DETAILED ACTION
Applicant’s amendment dated 25 June 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-11 as amended are pending.
All outstanding objections and rejections made in the previous Office Action, and not repeated below, are hereby withdrawn.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 4,882,390 (“Grootaert”) in view of JP 2006-036648 A (“Kawasaki”).
A partial machine translation of JP 2006-036648 A is enclosed.
As to claims 1, 2, 8, and 9, Grootaert teaches curable (crosslinkable) fluoroelastomer (abstract) comprising a fluoroelastomer including vinylidene fluoride (abstract) and a polyol for crosslinking (3:30-40), thus the fluoroelastomer is polyol crosslinkable fluoroelastomer containing vinylidene fluoride as required by claims 1 and 2.
Grootaert teaches that the polyol may include aromatic polyhydroxy compounds (3:35-40, but does not discuss a polyol of recited structure (b).
Kawasaki teaches a fluorene xanthene hydroxyl compound, exemplified by the following example
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(para. 0151). This structure meets formula (b) of claim 1 where m and n are 1 and no fluorine atoms, formula (b1) of claim 8, and formula (b1-1) of claim 9. Kawasaki teaches the use of this compound as curing agent for resins (para. 0145), and teaches that the structure of the compound can provide enhancement to properties including optical properties, heat resistance, water/moisture resistance, chemical resistance, and electrical mechanical properties (para. 0144). It would therefore be an obvious modification to use the polyol compound of Kawasaki in the crosslinkable fluoroelastomer composition of Grootaert, given the advantages conferred by the fluorenyl xanthene diol as taught by Kawasaki.
As to claim 3, while not exemplified with the recited polyol compound, Grootaert generally teaches a preferable range of 3.5 to 6.0 mmol per hundred parts of fluoroelastomer (10:10-28), which is within the recited range.
As to claim 4, Grootaert teaches the use of organo-onium compound (abstract), which is a vulcanizing (crosslinking) accelerator (4:21-24).
As to claim 5, Grootaert teaches an acid acceptor (abstract).
As to claim 6, Grootaert teaches an acid acceptor (abstract). Grootaert teaches 0.5 to 40 parts per 100 parts of the fluoroelastomer (10:10-16), which is within the recited range.
As to claim 7, Grootaert teaches an acid acceptor (abstract). Grootaert teaches metal oxides, metal hydroxides, and metal carbonates (metal salt of a weak acid) as acid acceptors (8:49-56), and therefore the recited acid acceptors are obvious modifications suggested by Grootaert.
As to claims 10 and 11, Grootaert teaches a formed article of the fluoroelastomer, including shaft seals, O-rings and gaskets (11:10-15), which are sealing materials.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 25 June 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, specifically that Grootaert does not teach the recited crosslinker and Kawasaki does not discuss the recited fluoroelastomer, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
Applicant states that the effects of the compound of Kawasaki are not proven; however, Kawasaki suggests improvements based on the fluorene based structure of the crosslinker, including heat resistance (Kawasaki, para. 0085), which provides sufficient rationale to use in an aromatic hydroxyl crosslinkable composition such as Grootaert. Applicant’s citation of improved mechanical and heat resistance characteristics as opposed to other polyphenol crosslinker is not persuasive, because such effects are suggested by Kawasaki.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KREGG T BROOKS whose telephone number is (313)446-4888. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 9 am to 5:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arrie Reuther can be reached at (571)270-7026. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KREGG T BROOKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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