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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I (claims 16-25) in the reply filed on January 13, 2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)). Claims 26-29 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Objections
Claim 16 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities: is “d-valent” intended to be “divalent”?
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 16-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (WO 2007/004764) in view of Watanabe et al (Biobased Coatings Based on Eugenol Derivatives, ACS Appl. Bio Mater. 2018, 1, 808-813).
Regarding claims 16-18, 21 and 23, Kim teaches an organic material which made by a method of combining a urushi lacquer with a lacquer admixture (page 8, Table 1). The lacquer admixture contains PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) and MMA (methyl methacrylate) ([59]). These are plastics which are polymers made from unsaturated esters. The urushi lacquer contains raw urushi ([59]).
However, Kim fails to teach a method of stabilizing the organic material against oxidative, thermal and/or actinic degradation with the recited compound.
Watanabe teaches that urushi (Introduction) can be replaced by the following urushiol compound in thin film applications:
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(Abstract)
This reads on the recited Formula I when a=2, b-=0, c=0, d=1, X1=linear alkyene radical having 4 carbon atoms, A is a d-valent aliphatic saturated group.
It is noted that the compound with general Formula II is not mandatorily present.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the urushiol compound of Watanabe in place of the urushi component of Kim. One would have been motivated to do so in order to provide the material of Kim with high strength and antioxidant properties ((Watanabe, conclusion section) by using an inexpensive and abundant plant source instead of the very limited natural urushiol production (Watanabe, Introduction).
Regarding claims 19-20, it is noted that Formula II is not mandatorily present.
Regarding claim 22, Kim teaches that the composition can be 10 wt. % urushi lacquer (Table 1, sample 3-1-1) and the urushi lacquer is 95% raw urushi and, therefore, the amount of the compound of Formula I can be calculated to be 9.5 % by weight of the organic material.
Regarding claims 24-25, Kim teaches that the composition further comprises an additive such as varnish ([59]) which is a rheological modifier. Kim teaches that the composition can be 10 wt. % urushi lacquer (Table 1, sample 3-1-1) and the varnish is present in the amount of 5%, therefore, the amount of the additive can be calculated to be 0.5% by weight of the total of the compound according to general Formula I, the organic material and the at least one additive.
Conclusion
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DORIS L. LEE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1764
/DORIS L LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764