DETAILED ACTION
This office action follows a response filed on January 28, 2026. Claims 1-3 and 5-7 were amended. Claims 4 and 8 were canceled. Claims 1-3 and 5-7 are pending.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: On page 4, delete “and” which appears between structures represented by Chemical Formula 2 and Chemical Formula 3.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: The entire recitation starting at page 4, “wherein the cyclic olefin polymer…” and ending at page 7, “…alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms” is unnecessary as it pertains to the cyclic olefin polymer rather than claimed hydrogenate cyclic polymer. Claim may be written concisely by deleting this entire passage. See claims 3 and 7 for parallel claim construction.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: On page 6, delete “and” which appears between structures represented by Chemical Formula 8 and Chemical Formula 9.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: On page 8, delete “and” which appears between structures represented by Chemical Formula 14 and Chemical Formula 15.
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: On page 10, delete “and” which appears between structures represented by Chemical Formula 2 and Chemical Formula 3.
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: On page 10, structures corresponding to Chemical Formula 11, Chemical Formula 12, Chemical Formula 13, and Chemical Formula 14 have been transposed inadvertently into claim 6.
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: On page 11, delete “and” which appears between structures represented by Chemical Formula 14 and Chemical Formula 15.
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: On page 13, delete “and” which appears between structures represented by Chemical Formula 2 and Chemical Formula 3.
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: On page 16, delete “and” which appears between structures represented by Chemical Formula 14 and Chemical Formula 15.
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Endo et al. (JP 2015-187219).
Endo et al. discloses a polymer prepared by ring opening metathesis polymerization of a mixture comprising 4,5-epoxytricyclo[5.2.1.02,6]dec-8-ene, corresponding to the structure represented by Chemical Formula 1 in instant claims, and dicyclopentadiene. In a subsequent step, the polymer is hydrogenated in the presence of a ruthenium catalyst to produce a hydrogenated polymer having a structural unit depicted in Chemical Formula 10 of instant claims. The polymer has a number average molecular weight of 1.5 × 104 and therefore would have repeating units depicted in Chemical Formula 10 (represented by integer n) well within a range of 5 to 5000. Inventive polymer is used to prepare film, and it can be expected that the film may be made optically isotropic as it is made from substantially the same material. Thus, Endo et al. teaches the optically isotropic film of claim 3.
Response to Arguments
The rejections of claims under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 103 based on Endo et al. (US 9,951,247), set forth in paragraphs 19 and 20 of the previous office action dated October 29, 2025, have been withdrawn in view of claim amendments.
The rejections of claims under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 103 based on Kamei et al. (WO 2021/024956), set forth in paragraphs 21 and 22 of the previous office action, have been withdrawn in view of claim amendments.
The rejection of claims 1, 4, and 7 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated Endo et al. (JP 2015-187219), set forth in paragraph 23 of the previous office action, has been withdrawn in view of claim amendments.
Subject of claims 1, 2, and 5 is deemed patentably distinct over Endo et al. Reference polymers exhibit glass transition temperatures of 107 ºC, 111 ºC, and 113 ºC. One of ordinary skill in the art would not expect to use polymers of prior art to make claimed film having significantly higher glass transition temperature of at least 150 ºC.
Endo et al. does not teach use of Pd/C catalyst to prepare hydrogenated cyclic olefin polymer as described in claim 7.
Claims are not in condition for allowance. For purposes of completing PTO-326, status of claims 2 and 5 is listed as “objected to”.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Rip A. Lee whose telephone number is (571)272-1104. The examiner can be reached on Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Jones, can be reached at (571)270-7733. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300.
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/RIP A LEE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1762
April 6, 2026
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