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 .
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.
Claim(s) 8, 9, 11, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US 2019/0203041) and further in view of Hatanaka (US 2014/0235767).
Park is directed to a composition for a molded article comprising 100 parts of polycarbonate resin (claimed thermoplastic resin A), 0.5-3 parts by weight of a modified polyolefin (claimed modified resin B), and 0.1-5 parts by weight of a fluorinated olefin resin or PTFE (claimed polytetrafluorethylene D) (Abstract and Paragraphs 3, 6, and 60). Park further states that said composition demonstrates high impact resistance and flame retardancy (Paragraph 6). In such an instance, though, Park is silent with respect to the inclusion of a modified polyorganopolysiloxane (claimed component C).
It is initially noted that the composition of Park is described as including one or more types of any typical additive, such as lubricants, used in thermoplastic resin compositions (Paragraph 64). In terms of the type of lubricants, modified silicone oils (e.g. alicyclic epoxy-modified silicone oil) represent one of the most well-known and conventional types of lubricants used in thermoplastic resin compositions, as shown for example by Hatanaka (Paragraphs 86 and 89). Hatanaka further states that said lubricant is included at loadings between 0.01 % and 5% (Paragraph 90). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to use a modified silicone oil as the disclosed lubricant in the composition of Park as it represents a conventional type of lubricant and Applicant has not provided a conclusive showing of unexpected results for the claimed type of polyorganopolysiloxane (for example, none of the experimental compositions include polycarbonate as the thermoplastic resin and thus, it is unclear if any realized benefits are specific to the thermoplastic resin in Tables 1 and 2 or would in fact be realized with any thermoplastic resin). Furthermore, it is unclear if any realized benefits are specific to the modified silicone oil in the experimental compositions or if said benefits would be realized with any type of modified polyorganosiloxane.
With respect to claim 9, given a modified polyolefin resin loading of 0.1 %, for example, any of the disclosed loadings for the modified polyorganopolysiloxane loadings would result in a quantitative relationship that satisfies the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 11, Park broadly states that said modified polyolefin is formed by polymerizing “an olefin” with a C1-C12 alkyl (meth)acrylate. One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the general language “an olefin” as including well known and conventional olefins, including polypropylene.
As to claim 13, Hatanaka discloses alicyclic epoxy-modified silicone oils.
Claim(s) 8-10 and 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gareiss (US 6,469,095) and further in view of Hatanaka.
Gareiss is directed to a thermoplastic molding composition comprising 10-90 % by weight of a thermoplastic resin (e.g. vinyl aromatic polymers) (claimed component A), 1 to 20% by weight of a polyethylene which contains carboxy groups (claimed component B), and 0 to 2% by wight of polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE (claimed component D). Gareiss further teaches the inclusion of common additives, including lubricants (Column 15, Lines 15-20). In such an instance, though, Gareiss silent with respect to the specific selection of a modified polyorganosiloxane as the disclosed lubricant.
In terms of the type of lubricants, modified silicone oils (e.g. alicyclic epoxy-modified silicone oil) represent one of the most well-known and conventional types of lubricants used in thermoplastic resin compositions, as shown for example by Hatanaka (Paragraphs 86 and 89). Hatanaka further states that said lubricant is included at loadings between 0.01 % and 5% (Paragraph 90). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to use a modified silicone oil as the disclosed lubricant in the composition of Gareiss as it represents a conventional type of lubricant and Applicant has not provided a conclusive showing of unexpected results for the claimed type of polyorganopolysiloxane (for example, none of the experimental compositions include polycarbonate as the thermoplastic resin and thus, it is unclear if any realized benefits are specific to the thermoplastic resin in Tables 1 and 2 or would in fact be realized with any thermoplastic resin). Furthermore, it is unclear if any realized benefits are specific to the modified silicone oil in the experimental compositions or if said benefits would be realized with any type of modified polyorganosiloxane.
With respect to claim 9, given a modified polyolefin resin loading of 1 %, for example, any of the disclosed loadings for the modified polyorganopolysiloxane loadings would result in a quantitative relationship that satisfies the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 10, as noted above, the thermoplastic resin can be a vinyl aromatic polymer (Column 3, Lines 10+). Gareiss teaches the preferred use of polystyrene and impact-modified polystyrene.
As to claim 12, Gareiss teaches number average molecular weights as large as 100,000 (Column 1, Lines 1-10). This suggests weight average molecular weights that are greater than 100,000 given that polydispersity index values for polymers are greater than 1 (polydispersity index corresponds with ratio between weight average molecular weight and number average molecular weight).
With respect to claim 13, Hatanaka discloses alicyclic epoxy-modified silicone oils.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN R FISCHER whose telephone number is (571)272-1215. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-2:00.
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Justin Fischer
/JUSTIN R FISCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749 August 20, 2025