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 U.S.C. § 112(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.
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 15 recites a method of “polymerizing a polymeric composition comprising the methyl methacrylate-containing composition according to claim 1” (emphasis added). The claim and the specification do not provide a definition of the term “polymeric”. The ordinary meaning of the term “polymeric” is of or relating to a polymer.
The meaning of a composition that ‘relates’ to a polymer has multiple interpretations, and the claim does not set forth the scope of such a polymeric composition with reasonable clarity. As some non-limiting examples, the phrase “polymeric composition” may be interpreted alternatively to mean: a composition (whether monomeric or polymeric) that is intended for making a polymer by polymerization; a polymer that includes repeating units of the further-recited methyl methacrylate-containing composition; or a composition including both a polymer as well as the further-recited methyl methacrylate-containing composition.
Because the recited step of polymerizing a polymeric composition is subject to multiple interpretations, the claim does not set forth the scope of the step of polymerizing a polymeric composition with reasonable clarity.
Claim 16 is dependent upon claim 15, and it is indefinite for the same reason.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance.
The following reference is noted.
Journal of Polymer Science. Part A, Polymer Chemistry. 2010. 48(1), 34-47 to Nicolas et al. describes a process of (see Expt. 5) that includes the formation of a composition (see the process in the paragraph bridging pp. 35-36) that includes 9.23 M methyl methacrylate and 0.21 M acrylonitrile, corresponding to about 98.8 wt% of methyl methacrylate and about 1.2 wt% of acrylonitrile.
The examiner is unaware of any prior art that describes or suggests the methyl methacrylate-containing compositions of claims 1-14. Claims 1-14 are allowed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD A. HUHN whose telephone number is (571)270-7345. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arrie (Lanee) Reuther can be reached at (571) 270-7026. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICHARD A. HUHN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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