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 .
This office action is in response to applicant’s amendments filed August 4, 2026. Claims 1-8 and 10-19 are pending. Claims 9 has been cancelled. Claims 1 and 8 have been amended. Claims 16-19 are new. Claims 12-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
All prior rejections are maintained for the reasons set forth below.
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 1-8,11 and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dobler (WO 2020/070283) in view of Kelly (EP 2223940).
Dobler teaches formaldehyde free aqueous curable compositions (paragraph 006,092,093,0189) wherein the composition comprises water, and 10-90% based on the total amount of the monomers (paragraph 016) of alkyl acrylate such as C1-20 alkyl acrylates and methacrylates including ethyl, propyl, n-butyl, 2-ethyhexyl acrylate at up to 70% (paragraph 019), vinylaromatics such as styrene (paragraph 016), and 0-80% based on the total amount of the monomers of comonomers of ethylenically unsaturated compounds having two carboxylic acid groups such as maleic acid, itaconic acid or fumaric acid (paragraphs 019- 020), other ethylenically unsaturated acids such as methacrylamide, hydroxyalkyl-acrylates and hydroxyalkyl-methacrylates (paragraph 020, 0157) and catalysts (paragraph 092).
Dobler does not teach the individual concentrations of the styrene and itaconic or fumaric acid or methacrylamide, hydroxyalkyl-acrylates and hydroxyalkyl-methacrylates and does not teach titanium catalysts.
Kelly teaches formaldehyde free aqueous curable binders (paragraph 0008) comprising carboxylic acids such as itaconic acid (paragraph 0051, 0053), alpha-methyl styrene (paragraph 0054) and alkyl methacrylates such as methyl, butyl or ethylhexyl methacrylates (paragraph 0063) and hydroxyalkyl-acrylates/methacrylates (paragraph 0063) and 2-15 weight percent Lewis acid catalysts such as Tyzor organic titanates (paragraph 0060). Kelly teaches glass transition temperatures of no greater than 70°C are preferred (paragraph 0067).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the formaldehyde-free aqueous compositions of Dobler by adding titanium catalysts at the claimed concentrations as Kelly teaches formaldehyde-free aqueous curable binders containing similar monomers which are to be polymerized benefit from adding a Lewis acid catalyst selected from organic titanates at concentrations of 2-15%. Using a known effective catalyst in art recognized concentration ranges to facilitate polymerization of similar monomer components is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding the claimed amounts of each claimed component a-e, Dobler teaches adding mixtures of the components in amounts of ethylenically unsaturated monomers of 10-90% and comonomers of 0-80% both based on the total amount of the monomers and one of ordinary skill in the art through routine experimentation could arrive at the claimed concentrations of the individual components adding up to 100% of (a)-(d) or (a)-€ based on the total amount of the monomer mixture. Nothing critical has been shown regarding the claimed component mixture and the individual concentrations, therefore selecting the claimed mixture at the claimed concentrations could be routinely determined through experimentation based on the desired properties of the formaldehyde-free aqueous curable binder. Regarding the glass transition temperature of claim 11, the same components combined in the same proportions would produce a composition with the same properties and Kelley teaches glass transition temperatures of no greater than 70°C are preferred.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dobler (WO 2020/070283) in view of Kelly (EP 2223940) and further in view of Tyzor® TnBT (organic Titanate, 2/2013).
Dobler and Kelley are relied upon as set forth above.
Dobler and Kelley do not teach the titanates of Ti(OR)4 where R is an alkyl radical of 1-30.
Tyzor® TnBT teaches that tetra-n-butyl titanate is an effective Lewis acid catalyst for polymerization and crosslinking that eliminate by-products, increase yield and have low toxicity and is effectively used in binders (page 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the compositions of Dobler and Kelly by incorporating the Tyzor® TnBT tetra-n-butyl titanate Lewis catalyst as the Tyzor® TnBT teaches these compounds are effective Lewis catalyst that facilitate polymerization and are useful in binder compositions. Kelley invites the inclusion of Tyzor organic titanate Lewis acid catalyst and Dobler invites the inclusion of catalysts to produce binders.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed regarding Dobler in view of Kelly alone or further in view of Tyzor® TnBT have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the claimed invention demonstrates unexpectedly improved wet strength and IPA strength on page 19, lines 1-7 and in Tables 2-3. The examiner argues that the data in applicant’s cited passages are not commensurate in scope with the claims or the prior art as the claims are directed to any vinylaromatic compound, and ethylenically unsaturated acid having one carboxylic acid group, and any titanium catalyst. The data in applicant’s specification and tables contain compositions with only monomers at percentages based on the dry weight of the copolymer of 59-76% butyl acrylate, 18-35% styrene, 2.5% itaconic acid, 2.5% acrylic acid and optionally 1% hydroxyethyl methacrylate with 0.92-1.84% Tyzor Activate 436 as the only titanium catalyst. The data in the specification and tables are significantly narrower in scope than the disclosure of the prior art or the limitations of the claims and therefore cannot be extended to demonstrated unexpected wet strength and IPA strength for all the conditions disclosed in the claims and prior art. In the absence of a persuasive showing of unexpected results commensurate in scope with the claims and the prior art of record, the claims are still obvious over the prior art since the prior art allow for selection of the same compounds in overlapping concentration ranges taught as appropriate and effective to produce compositions for the same utility of formaldehyde-free aqueous curable compositions and selection of the claimed components in the claimed amounts would be obvious through routine experimentation to produce the same composition. Accordingly, the rejections are maintained.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMINA S KHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5573. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-5:30pm EST.
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/AMINA S KHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
