DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
Any rejections and/or objections made in the previous Office action and not repeated below are hereby withdrawn.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
No new grounds of rejection are set forth below. Thus, the following action is properly made final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claim(s) 1-2, 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shigemori et al (JP2016094513).
Shigemori teaches a composition comprising a side chain crystalline acrylate copolymer C and a basic compound D [0022]. The copolymer C comprises repeating units derived from stearyl acrylate and acrylic acid [0068-0072]. The basic compound is dibutylamine. The amount of basic group in dibutylamine is 0.22 mmol per 1g of the composition, the molar ratio of basic group to acrylic acid is 0.6 (detailed calculation is available upon request).
Because Shigemori teaches the claimed composition, it is therefore inherent that the composition exhibit claimed property (there is an interaction between copolymer C and the basic compound, the basic compound is released when the composition is heated) since such a property is evidently dependent upon the nature of the composition used, see MPEP 2112.01. Absent an objective showing to the contrary, the addition of the claimed physical properties to the claim language fails to provide patentable distinction over the prior art.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shigemori et al (JP2016094513).
Shigemori teaches the basic compound can also be octylamine, aminononane, aminodecane etc [0048].
Shigemori does not expressly name a single embodiment having the claimed composition. However, each of the components of the composition is described in the reference. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the present invention to have made any of the compositions suggested by the reference, including the claimed composition, thereby arriving at the presently claimed invention.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
It is noted that the claim rejection is based on a composition comprising a mixture of copolymer C and a basic compound D, which exists before the reaction takes place.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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.
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/WENWEN CAI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763