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 U.S.C. § 102
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 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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO 2019/031461 A1 (herein “Fukuhara”). US 2020/0247915 A1 is referred to herein as an English translation of Fukuhara.
As to claims 1-4 and 6-9: Fukuhara describes dispersion stabilizers for suspension polymerization (see the abstract). Fukuhara describes an example (see Production Example 1-8 in Tables 1 and 3 on pp. 10-11, and see the process in ¶¶ [0158]-[0159]) which is a vinyl alcohol polymer that is made in the presence of the modifying agent octyl aldehyde (see agent type C in Tables 1 and 3) in an amount of 74.2 parts with respect to 1500 parts of vinyl acetate, corresponding to about 4.95 parts with respect to 100 parts of vinyl acetate.
The vinyl alcohol polymer of Production Example 1-8 has a degree of saponification of 72 mol% (see Table 1 on p. 10) and a viscosity-average degree of polymerization (see ¶¶ [0146]-[0147] and [0158]) of 750 (see Table 1 on p. 10).
Octyl aldehyde corresponds to the present chemical formula (1) in which R is a 7-carbon alkyl group. It is additionally noted that the present specification discloses that 1-octanal is an example of an aldehyde that is used as a modification agent to produce the presently recited chemical formula (1) and that the usage amount of aldehyde is 0.5 to 20 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the vinyl ester monomer (Spec. p. 11, ¶¶ [0037]-[0038]).
Fukuhara does not disclose the percentage of structural units modified by the octyl aldehyde, corresponding to the presently recited quantity X.
Because Fukuhara discloses one of the aldehyde chain transfer agents (octyl aldehyde) that is presently disclosed to result in chemical formula (1), and because the amount of the chain transfer agent in the process of making the cited polyvinyl alcohol falls within the scope of the amounts which are presently disclosed, there is a reasonable basis to conclude that Fukuhara’s process results in a polyvinyl alcohol which has a percentage of structural units modified by the octyl aldehyde that falls within the scope of the presently recited inequalities (2) and (3).
Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established. MPEP 2112.01(I).
As to claims 5: Fukuhara further discloses that the dispersants are useful for suspension polymerization of vinyl compounds (see ¶¶ [0120]-[0122] and Example 1-9 in Table 5).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD A. HUHN whose telephone number is (571)270-7345. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM EST.
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/RICHARD A. HUHN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764