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) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2009-500513.
JP ‘513 is directed to a solventless adhesive composition comprising (a) 20-65 parts of an ethylene/alpha olefin having a melt viscosity less than 50,000 mPa-s (equivalent to 50,000 cP), (b) 0-50 parts of at least one tackifier (e.g. hydrocarbons, terpenes, rosins), and (c) 0-35 parts of at least one wax (e.g. paraffin wax, polyethylene wax, microcrystalline wax, Fischer-Tropsch wax).
In terms of the transition temperature of said wax, each of the aforementioned waxes disclosed by JP ‘513 corresponds with an inventive wax as disclosed by Applicant in paragraph 27 of the originally filed specification. Thus, it reasons that the characteristics or properties of the waxes in JP ‘513 would mimic those required by the claimed invention.
Lastly, regarding claim 1 (and claim 4), while JP ‘513 is silent with respect to the mechanical properties (storage modulus) of the adhesive composition, a wide variety of solventless adhesive compositions taught by JP ‘513 would be expected to demonstrate storage modulus properties in accordance to the claimed invention. It is emphasized that the materials and loadings disclosed by JP ‘513 are directly analogous to those identified by Applicant as resulting in the claimed storage modulus and thus, it reasons that the claimed storage modulus would be satisfied by JP ‘513 (materials and loadings appear to directly influence the claimed storage modulus). Additionally, Applicant has not provided a conclusive showing of unexpected results for the claimed adhesive composition. More particularly, Examples 1-4 and 6-11 in Table 1 are actually non-inventive adhesive compositions since the storage modulus at 20°C is greater than 1.5 x 107 Pa (the lone inventive example is Example 5 (based on storage modulus of adhesive at 20°C) and such an adhesive composition demonstrates the same properties as non-inventive examples 1-3 and 8-11 in Table 1).
With respect to claims 2 and 3, JP ‘513 broadly teaches ethylene/alpha olefin polymers having a melt viscosity at 177°C less than 50,000 cP (equivalent to 50,000 mPa-s). In such an instance, said polymers have a melt viscosity that substantially mimics that required by the claimed invention. In terms of the storage modulus, it appears that JP ‘513 encompasses a wide variety of ethylene/alpha olefin polymers that satisfy the claimed invention, especially in light of the substantial overlap in melt viscosity. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to use a polymer having the claimed storage modulus absent a conclusive showing of unexpected results. It is emphasized that Example 5 is the only inventive example and fails to demonstrate a conclusive showing of unexpected results (when compared with non-inventive examples 1-3 and 8-11 in Table 1).
Regarding claim 4, as detailed above, JP ‘513 teaches loadings that significantly overlap that required by the claimed invention.
As to claim 5, given that JP’513 teaches a multitude of waxes that mimic those identified by Applicant as being inventive, it reasons that the wax of JP ‘513 would demonstrate a transition heat in accordance to the claimed invention.
With respect to claims 6 and 7, the claims are directed to an adhesive composition and given the extreme similarity between the claimed adhesive and that taught by JP ‘513, it reasons that the adhesive composition of JP ‘513 would demonstrate properties that mimic those in a hypothetical assembly (assemblies described in claims 6 and 7 are akin to an intended use of the adhesive composition).
Regarding claim 8, the adhesive composition of JP ‘513 includes 0-35 parts of at least one wax, such as paraffin wax, polyethylene wax, microcrystalline wax, or Fischer-Tropsch wax.
As to claim 9, the solventless adhesive composition of JP ‘513 (a) is devoid of inorganic particles, (b) includes 25-65 parts of an olefin based polymer having a melt viscosity less than 50,000 mPa-s at 177°C, (c) includes 0-50 parts of at least one tackifier, and (c) includes 0-35 parts of at least one wax, such as paraffin wax, polyethylene wax, microcrystalline wax, or Fischer-Tropsch wax. The totality of these features is substantially the same as that required by the claimed invention and such, the adhesive composition of JP ‘513 can be fairy charactered as a self-adhesive composition.
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 November 19, 2025
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