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 with traverse of Group I, claims 1-40 in the reply filed on Dec. 16, 2025 is acknowledged. Applicant’s further election with traverse of the species group a. drawn to processes of claims 30-34 in the reply filed on Dec. 16, 2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground that the use of certain dispersing agents in aqueous polymerization of fluoropolymers is a special technical feature. This is not found persuasive because the use of the dispersing agents in aqueous polymerization of fluoropolymers is not a limitation of the claims of Groups II-III.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 35-51 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to nonelected inventions and species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on Dec. 16, 2025.
Claim Interpretation
Independent claim 1 recites a “hydrocarbon dispersing agent” including a moiety R which is a “hydrophobic hydrocarbon moiety”.
The term “hydrocarbon” is defined in the present specification:
“By ‘hydrocarbon’ regarding the hydrophobic hydrocarbon moiety is meant that at least 85% of the monovalent substituents on the carbon atoms are hydrogen and substitutions by halogen, such as fluorine or chlorine, are possible provided that the low reactivity of the dispersing agent during polymerization is not adversely affected… ‘Hydrocarbon’ regarding hydrocarbon dispersing agent is intended to have the same meaning as described above for the hydrophobic hydrocarbon moiety.” (Spec. p. 17, ¶ [0065]).
Drawings, Specification
The drawing submitted on Mar. 30, 2023 is objected to because it contains a single figure abbreviated as “FIG. 1”. 37 C.F.R. § 1.84(u)(1) requires that where only a single view is used in an application to illustrate the claimed invention, it must not be numbered and the abbreviation "FIG." must not appear.
Applicant should amend the drawing and its corresponding descriptions in the specification to recite the term “Figure” rather than “FIG. 1”.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Appropriate changes of the references in the specification to the drawings are also required.
Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. § 112(b)
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.
Claims 1-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Independent claim 1 recites a compound including a moiety R which is a “hydrophobic hydrocarbon moiety”. The claim subsequently recites the limitation “…said hydrophobic moiety being free of siloxane units”.
This latter limitation thus refers to a “hydrophobic moiety” which differs in scope from the previously recited “hydrophobic hydrocarbon moiety”. The recited “said hydrophobic moiety” therefore lacks proper antecedent basis.
Claims 2-34 are ultimately dependent upon claim 1, and they are indefinite for the same reason.
Independent claim 1 recites a compound including a moiety X which is “an “ionic hydrophilic moiety”.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “said hydrophilic moiety”. This limitation refers to a “hydrophilic moiety” which differs in scope from the previously recited “ionic hydrophilic moiety”. The phrase “said hydrophilic moiety” recited in claim 11 therefore lacks proper antecedent basis.
Independent claim 1 recites a compound including a moiety Z which is “one or more counter ions”.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “counter ion XY is a group of the formula -A--Y+”. Base claim 1 does not recite a group “XY”, and therefore the term “XY” recited in claim 11 lacks proper antecedent basis.
Claim 12 is dependent upon claim 1, and it is indefinite for the same two reasons.
Claim 13 recites the limitation “said hydrophilic hydrocarbon moiety”. Base claim 1 does not recite a “hydrophilic hydrocarbon moiety”. The phrase “said hydrophilic hydrocarbon moiety” recited in claim 13 therefore lacks proper antecedent basis.
Claim 15 recites the phrase “any of claim 1” which is ungrammatical. Claim 15 therefore does not set forth the scope of the claimed process with reasonable clarity.
Claims 16-21 are dependent upon claim 15, and they are indefinite for the same reason.
Prior Art
The following references is noted though not relied upon in a rejection.
US 10,611,871 B2 to Visger describes promoters for nitroxide-mediated polymerization including various sulphonic acids, including 3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxybenzenesulphonic acid (see col. 19, ll. 11-30). Visger does not describe the polymerization of a fluoromonomer in water.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD A. HUHN whose telephone number is (571)270-7345. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arrie (Lanee) Reuther can be reached at (571) 270-7026. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICHARD A. HUHN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764