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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-14) in the reply filed on 11/14/2025 is acknowledged.
Specification
The use of the term Ecoflex, Sylgard, Silopren, Sorta-clear, Dragon Skin, which is a trade name or a mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM , or ® following the term.
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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:
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 – 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ETH ZURICH (WO 2019/053258 A1 herein after “Zurich”) in view of Facebook Technologies, LLC (US 2020/0123383 A1; herein after “Facebook Tech”).
Regarding claim 1, Zurich teaches a method for preparing a 3D-printed silicone (see abstract; page 1 line 1- page 23 lines 2, Figs 1-4) comprising:
a) preparation of a 3D model of a pre-product (page 6 lines 20-30, materials are prepared for forming the 3D model);
b) additive manufacturing of the pre-product according to the 3D model of the pre-product using an additive manufacturing device and an additive manufacturing composition (see pages 6 lines 20 – to page 8 lines 10) comprising:
i) at least one silicone building block bearing a plurality of alkenyl groups (A) (page 4 lines 10-25, page 6 lines 20 to page 10 lines 10 discloses using at least one silicone building block bearing a plurality of alkenyl groups; see claim 1 which recites “An additive manufacturing ink composition comprising (A) a polysiloxane bearing a plurality of alkenyl groups and (B) a crosslinking agent bearing a plurality of thiol groups, characterized in that the polysiloxane bearing a plurality of alkenyl groups and the crosslinking agent bearing a plurality of thiol groups form an emulsion.”);
ii) at least one crosslinking agent bearing a plurality of thiol groups (B) (page 10 lines 7-30, page 13 lines 1 to page 14 lines 30; also see claim 8 recite “The additive manufacturing ink composition according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the crosslinking agent bearing a plurality of thiol groups is a crosslinking agent bearing at least three thiol groups, in particular is a derivative of pentaerythritol bearing three or four thiol groups.”);
iii) at least one free radical photo-initiator (D) (page 11 lines 8-35; also see claim 9 which recites “The additive manufacturing ink composition according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein additive manufacturing ink composition further comprises a free radical photo-initiator preferably capable of being activated upon exposure to radiation, in particular upon exposure to UV/V is radiation.”).
Zurich further teaches choosing optimum quantity of thiol groups to alkenyl groups (see page 7 lines 25-30, page 10, lines 25-35, and page 13, lines 1 to page 15 lines 25), though Zurich fails to explicitly teach wherein the ratio of thiol groups to alkenyl groups in the additive manufacturing composition is in the range from 0.5:1 to 5:1 as claimed, based on examples provided by Zurich (see page 7, lines 25-50, page 10, lines 25-35, and page 13, lines 1 to page 15 line 25), it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing of the instant application to have optimized the range of materials including specific ratio of thiol groups to alkenyl groups in the additive manufacturing composition is in the range as claimed, as suggested by Zurich, for the benefit of producing desired properties of stiffness (see page 5 lines 25 – 33; Figs. 1-4).
However, Zurich fails to explicitly teach c) post-curing treatment that comprises at least one further curing step other than light- promoted curing;
In the same field of endeavor, pertaining to 3D printing, Facebook Tech teaches a polymer composition including i) at least one silicone building block bearing a plurality of alkenyl groups (A), ii) at least one crosslinking agent bearing a plurality of thiol groups (B) (see [0005]-[0007], [0026], [0070]-[0074]); iii) at least one free radical photo-initiator (0074]); c) post-curing treatment that comprises at least one further curing step other than light- promoted curing (see claim 1; [0121] discloses thermal treatment/post-curing). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art at the time of the effective filing of the instant application to modify the method as taught Zurich with further c) post-curing treatment that comprises at least one further curing step other than light- promoted curing, as taught by Facebook Tech, for the benefit of providing an article with desired mechanical properties by having interpenetrating polymer (i.e. mechanical properties including high elongation, strength, and/or toughness, [0005]).
As for claim 2, Zurich further teaches wherein the at least one silicone building block bearing a plurality of alkenyl groups (A) and the crosslinking agent bearing a plurality of thiol groups (B) form a stable emulsion (see page 4 lines 1-35).
As for claim 3, Zurich further teaches wherein the at least one crosslinking agent bearing a plurality of thiol groups (B) is described by formula (I):R1(R)2SiO((R3R)SiO)xSi(R)2R2(I) wherein R is independently C(1-12)alkyl;Ri, R2, R3 are independently C(1-12)alkyl; wherein each instance of R3 may be the same or different; and x is 1 or more, with the proviso that at least one of Ri, R2, R3 is mercapto-C(1-12)alkyl (see page 10, lines 10-30, page 19, lines 10-15).
As for claim 4, Zurich further teaches a shear thinning filler (filler, including broadly any additive) in an amount in the range from 1 to 60 parts per weight, relative to the total weight of the silicone building blocks bearing a plurality of alkenyl groups (see page 9 lines 15-35 discloses use of variety of fillers that are within the claim range, relative to the total weight of the silicone building blocks).
As for claim 5, Zurich further teaches using at least one free radical photo initiator (D) (see page 13 lines 30 to page 14 lines 10) and similarly Facebook Tech discloses using a photo-initiator present in the composition at 0.01 to 10% by weight based on the weight of the polymer components ([0075]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 – 14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Regarding claims 4, 9, and 14, the closest prior art, ETH ZURICH (WO 2019/053258 A1 herein after “Zurich”) in view of Facebook Technologies, LLC (US 2020/0123383 A1; herein after “Facebook Tech”), as provided above, fails to teach a thermally activatable free radical initiator (E); and wherein the at least one further curing step of step c) is a heat promoted radical curing step; wherein the additive manufacturing composition further comprises: vi) a condensation cure silicone blend (C1),; and wherein the at least one further curing step of step c) is a silanol condensation curing step, and wherein the condensation cure silicone blend (C1) is a blend of condensation cure silicone building blocks (Cla) and silanol crosslinkers (Cib); comprises both a heat promoted radical curing step and a silanol condensation curing step, the heat promoted radical curing step and silanol condensation curing step being carried out either separately or simultaneously, wherein if the heat promoted radical curing step and silanol condensation curing step are carried out simultaneously, the combined heating/silanol condensation curing step consists of heating of the pre-product at a constant temperature in the range from 40 °C to 200 °C for a time period in the range from 1 min to 24 h at a relative humidity of greater than 50%. The dependent claims which depends upon either of the allowable claim above, are objected for the same reasons as indicted above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 11859037 B2 - One or more embodiments provide a reactive silicon group-containing polymer that provides a cured product having a low modulus, flexibility, and excellent tensile strength, tensile elongation, and tear strength and that exhibits excellent rapid curability even when a low-activity catalyst is added; and a curable composition containing the polymer.
US 2021/0009742 A1- A reactive silicon group-containing polymer comprising a reactive silicon group (I) bonded to a molecular chain of the polymer, in which an atom adjacent to the reactive silicon group comprises an unsaturated bond, is new.
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NAHIDA SULTANA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1743
/NAHIDA SULTANA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1743