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
Claims 5-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on April 19, 2026.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 3/7/2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the CN202310214490 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al (CN 105837760) in view of Malik et al (US 10,036,952).
With regards to claim 1, Wang teaches a polyimide photosensitive material for 3D printing (title) that contains a polyimide oligomer at a concentration from 50-60%, a reactive diluent at a concentration of 10-30%, and a free radical photoinitiator at a concentration of 2-5% (page 2). Wang teaches the reactive diluent to include the monomer a combination of N-vinylpyrrolidone and lauryl acrylate (page 4) reading on the claimed organic activator.
Wang does not teach the claimed organic activator to include the monomer methyl methacrylate.
Malik teaches a photosensitive polyimide compositions (title) that contains a polyimide polymer (abstract), a photoinitiator (abstract) and a solubility switching compound (abstract) that includes methyl (meth)acrylate (column 20, lines 19-43). Malik teaches the motivation for using this compound to be because it helps generate a contrast in the dissolution rate of the film prepared from the photosensitive composition before and after exposure (column 19, lines 55-67). Wang and Malik are analogous in the art of photosensitive polyimide compositions. In light of the discussion above, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention to add the MMA of Malik to the composition of Wang, thereby obtaining the present invention.
Claims 2-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al (CN 105837760) in view of Malik et al (US 10,036,952) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Liu et al (CN 113818098).
The disclosure of Wang in view of Malik is adequately set forth in paragraph 5 above and is herein incorporated by reference.
With regards to claims 2-4, Wang teaches the polyimide to be formed from a reaction from an imididimide compound and an anhydride compound with triethylamine, hydroquinone (reading on an inhibitor), a solvent that includes N-methylpyrrolidone, and glycidyl methacrylate (page 2). Wang teaches the amount of imide compound to be 0.05 moles, the amount of 0.1 moles of the maleic anhydride, catalytic amounts of triethylamine, catalytic amounts of hydroquinone, and 0.15-0.2 moles of glycidyl methacrylate (page 2).
Wang does not teach the reactants to include 2-(4-aminophenyl)-5-aminobenzimidazole and 3,3’,4,4’-benzonphenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA).
Liu teaches the preparation of a polyimide (title) for 3D printing (page 2) that is a reaction of 2-(4-aminophenyl)-5-aminobenzimidazole (BIA) dianhydride with 3,3’,4,4’-dibenzone tetraic anhydride (BTDA). Liu teaches the motivation for using these reactants to be because the polyimide formed is a low complex process, low cost, and high efficiency (page 2). Wang, Malik, and Liu are analogous in the art of photosensitive polyimide compositions. In light of the benefit above, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention to use the reactants of Liu in Wang, thereby obtaining the present inventions
Conclusion
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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