DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/13/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-10, 14, and 16-20 are now pending in the application.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 states “glass transition equal or below”. It is requested “glass transition” is changed to “glass transition temperature” for clarity.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4-7 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as failing to set forth the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant regards as the invention because:
Use of parentheses in Claims 4-7 and 17-18 – e.g. (notched impact strength ISO179-1), (ISO180), etc. – renders the scope of the claims indefinite, as it is unclear whether the limitations enclosed in parentheses are optional or required. For the purposes of examination, these limitations will be interpreted as being required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claims 1-7, 14, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US2019/0136100 to Tran et al. in view of US2020/0377716 to Kauffman et al.
Regarding Claim(s) 1-3 and 14, Tran teaches a hot melt adhesive composition [0040] comprising 10-100 wt% of a visbroken polyethylene copolymer with a MFR of 200 g/10 min or more [0041] that is LLDPE comprising primarily ethylene [0057] and recycled [0141] (reading on all limitations of component (A) of claims 1-3 and 18); and 0-70 wt% of one or more tackifiers [0043] such as polyterpene resins having a softening point of from 10-140°C [0163], preferably above 70°C [0166] (reading on limitations of component (C) of claims 1 and 14).
Tran does not teach component (B); and is further silent on the claimed range of 2-20 wt% of component (B), and further silent still on the claimed molecular weight and glass transition temperature of (B).
However, Kauffman teaches a hot melt composition [Kauffman, title] comprising 5-40 wt% of a propylene based polymer [Kauffman, 0057] such as AERAFIN 17 propylene ethylene copolymer [Kauffman, 0058] which is the same commercially available amorphous polyolefin in instant application [00224] therefore it is reasonably expected that the addition of AERAFIN 17 reads on all limitations of component (B) of claim 1. Tran and Kauffman are analogous art as they are from the same field of endeavor, namely hot melt compositions comprising random alpha-olefinic copolymers and tackifiers.
Before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to add Kauffman’s random alpha-olefinic copolymer to Tran’s hot melt composition.
The motivation would have been that the propylene based polymer is added to hot melt compositions in order to help adhere two substrates together [Kauffman ,0051].
The combination of Tran and Kauffman is silent regarding said polyolefin composition having a melt flow rate increase of about 25 to 400% compared to a same polyolefin composition without said random alpha-olefinic copolymer and said tackifier. Consequently, the Office recognizes that all of the claimed effects or physical properties are not positively stated by the reference(s). However, Tran in view of Kauffman, when modified in the manner proposed above, teaches a product prepared from all of the claimed ingredients in the claimed amounts by a substantially similar process such as extruding [Tran, 0196]. Therefore, the claimed effects and physical properties - i.e. melt flow rate increase of about 25 to 400% - would implicitly be achieved in a product prepared from all of the claimed ingredients in the claimed amounts by a substantially similar process. See In Re Spada, 911, F.2d 705, 709, 15 USPQ2d 1655, 1658 (Fed. Cir. 1990) and MPEP 2111.01 (I)(II). If it is applicant’s position that this would not be the case: (1) evidence would need to be provided to support the applicant’s position and (2) it would be the Office’s position that the application contains inadequate disclosure as to how to obtain the claimed properties in a product prepared from all of the claimed ingredients in the claimed amounts by a substantially similar process.
Regarding Claim(s) 4-7 and 17-18, Tran in view of Kauffman teaches the polyolefin composition of claim 1, as set forth above and incorporated herein by reference comprising LLDPE comprising primarily ethylene [0057] (i.e., polyethylene-rich recycled polyolefin of claim 18) and further comprising a plasticizer such as polybutenes [0170] (i.e., additional polymer of claims 4-7 and 17-18).
Tran in view of Kauffman is silent regarding the polyolefin composition shows a spiral follow increase (claim 4), a melt viscosity increase (claim 5), a elongation at yield increase (claim 6 and 18), and retaining at least 80% of at least acceptable mechanical property (claims 4-7 and 17-18) compared to the same polyolefin composition without said at least one random alpha-olefinic copolymer and at least one tackifier.
Consequently, the Office recognizes that all of the claimed effects or physical properties are not positively stated by the reference(s). However, Tran in view of Kauffman, when modified in the manner proposed above, teaches a product prepared from all of the claimed ingredients in the claimed amounts by a substantially similar process such as extruding [Tran, 0196]. Therefore, the claimed effects and physical properties of claims 4-7 and 17-18 as mentioned above would implicitly be achieved in a product prepared from all of the claimed ingredients in the claimed amounts by a substantially similar process. See In Re Spada, 911, F.2d 705, 709, 15 USPQ2d 1655, 1658 (Fed. Cir. 1990) and MPEP 2111.01 (I)(II). If it is applicant’s position that this would not be the case: (1) evidence would need to be provided to support the applicant’s position and (2) it would be the Office’s position that the application contains inadequate disclosure as to how to obtain the claimed properties in a product prepared from all of the claimed ingredients in the claimed amounts by a substantially similar process.
Regarding Claim(s) 16, Tran in view of Kauffman teaches the polyolefin composition of claim 1, further comprising various additives such as a stabilizer and fine particle filler [0179].
Regarding Claim(s) 19-20, Tran in view of Kauffman teaches the polyolefin composition of claim 1, used in diapers and footwear [0002] (i.e., healthcare parts and footwear components of claim 20)
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US2019/0136100 to Tran et al. in view of US2020/0377716 to Kauffman et al. as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1, in further view of US2018/0215846 to Kulshreshtha et al. (as found on the IDS dated 9/7/2022).
Regarding Claim(s) 8-10, Tran in view of Kauffman teaches the polyolefin composition of claim 1, as set forth above and incorporated herein by reference wherein the recycled polyolefin comprises primarily ethylene [0057] (i.e., polyethylene rich polyolefin of claim 8).
Tran in view of Kauffman does not particularly teach the polyolefin is recovered from post-consumer waste of claim 8, contains between 0.1-86% impurities and is silent regarding the recycled polyolefin melt flow rate of 0.1 to 10 g/10min.
However, Kulshreshtha teaches a polyethylene [Kulshreshtha, 0043] that has a melt flow rate of 0.5 to 20 g/10min [Kulshreshtha, 0043] (reasonably reading on an MFR of 0.1-10 g/10 min) that is preferred to be a recycled material which is recovered from waste plastic material derived from post-consumer and/or post-industrial waste [Kulshreshtha, 0037] comprising 0.05 to 20 wt% of polymerized 1-butene [Kulshreshtha 0038] thus reasonably reading on 0.1-86% impurities such as other polymers e.g., polybutene-1 as set forth in instant specification [0058]. Tran in view of Kauffman are analogous art as they are from the same field of endeavor, namely polyethylene compositions with improved flowability.
Before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to substitute Kulshreshtha with Yalvac, thereby arriving at the claimed invention.
The motivation to modify Yalvac with Kulshreshtha is the demand of using recycled polyolefins has increased because of legal requirements that exist in some segments like automotive applications [Kulshreshtha, 0003]. Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that recycling plastics is desirable to conserve resources, reduce pollution, and decrease landfill use.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant states Yalvac, Kulshreshtha, Wolshleger, Rebih and Zhou do not teach the newly amended claim 1 individually or in combination. Furthermore Applicant states the inherency position is not sufficient as the newly amended claim has not established cited prior art references disclose the same composition.
In response, Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-10, 14, and 16-20, have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Attention is drawn to the updated rejection of claims 1-7, 14, and 16-20 over Tran in view of Kauffman and the updated rejection of claims 8-10 over Tran in view of Kauffman and Kulshreshtha.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEVIN MITCHELL DARLING whose telephone number is (703)756-5411. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30am - 5:00pm.
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/DEVIN MITCHELL DARLING/Examiner, Art Unit 1764
/ARRIE L REUTHER/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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