DETAILED ACTION
Examiner’s Note
The Examiner acknowledges the addition of new claims 15-16 in the amendments filed 2/25/2026.
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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s arguments, see the remarks filed 2/25/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-4 and 8-13 and claim 14 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as set forth in paragraphs 5-6 of the action mailed 11/26/2025, have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of claims 1-4 and 8-14 have been withdrawn.
Double Patenting
Claims 1-4, 8-9, 13 and 16 and claims 14-15 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-7 and 12-15 of copending Application No. 18/425490.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the copending teach all the limitations of the current claims except for the presently recited melt index range of 1 to 100 g/10 min, or 1 to 95 g/10 min, under the recited ASTM 1238 standard.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select an ethylene acid copolymer having the presently claimed melt index for the claimed invention of the copending based on the viscosity of the ethylene acid polymer (EAC), and the resultant composition comprising said polymer, required of the copending’s temperature of use. See also paragraphs 0073-0076 of the copending demonstrating identical melt indices presently claimed as determined via said ASTM 1238 standard.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, see the claim amendments and the remarks filed 2/25/2026, with respect to the non-statutory, double-patenting rejection as set forth in paragraph 11 of the action mailed 11/26/2025, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Thus, the rejection is maintained and repeated above, to include the amendments to claims 1 and 14 and new claims 15-16.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 and 16 and claims 14-15 are allowable over the cited prior art.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art references:
US 2015/0218426 A1 to Clay et al. teaches pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA) (para 0033) comprising an aqueous dispersion of components (a) and (b) (water-based PSA) (para 0046) having D50 particles sizes of, inter alia, 50 to 600 nm (i.e., 0.05 to 0.6 microns) (para 0047) and surfactants (dispersants) (para 0048), which said components (a) and (b) respectively comprise a first polymer and a second polymer (para 0050). The first polymer is an acrylic polymer ((A) acrylic dispersion comprising particles) and the second polymer is, inter alia, an ethylene (meth)acrylic acid copolymer(s) (EAA) (ethylene acid copolymer) (para 0026).
The inventive examples of Clay comprise potassium hydroxide (i.e., a neutralizer) (para 0118).
While Clay does not specify the presently claimed glass transition temperature (Tg) (less than -20 ℃) for the disclosed acrylic polymer of the first polymer, Clay does instruct the skilled artisan that said acrylic polymers are those conventionally used in PSA compositions and comprise a majority of alkyl (meth)acrylates such as, inter alia, 2-ethylehexyl acrylate and butyl acrylate, and minor amounts of copolymerizable monomers such as, inter alia, vinyl acetate (para 0078-0084).
The Examiner submits that it is established in the art that the Tg of a polymer is proportional to the Tg of its constituent monomers, and their respective proportions, as evidenced via Satake (see column 4, lines 4-19 therein); and that the Tg of PSA compositions, and thus their respective polymeric components, are selected based on considerations of rheological properties (e.g., substrate wetting), tack, peel and cohesion as evidenced via Kanner (see column 8, line 58 to column 9, line 8 therein). See also the Aldrich Data Sheet, which provides Tg values for monomers such as n-butyl acrylate (Tg = -54 ℃), 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (Tg = -50 ℃) and vinyl acetate (Tg = 30 ℃).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to provide the first acrylic polymer of Clay with the monomeric constituency/proportions towards said acrylic polymer demonstrating the presently claimed Tg value(s) (less than -20 ℃) based of the balance of rheological properties, tack, peel and cohesion required of the prior art’s intended application/temperature of use as in the present invention.
Clay does not teach that the EAA second polymer comprises the presently claimed melt index as determined under ASTM D1238. Indeed, as noted by the Applicant, to include the citation of the presently disclosed invention (see, for example, para 0093 and Table 1D of the specification as originally filed) and the disclosure of Clay (see, for example, para 0116), the EAA polymers of Clay are employed as waxes in the inventive PSA compositions. These waxes have melt indices well above the presently claimed range of 1 to 1500 g/10 min, and thus do not teach or render obvious the presently claimed as recited in at least current claims 1 and 14.
US 2013/0202885 A1 to Dodge et al. is similar in its disclosure to the ‘426 disclosure, and similar in its deficiencies.
Claims 10-12 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.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 FRANK D DUCHENEAUX whose telephone number is (571)270-7053. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 PM - 5:00 PM.
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/FRANK D DUCHENEAUX/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1788 4/14/2026
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