DETAILED ACTION
This office action follows a reply filed on April 23, 2026. Claims 1, 2, 4-5, 10-11, and 15-16 have been amended. Claims 1-2 and 4-21 are currently pending and under examination.
The texts of those sections of Title 35 U.S. Code are not included in this section and can be found in a prior Office action.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Double Patenting
Claims 1-2 and 4-21 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-21 of copending Application No. 18/259,366 (reference application).
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claimed invention claims the product claimed by the method claims of App. No. ‘366.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
Claims 1-2, 4 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Cain (US 3,882,186), as evidenced by Nakamura (US 2008/10110544).
Cain exemplifies a composition comprising the following:
PNG
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131
364
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Greyscale
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105
573
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Greyscale
N-phenyl-4-aminophenol is the same as 4-hydroxydiphenylamine.
The minimum viscosity is the lowest Mooney viscosity recorded before vulcanization begins.
While the viscosity is measured at 130°C instead of 100°C, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the same composition to have a reduced viscosity when N-phenyl-4-aminophenol is present compared to when it is not present even if the Mooney viscosity was measured at 100°C.
Cain anticipates or is prima facie obvious over instant claims 1-2 and 6-10.
As to claim 4, HAF carbon black is known as having a surface area between about 25-100 m2/g (p. 2, [0025]); therefore, the HAF carbon black inherently possesses a surface area within the claimed range of 20-400 m2/g.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claimed invention 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.
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 BRIEANN R JOHNSTON whose telephone number is (571)270-7344. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached at (571)272-1302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Brieann R Johnston/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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