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 .
The Office Action is in response to the application filed 11/08/2023.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 2, Claims 7-15 is acknowledged. Claims 1-6 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claims.
Claim Analysis
Summary of Claim 7:
A marine repair composition comprising:
a part A comprising:
an unsaturated vinyl ester resin; a reactive diluent;
a cure promoter; cure inhibitor; corrosion inhibitor; and
a filler;
a part B comprising a free-radical cure initiator stored separately from said part A until mixed with said part A to form the composition.
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.
Claim 15 is 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 15 recites the limitation “said peroxide". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 7, 9, and 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McDaniel et al. (US 2010/0210745 A1; cited in the IDS submitted on 02/06/2024; hereafter as “McDaniel”) in view of Kuroki et al. (EP 3228637 B1; cited in the IDS submitted on 02/06/2024; hereafter as “Kuroki”).
Regarding Claim 7, McDaniel teaches a material for the molecular healing of polymeric coatings for marine coatings [Abstract; Claim 1; ¶ 1526], corresponding to the marine repair composition of Claim 7, comprising:
thermoset polymeric material such as a vinyl ester resin [¶ 0018], corresponding to the unsaturated vinyl ester resin of Claim 7;
diluent, which confers and/or alters the coating’s rheological properties (e.g. viscosity) to ease the application of the coating to a surface [¶ 1460] and thermoplastic binder, such as acrylic, dissolved in an active solvent [¶ 1480, 1593], wherein the acrylic is disclosed by the instant Specification as a reactive diluent [Instant Specification, ¶ 0025], corresponding to the reactive diluent of Claim 7;
Accelerator [¶ 0023], corresponding to the cure promoter of Claim 7;
Crosslinking inhibitor [¶ 0014, 0020], corresponding to the cure inhibitor of Claim 7;
Corrosion inhibitor [¶ 0023], corresponding to the corrosion inhibitor of Claim 7;
Filler [¶ 0020, 0023], corresponding to the filler of Claim 7;
Initiator with a vinyl ester [¶ 1114-1115], which the instant Specification discloses is a free radical cure initiator [instant Specification, ¶ ], which corresponds with the free radical cure initiator of Claim 7; and
Wherein the different components of the coating are stored in a plurality of containers, and the components are mixed prior to and/or during application [¶ 0039, 0556], corresponding to the separate storage of the parts until mixed to form the composition of Claim 7.
However, McDaniel does not explicitly teach the free-radical cure initiator is stored separately from said part A until mixed with said part A to form the composition of Claim 7.
Regarding the free-radical cure initiator, Kuroki teaches a coating composition that can be cured in seawater for repairing marine structures [¶ 0308, 0319, 0716], comprising a radical polymerization initiator [¶ 0137-0144, 0565-0568; Claim 7]. Kuroki offers the motivation that radical polymerization initiators such as thermal polymerization initiators and photoradical initiators can be used in combination to assist in the curing reaction [¶ 0142]. Kuroki also offers the motivation that the coating composition can cure on a wet or dry substrate, including in seawater which is useful for repairing marine structures [¶ 0309, 0716].
Regarding the separate storage of part A and part B, Kuroki teaches the radical polymerization initiator is preferably a two-component curable coating composition comprising a base component and the radical polymerization initiator, wherein the radical polymerization initiator is mixed in after other components of the composition [¶ 0299-0307], thereby corresponding to part B is stored separately from said part A until mixed with part A to form the composition of Claim 7. Kuroki offers the motivation that mixing the radical polymerization initiator after mixing the other components prevents radical polymerization from starting prematurely [¶0205].
McDaniel and Kuroki are considered to be analogous art as the claimed invention, as all are in the same field of polymeric coatings comprised of vinyl ester resin, diluent, curing accelerator, crosslinking inhibitor, and filler.
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the free-radical cure initiator and separate storage of the initiator of Kuroki with the polymeric coating composition of McDaniel, with the motivation to assist the curing reaction and to prevent premature polymerization, thereby arriving at the claimed invention.
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to the polymeric coating composition of McDaniel for repairing marine structures as taught by Kuroki, with the motivation to repair the marine structures while they are still wet with seawater, thereby arriving at the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 9, McDaniel teaches use of curing accelerators, such as p-toluidine [¶ 0023, 1123].
However, McDaniel does not explicitly teach wherein said cure promoter comprises N,N-dimethyl- p-toluidine of Claim 9.
Nevertheless, Kuroki teaches curing accelerators such as N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine [¶ 0146], corresponding to the N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine of Claim 9.
Kuroki offers the motivation that curing accelerators improve curability [¶ 0145].
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine Kuroki with the polymeric coating composition of McDaniel, with the motivation to improve composition curability, thereby arriving at the claimed invention.
Regarding Claims 11-12, McDaniel further teaches:
Microspheres, calcium carbonate, and talc [¶ 0669], thereby reading on the microspheres, calcium carbonate, and talc of Claim 11;
a chemically bonded indicator of solvation such as a chromophore comprising a monomer [¶ 0544], corresponding to a cure reactive dye of Claim 12.
Regarding Claims 13-14, McDaniel does not explicitly teach wherein part A is mixed with part B in a weight ratio of 100-1:1±10% of Claim 13, or wherein said weight ratio is 50:1±10% of Claim 14.
Nevertheless, Kuroki teaches radical polymerization initiator is preferably 0.1 to 10 parts by mass to 100 parts by mass of the radical-polymerizable compound [¶ 0349], which is equivalent to greater than 1000-10:1 parts by mass of radical polymerization initiator, which overlaps a weight ratio of 100-1:1±10% of Claim 13, and a weight ratio of 50:1±10% of Claim 14.
One of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have considered the invention to have been obvious because the range taught by Kuroki for the amount of radical polymerization initiator (greater than 1000-1:1) overlaps the instantly claimed ranges (100-1:1±10% of Claim 13, and 50:1±10% of Claim 14) and is therefore considered to establish a prima facie case of obviousness. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select any portion of the disclosed ranges including the instantly claimed ranges from the ranges disclosed in the prior art reference, MPEP 2144.05.
Regarding Claim 15, McDaniel teaches polymeric additives, such as plasticizers and fillers [¶ 0013, 0020, 0538], corresponding to the plasticizer and filler, respectively, of Claim 15.
However, McDaniel does not explicitly teach wherein said peroxide is present in said part B as a putty further comprising a plasticizer and a part B filler of Claim 15.
Nevertheless, Kuroki further teaches:
radical polymerization initiators that may be used in combination [¶ 0142], such as a pasty curing agent [¶ 0642] and cumene hydroperoxide [¶ 0565-0568], wherein the pasty curing agent corresponds to part B as a putty, and the cumene hydroperoxide corresponds to the peroxide of Claim 15;
Filler [¶ 0148-0154], corresponding to the part B filler of Claim 15; and
Filler and additives, such as the radical polymerization initiator were mixed with the liquid mixture to obtain a coating composition [¶ 0590], corresponding to the peroxide further comprising a filler of Claim 15.
In sum, McDaniel teaches the use of initiators in addition to additives, such as fillers and plasticizers, and Kuroki teaches the radical polymerization initiator may comprise various additives.
Kuroki also offers the motivation that additives can be adequately selected to avoid undesirable curing [¶ 0301] – additives that will not prematurely cure such as fillers and plasticizers.
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use fillers and plasticizers as additives with the radical polymerization initiator of Kuroki in the polymeric coating composition of McDaniel, with the motivation to improve composition curability and flowability, thereby arriving at the claimed invention.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McDaniel et al. (US 2010/0210745 A1; cited in the IDS submitted on 02/06/2024; hereafter as “McDaniel”) in view of Kuroki et al. (EP 3228637 B1; cited in the IDS submitted on 02/06/2024; hereafter as “Kuroki”), and in further view of Tang et al. (CN 111334156 A; English translation incorporated herein; hereafter as “Tang”).
McDaniel and Kuroki teach the vinyl ester resin, diluent, cure promoter, cure inhibitor, corrosion inhibitor, filler, and free-radical cure initiator of Claim 7 as set forth above and incorporated herein by reference.
Kuroki further teaches the radical-polymerizable compound can be a mixture of a vinyl ester resin and urethane (meth)acrylate resin [Claim 1].
However, McDaniel and Kuroki do not explicitly teach wherein said unsaturated vinyl ester resin is a urethane modified vinyl ester resin or a urethane modified acid addition vinyl ester resin, or a combination thereof of Claim 8.
Nevertheless, Tang teaches a rapid repair coating for wind turbine blades comprising vinyl ester resin, acrylate, methacrylate, curing accelerator, and initiators [Claims 1-3, ¶ 0004, 0025-0028; Examples 1-2], and further comprising urethane vinyl ester resin [Claim 1; ¶ 0002], thereby reading on the urethane modified vinyl ester resin of Claim 8.
Tang offers the motivation that the rapid repair coating demonstrates resistance to salt spray corrosion [¶ 0004].
McDaniel, Kuroki, and Tang are considered to be analogous art as the claimed invention, as all are in the same field of polymeric coatings comprised of vinyl ester resin, acrylic, diluent, curing accelerator, filler, and initiators that can be used to repair structures.
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the urethane vinyl ester resin with the polymeric coating composition of McDaniel, with the motivation to improve resistance to salt spray corrosion, thereby arriving at the claimed invention.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McDaniel et al. (US 2010/0210745 A1; cited in the IDS submitted on 02/06/2024; hereafter as “McDaniel”) in view of Kuroki et al. (EP 3228637 B1; cited in the IDS submitted on 02/06/2024; hereafter as “Kuroki”), and in further view of Kano et al. (WO 2019/065248 A1; English translation incorporated herein; hereafter as “Kano”).
McDaniel and Kuroki teach the vinyl ester resin, diluent, cure promoter, cure inhibitor, corrosion inhibitor, filler, and free-radical cure initiator of Claim 7 as set forth above and incorporated herein by reference.
However, McDaniel and Kuroki do not explicitly teach wherein said cure promoter comprises tetramethylhydroquinone of Claim 10.
Nevertheless, Kano teaches composite materials intended for structural materials in vehicles [¶ 0002], comprising curing accelerators such as tetramethylhydroquinone [¶ 0043], corresponding to the tetramethylhydroquinone of Claim 10.
Kano offers the motivation that curing accelerators may be used to accelerate the curing reaction [¶ 0043].
McDaniel, Kuroki, and Kano are considered to be analogous art as the claimed invention, as all are in the same field of polymeric coatings comprised of unsaturated ester resin, acrylic, diluent, curing accelerator, crosslinking inhibitor, filler, and initiators.
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the tetramethylhydroquinone of Kano with the polymeric coating composition of McDaniel and Kuroki, with the motivation to accelerate curing, thereby arriving at the claimed invention.
Conclusion
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/DORIS LING/Examiner, Art Unit 1764
/ARRIE L REUTHER/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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