounts of “at least 20%... over 0.02 mm,” establishing prima facie cases of obviousness, as described in the rejection of claim 1, above.
Regarding claim 9, Tsujii teaches an example premix formation (col. 15, Example 2), wherein the modified cellulose is mixed with HDPE powder to obtain a modified pulp-dispersion liquid, which is subsequently dried under reduced pressure, which reads on the claimed “method of preparing.”
The modified cellulose fibers of Tsujii further meet the claimed amounts of “at least 20%... over 0.02 mm,” establishing prima facie cases of obviousness, as described in the rejection of claim 1, above.
Furthermore, as described in the rejection of claim 1, above, Bruce exemplifies the use of calcium carbonates with average particle sizes of 3 microns and 12 microns ([0185]-[0187]), which falls within the claimed range of “ 1 µm to 10000 µm,” establishing a prima facie case of obviousness. Addiitonally, the cellulose fibers of Tsujii have fiber diameters optionally ranging from 1 micron to 10 microns (col. 5, lines 5-7) which falls within the claimed range of “0.1 µm to 15 µm,” establishing a prima facie case of obviousness.
Finally, as described in the rejection of claim 1, above, The percentage range of calcium carbonate with respect to the amount of cellulose fiber within the modified formulation may range from about 28% to about 90,000%, which overlaps the claimed range of “1 to 9900 mass%,” establishing a prima facie case of obviousness
Also as described above, Tsujii teaches the formation of composite pre-mixtures, containing HDPE powder (col. 16, Example 2), which reads on the claimed “wherein part or all of the resin is powdered resin.”
Regarding claim 10¸Tsujii as modified by Bruce teaches the incorporation of calcium carbonate, which reads on the claimed list.
Regarding claim 12, the claimed limitations are recognized as product-by-process limitations. Product-by-process limitations limit the claims only by the structure implied by the steps (see MPEP 2113.I). In this case, the structure implied by the product-by-process limitations include that the carbamate-modified cellulose meets the diameter and length ranges as claimed. As described above, Tsujii teaches fiber length and diameter values with establish prima facie cases of obviousness with respect to the claimed values. Therefore, the modified cellulose of Tsujii reads on the material of claim 12.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed February 12, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Tsujii fails to teach the newly added limitation requiring that at least 20% of the carbamate modified cellulose has a fiber length over 0.02 mm. However, as described above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include cellulose fibers meeting this limitation, despite Tsujii not explicitly stating this criterion.
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yokouchi (JP 2011246502 A, hereinafter referring to Figure 1 from the original document and the attached ESPACENET translation) teaches cellulose fibers compounded with an aliphatic polyester resin ([0001], similar to Tsujii at col. 9, lines 57-59), and teaches a length distribution curve which shows essentially 100% of fibers having lengths over 20 microns (see figure 1, below):
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Figure 1 of JP 2011246502 A
Conclusion
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/JOSHUA CALEB BLEDSOE/Examiner, Art Unit 1762
/ROBERT S JONES JR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1762