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 § 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Qian et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0011898). Regarding Claim 1, Qian et al., hereafter “Qian,” show that it is known to have a thermoplastic vulcanizate (Abstract), comprising a thermoplastic which comprises a thermoplastic polyurethane (0022), a crosslinked rubber particle which is a product of a composition of an ethylene copolymer and a cross linking agent (0020), wherein the crosslinked rubber particle is dispersed in the thermoplastic serving as a continuous phase (0020), an a compatibilizer of styrene block copolymer of maleic anhydride grafted styrene ethylene butylene styrene (0034; claim 7), and wherein the weight ratio of the thermoplastic to the ethylene copolymer is 3:17 to 1:1 (Table 1, TPU:TPV acceptable ranges).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 21 July 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 11 and their dependents have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Qian (claim 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 7-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 11-13 and 16-19 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art of record does not clearly show or suggest the claimed method for preparing a thermoplastic vulcanizate, especially including the step of mixing 0.2-2 parts by weight of a crosslinking agent with a blend of an ethylene copolymer, a thermoplastic, and a compatibilizer.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONICA HUSON whose telephone number is (571)272-1198. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a-4p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christina Johnson can be reached at 571-272-1176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MONICA ANNE HUSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1742
/MONICA A HUSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
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