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 Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “Umicore”, which appears to be a company name, and should be removed. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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(s) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christiansen et al. (US 9,206,105).
The claims are drawn to a mixture comprising compounds (1a) and (1b), and to a hydroformylation process using said mixture, along with a rhodium compound, as catalyst.
Christiansen et al. teach a mixture of constitutionally isomeric bisphosphites and a metal, to use as a catalytically active composition in a hydroformylation reaction (abstract). The reference teaches a mixture of compounds (Ia) and (Ib), wherein substituents R1 to R4 are selected from -Me, -tBu, and -OMe. The mixture of bisphosphites may comprise a metal selected from Fe, Ru, Co, Rh, Ni, Pd, and Pt. For example, a rhodium compound, such as Rh(acac)(CO)2 can be used to supply rhodium metal.
The catalyst composition taught by Christiansen et al. is used in a process to hydroformylate an olefin, e.g., cis-2-butene, in the presence of toluene as solvent, at a temperature of 120°C, and a pressure of 20 bar (col. 29; claims).
The instant claims are rendered obvious by Christiansen et al., since the reference teaches a mixture of bisphosphite ligands, the scope of which encompasses the bisphosphites of instant formula (1a) and (1b), as the substituents on the bisphosphites recited by the reference are such that a person having ordinary skill in the art could readily chose a compound, or compounds that would anticipate the bisphosphite mixture recited in the instant claims.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIKARL A WITHERSPOON whose telephone number is (571)272-0649. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-9pm IFP.
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/SIKARL A WITHERSPOON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1692
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