DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This application is a 371 of PCT/EP2021/084790, filed on 12/08/2021, which is entitled to and claims the benefit of priority of EP Patent App. No. 20212906.0, filed 12/09/2020. The preliminary amendment filed on 06/07/2023 is entered and acknowledged by the Examiner.
3. Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-8 with traverse in the reply filed on 01/27/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground that the technical feature linking the claims makes a contribution over the cited reference and thus requests that all groups are examined
together. This is not found persuasive because the standard for determining whether or not claims are restrictable in a national stage entry of PCT application is lack of unity thereof. Therefore, the groups of claims are still seen to be restrictable for reason of record. The inventions listed as Groups I-III do not relate to a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1 because, under PCT Rule 13.2, they lack the same or corresponding special technical features as is indicated in the restriction requirement of 12/18/2025. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
4. Claims 1-18 are pending. Claims 1-8 are under examination on the merits. Claims 9-18 are withdrawn to a non-elected invention from further consideration.
Information Disclosure Statement
5. The information disclosure statements submitted on 07/10/2023, 10/23/2025, and 02/06/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statements.
Priority
6. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted on 06/07/2023 under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Claim Objections
7. Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: It is suggested that “to compound of formula (2)" be deleted and "to the compound of formula (2)" be inserted in its stead so as to engender claim language clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
8. 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.
9. Claim 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Herbst et al. (EP 1925628 A1, hereinafter “’628”).
Regarding claim 1: ‘628 discloses an additive mixture comprising a compound of formula (1), 0.175% of 1,3,5-tris(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6(1 H,3H,5H)-trione (AO-2), and a compound of formula (2), 0.125% of 1-(2-Hydroxy-2-methyl propoxy)-4-octadecanoyloxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidine (HAS-3) in Example 8 ([0045],Table 1). The additive mixture is added to an organic material which is susceptible to oxidative, thermal or light-induced degradation (Exxon LL4004).
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Regarding claims 2-3: ‘628 discloses the additive mixture, wherein A1 is 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropyl and A2 is C17 alkyl.
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Regarding claim 4: ‘628 discloses the additive mixture, wherein the weight ratio of the compound of formula (1), 0.175% AO-2 to the compound of formula (2), 0.125% HAS-3 is 1.4 which encompasses the range of from 5:95 to 95:5 (0.053 to 19).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
10. 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.
11. Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Huber et al. (US Pub. No. 2019/0359790 A1, hereinafter “’790”) in view of Herbst et al. (EP 1925628 A1, hereinafter “’628”).
Regarding claims 1-4: ‘790 teaches an article comprising a composition (Page 1, [0001]; Page 14, Claim 13), wherein the composition comprising an organic material susceptible to degradation induced by light, heat or oxidation, and an additive mixture (Page 13, Claim 5) comprises at least one compound of the formula (I) as set forth (Page 1, [0016]), and (B) at least one anti-scratch additive (Page 2, [020]; Page 14, Claim 14), wherein the article is an automotive interior or exterior trim material (Page 13, Claim 1). ‘790 does not expressly teach teaches the instant compound of formula (1), and a compound of formula (2) as set forth, wherein A1 is 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropyl and A2 is C17 alkyl, and the weight ratio of the compound of formula (1) to the compound of formula (2) is in the range of from 5:95 to 95:5.
However, ‘628 teaches an additive mixture comprising a compound of formula (1), 0.175% of 1,3,5-tris(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6(1 H,3H,5H)-trione (AO-2), and a compound of formula (2), 0.125% of 1-(2-Hydroxy-2-methyl propoxy)-4-octadecanoyloxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidine (HAS-3) in Example 8 ([0045],Table 1). The additive mixture is added to an organic material which is susceptible to oxidative , thermal or light-induced degradation (Exxon LL4004), wherein A1 is 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropyl and A2 is C17 alkyl, wherein the weight ratio of the compound of formula (1), 0.175% AO-2 to the compound of formula (2), 0.125% HAS-3 is 1.4 which encompasses the range of from 5:95 to 95:5 (0.053 to 19) with benefit of providing the use of a combination of a sterically hindered amine and a phenolic antioxidant for improving the crosslinking process of a vinyl silane grafted polyolefin, and an improved process for the crosslinking of vinyl silane grafted polyolefins in the presence of a sterically hindered amine stabilizer and selected phenolic antioxidants (Page 2, [0001], lines 1-6).
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In an analogous art of the composition comprising an additive mixture for an automotive interior or exterior material, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the additive mixture by ‘790, so as to include the compound of formula (1), and the compound of formula (2) as set forth, wherein A1 is 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropyl and A2 is C17 alkyl, and the weight ratio of the compound of formula (1) to the compound of formula (2) is in the range of from 5:95 to 95:5 as taught by ‘628, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing the use of a combination of a sterically hindered amine and a phenolic antioxidant for improving the crosslinking process of a vinyl silane grafted polyolefin, and an improved process for the crosslinking of vinyl silane grafted polyolefins in the presence of a sterically hindered amine stabilizer and selected phenolic antioxidants as suggested by ‘628 (Page 2, [0001], lines 1-6).
Thus, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since the substitution of equivalents (i.e., in view of the art recognized functional equivalence of the two additive mixture) requires no express motivation as long as the prior art recognizes the equivalency. In re Fount USPQ 532 (CCPA 1982); In re Siebentritt, 152 USPQ 618 (CCPA 1967); Graver Tank & Mfg. Co. Inc. v Linde Air Products Co., 85 USPQ 328 (USSC).
Regarding claim 5: ‘790 teaches the additive mixture (Page 1, [0001]; Page 14, Claim 13), further comprising an additive selected from a hindered amine light stabilizer (Page 8, [0054]), a hydroxyphenyl triazine UV absorber (Page 10, [0054]), a compound of formula (C-I-8) or a mixture thereof.
Regarding claim 6: ‘790 teaches the additive mixture (Page 1, [0001]; Page 14, Claim 13), wherein the hindered amine light stabilizer is selected from the group as set forth (Page 8, [0054], 2.6).
Regarding claim 7: ‘790 teaches the additive mixture (Page 1, [0001]; Page 14, Claim 13), wherein the hydroxyphenyl triazine UV absorber is selected from the group as set forth (Page 10, [0054], 2.9).
Regarding claim 8: ‘790 teaches the additive mixture (Page 1, [0001]; Page 14, Claim 13), further comprising esters of substituted and unsubstituted benzoic acids (Page 8, [0054], 2.3).
Examiner Information
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bijan Ahvazi, Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571) 270-3449. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9.00 A.M. -7 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Del Sole can be reached on 571-272-1130. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Bijan Ahvazi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
02/17/2026
bijan.ahvazi@uspto.gov
Prosecution Insights