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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 8-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected film and method, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 5/29/2026.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: The definitions of the structural positions is within parentheses, which should be deleted from lines 9 and 17. 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, 2, 6, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki et al (JP 2004-109179 and its machine translation).
Suzuki et al disclose a composition comprising a surfactant, a colorant, a binder resin, a polymerizable monomer, and polymerization initiator, and solvent ([0046], [0064]).
The surfactant includes (meth)acrylate monomers, wherein the surfactant includes monomers (G) which may be polymerized with monomers (A) and (B), preferably (C), and optionally additionally (E), where (C) is a monomer having a structure falling within the scope of the instant formula (A-1) or (A-2).
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In the exemplified compounds of the reference, the instant R1 is CH3 (or H), R2 is three carbon alkyl, R3 is CH3, and l (reference p) is 0-500 (instant claim 7, wherein the range overlaps the claimed range of 5 to 50), and in formula (A-2), instant R4 is CH3, R5 is three carbon alkyl, and L is a tris(trimethylsiloxy)silyl group. The addition of the monomer to the polymer improves the surface tension and leveling properties ([0033]).
Monomer (E) includes a monomer structure having an ethylene oxide. The monomer would meet the limitations of the instant formula (B), wherein the instant R6 is H or methyl (acrylate or methacrylate), the glycol (instant m) is 1 to 100, with the capping alkyl group (instant R7) is a 1 to 6 carbon alkyl group ([0034], [0035]). The addition of monomer(E) to the polymer improves the coatability of the polymer.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to prepare the material of Suzuki et al, choosing as the monomers in combination with monomer (G), monomers (C) and (E) as taught to be beneficial to the polymer properties. The material would meet the limitations of the instant claims 1 and 7.
The monomer (E), instant B is present in the polymer of between 5 and 80, preferably 5 to 60 weight % ([0035]). The monomer (C) is present in an amount of 5 to 60, preferably 7 to 40 weight % ([0033]). The weight percentages and the examples in table 1 can be estimated as having a mass ratio of 5:95 to 95:5 as required by the instant claim 2.
The reference further teaches that the surfactant is included in an amount of 0.01 to 10, preferably 0.05 to 1 part by weight of the composition, which would fall within the scope of the instant claim 6 (0.5 to 1.5%by mass).
Claim(s) 1, 2, 6, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ochi (JP 2017-113689 and its machine translation).
Ochi disclose a composition comprising a binder (A), a compound (B) having a polysiloxane chain and polyoxyalkylene chain, a polymerizable monomer, an initiator, and a solvent (claims, examples).
The compound (polymer) B having the polysiloxane and polyoxyalkylene comprises the following general structures:
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In the formula R1 (instant R1) is methyl or H, R2 (instant R2)2-10 carbon alkyl group, R3 and R4 are 1 to 4 alkyl, n is 4 to 100 (instant l), and R3 (instant methyl and R3) is 1 to 4 carbon alkyl; [0126]).
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In the formula, R6 (instant R4) in H or methyl, R6 (instant CH2CH2) is preferably ethyl, m (instant m) is 2 to 120, preferably 5 to 70 (instant claim 7), and R5 (instant R7) is H or 1 to 4 carbon alkyl ([0135]).
When R7 is alkyl, the compound meets the limitations of the instant formula B. Examples use a compound having a methyl group as R5.
The composition may further include a polymerizable compound, and one example include Aronix M-305 as the compound (example 40, table 8, [0310]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to prepare the material of the reference, choosing to include a polymerizable compound in combination with the binder(A), siloxane/ oxyalkylene polymer (B), initiator, and solvent. The resultant material would also meet the limitations of the instant claim 1.
With respect to the instant claim 2, the siloxane-containing monomer is present in an amount of 0.5 to 80 mass%, preferably e to 30 % by mass, and the polyoxyalkylene monomer in an amount of 5 to 80 % by mass, preferably 30 to 60 % by mass, which falls within the scope of the instant claim 2 for the mass ratio.
The component B is present in examples in an amount of 0.2 and 1 % (1% is preferred and used in most examples) by mass of the composition (0.3 to 75% given the broadest teachings, but examples fall within the scope of the instant claim 6).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki et al in view of Tanaka et al (JP 10-309455 and its machine translation).
Suzuki et al has been discussed above. The reference teaches a compound/ surfactant polymer meeting the structural limitations of the instant polymer (X), however, the reference fails to specifically teach a combination of surfactants, but does teach that known composition include fluorosurfactants and the invention is an improvement over those fluorosurfactant compositions by including the specific monomers, and that the composition additives are not limited as long as the fluorosurfactant is included to impart various desired properties ([0046], [0053]-[0056]). The cited references of Suzuki et al for teaching the known compositions, include Tanaka et al, which teaches one of skill in the art that it is known and suitable to include a combination of surfactants as the added fluorosurfactant.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include a combination of fluorosurfactants as the fluorosurfactant of Suzuki et al, given the teachings that it is known in the art by the Tanaka et al reference as cited by Suzuki et al as required by the instant claim 3.
The Suzuki et al reference teaches that a combination of (C) monomers may be included (preferably additional fluorine or silicon-containing compounds; [0082]-[0085]), and while the reference was suggested the monomers c-1 to c-3 in one polymer, given broadly the teaching a combination of (C) monomer may be included, including in different fluorosurfactants. When a combination of fluorosurfactants is used as taught to be known by Tanaka et al, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to include a different (C) monomer in the second surfactant, different from that of the first. The reference prefers (C-3) (instant (A-2)), and including C-1 or C-2 in the second surfactant would have been obvious to one of skill in the art.
Therefore, the material of Suzuki et al in view of Tanaka et al would include a combination of fluorosurfactants, each having a different (C) monomer, wherein the preferred c-3 is included in one, and either c-1 or c-2 in the other to include two distinct surfactants.
When the combination is included, the proportions can be reasonably expected to be 1:1 ratio, thus falling within the scope of the instant claims 4 and 5.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMANDA C WALKE whose telephone number is (571)272-1337. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 5:30am to 4pm.
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/AMANDA C. WALKE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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