Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 06, 2026
Application No. 18/138,568

TEXTURED MALLEABLE PLAY SLIME MATERIALS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Apr 24, 2023
Priority
Nov 06, 2019 — provisional 62/931,542 +1 more
Examiner
COHEN, STEFANIE J
Art Unit
1732
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Genncomm LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
78%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allowance Rate
731 granted / 972 resolved
+10.2% vs TC avg
Minimal +2% lift
Without
With
+2.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
30 currently pending
Career history
994
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.6%
-38.4% vs TC avg
§103
59.0%
+19.0% vs TC avg
§102
11.2%
-28.8% vs TC avg
§112
20.2%
-19.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 972 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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. Claims 1 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davidson et al (US20190054387) in view of Morgan (US20160158605). Davidson, paragraph 9 of the PGPUB, teaches a method of making a slime composition is provided including combining any of the slime activator compositions with a polyvinyl acetate-based glue/adhesive or a polyvinyl alcohol-based glue/adhesive or another polymeric based glue/adhesive of appropriate functionality for crosslinking. Davidson, paragraph 24 of the PGPUB, teaches the slime activator compositions may contain one or more additives to affect the texture, feel color, or look of the slime activator composition and slime compositions made therefrom. Davidson, paragraph 28 of the PGPUB, teaches the slime activator composition further contains one or more agents to provide one or more tactile or aesthetic properties to the resultant slime material. For example, the agents(s) may be selected to provide a particular color, a color-changing quality, a textured, foamy or other tactile feel, a metallic finish, a particular smell, and/or a glow-in-the-dark quality. Although Davidson teaches agents may be selected to provide a particular color, Davidson does not teach the agent to be a fiber. Morgan, paragraph 9 of the PGPUB, teaches the first color appearance may for example have at least one of a different lightness, chroma, hue, saturation, tint, shade, tone, and/or luma than the second color appearance. In one embodiment, at least one of the first color appearance and the second color appearance comprises at least one of colored flakes, particulates, glitter specs, whiskers, fibers, edge effect pigments and filaments. It 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 to use a fiber as taught by Morgan as the agent to provide a particular color as taught by Davidson as Morgan teaches fibers are a source that can be used as a coloring agent. Regarding claim 16, Davidson, paragraph 9 of the PGPUB, teaches a method of making a slime composition is provided including combining any of the slime activator compositions with a polyvinyl acetate-based glue/adhesive or a polyvinyl alcohol-based glue/adhesive or another polymeric based glue/adhesive of appropriate functionality for crosslinking. Davidson, paragraph 21 of the PGPUB, teaches the activator can comprise sodium tetraborate (borax). Claim 2-5 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davidson et al (US20190054387) in view of Morgan (US20160158605) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Kostelyk (Aug 2019). Although the references teach a slime composition, the references do not teach adding a non-fibrous structure to the slime. Kostelyk teaches this spider web slime is great for Halloween parties. Kostelyk, step 10, teaches adding plastic spiders into the slime. It 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 to add plastic spiders as taught by Kostelyk into the slime as taught by the references above as slime with plastic spiders can be used at Halloween parties or Spiderman birthday parties. Regarding claim 3, the references teach fibers which can have an appearance as hair or fuzz. Regarding claims 4-5 and 17, Kostelyk, step 10, teaches adding plastic spiders into the slime. Regarding claim 18, it 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 that the slime can be configured to any shape or color such as fecal matter as claimed in claim 18. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davidson et al (US20190054387) in view of Morgan (US20160158605) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Mizuno et al (20020142114). Although the references teach colored fibers, the references do not teach a specific colored fiber. Mizuno teaches a molded product. Mizuno, paragraphs 129 and 142 of the PGPUB, teaches light-shielding material such as polypropylene fiber can be added in order to introduce light-shielding performance It 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 that the colored fibers as taught by the references can be polypropylene fibers as taught by Mizuno as Mizuno teaches polypropylene is one useful type of colored fiber. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US20120156451 teaches an ink composition. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEFANIE J COHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5836. The examiner can normally be reached 10am- 6pm M-F. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Coris Fung can be reached at (571) 270-5713. 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. /STEFANIE J COHEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1732 7/15/26
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 24, 2023
Application Filed
Jul 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
75%
Grant Probability
78%
With Interview (+2.3%)
2y 9m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 972 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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