Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/277,259

FINE RESIN PARTICLE AND FINE RESIN PARTICLE-CONTAINING COMPOSITION

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 15, 2023
Examiner
WHITELEY, JESSICA
Art Unit
1763
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Sekisui Kasei Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 1m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
1317 granted / 1489 resolved
+23.4% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+7.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
47 currently pending
Career history
1536
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
§103
31.5%
-8.5% vs TC avg
§102
34.8%
-5.2% vs TC avg
§112
16.6%
-23.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1489 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hama et al (US 2015/0030842) . With regards to claim 1 , Hama teaches a resin particle (abstract) that contains a polymer of a monomer mixture (abstract) that includes a crosslinking monomer (abstract) that includes multifunctional (meth)acrylates (0039) in an amount of 50 to 99% (abstract). Hama does not teach the maximum absorbance at either of the claimed wavelengths and the ratio thereof. Applicants have cited that the ratio of the maximum absorbance at the claimed wavelength would be satisfied so long as the amount of multifunctional monomer used to form the particle is over 50% by weight. Therefore, w hen the composition recited in the reference is substantially identical to that of the claims, the claimed properties or function are presumed inherent. MPEP 2112.01 . Because the prior art exemplifies Applicant’s claimed composition in that the claimed components in the claimed amounts, in particular the amount of multifunctional monomer used to form the particle, , the claimed physical properties relating to the absorbance ratio at the claimed wavelengths are inherently present in the prior art. Absent an objective showing to the contrary, the addition of the claimed physical properties to the claim language fails to provide patentable distinction over the prior art. With regards to claim 2 , Hama teaches the monomer used to make the particle to include a crosslinking monomer (abstract) which includes multifunctional (meth)acrylates (0039) . With regards to claim 3 , Hama teaches the monofunctional monomer to include a monofunctional (meth)acrylic acid ester (0036). With regards to claim 4 , Hama teaches the amount of the crosslinking multifunctional monomer to be 60% of the whole monomer mixture (0192 example 2). With regards to claim 5 , Hama teaches the resin particle to contain less than 30 ppm of unreacted monomer (0051) reading on 0.003 wt%. With regards to claim 6 , Hama teaches the resin particle to be dried (0078) and for the resin particle to be a powder (0183). 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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ikegaya et al (US 5,766,324) in view of Hama et al (US 2015/0030842) . With regards to claim 7 , Ikegaya teaches an ink composition (title) that includes a polymer particle (column 3, lines 36-43), a UV curable resin (column 4, lines 59-65), and a photopolymerization initiator (column 7 example 2). Ikegaya does not teach the claimed fine resin particle to be used as the polymer particle. The disclosure of Hama is adequately set forth in paragraph 3 above and is herein incorporated by reference. Hama teaches the motivation for using the particle as taught in Hama in a resin composition (0001) to be because it has excellent light diffusion and oil absorbing properties (0013). Hama and Ikegaya are analogous in the art of curable compositions containing particles. In light of the benefit above, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention to use the particle of Hama as the particle in the composition of Ikegaya, thereby obtaining the present invention. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT JESSICA WHITELEY whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-5203 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 8 - 5:00 . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Joseph Del Sole can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 5712721130 . 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 571-272-100 0. /JESSICA WHITELEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 15, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 20, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12600808
CROSSLINKABLE PREPOLYMERS FOR CHEMICALLY STABLE POLYMER GELS
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12600888
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2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12590264
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2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12590265
1-NORBORNAN-2-YLPROPAN-2-ONE AS A FRAGRANCE
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2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+7.1%)
2y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1489 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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