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 .
This communication responds to the application and amended claim set filed February 08, 2023. Claims 1-7 are currently pending.
Priority
This application is the national stage entry of PCT/JP2021/028997, filed August 4, 2021, which claims priority to JP2020-135727, filed August 8,2020. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claim 4 is 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation “the resin component” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Interpretation
The recitation of claim 1 “ wherein the inorganic reinforcing material (D) in the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition has a number average fiber length Ln” is interpreted as the statistical length Ln of the inorganic reinforcing material after melt kneading”.
The recitation of claim 61 “ wherein a number average fiber length Ln and a weight average fiber length Lw of inorganic reinforcing material (D) in the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition” is interpreted as the number average fiber length Ln and the weight average fiber length Lw of the inorganic reinforcing material after melt kneading”.
Claim Analysis
Summary of Claim 1:
An inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition, comprising
20 to 55 parts by mass of a polybutylene terephthalate resin (A),
1 to 30 parts by mass of a polyethylene terephthalate resin (B),
3 to 30 parts by mass of a semicrystalline resin and/or amorphous resin (C), and
25 to 65 parts by mass of an inorganic reinforcing material (D),
wherein the inorganic reinforcing material (D) in the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition has a number average fiber length Ln of 100 to 500 µm, and
wherein the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition has a flow length of 80 mm or more, and a crystallization temperature during cooling (Tc2M) as measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) that satisfies: 160°C<Tc2M
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 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.
Claims 1 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujii et al. (JP 5396690 B2 or JP 2008214558 (A) as listed on the IDS dated 2/8/2023, full English Machine translation incorporated herewith), as evidenced by Shimizu et al. (WO 2019/070025 A1, full English Machine translation incorporated herewith).
Regarding claim 1, Fujii et al. teach an inorganic-reinforced polyester resin composition for a molded product with high strength, high rigidity and good surface appearance and gloss (abstract), wherein the composition comprises 37 parts by mass of a polybutylene terephthalate resin, 17 parts by mass of a polyethylene terephthalate resin, 6 parts by mass of a copolyester with a molar ratio of 100/70/30 of terephthalic acid/ethylene glycol/neopentyl glycol (which correspond to the semicrystalline resin and/or amorphous resin), and 40 parts by mass of an inorganic reinforcing material ( Table 1, example 1), thereby reading on the claimed amounts of the claimed components A-D. Fujii et al. further teach the inorganic reinforced polyester resin composition has a cooling crystallization temperature Tc2M determined by a differential scanning calorimeter of 185°C or lower ([0017], claim 2, Table 1), as required by the instant claim.
Fujii et al. are silent on the number average fiber length Ln of the inorganic reinforcing material in the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition.
However, Fujii et al. teach the composition comprises glass fibers having an average fiber diameter of 4 to 20 µm and a cut length of about 3 to 6 mm [0016], which is consistent with the characteristics of the glass fibers disclosed in the instant specification (p.9, [0023]). Fujii et al. further teach glass fibers T-120 H manufactured by Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd is used as the inorganic reinforcing material [0029]. It is noted as evidenced by Shimizu et al. [0046] that the glass fiber T-120H has an average fiber length of 3 mm and an average diameter of 11 µm. Given that the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition and the process of Fujii et al. [0033] are substantially identical to the claimed invention and that the glass fiber T-127H, which is the fiber glass used in the examples of the instant specification [0042] is similar to T-120 H of Fujii et al. (chopped strands, same average diameter and length), therefore the Ln of the glass fibers L-120 H is expected to be the same as the Ln of the glass fibers T-127H, thereby arriving to the claimed invention.
Fujii et al. are silent on the flow length of the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition as recited in the instant claim.
However, in view of the substantially identical inorganic material- reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition of Fujii et al., the inorganic material- reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition of Fujii et al. is expected to possess the claimed property of flow length because flow length is an inherent property (MPEP 2112).
Regarding claim 2, Fujii et al. teach the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition comprises terephthalic acid//ethylene glycol/neopentyl glycol copolymer, a terephthalic acid//ethylene glycol/1,2-propane diol copolymer, and a terephthalic acid/isophthalic acid//ethylene glycol/neopentyl glycol copolymer ([0010], Table 1), as required by the instant claim.
Regarding claim 3, Fujii et al. teach the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition satisfies the relation Tc2N -Tc2M≥ 10°C, wherein Tc2N is the temperature-decreasing crystallization temperature of the polyester-based resin composition when the semicrystalline resin and/or amorphous resin is the only resin not contained in the polyester-based resin composition ([0005], [0017], claims 1,3-4), as required by the instant claim.
Regarding claim 4, Fujii et al. teaches the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition is substantially identical to the claimed invention, as previously discussed in the rejection of claim 1. Fujii et al. further teach the resins preferably have a molecular weight high enough to be usable as an engineering plastic by itself, exhibiting improved physical properties and toughness and teach that the molecular weight of the resin component is defined and controlled by reduced viscosity [0007]. Furthermore, Fuji et al. implies that the resin component possess a molecular weight within specific ranges of reduced viscosity to obtain a balance between toughness and fluidity ([0007], [0011], [0013]). Thus, Fujii et al. confirms that viscosity is correlated with molecular weight.
The reference further discloses reduced viscosity values for the resin component as follows: PBT is 0.70 dL/g; Toyobo PET, reduced viscosity 0.83 Dl/g; copolymer having a composition ratio of TPA//EG/NPG = 100/70/30 mol%, reduced viscosity 0.83 dL/g, copolymer having a composition ratio of TPA/IPA//EG/NPG = 50/50/50/50 mol%, reduced viscosity 0.56 dL/g ([0028]-[0029]). It is noted that the reduced viscosity of the resin component and composition of the copolymers in Fujii’s disclosure are substantially identical to the reduced viscosity of the resin component and the composition of the copolymers of the claimed invention (see [0011], [0013], [0019], [0054] of the instant specification). Accordingly, the weight average molecular weight and the number molecular weight Mn of the resin component of Fujii et al. are expected to fall into the claimed range of Mw/Mn because the molecular weight (reduced viscosity) have impact on the final properties (appearance, mechanical properties, warpage, [0036]) of the molded articles.
Regarding claim 5, Fujii et al. teach the content of the inorganic reinforcing material is 30-60% by mass [0016] and the examples in Table 1 list a content of 40 parts by mass of the inorganic reinforcing material, as required by the instant claim.
Regarding claim 6, Fujii et al. are silent on the number average fiber length Ln and the weight average fiber length Lw of the inorganic material as recited in the instant claim.
However, as previously discussed in the rejection of claim 1, the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition and the process of Fujii et al. [0033] are substantially identical to the claimed invention and the glass fiber T-127H used in the examples of the instant specification [0042] have same average diameter and same average length as the glass fiber T-120H of Fujii et al., therefore the Ln and Lw of the glass fibers L-120 H is expected to be the same as the Ln and Lw of the glass fibers T-127H, thereby satisfying Lw/Ln ≤ 2.0
Regarding claim 7, Fujii et al. teach the inorganic material-reinforced thermoplastic polyester resin composition of Example 1 was prepared by a twin-screw extruder [0025], wherein the raw materials except the inorganic reinforcing material (glass fiber) were fed into the twin-screw extruder through a hopper and the inorganic reinforcing material was fed from a vent port by a side feed [0033], thereby reading on the instant claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLGA L. DONAHUE whose telephone number is (571)270-1152. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
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/OLGA LUCIA DONAHUE/Examiner, Art Unit 1763
/CATHERINE S BRANCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763