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 § 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 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim 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.
Claim 1 recites “at least one monomer selected from a vinyl-monomer group comprising…and mixtures thereof…” in line 4-5. This claim is indefinite because it is unclear if the alternatives are from a closed list (i.e. selected from a group consisting of), or an open list (i.e. comprising…A, B, or C”). See MPEP 2173.05(h) (e.g., alternatives may be set forth as "a material selected from the group consisting of A, B, and C" or "wherein the material is A, B, or C"). It is also unclear whether the “at least one” of the claim requires only one of the listed monomers or requires all of them since the claim recites “comprising…and…”
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the one or more first surfactants…" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 11 is missing and thus, Claims 12-17 appear to be misnumbered.
Claim 15 recites “at least one monomer selected from a vinyl-monomer group comprising…and mixtures thereof…” in line 3-4. This claim is indefinite because it is unclear if the alternatives are from a closed list (i.e. selected from a group consisting of), or an open list (i.e. comprising…A, B, or C”). See MPEP 2173.05(h) (e.g., alternatives may be set forth as "a material selected from the group consisting of A, B, and C" or "wherein the material is A, B, or C"). It is also unclear whether the “at least one” of the claim requires only one of the listed monomers or requires all of them since the claim recites “comprising…and…”
Claims 2, 4-14, 16 and 17, are dependent claims which fail to alleviate the issues above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-10, and 14-15, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2014/0199592 A1 to Pyun et al. (hereinafter Pyun).
Regarding claims 1, 3-10, and 14-15, Pyun teaches a polymeric composition comprising a copolymer of sulfur, and one or more monomers of ethylenically unsaturated monomers (See abstract). Pyun teaches that the polymeric composition is
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, (Fig. 11), obtained by mixing the monomers of styrene, polyene sulfide, and sulfur, with benzyldithiobenzoate as an initiator, and tetraphenylphosphonium chloride as the free radical initiator, and polymerizing to form the polymeric composition. (para 96-97). Pyun further teaches the polymerization occurs by heating the mixture at 185 deg C with stirring at 550 rpm (See examples, para 47, 88 and 90), wherein the sulfur is in an amount of at least 50 wt% (para 8), and further teaches an emulsion can be made by mixing the above polymeric composition at 180 deg C with water and a sodium lauryl sulfate surfactant (i.e. sodium dodecyl sulfate, nonionic, Triton X100) to form core/shell colloids (para 67, Example 10, para 103 and para 7). Pyun further teaches that the monomers can have specific/higher feed ratios (para 43), which meets claim 8.
Thus, one skilled in the art would at once envisage the claimed arrangement combination of the claimed method and emulsion polymeric composition of claims 1 and 15 because Pyun specifically teaches the polymeric composition of sulfur, and styrene, and further teaches the composition in a form of an emulsion with a core/shell colloidal structure obtained by heating and stirring the monomers with a free radical initiator and further stirring the composition in water, which meets the claimed arrangement combination. (See MPEP 2131.02(III), "A reference disclosure can anticipate a claim when the reference describes the limitations but "'d[oes] not expressly spell out' the limitations as arranged or combined as in the claim, if a person of skill in the art, reading the reference, would ‘at once envisage’ the claimed arrangement or combination").
Claim(s) 1-6, 9-10, 13-15 and 17, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2022/0020992 A1 to Lee et al. (hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claims 1-6, 9-10, 13-15 and 17, Lee teaches an emulsion copolymer particles are formed by mixing styrene, acrylic acid, and butadiene, (para 123), with a polymerization free radical initiator of potassium persulfate (para 38), water, and a sodium lauryl sulfate surfactant, and heated to 70 deg C and polymerized, (para 123), and further mixed and reacted with sulfur (S8) to form an anode binder material (para 125). The sulfur is added in an amount of 0.5 to 3 parts by weight per 100 part by weight of the styrene-butadiene-based copolymer (para 39-40).
Conclusion
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/HA S NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766