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 4/27/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 9-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected grouping of invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 4/27/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 3, 5, 7 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ohama (8,076,385).
Ohama discloses an additive composition comprising a zeolite composite containing mixture, wherein the zeolite composite includes adsorbed within at least a portion of its pores nitrogen-containing compounds as defined by applicants’ claims, which when added and dispersed in a polyol is sufficient to meet the compositions as defined by applicants’ claims (see abstract, column 8 line 11- column 9 line 19, Examples 1 & 3, Tables 1-1 and 1-2 and Claims). Regarding claim 3, in that it appears FNC-404 includes polyether polyol in its composition, the requirements of this claim are met (see Example 5). Regarding claim 5, though not particularly specified, owing to the closeness of the make-up of the substrate make-up of the zeolites of the instant concern along with their hydrophilicities and adsorbent characteristics, it is held that they inherently possess the H+ cation characteristics defined by this claims.
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) 2-4 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohama (8,076,385) as applied to claims 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8 above.
Regarding claims 2 and, in the alternative, claim 3 {note: additional rejection of claim 3 under 35USC102 above}, Ohama et al. differs from applicants’ claims in that it does not particularly require polyether polyols as claimed. However, Ohama et al. does identify polyethylene glycols (PEG) to be suitable water soluble polymer materials of their concern {see column 6 lines 31-58}, as well as suitable polyol materials for reactant mixes{see column 10 lines 32-42}, and with PEG400, 600, 3350, 4000 and 6000 being of the most readily envisioned selections of the PEG’s, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to have utilized any PEG including these most readily envisioned PEG’s in the preparations of Ohama for the purpose of providing acceptably developed water soluble polymer materials provided for by their disclosure in order to arrive at the additive compositions as defined by applicants’ claims with the expectation of success in the absence of a showing of new or unexpected results. Further, regarding claim 4, given the flexibility of the amounts of critical materials {see column 9 lines 7-19 and column 11 line 45 – column 12 line 14} it additionally would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to have utilized the zeolite composites of Ohama in any amount provided for through the totality of Ohama for the purpose of providing acceptably developed water soluble polymer materials for dispersion and work-up in order to arrive at the additive compositions as defined by applicants’ claims with the expectation of success in the absence of a showing of new or unexpected results.
Regarding claim 6, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the invention to have utilized the nitrogen containing compounds of Ohama in forming the zeolite composites of Ohama in any amount for the purpose of providing acceptably developed, fire retardancy imparting, water soluble polymer materials for dispersion and work-up in order to arrive at the additive compositions as defined by applicants’ claims with the expectation of success in the absence of a showing of new or unexpected results.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Okamoto is cited for its disclosure of relevant materials and additives in related arts.
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
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