DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/15/2023, 1/12/2024, 9/26/2024, 12/13/2024 and 8/29/2025 were filed timely. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
3. Applicant's election with traverse of Group 1 in the reply filed on 5/7/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that no burden is present because of shared technical features. This is not found persuasive because the claims have different claimed structures and therefore create a search and examination burden. Furthermore Applicants have not properly responded to the species requirement.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL. Claims 13-30 are withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The term “long chain” is not defined properly in the specification and appears to include a single carbon, which would not be long and therefore it is an indefinite descriptor. The term long should be removed and replaced with a definite structure.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (US 5,602,208) to Klamann et al. (hereinafter Klamann) in view of the teachings of (US 2012/0016065 A1) to Sawada et al. (hereinafter Sawada).
Klamann is directed toward thermoplastic compositions. Klamann discloses at (C5, L15) that the composition that includes an aminoalkanolamide ester processing aid that may be added to any thermoplastic and blends thereof of polyesters and polycarbonates.
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Klamann discloses at (C2, L15) that formula 1 (shown above) reads on Applicants plasticizer formula and (Y), (X) and (Z) respectively and they may contain a double bond or be a straight chain within Applicants , which is therefore biodegradable. Klamann discloses at (C5, L3) that the plasticizer is 0.01 to 10 parts by weight of the resin, which reads on Applicants range of 0.01 to 15%. Klamann discloses a thermoplastic polyester and blends with a polycarbonate, but is silent regarding the use of a PLA.
Sawada is directed toward biodegradable polyester thermoplastic compositions. Klamann and Sawada are both directed toward polyester thermoplastic compositions. One skilled in the art would be motivated to use a biodegradable thermoplastic polymer to be environmentally friendly. Sawada teaches at paragraph [0050] that a biodegradable polymer includes polyester, specifically a PLA. Sawada teaches at paragraph [0066] that it is preferable that the biodegradable resin contains a plasticizer. Sawada teaches at paragraph [0060] that the biodegradable resin may include a polycarbonate. The composition is identical and therefore would inherently have the identically claimed rate of degradation.
It would be obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the filing of the disclosure of Klamann in view of the teachings of Sawada to modify Sawada by selecting a PLA as the polyester combined with the plasticizer to have a biodegradable thermoplastic polyester with good molding properties that forms a prime facie case of obviousness for claims 1-12.
Conclusion
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY D WASHVILLE whose telephone number is (571)270-3262. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
9. 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.
10. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached at 571-272-1302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
11. 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.
/JEFFREY D WASHVILLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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