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) 1-3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Valente et al. (Journal of Cleaner Production 333 (2022) 130013).
Regarding claim 1: Valente et al. teach a concrete composition comprising, based on dry weight: 63 wt% cement, 19 wt% rubber particles (RG), and 18 wt% fine aggregate (6 wt% RP and 12 wt% Admixtures); water in an amount of 29 wt% based on the water-to-cement ratio; and the composition is free of coarse aggregates (Table 1; RP25-RG75-OPC). Since the admixtures are in powder form (page 4), they are considered a fine aggregate, in addition to the RP.
Regarding claim 2: Valente et al. teach that the RG rubber particles have a particle size of 1-3 mm (0.04 to 0.12 inches) (page 4).
Regarding claim 3: Valente et al. teach ground tire rubber, which is styrene-butadiene rubber (page 4).
Regarding claim 5: Valente et al. teach a plasticizer in their Admixtures (page 4; Table 1).
Relevant Prior Art
Recycled tire rubber is known as styrene-butadiene rubber as taught by Sawyer et al. (2019/0203425) [0006], de Garennes et al (2017/0175343) [0022], and Varga (2016/0333906) [0011].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/22/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant alleges that the instant specification provides a definition for “fine aggregates”, and that it is limited to fine mineral aggregates. This is incorrect. No definition is provided in the instant specification. Paragraph [0082] discloses that “The aggregates, in general, can comprise…” and then lists mineral fillers. However, this is not a definition. Furthermore, the next paragraph teaches that “the fine aggregates present in the disclosed composition comprise any know aggregates…” [0083]. The instant claims are not limited to mineral fine aggregates. The applicant attempts to limit the fine aggregate in the example of Valente et al. to sand. This has been addressed above.
The applicant states that treating the RP simultaneously as the satisfying both the “rubber” limitation and the “fine aggregates” limitation improperly collapses distinct claim elements. This is not persuasive because RG are the rubber particles in Valente et al., and RP are the fine aggregates. They are separate components.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN USELDING whose telephone number is (571)270-5463. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8am to 6:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Del Sole can be reached on 571-272-1130. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN E USELDING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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