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 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.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kito (JP 2013147645) in view of Hughes (US 5,705,565). As the JP reference is not in English, citations are made to the attached translation.
Kito teaches thermoplastic resin compositions comprising a polyamide, polyolefin, and compatibilizer (¶ 10) where examples of the polyamide include polyamide 6, polyamide 66, and polyamide 612 (¶ 16) which meets claim 3. Kito teaches the polyolefin includes propylene homopolymers (¶ 19) which meets claim 3. Kito teaches the compatibilizer is an elastomer such as an ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer including ethylene-butene copolymers (¶ 22-23) which are modified by acid groups (¶ 26-27). Kito teaches the amount of polyolefin is preferably 40-70 mass%, the polyamide is preferably 15-30 mass%, (¶ 31) and the amount of compatibilizer is preferably 5-30 mass% (¶ 31). These amounts overlap the amounts in claim 1. Kito teaches the process of producing the composition includes melt kneading the composition (¶ 10, 66).
Kito teaches examples which include 30mass% polyamide11, 60mass% polypropylene, and 10 mass% maleic anhydride modified EBR (¶45-50). These amounts fall in the claimed ranges.
Kito does not explicitly recite the density of the compatibilizer.
However, Hughes teaches polymer compositions which have been graft modified with maleic anhydride (abstract) where these polymers impart compatibility and impact properties (abstract) and provides examples having a density of 0.87 g/cm3 (Table 15) which are used in polyamide/polyolefin compositions (col. 14, ln. 35-40). This density meets claim 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a modified polyolefin with a low density because it provides superior low temperature toughness which has commercial advantages (col. 17, ln. 48-59).
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kito (US 2014/0371394) in view of Hughes (US 5,705,565).
Kito teaches thermoplastic resin compositions comprising a polyamide, polyolefin, and compatibilizer (abstract) where examples of the polyamide include polyamide 6, polyamide 66, and polyamide 612 (¶ 21) which meets claim 3. Kito teaches the polyolefin includes propylene homopolymers (¶58) which meets claim 3. Kito teaches the compatibilizer is an elastomer such as an ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer including ethylene-butene copolymers (¶ 25) which are modified by acid groups (abstract, ¶ 35). Kito teaches the amount of polyolefin is preferably 40-70 mass%, the polyamide is preferably 15-30 mass%, (¶ 79-81) and the amount of compatibilizer is preferably 5-30 mass% (¶ 79-81). These amounts overlap the amounts in claim 1. Kito teaches the process of producing the composition includes melt kneading the composition (abstract, ¶ 92).
Kito teaches examples which include 30mass% polyamide11, 60mass% polypropylene, and 10 mass% maleic anhydride modified EBR (¶ 174-179, Table 1). These amounts fall in the claimed ranges.
Kito does not explicitly recite the density of the compatibilizer.
However, Hughes teaches polymer compositions which have been graft modified with maleic anhydride (abstract) where these polymers impart compatibility and impact properties (abstract) and provides examples having a density of 0.87 g/cm3 (Table 15) which are used in polyamide/polyolefin compositions (col. 14, ln. 35-40). This density meets claim 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a modified polyolefin with a low density because it provides superior low temperature toughness which has commercial advantages (col. 17, ln. 48-59).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT C BOYLE whose telephone number is (571)270-7347. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 10am-4pm.
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, Arrie (Lanee) Reuther can be reached at (571)270-7026. 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.
/ROBERT C BOYLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
Prosecution Insights