Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/508,614

POLYCARBONATE RESIN COMPOSITION

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Nov 14, 2023
Examiner
CAI, WENWEN
Art Unit
1763
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Daicel Miraizu Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
60%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 2m
To Grant
80%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 60% of resolved cases
60%
Career Allow Rate
509 granted / 850 resolved
-5.1% vs TC avg
Strong +20% interview lift
Without
With
+19.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 2m
Avg Prosecution
74 currently pending
Career history
924
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
§103
43.6%
+3.6% vs TC avg
§102
17.4%
-22.6% vs TC avg
§112
27.9%
-12.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 850 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
DETAILED ACTION 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 1 objected to because of the following informalities: a proper Markush format is “selected from the group consisting of A, B and C” . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claim s 1-4 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites “relative to 100 parts by mass of a resin”. It is unclear how “a resin” is related to components (A) – (E). For purposes of expediting prosecution, it is interpreted as components (A) and (B). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim s 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tajima (JP 2015/168810) . In setting forth this rejection a machine translation of JP 2015/168810 has been relied upon and all citations to paragraph numbers in the discussion below are with respect to the machine translation. Claim 1: Tajima discloses a polycarbonate resin composition consisting of 100 parts by mass ( pbm ) of polycarbonate resin (A), 10 to 100 pbm of carbon fiber (B), and 10 to 50 pbmof glass fiber (C) (i.e. a reinforcing material) , carbon black (i.e. a colorant) and release agent (i.e. a slip agent) [0009, examples]. Aromatic polycarbonates are preferred as polycarbonate (A) because it provides advantageous heat resistance, mechanical properties, and electrical characteristics [0014] . The polycarbonate resin (A) suitably contains 80 mass percent or less of a recycled polycarbonate [0062]. Thus, the corresponding amount of non-recycled polycarbonate is about 20 mass percent or more relative to total polycarbonate (A). The carbon fiber (B) is surface-treated with a polyamide-based sizing agent and present in the narrower amount of 20 to 65 pbm [0064-0065] . The composition contains a combination of flame retardants 0.03 to 5 pbm of polytetrafluoroethylene and 1 and 30 pbm or less of condensed phosphate ester flame retardant per 100 pbm of polycarbonate resin (A) [0090], [0091]. I n the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim , 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff , 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990). C laim 2 -3 , Tajima teaches that recycled polycarbonate can be recovered from a water bottle, building materials, an automobile headlamp lens, and vehicle light guide plate [0062]. C laim 4, Tajima discloses a molded article obtained by molding the composition therein [0009]. Response to Arguments In response to applicant's Declaration filed on 5/7/2024 regarding unexpected results, the data have been fully considered, however, they are insufficient to establish unexpected results given that 1) the detailed information about carbon fibers C-1, C’-1 and C’-2 is not provided (such as fiber diameter, cross section aspect ratio), therefore it is unclear if it is a fair comparison between examples 1, 10 and comparative examples 4-5, 8-9, and if the article appearance would be affected by different carbon fibers besides sizing agent. 2) The data is not reasonably commensurate in scope with the scope of claims. The inventive data only contains 28 -35 parts by weight of the component D as compared to the claimed 20-40 parts (comparative example 1 of the instant application demonstrates the presence of component D is critical for surface appearance), 0.4- 0.7 parts of the component E as compared to the claimed 0.01-1 part; and the inventive data only contains three specific recycled polycarbonates as compared to the claimed genus recycled aromatic polycarbonate (it is noted that the characteristics of different recycled polycarbonates vary dramatically, and the genus aromatic polycarbonate contains thousands of species), two specific polycarbonates as compared to the claimed genus aromatic polycarbonate, a specific phosphate compound as compared to the claimed genus condensed phosphate ester. Case law holds that evidence is insufficient to rebut a prima facie case if not commensurate in scope with the claimed invention. In re Grasselli, 713 F.2d 731, 741, 218 USPQ 769, 777 (Fed. Cir. 1983). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT WENWEN CAI whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-3590 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 9am-6pm . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Joseph Del Sole can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-1130 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /WENWEN CAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 14, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12600886
RESINS FOR ADHESIVE BONDING OF FABRICS
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12590201
DEGRADATION PROMOTER FOR ALIPHATIC POLYESTER BIODEGRADABLE RESIN, BIODEGRADABLE RESIN COMPOSITION, AND METHOD FOR PROMOTING DEGRADATION OF ALIPHATIC POLYESTER BIODEGRADABLE RESIN
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12559592
BRANCHED AMORPHOUS POLYAMIDE (CO)POLYMERS AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING SAME
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 24, 2026
Patent 12552956
PHOTOPOLYMERIZABLE TYPE DENTAL SURFACE COATING COMPOSITION
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 17, 2026
Patent 12534556
CURABLE COMPOSITION, CURED ARTICLE USING SAME, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING CURED ARTICLE
2y 5m to grant Granted Jan 27, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
60%
Grant Probability
80%
With Interview (+19.8%)
3y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 850 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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