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 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 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murata (US 2002/0077422) in view of Kato (JP 2004002830).
The claims are drawn to a phenol mixture comprising 3,3’,5,5’-4,4’-tetramethyl-biphenol (TMBP) as a main component, and further comprising from between 0.3% and 10.0% by wt. of a polphenylene ether, and from 1.3% to 4.0% by wt. of tetramethyldiphenoquinone (TMQ). The claims are also drawn to an epoxy resin obtained by reacting the phenol mixture with an epihalohydrin; to an epoxy resin composition comprising a curing agent and the epoxy resin; a cured product; and an electric/electronic component.
Murata teaches an epoxy resin composition obtained by reacting TMBP with an epihalohydrin in the presence of an alkali metal compound. The epoxy resin composition produced comprises a content of TMQ of 0.5% by wt. or less. The epoxy resin composition taught by Murata may also contain other high performance epoxy resins. The epoxy resin composition also includes a hardener, i.e., a curing agent, selected from polyhydric phenols, acid anhydrides, imidazoles, and amines. The epoxy resin compositions are used in encapsulation, adhesion, or the like of electrical and electronics parts (abstract; 0004;0015-0024; 0048-0054).
Murata does not expressly teach the presence of a polyphenylene ether in the phenol mixture used to produce the epoxy resin composition taught therein; however, Kato teaches TMBP and its use in producing an epoxy resin composition. According to Kato, when TMBP is produced, by-products including tetramethyldiphenoquinone and polyphenylene ethers (about 0.28%) are produced.
According to both Murata, and Kato, small amounts of such by-products formed during the production or TMBP may be present in a TMBP solution, when reacting with an epihalohydrin to produce an epoxy resin composition.
The instant claims are therefore rendered obvious by the combined reference teachings, as a person having ordinary skill in the art would have found that a phenol mixture comprising TMBP as the main component, and smaller amounts of polyphenylene ethers, and tetramethyldiphenoquinone, may be reacted with an epihalohydrin to produce an epoxy resin composition without the electric characteristics of the cured epoxy resin product deteriorating. This allows for production of epoxy resin compositions without having to go through substantive purification steps of the TMBP prior to reacting with the epihalohydrin.
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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