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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
3. Claims 1-18 have been amended, new claims 19-21 have been added, and claims 1-21 are pending as amended on 11/24/25.
4. Any rejections and/or objections made in the previous Office action and not repeated below are hereby withdrawn.
5. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Priority
6. This application is a 371 of PCT/FR2021/000087 07/29/2021.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application FRANCE 2008245 08/03/2020 filed on 01/18/23.
Response to Amendment
7. Applicant's amendment filed on 11/24/25, has been fully considered and entered.
Response to Arguments
8. Applicant's arguments with respect to the objection to claims 3-17 filed on 11/24/25, have been fully considered but are moot in view of amendment. Previous objections have been withdrawn.
9. Applicant's arguments with respect to the rejection of claim 18 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Unitika (JP48028555) filed on 11/24/25, have been fully considered but are moot in view of amendment. Previous rejection has been withdrawn.
10. Applicant's arguments with respect to the rejection of claims 2-5, 7, 9-10, 13-15 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C.112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph filed on 11/24/25, have been fully considered but are moot in view of amendment. Previous rejections have been withdrawn.
11. Applicant's arguments with respect to the rejection of claims 1-17 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schmucker (US 6635702) filed on 11/24/25, have been fully considered but are moot in view of amendment. Previous rejections have been withdrawn.
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 7, 20 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.
A broad range or limitation together with a narrow range or limitation that falls within the broad range or limitation (in the same claim) may be considered indefinite if the resulting claim does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. See MPEP § 2173.05(c). In the present instance,
Claims 7, 20 recites the broad recitation “olefinic unsaturation” and the claim also recites “preferably an acrylate group or a methacrylate group” which is the narrower statement of the range/ limitation.
The claim(s) are considered indefinite because there is a question or doubt as to whether the feature introduced by such narrower language is (a) merely exemplary of the remainder of the claim, and therefore not required, or (b) a required feature of the claims.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schmucker (US 6635702).
Regarding claim 19, Schmucker discloses a solid thickening polymeric agent (column 3, lines 23-24, 50-51, column 5, lines 30-35) comprising carboxylic acid monomer such as acrylic acid or methacrylic acid in an amount of about 35 to about 65 wt% (column 3, lines 51-65), fall into claimed range of more than 30 to 69.75 wt%; non-acid vinyl monomers such as methyl acrylate or ethyl acrylate in an amount of from about 65 to about 35 wt% (column 3, lines 66-, column 4, lines -4, column 4, lines 25-30), fall into claimed range of from 29.75 to less than 65 wt%; polyunsaturated compound such as N-methylol acrylamide in an amount of about 0.05 to about 1 wt% (column 4, lines 35-, column 5, lines -2), overlapping claimed range of from 0.5 to 5 wt%, crosslinker such as glycidyl methacrylate in amount of 0.03 to about 3 wt% (claim 4), fall into claimed range of 0.01 to 4 wt%, wherein the composition is considered absence of acrylamide.
A prima facie case of obviousness exists for the thickening agent, wherein Schmucker discloses polyunsaturated compound such as N-methylol acrylamide in an amount of about 0.05 to about 1 wt%, overlapping the requirement of claim 19. See In re Wertheim regarding prima facie cases with overlapping ranges (In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976) See MPEP § 2144.05).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6, 8-18, 21 are allowed.
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 KUMAR R BHUSHAN whose telephone number is (313)446-4807. The examiner can normally be reached 9.00 AM to 5.50 PM (EST).
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 P 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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/KUMAR R BHUSHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766