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 without traverse of Group I. in the reply filed on 6/22/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 8, 9 and 12 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected grouping of invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/22/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7, 13 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chang et al.(7,120,342).
Chang et al. discloses methods for making uv-cured and foamed structured products by combining polymerizable monomers, initiators and azo compounds as defined by applicants’ claims, and curing the resultant compositions with radiation including uv-radiation and formation of pores/bubbles/bubblets through decomposition of the azo compound(s) in the manner as required by the claims to form structured products that include pores/bubbles/bubblets to the degree required by the claims {See Abstract, column 1 lines 51-61, column 2 line 56 – column 6 line 64 and the Examples}.
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) 6, 11 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al.(7,120,342) as applied to claims 1-5, 7, 13 and 15 above, and further in view of Zhang et al.(2009/0004462).
Chang et al. differs from applicants’ claims in that surface active agents / surfactants as claimed are not particularly required. However, dispersion agents are provided for by Chang et al. as additional agents for use in its preparations {see column 6 lines 26-28}, and Zhang et al. discloses non-ionic surfactants meeting the requirements of applicants’ claims to be known for their dispersing agent function in UV-curable polymerizable monomer-based preparations {see para [0031]}. Accordingly, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to have utilized the non-ionic surfactant(s)/dispersion agent(s) of Zhang et al. in the preparations of Chang et al. for the purpose of providing their recognized dispersing effects in order to arrive at the processes of applicants’ claims with the expectation of success in the absence of a showing of new or unexpected results.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al.(7,120,342) as applied to claims 1-5, 7, 13 and 15 above, and further in view of Xu et al.(6,306,563).
Chang et al. differs from applicants’ claims in that specific acrylates of claim 14 are not particularly required as polymerizable monomers in their preparations. However, Xu et al. discloses polymerizable monomers of this claim along with other polymerizable monomers falling in overlap with monomers of Chang et al. to be known polymerizable monomers for use in radiation curable preparations for purposes of imparting good cured structural products {see column 15 line 54 – column 16 line 29}. Accordingly, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to have utilized any of the radiation curable polymerizable monomers of Xu et al. as functionally equivalent radiation curable polymerizable monomers in the preparations of Chang et al. for the purpose of providing their recognized photo-curable structure forming effects in order to arrive at the processes of applicants’ claim with the expectation of success in the absence of a showing of new or unexpected results. Further, it has long been held that it is prima facie obvious to substitute equivalents, motivated by the reasonable expectation that the respective species will behave in a comparable manner or give comparable results in comparable circumstances. In re Ruff 118 USPQ 343; In re Jezel 158 USPQ 99; the express suggestion to substitute one equivalent for another need not be present to render the substitution obvious. In re Font, 213 USPQ 532.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to John Cooney whose telephone number is 571-272-1070. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9 to 6. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Heidi Riviere Kelley, can be reached on 571-270-1831. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JOHN M COONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765
Prosecution Insights