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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-4) in the reply filed on May 17, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 5-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. The requirement is deemed proper and is therefore made 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.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Klaerner et al (US 2002/0010267).
Regarding claim 1-3, Klaerner teaches a block copolymer with the following structure: A-B-A-C which reads on the claimed structure ([0084]). Klaerner teaches that virtually any polymer architecture can be made from a wide variety of monomers including styrene, acrylic acid and n-butyl acrylate ([0083]).
Klaerner fails to specifically exemplify the exact copolymer. However, Klaerner discloses each of the components of the block, and teaches that they are all suitable for use in the recited block copolymer structure. It is within the ordinary level of skill in the art to make any of the block copolymers suggested by a reference, including selecting materials from a list in a reference. Therefore, a person of ordinary skill would have been motivated to prepare any of the block copolymers suggested by Klaerner, including the claimed copolymer of styrene-n-butyl acrylate-styrene-acrylic acid. In view of this, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the present invention to use the teachings of Klaerner to arrive at the presently claimed invention. It would have been nothing more than using known components in a typical manner to achieve predictable results. KSR v. Teleflex, 550 U.S. 418, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Regarding claim 4, Klaerner teaches that each of the blocks has a repeat unit of 10 or more ([0086]) which overlaps the recited range of the claimed copolymer.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DORIS L LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-3872. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 5 pm.
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DORIS L. LEE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1764
/DORIS L LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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