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.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogawa (WO 2021167051) in view of Kuse et al (US 2017/0232775).
With regards to claims 1-2 and 6 7, Ogawa teaches a photocurable silicone composition (title and abstract) that contains an organopolysiloxane having at least two alkenyl groups, a compound having at least two mercapto groups per molecule, and a photoinitiator (0009). Ogawa further teaches the photoinitiator to include compounds that are α-hydroxyketone or phosphine oxide photoinitiators (0043).
Ogawa does not teach the addition of black pigments.
Kuse teaches a curable composition that contains a crosslinker that is a multifunctional mercapto compound (0057), a vinyl group containing organopolysiloxane (0073) and a black pigment that includes carbon black and perylene pigments (0065-0066). Kuse teaches the motivation for adding these pigments to be because is converts light energy to heat (0065) which facilitates curing where the light cannot reach. Ogawa and Kuse are analogous in the art of orgaonpolysiloxane compositions. 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 add the black pigments of Kuse to the composition of Ogawa, thereby obtaining the present invention.
With regards to claim 3, Ogawa and Kuse do not teach the particle size of the pigments added to the composition. However, where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 124 (CCPA 1955). In this case, one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention would know to alter the particle size of the pigments in order to achieve the desired optical properties such as gloss, intensity, opacity, and rheology of the composition.
With regards to claim 4, Ogawa and Kuse do not teach the specific surface area of the pigments added to the composition. However, where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 124 (CCPA 1955). In this case, one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention would know to alter the surface area of the pigments in order to achieve the desired properties such as color and hiding power, dispersion and rheology, durability and weathering, and mechanical properties of the composition.
With regards to claim 5, Ogawa and Kuse do not teach the oil absorption of the pigments added to the composition. However, where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 124 (CCPA 1955). The oil absorption of pigments is the amount of oil needed to form a stiff, spreadable paste with a specific weight of pigment. In this case, one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention would know to select a pigment having the desired oil absorption in order to balance the amount of oil needed to form said paste with the desired color and intensity of color.
With regards to claim 8, Ogawa teaches the composition to contain 10 to 99 parts of the organopolysiloxane having at least two alkenyl groups (0023).
With regards to claim 9, Ogawa teaches the amount of the mercapto compound to be 13.57% (example 1).
With regards to claim 10, Ogawa teaches the amount of the mercapto groups to be 0.2 to 3 moles per pole of alkenyl groups (0042).
With regards to claim 11, Ogawa teaches the use of the composition as a sealant (0053).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references teach the composition as claimed in claim 1 but do not include the black pigment: Takeuchi et al (US 2021/0269642), Chae et al (US 2022/0403115), Yook et al (US 2023/0013987), Chae et al (US 2023/0174722), and Liu et al (US 2022/0145020).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA WHITELEY whose telephone number is (571)272-5203. The examiner can normally be reached 8 - 5:00.
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/JESSICA WHITELEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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