DETAILED ACTION
Claim Status
Claim(s) 1, 3-8, 10-14, 16-20 is/are pending.
Claim(s) 1, 3-8, 10-14, 16-20 is/are rejected.
Claim(s) 2, 9, 15 is/are cancelled by Applicant.
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 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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/06/2026 has been entered.
Response to Election
The Restriction Requirement mailed 10/09/2024 has been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 (AIA )
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, 6-8, 10-12, 14, 16-17, 19-20, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• SAYAKA ET AL (US 5,942,298),
in view of “Preparation of chitosan / polyvinyl alcohol blended films containing sulfosuccinic acid as the crosslinking agent using UV curing process” (hereinafter PREPARATION OF CHITOSAN / POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILMS).
and in view of BRIGHENTI ET AL (US 2018/0362792),
and in view of “A Review on Predictive Tortuosity Models for Composite Films in Gas Barrier Application” (hereinafter TORTUOSITY MODELS),
and in view of APPLEFORD ET AL (US 2024/0051735).
SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 discloses laminated films with good transparency and barrier properties, wherein the laminated films comprise:
• a transparent base film (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate (PET); low density polyethylene (LDPE; etc.);
• a coating layer with a typical thickness of 10 microns or less (preferably 1 micron or less), wherein the coating layer comprises:
• a hydrogen-bonding resin (corresponding to the recited “coating polymer”) (e.g., polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) with a saponification degree (corresponding to the recited “degree of hydrolysis”) of at least 70 mol% (preferably at least 85 mol%) and a polymerization degree of 100-500 (preferably 200-3000); polysaccharides such as chitosan (CS), amylose, etc.);
• an inorganic layered compound (e.g., clay minerals, etc.) with particle sizes of preferably 1 micron or less (corresponding to the recited “nanoparticles”; corresponding to the recited “nano clays” of claim 3);
• a crosslinking agent for improving water resistance;
wherein the weight ratio of inorganic layered compound to resin is preferably 1:20 to 2:1;
wherein the coating layer is formed using a liquid coating composition comprising a liquid medium capable of dissolving the resin (corresponding to the recited “solvent” of claims 6-7, 13, 19-20) (e.g., water, such as ion exchanged water (corresponding to the recited “deionized water” of claims 7, 20); alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, etc.);
wherein the total amount of inorganic layered compound and resin in the liquid coating composition is usually between 4-15 wt%.
The laminated film can be formed by:
• applying the above liquid coating composition (containing resin, inorganic layered compound, crosslinking agent, and water) to the transparent base film to form a wet coating layer;
• drying the coating layer at a typical temperature of about 100 °C,
• optionally further heat-treating the coating layer at temperatures of 110-220 °C to improve water resistance and gas barrier properties.
The laminated film has excellent transparency, low haze, and excellent oxygen barrier properties (e.g., oxygen permeability values of 2 cc/m2‧day‧atm or less). (entire document, e.g., line 29-60, col. 1; line 54, col. 2 to line 39, col. 4; line 56, col. 4 to line 40, col. 5; line 11-40, col. 7; line 1-31, 61-68, col. 8; line 16, 43, col. 10; etc.) However, the reference does not specifically discuss: the use of plasticizer; weight percentages of individual components; or a crosslinked combination of CS and PVOH).
PREPARATION OF CHITOSAN / POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILMS discloses that it is well known in the art to form coatings or films comprising crosslinked mixtures of chitosan (CS), polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), and plasticizer (e.g., glycerol, sorbitol, etc.) in order to form eco-friendly, biodegradable compositions with useful anti-microbial properties and/or improved physical properties (e.g., mechanical, thermal, gas barrier, water-resistance, etc.) relative to chitosan alone. The reference further discloses that it is well known in the art to crosslink chitosan (e.g., using crosslinking agents in combination with heat-curing, and/or radiation, etc.), wherein it is desirable to avoid the use of harmful crosslinking agents and instead use non-toxic and/or FDA-approved crosslinking agents (e.g., sulfosuccinic acid) suitable for biodegradable materials. The reference further discloses that the plasticized crosslinked CS / PVOH materials can form water-resistant films or coatings with useful mechanical properties (e.g., elongation at break values of over 40%, etc.) and/or desirable optical properties (e.g., low opacity and high transmittance, etc.). The reference further discloses that the elongation at break for crosslinked CS / PVOH materials generally increases with increasing plasticizer content and generally decreases with increasing crosslinking agent. (page 377-378, 384, etc.; Figure 5, etc.)
BRIGHENTI ET AL ‘792 discloses that it is well known in the art to form barrier coatings containing:
• 5-95 wt% (dry basis) (preferably 5-50 wt%) of a polymer binder (e.g., polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH); etc.);
• 5-60 wt% (dry basis) plasticizer (e.g., glycerol, sorbitol, etc.);
• up to 50 wt% (dry basis) of one or more pigments (corresponding to the recited “colorant” of claim 11);
• optionally one or more additives in amounts in accordance with standard practice to attain the desired properties (e.g., ultraviolet absorbers, etc.);
wherein the barrier coating blocks the passage of at least one substance (e.g., oxygen, moisture, grease, oil, etc.). The barrier coating compositions is preferably an aqueous (i.e., water-based) composition containing 10-75 wt% solids. (entire document, e.g., paragraph 0011, 0020-0021, 0024-0031, 0033-0038, 0040-0043, 0046, 0047, 0058-0063, 0070, etc.)
TORTUOSITY MODELS discloses that it is well known in the art that incorporating fillers with high aspect ratios (e.g., length and/or width to thickness) in polymer-based nanocomposites improves the gas barrier properties of the nanocomposite by providing a tortuous path for gas molecules (corresponding to the recited “convoluted path for oxygen”).
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The reference further discloses that commonly used fillers are clay fillers (e.g., kaolinite; bentonite; montmorillonite; vermiculite; mica; talc; etc.) (corresponding to the recited “nano clay”) with typical dimensions of 1-2000 nm in length and 1 nm thickness (corresponding to the recited “a particle diameter”), and having high aspect (thickness/width to thickness) ratios. (Figure 3, 5, etc.; page 700, 703-704, etc.)
APPLEFORD ET AL ‘735 discloses that it well known in the art to utilize chitosan polymers with molecular weights of 5-200 kilodaltons as binders in barrier coatings for packaging materials. (paragraph 0019, etc.).
Regarding claims 1, 3-4, 6-7, 10, 14, 16-17, 19-20, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize a crosslinkable mixture of chitosan (CS) and PVOH (as suggested in PREPARATION OF CHITOSAN / POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILMS) as the crosslinkable hydrogen-bonding resin component in the transparent coating layer of SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 in order to produce high transparency (as represented by a light transmittance value of at least 75%) laminated films with non-toxic and/or FDA-compliant coating layers, wherein the high transparency laminated film exhibit performance properties (e.g., excellent gas barrier properties; low haze; anti-bacterial characteristics; readily tailored mechanical properties such as flexibility and elasticity; water resistance; etc.) (as suggested in PREPARATION OF CHITOSAN / POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILMS) desirable for specific packaging applications (e.g., for oxygen-sensitive products such as drugs, foods, etc.)
Further regarding claims 1, 14, since SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 discloses the use of inorganic layered particles with particle diameters less than 1 micron, inorganic layered particles (e.g., clay minerals, etc.) of SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 with sub-micron particle diameters are reasonably characterized as nano-scale particles or “nanoparticles” or “nano clays”.
Further regarding claims 1, 14, one of ordinary skill in the art would have selected known dry weight percentages of hydrogen-bondable resin (corresponding to the recited “coating polymer”) and plasticizer consistent with BRIGHENTI ET AL ‘792 (e.g., 5-50 wt% resin, 5-60 wt% plasticizer) for use in the coating layer of SAKAYA ET AL ‘298, wherein the plasticizer can be utilized in higher amounts relative to the amount of resin, in order to obtain coating layers with a high degree of flexibility and elongation at break (corresponding to the recited “stretchable and bendable”) for specific packaging applications, since the elasticity of a crosslinked CS / PVOH film or coating is typically a function of the plasticizer content (as evidenced by PREPARATION OF CHITOSAN / POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILMS).
Further regarding claims 1, 8, 14, one of ordinary skill in the art would have selected the dry weight percentage of sub-micron inorganic layered compound (corresponding to the recited “nanoparticles”; corresponding to the recited “nano clay” of claim 3), in the coating layer of SAKAYA ET AL ‘298, wherein the inorganic layered particles is utilized in relatively small amounts relative to the amount of resin (e.g., particle to resin ratios as low as 1:20) in order to produce laminated films with substantially improved gas barrier properties (as represented by a reduction of oxygen permeability of at least 90%) -- i.e., by providing the coating layer with tortuous pathways (corresponding to the recited “convoluted path”) which inhibits the passage of gas molecules through the barrier coatings (as suggested in TORTUOSITY MODELS) -- while maintaining high transparency (i.e., because transparency tends to decrease with increasing content of particles in a film). For example, a coating layer in accordance with SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 containing 25 wt% resin (consistent with BRIGHENTI ET AL ‘792) and incorporated inorganic layered particles in particle : resin ratios consistent with SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 can have an inorganic layer particle content ranging from 2.5 wt% (for a particle : resin ratio of 1:10) to 5 wt% (for a particle : resin ratio of 1:5).
Further regarding claims 1, 14, one of ordinary skill in the art would have used effective amounts of known crosslinking agents in the coating layer of SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 in order to optimize the strength and/or durability and/or water resistance of a CS / PVOH coating layer (as suggested in PREPARATION OF CHITOSAN / POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILMS) for specific applications.
Further regarding claims 1, 14, since: (i) the weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of a polymer is generally equal to (the degree of polymerization) x (molecular weight of the repeating unit); and (ii) the molecular weight of the repeating unit in PVOH is about 44 g/mol; PVOH resins with a degree of polymerization of 200-3000 (as disclosed in SAKAYA ET AL ‘298) would generally have a Mw of about 8,800-132,000.
Further regarding claims 1, 14, one of ordinary skill in the art would have utilized known and/or commercially available chitosan polymers with molecular weights suitable for forming barrier coatings (as suggested in APPLEFORD ET AL ‘735) as the chitosan component in the hydrogen-bonding resin in the coating layer of SAKAYA ET AL ‘298.
Further regarding claims 1, 14, while APPLEFORD ET AL ‘735 does not specify whether the disclosed molecular weights of 5-200 kilodaltons (5,000-200,000 daltons) for chitosan is weight-average molecular weight (Mw) or number-average molecular weight (Mn), since: (i) the weight-average molecular weight (Mw) is equal to or greater than the number-average molecular weight (Mn); and (ii) the ratio of Mw/Mn (polydispersity index) for commercial polymers is typically greater than 1 to about 20; the Examiner has reason to believe that the molecular weight range for chitosan disclosed in APPLEFORD ET AL ‘735 (whether Mn or Mw) would at least partially overlaps the weight-average molecular weight recited in claims 1, 14, therefore the Examiner has basis for shifting the burden of proof to applicant as in In re Fitzgerald et al., 205 USPQ 594.
Further regarding claims 1, 14, one of ordinary skill in the art would have formulated the coating layer of in SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 (e.g., by selecting the size and amount of inorganic layered particles and other components of the coating; etc.) to have excellent transparency (e.g., 75% or more) in order to produce laminated films with excellent overall transparency (e.g., to allow viewing through the laminated film to view package contents, etc.) while simultaneously providing an adequate barrier against oxygen and other undesirable substances.
Regarding claim 6, since: (i) SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 discloses liquid coating compositions for the coating layer, wherein the total amount of inorganic layered compound and resin in the liquid coating composition is usually between 4-15 wt% ; one of ordinary skill in the art would have formulated the liquid coating compositions of SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 with usual solids : solvent ratios between 1:24 (4 wt%) to 1:5.7 (15 wt%).
Regarding claim 11, one of ordinary skill in the art would have incorporated effective amounts of known coating additives with well-established functions (e.g., ultraviolet absorbers and pigments (corresponding to the recited “colorant”), as suggested in BRIGHENTI ET AL ‘792) in the coating layer of in SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 in order to provide desired performance enhancements and/or modifications (e.g., to provide the desired level of protection against ultraviolet radiation; to provide the desired visual appearance for specific applications; respectively).
Regarding claim 12, one of ordinary skill in the art would have applied known functional layers commonly used in packaging materials (e.g., print layers applied by conventional printing methods; etc.) to the transparent base films for the coating layer of in SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 in order to provide desired informational content and/or decorative effects.
Regarding claim 13, one of ordinary skill in the art would have subjected the coating layer in the laminated films of SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 utilizing a mixture of CS / PVOH (as disclosed in PREPARATION OF CHITOSAN / POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILMS) as the hydrogen-bonding resin component to a post-drying heat treatment to crosslink (corresponding to the recited “curing”) of the CS / PVOH-based coating layer, and thereby improve water-resistance and/or gas barrier properties (as suggested in PREPARATION OF CHITOSAN / POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILMS).
Claim(s) 5, 18, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• SAYAKA ET AL (US 5,942,298), in view of “Preparation of chitosan / polyvinyl alcohol blended films containing sulfosuccinic acid as the crosslinking agent using UV curing process” (hereinafter PREPARATION OF CHITOSAN / POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILMS), and in view of BRIGHENTI ET AL (US 2018/0362792), and in view of A REVIEW ON PREDICTIVE TORTUOSITY MODELS FOR COMPOSITE FILMS IN GAS BARRIER APPLICATIONS (hereinafter TORTUOSITY MODELS),
as applied to claims 1, 3-4, 6-7, 10-12, 14, 16-17, 19-20 above,
and further in view of XIE ET AL (US 2023/0256397).
XIE ET AL ‘397 discloses that it is well known in the art that citric acid and maleic acid can be used instead of sulfosuccinic acid as crosslinking agents for coating compositions containing hydrophilic polymer binders (e.g., polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), chitosan (CS), etc. or combinations thereof). (paragraph 0061, 0068, 0072, etc.)
Regarding claims 5, 18, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize, instead of the sulfosuccinic acid crosslinking agent used in PREPARATION OF CHITOSAN / POLYVINYL ALCOHOL BLENDED FILMS, other known crosslinking agents suitable for hydrophilic polymers (e.g., PVOH, CS) such as citric acid (as suggested in XIE ET AL ‘397) which are non-toxic and/or FDA-compliant as the crosslinking agent in the coatings of SAKAYA ET AL ‘298 in order to produce barrier coatings with enhanced barrier properties and water resistance which are suitable for food and/or drug packaging materials, or packaging for hygiene or personal care products.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/06/2026 have been considered but deemed moot in view of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by the Claim Amendments filed 01/06/2026.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KOTANI ET AL (US 5,766,751) disclose crosslinkable barrier coatings containing sub-micron particles.
OOMORI ET AL (US 2014/0206798) disclose barrier coatings containing a mixture of PVOH and CS.
"Preparation, characterization, mechanical, barrier and antimicrobial properties of chitosan/PVOH/clay nanocomposites" and “Design of multifunctional food packaging films based on carboxymethyl chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol crosslinked network by using citric acid as crosslinker” and "Preparation of Elastic and Antibacterial Chitosan–Citric Membranes with High Oxygen Barrier Ability by in Situ Cross-Linking" disclose crosslinked chitosan-based films.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Vivian Chen (Vivian.chen@uspto.gov) whose telephone number is (571) 272-1506. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 6 PM. The examiner can also be reached on alternate Fridays.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Callie Shosho, can be reached on (571) 272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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March 7 2026
/Vivian Chen/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787