DETAILED ACTION
Pending Claims
Claims 1-11 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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, 2nd paragraph (b)
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 1-11 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.
Regarding claims 1-11, independent claim 1 is drawn to a compostable plastic wrap and begins with the following limitation:
“characterized in that, based on a total weight of the compostable plastic wrap being 100 wt%, a material of the compostable plastic wrap includes more than 90 wt% of polybutylene adipate terephthalate”.
The limitation presents a weight basis relating to the total weight of the compostable plastic wrap and then shifts to limit “a material” of the compostable plastic wrap to include more than 90 wt% of polybutylene adipate terephthalate. It is not immediately clear if the “more than 90 wt%” limitation is limiting the compostable plastic wrap (as a whole) or a portion (“a material”) of the compostable plastic wrap.
In addition, the claim then continues with the following limitation of the compostable plastic wrap:
“wherein, in a cross-sectional structure of the compostable plastic wrap, the compostable plastic wrap has a center area and a surface area completely encapsulating the center area, and the center area contains an oleate compound, or the surface area contains an ether compound.”
The “more than 90 wt%” range in the first limitation is an open-ended range that includes 100 wt%. This other limitation then requires the presence of an oleate compound and/or an ether compound, which conflicts with the full scope of the open-ended range. Accordingly, it is unclear which of these limitations controls the scope of the claim. Claims 2-11 are rejected because they are dependent from claim 1.
Suggested Claim Language and Interpretation
The following is suggested claim language for the instant invention. The suggested language is based on paragraph 0053 of the instant specification, along with paragraphs 0029, 0030, 0041, 0042, 0046, 0048, 0056, and 0057. The claims have been interpreted according to this suggested claim language.
1 (suggested language). A compostable plastic wrap comprising a center film material and a surface film material,
wherein, in a cross-sectional structure of the compostable plastic wrap, the compostable plastic wrap has a center layer film formed from the center film material and [[a]] two surface layer films formed from the surface film material, which surround and completely encapsulate the center layer film;
wherein the center film material comprises polybutylene adipate terephthalate and optional oleate compound;
wherein the surface film material comprises polybutylene adipate terephthalate andoptional ether compound;
wherein the oleate compound is present in the center film material and/or the ether compound is present in the surface film material; and
wherein the polybutylene adipate terephthalate of the center film material and the polybutylene adipate terephthalate of the surface film material are present in a combined amount of more than 90 wt%, based on 100 wt% of the overall compostable plastic wrap, provided that the combined amount accommodates the presence of the oleate compound and/or the ether compound, as well as any optional additive materials.
2 (suggested language). The compostable plastic wrap according to claim 1, wherein has a molecular weight of from 350 g/mol to 450 g/mol.
3 (suggested language). The compostable plastic wrap according to claim 1, wherein has a molecular weight of from 150 g/mol to 250 g/mol.
4 (suggested language). The compostable plastic wrap according to claim 1, whereinis present in an amount of , based on 100 wt% of the overall compostable plastic wrap.
5 (suggested language). The compostable plastic wrap according to claim 1, whereinis present in an amount of , based on 100 wt% of the overall compostable plastic wrap.
6 (suggested language). The compostable plastic wrap according to claim 1, whereinthe center film material and the surface film material further comprise polybutylene succinate, wherein the polybutylene succinate of the center film material and the polybutylene succinate of the surface film material are present in a combined amount of from 3 wt% to 7 wt%, based on 100 wt% of the overall compostable plastic wrap.
7 (suggested language). The compostable plastic wrap according to claim 1, wherein, based on a total thickness of the compostable plastic wrap being 100%, a thickness of the center layer film
8 (suggested language). The compostable plastic wrap according to claim 1, wherein the surface film material further comprises an amide compound, and the amide compound has a molecular weight that ranges from 200 g/mol to 500 g/mol.
9 (suggested language). The compostable plastic wrap according to claim 8, whereinis present in an amount of , based on 100 wt% of the overall compostable plastic wrap.
10 (suggested language). The compostable plastic wrap according to claim 1, wherein the surface film material further comprises polyisobutylene, and the polyisobutylene has a molecular weight that ranges from 200 g/mol to 10,000 g/mol.
11 (suggested language). The compostable plastic wrap according to claim 10, whereinpolyisobutylene is present in an amount of , based on 100 wt% of the overall compostable plastic wrap.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 2-11 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Ponti et al. (US 2019/0160796 A1) represents the closest prior art. Ponti et al. disclose a multi-layer film having an A/B/A laminate structure (see example 2 in paragraphs 0228-0229 and example 4 in paragraphs 0232-0235; see also paragraphs 0201-0203). In their exemplary embodiments, the A-layers account for 20 % of the laminate structure, and the B-layer accounts for 80 % of the laminate structure. Both layer materials are formulated with polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), and the A-layer contains minor amounts of ether-containing copolymeric crosslinker/extender (see “Joncryl masterbatch” in paragraphs 0211 & 0232). The B-layer is the main contributor to the overall PBAT content of the A/B/A laminate structure, and the exemplary embodiments fall well below the instantly claimed threshold of “more than 90 wt%”:
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There are additional considerations beyond the exemplary embodiments:
The PBAT content of the exemplary B-layer is approximately 62 wt%, which falls within the preferred range of Ponti et al. (see “50-85%” in paragraphs 0121-0123), while the instantly claimed content corresponds to the upper portion of the general (non-preferred) range of Ponti et al. (see “30-95%” in paragraphs 0121-0123).
The PBAT content of the exemplary A-layers is approximately 75 wt% and approximately 79 wt%. This aligns with a preferred embodiment of Ponti et al. where the A-layer contains 60-100 wt% of PBAT and 0-5 wt% of the crosslinker/extender (see paragraphs 0109-0114). Even if the A-layers (accounting for 20% of the overall laminate) were formulated with an amount of PBAT approaching 100 wt%, the B-layer (accounting for 80% of the overall laminate) would need to have more than 87.5 wt% of PBAT to satisfy the instantly claimed content. This again corresponds to the upper portion of the B-layer general range of Ponti et al. (see “30-95%” in paragraphs 0121-0123). In addition, these high A-layer PBAT contents raise the possibility of rendering the crosslinker/extender (ether compound) optional in the A-layer.
While it is possible that the teachings Ponti et al. could embrace embodiments where the two A-layers surround and completely encapsulate the B-layer, they fail to explicitly disclose this structural relationship.
Accordingly, the teachings of Ponti et al. lack adequate specificity to arrive at the instantly claimed compostable plastic wrap where: (1) in a cross-sectional structure of the compostable plastic wrap, the compostable plastic wrap has a center layer film formed from the center film material and two surface layer films formed from the surface film material, which surround and completely encapsulate the center layer film; and (2) wherein the polybutylene adipate terephthalate of the center film material and the polybutylene adipate terephthalate of the surface film material are present in a combined amount of more than 90 wt%, based on 100 wt% of the overall compostable plastic wrap, provided that the combined amount accommodates the presence of the oleate compound and/or the ether compound, as well as any optional additive materials.
Communication
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J FEELY whose telephone number is (571)272-1086. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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/MICHAEL J FEELY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
September 27, 2025