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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The method of claim 1 recites in the last step, “through foam forming technology”. The as-filed specification makes mention of foam forming technology but does not reasonably suggest to one of ordinary skill in the art the metes and bounds on what is considered to be foam forming technology and what is not encompassed by said term. Additionally, Applicant does not have any examples in which they demonstration what the inventors considered to be within the scope of said term at the time the invention was filed. As the metes and bounds on foam forming technology are unclear, the term is considered indefinite.
Claims 2-11 are rejected based on their dependency to Claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hsu (WO2022011542; EP4183832 used as English equivalent).
The applied reference has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B) if the same invention is not being claimed; or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed in the reference and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement.
Hsu anticipates the Claims 1-11 via the teachings throughout the reference itself in particular those detailed via the claimed method of Hsu (Claims 5-10 of Hsu), thereby anticipating Claims 1-11 and in addition to the following sections of Hsu.
Hsu teaches the claimed method including the weight loss conveyance (loss in weight metering in ¶[0011-0016]). Strands anticipates strips as Applicant does not define strips to be any particular geometry. See below:
PNG
media_image1.png
460
790
media_image1.png
Greyscale
See also ¶[0035]-¶[0046] for even more details on the control of the temperatures throughout the extruder.
The coupling agent instantly claimed is specifically preferred in ¶[0024]
PNG
media_image2.png
132
782
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Thereby rendering Hsu sufficiently specific to anticipate the recited compatibilizer.
The above anticipates Claim 1. (See also Claim 5 and Claim 9 of Hsu and Claim 8 of Hsu)
The above ¶[0012], ¶[0038], ¶[0042] temperatures also anticipate Claim 2.
This GMA / EVA grafted copolymer is consider to be an ethylene copolymer functionalized with a polar group (epoxy) by Applicant. See ¶[0019] of the as-filed specification. This type of compatibilizer anticipates Claim 3, Claim 4, Claim 6, Claim 7, Claim 8, and Claim 9 (most preferred). The ethylene propionate copolymer compatibilizer of Claim 5 is not positively recited by Claim 5 nor Claim 4 and, therefore, Claim 5 is still anticipated by Hsu.
Intrinsic viscosity of Claim 10 is anticipated by ¶[0022] below: (See also Claim 7 of Hsu)
PNG
media_image3.png
66
776
media_image3.png
Greyscale
EVA properties of Claim 11 are anticipated by ¶[0023] below: (See also Claim 7 of Hsu)
PNG
media_image4.png
52
736
media_image4.png
Greyscale
As the above are the only details on the EVA and r-PET concerning the above properties Hsu is additionally considered to be sufficiently specific to anticipate the above claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER M RODD whose telephone number is (571)270-1299. The examiner can normally be reached 7 am - 3:30 pm (Pacific).
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, Randy Gulakowski can be reached at (571) 272-1302. 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 571-272-1000.
/Christopher M Rodd/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766