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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/26/2026 has been entered.
In the amendments filed on 05/26/2026, claims 1, 5-14, 16, and 18 are pending. Claim 1 is amended. Claims 2-4, 15, and 17 are canceled. Claim 18 is news.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 5-14, 16, and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites “an amount of amount of” in line 11, which is redundant. The Office suggests that Applicant delete one of the “amount of”. Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 5-14, 16, and 18 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claim 1, Sundholm et al. (EP 3409739 A1, cited in IDS, made of record on 06/05/2023) teaches an adhesive polymer composition comprising a non-elastomeric copolymer of ethylene and one or more comonomers having 3 to 10 carbon atoms, which non-elastomeric copolymer is present in an amount of 60 to 95 % by weight, based on the adhesive polymer composition, and an elastomer, wherein the non-elastomeric copolymer or the non-elastomeric copolymer and the elastomer have been grafted with an acid grafting agent [0011], wherein the non-elastomeric copolymer is a non-elastomeric copolymer of ethylene and one or more α-unsaturated olefinic comonomer(s) [0015], wherein examples of the α-olefin comonomers include 1-butene, 1-hexene, and mixtures thereof [0015], wherein the amount of comonomer within the non-elastomeric copolymer is from 1 to 30 % by weight [0017], wherein the elastomer [0011] is an elastomeric ethylene copolymer that is optionally ethylenebutylacrylate [0031], wherein the acid grafting agent is an unsaturated carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof [0034], wherein the amount of said acid grafting agent added to the adhesive polymer composition being grafted is from 0.01 to 3.0 parts by weight based on the adhesive polymer composition [0037], wherein the butyl acrylate content in an example is 27 wt% [0108], wherein the parts by weight based on the adhesive polymer composition is parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the adhesive polymer composition [0110], which reads on adhesive polyethylene composition comprising (A) from 60 to 95 wt% of a non-elastomeric polyethylene being optionally terpolymer of ethylene with optionally 2-butene and 1-hexene comonomer unites, wherein the amount of the 1-butene comonomer units is in the range of from 0 to 30 wt% and the amount of the 1-hexene comonomer units is in the range of from 0 to 30 wt%, all based on the total weight of component (A), (B) from greater than 0 to less than 40 wt% of an elastomer, which is a copolymer of ethylene with optionally polar comonomer units of 27 wt%, wherein onto component (A) or components (A) and (B) an acid grafting agent (C) has been grafted in an amount of from 0.01 to 3.0 wt%, all based on the total weight of the adhesive polyethylene composition, wherein the acid grafting agent (C) is selected from unsaturated carboxylic acid or derivatives thereof.
Sundholm does not teach with sufficient specificity that the wt% of (A) is from 60 to 90 wt%, based on the total weight of the adhesive polyethylene composition, does not teach a specific embodiment wherein the non-elastomeric polyethylene is terpolymer of ethylene with 1-butene and 1-hexene comonomer units, wherein the amount of the 1-butene comonomer units is in the range of from 0.3 to 1.5 wt% and the amount of the 1-hexene comonomers units is in the range of from 0.7 to 4.5 wt%, all based on the total weight of component (A), does not teach with sufficient specificity that the wt% of (B) is from 9.0 to 38 wt%, and does not teach a specific embodiment wherein the elastomer is a copolymer of ethylene with polar comonomer units having an amount of polar copolymer units in the range of from 15 to 40 wt%. Although Sundholm teaches that the non-elastomeric copolymer is present in an amount of 60 to 95 % by weight, based on the adhesive polymer composition [0011], that the non-elastomeric copolymer is a non-elastomeric copolymer of ethylene and one or more α-unsaturated olefinic comonomer(s) [0015], wherein examples of the α-olefin comonomers include 1-butene, 1-hexene, and mixtures thereof [0015], wherein the amount of comonomer within the non-elastomeric copolymer is from 1 to 30 % by weight [0017], that the adhesive polymer composition further comprises an elastomer [0011], that the elastomer [0011] is an elastomeric ethylene copolymer that is optionally ethylenebutylacrylate [0031], and that the butyl acrylate content in an example is 27 wt% [0108], Sundholm’s teachings do not teach or suggest selecting Sundholm’s 1-butene and 1-hexene as Sundholm’s α-olefin comonomers in Sundholm’s non-elastomeric copolymer from Sundholm’s list of at least six α-olefin comonomers, selecting the amount of Sundholm’s 1-butene to be from 0.3 to 1.5 wt% based on the total weight of Sunholm’s non-elastomeric copolymer, and selecting the amount of Sunholm’s 1-hexene to be from 0.7 to 4.5 wt% based on the total weight of Sunholm’s non-elastomeric copolymer from Sundholm’s range of amount of comonomer within the non-elastomeric copolymer that is from 1 to 30 % by weight. Sundholm does not teach or suggest any advantages to making all of those selections simultaneously. Although Galgali (WO 2017/216096 A1, made of record on 09/17/2025) teaches a bimodal terpolymer of ethylene with 1-butene and 1-hexene comonomers (p. 21, l. 7-8), wherein the comonomer content of 1-butene is 0.5 mol%, and the comonomer content of 1-hexene is 3.2 mol% (p. 22, l. 8-9), wherein the bimodal polyethylene terpolymer is used in film applications (p. 2, l. 32-33), Galgali does not teach or suggest any advantages of their bimodal terpolymer of ethylene with 1-butene and 1-hexene comonomers, wherein the comonomer content of 1-butene is 0.5 mol%, and the comonomer content of 1-hexene is 3.2 mol%, for Sundholm’s adhesive polymer composition. Although Galgali (EP 3257879 A1, made of record on 02/26/2026) teaches a bimodal terpolymer of ethylene with 1-butene and 1-hexene comonomers [0082], wherein the comonomer content of 1-butene is 0.3 mol%, and the comonomer content of 1-hexene is 2.6 or 1.5 mol% [0084], wherein the bimodal polyethylene terpolymer is used in blow film applications [0008], Galgali does not teach or suggest any advantages of their bimodal terpolymer of ethylene with 1-butene and 1-hexene comonomers, wherein the comonomer content of 1-butene is 0.3 mol%, and the comonomer content of 1-hexene is 2.6 or 1.5 mol%, for Sundholm’s adhesive polymer composition. Although Galgali (WO 2017/216096 A1, made of record on 09/17/2025) teaches that their bimodal terpolymer of ethylene with 1-butene and 1-hexene comonomers (p. 21, l. 7-8) has a low unsaturated level (p. 1, l. 2-4), that bimodal polyethylenes of a different reference have a quite high unsaturation level, and that such bimodal polyethylene are suitable for being used in hot melt adhesives (p. 2, l. 1-3), Galgali’s teachings do not teach or suggest that Galgali’s bimodal terpolymer, which has a low unsaturation level, would have been suitable for use in an adhesive composition, such as Sundholm’s. Although Galgali (EP 3257879 A1, made of record on 02/26/2026) teaches that that their bimodal terpolymer of ethylene with 1-butene and 1-hexene comonomers [0082] has a low unsaturation level [0001], that bimodal polyethylene of a different reference have a quite high unsaturation level, and that such bimodal polyethylene are suitable for being used in hot melt adhesives [0004], Galgali’s teachings do not teach or suggest that Galgali’s bimodal terpolymer, which has a low unsaturation level, would have been suitable for use in an adhesive composition, such as Sundholm’s. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would not have found it obvious to use the bimodal terpolymer of ethylene with 1-butene and 1-hexene comonomers of Galgali (WO 2017/216096 A1, made of record on 09/17/2025) or Galgali (EP 3257879 A1, made of record on 02/26/2026) to substitute for Sundholm’s non-elastomeric copolymer of ethylene and one or more α-unsaturated olefinic comonomer(s). Furthermore, the prior art of record do not teach or suggest the adhesive polyethylene composition of claim 1.
Since claim 12 recites a multi-layer structure comprising one layer comprising the adhesive polyethylene composition according to claim 1, and since claim 1 is allowed, claim 12 is also allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see p. 8-18, filed 05/26/2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-14 and 16 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sundholm et al. (EP 3409739 A1, cited in IDS, made of record on 06/05/2023) in view of Galgali (WO 2017/216096 A1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 1-14 and 16 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sundholm et al. (EP 3409739 A1, cited in IDS, made of record on 06/05/2023) in view of Galgali (WO 2017/216096 A1) has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see p. 8-18, filed 05/26/2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-14, 16, and 17 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sundholm et al. (EP 3409739 A1, cited in IDS, made of record on 06/05/2023) in view of Galgali (EP 3257879 A1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 1-14, 16, and 17 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sundholm et al. (EP 3409739 A1, cited in IDS, made of record on 06/05/2023) in view of Galgali (EP 3257879 A1) has been withdrawn.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID KARST whose telephone number is (571)270-7732. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM.
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, Mark Eashoo can be reached at 571-272-1197. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DAVID T KARST/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1767
Prosecution Insights