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 .
Detailed Action
Previous Rejections
Applicants' arguments, filed 11/21/25 have been fully considered. Rejections and/or objections not reiterated from previous office actions are hereby withdrawn. The following rejections and/or objections are either reiterated or newly applied. They constitute the complete set presently being applied to the instant application.
New rejections have been made in this office action that is not necessitated by claim amendments, therefore the rejection is non-final.
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.
Claims 1-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Levy et al. (US PG Pub. 2010/0323892 A1) in view of Fan et al. (US PG Pub. 2019/133120 A1) and Schwantes et al. (WO 2017040759 A1).
Levy et al. discloses in example 1: preparing an oil phase comprising methyl methacrylate at 6.5 wt% based on the oil component (a multifunction ethylenically unsaturated monomer or oligomer with water solubility at 20 °C in deionized water is less than 2 gram/liter) and methacrylic acid; forming an oil-in-water emulsion and subjecting said emulsion to polymerization, using tert-butyl hydroperoxide (peroxide), solubility of 180-150 mg/ml at 20° C (water solubility at 20 °C in deionized water of at least 1 gram/liter); Aqueous ascorbic acid (reducing agent) was also added during the polymerization. Levy teaches use of an agrochemical. Levy et al. discloses an aqueous dispersion comprising microcapsules, wherein the microcapsule wall is formed from radically polymerized monomers (i.e. at the phase interface), see (abstract and claim 14).
Levy et al. teaches that, in order to obtain microcapsules, an oil phase is prepared comprising at least one monomer, for example, a bi- or polyfunctional monomer (having at least two non-conjugated ethylene double bonds) that is insoluble or sparingly soluble in water (solubility of less than 60 g/l in water at 20°C) in an amount of up to 20 wt.%, and an aqueous phase is prepared, which are then mixed to obtain an emulsion, after which polymerization is initiated in the resulting emulsion using a radical initiator, which can be peroxo and azo compounds, see (paragraph [0023], [0028], [0032], [0095]-[0096], [0122] and examples). Levy et al. teaches that divinyl and polyvinyl monomers can be used as such monomers, for example, diesters of diols with acrylic or methacrylic acid, as well as diallyl and divinyl ethers of these diols, (paragraph [0032]-[0033]) .
Levy et al. teaches the capsule wall is formed from radically polymerized monomers. Generally, a person skilled in the art understands the term "radically polymerized monomers" to mean those monomers which, through radical chain reaction of monomers, became polymerized to form a polymer. A person skilled in the art usually distinguishes radically polymerized monomers, for example, from monomers which become polymerized by polycondensation to give polyesters or by polyaddition to give polyurethanes. Preferred radically polymerized monomers are acrylic acid and its esters, methacrylic acid and its esters, maleic acid and its esters, styrene, butadiene, isoprene, vinyl acetate and vinyl propionate. Alkyl acrylate, alkyl methacrylate, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, 1,4-butanediol diacrylate, methacrylic anhydride, pentaerythrityl tetraacrylate, pentaerythrityl triacrylate and trimethylolpropane triacrylate are particularly preferred, see [0022]. The reference teaches in a preferred embodiment, the capsule wall is formed from 30 to 100% by weight of one or more monomers which are C.sub.1-C.sub.24-alkyl esters of acrylic acid, C.sub.1-C.sub.24-alkyl esters of methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, methacrylic anhydride and maleic acid (monomer I), [0025] 0 to 20% by weight of one or more bi- and/or polyfunctional monomers (monomers II) which are insoluble or sparingly soluble in water, and [0026] 0 to 50% by weight of one or more other monomers (monomers III), in each case based on the total weight of the monomers, see [0023]. The polymers of the capsule wall generally comprise, copolymerized, at least 30% by weight, in preferred form at least 40% by weight, in particularly preferred form at least 50% by weight, in particular at least 60% by weight, very particularly preferably at least 65% by weight, and also up to 100% by weight, of one or more monomers I, based on the total weight of the monomers, see
[0027]. The reference teaches that the C.sub.1-C.sub.24-alkyl esters of acrylic acid and/or methacrylic acid and methacrylic anhydride are suitable as monomers I. Furthermore, unsaturated C.sub.3- and C.sub.4-carboxylic acids, such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid and maleic acid, are suitable. Mention may be made, by way of example, of methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-propyl acrylate, isopropyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, isobutyl acrylate, sec-butyl acrylate and tert-butyl acrylate and also methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, n-propyl methacrylate, isopropyl methacrylate, n-butyl methacrylate, isobutyl methacrylate, sec-butyl methacrylate and tert-butyl methacrylate. Alkyl acrylate, alkyl methacrylate, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid and methacrylic anhydride are preferred, see [0031]. The reference teaches that that the preferred divinyl monomers are the diesters of diols with acrylic acid or methacrylic acid and also the diallyl and divinyl ethers of these diols. Mention may be made, by way of example, of ethanediol diacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, 1,3-butylene glycol dimethacrylate, methallylmethacrylamide, allyl acrylate and allyl methacrylate. Particular preference is given to propanediol, butanediol, pentanediol and hexanediol diacrylate and the corresponding methacrylates, see [0033]. Suitable polyvinyl monomers are, for example, divinylbenzene, trivinylbenzene and divinylcyclohexane and trivinylcyclohexane. Preferred polyvinyl monomers are the polyesters of polyols with acrylic acid and/or methacrylic acid and also the polyallyl and polyvinyl ethers of these polyols. Preference is given to trimethylolpropane triacrylate and methacrylate, pentaerythrityl triallyl ether, pentaerythrityl tetraallyl ether, pentaerythrityl triacrylate and pentaerythrityl tetraacrylate or the corresponding methacrylates and also their technical mixtures, see [0034]. Levy et al. teaches that a reducing agent can be added to the aqueous phase facilitate the decomposition of the initiator and the initiation of polymerization, for example, such as ascorbic acid, (paragraph [0105] and examples). Levy teaches use of epoxiconazole in Table 3. Since the reference teaches multiple monomers to be used in making a microcapsule, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to have utilized a monomer with less than 2gm/litre solubility in water based on the teachings and guidance provided by Levy et al.
Levy et al. does not teach the claimed biocides or the active ingredients. Fan et al. as discussed below various low solubility polymers encapsulating active ingredients used in making a microcapsule.
Fan et al. discloses biocide encapsulated microcapsule, see title. Fan et al. discloses in embodiment 1A of §[0033]: - preparing an oil-based phase comprising styrene, acrylic acid and the biocide DCOIT; - heating said oil-based phase in an aqueous phase and adding potassium persulfate; - further heating induced polymerization of the vinyl-based monomers. The water solubility of styrene in DIW is less than 2 g/L. The water solubility of potassium persulfate radical initiator in DIW is at least 1 g/L. In embodiment 2, divinylbenzene is added to the oil phase prior to polymerization to provide cross-links. Styrene is added between 2 and 75 wt% of the oil phase. The choice of acrylate, diacrylates and triacrylates of the type claimed is something that the skilled person would make during routine experimentation. The combination of water-soluble radical initiators with a reducing agent is known in the art and depends on the choice of initiator.
Schwantes et al. teaches that, when producing microcapsules, an agrochemical active ingredient, such as a pesticide, herbicide, etc., in particular trifluralin, can be added to the oil phase (paragraph [0024] and claims 1 and 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have utilized various active agents into the microcapsule of Levy et al. et al. as taught by Fan et al. and Schwantes et al. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to do so because Fan et al. provide various active ingredients known to be used comprising polymer emulsions. Thus, utilization of any active ingredient would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to be enclosed in a microcapsule taught by Levy et al.
Applicant’s arguments are moot in view of the new rejections made above in view of Levy et al. teaching process of making microcapsule with various ethylenically unsaturated monomers.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SNIGDHA MAEWALL whose telephone number is (571)272-6197. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 8:30 AM to 5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sahana S. Kaup can be reached at 571-272-6897. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SNIGDHA MAEWALL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1612