DETAILED ACTION
Claim Status
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are pending.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-9, 11-20 is/are rejected.
Claim(s) 4, 10 is/are withdrawn from consideration.
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.
Response to Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species (a)(i) and (b)(ii) in the reply filed on 06/09/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
The election of species requirement between species (a)(i) and (a)(ii) has been withdrawn upon reconsideration.
Claim(s) 8, 10 is/are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention or species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06/09/2026.
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, 5-9, 11-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• WO 2023/209703 (LANCRY-WO ‘703),
in view of OSTERGREN (US 2021/0237409).
LANCRY-WO ‘703 discloses biodegradable and/or compostable multilayer sheets or films, wherein the multilayer films can comprise:
• a first outer layer (12) comprising:
• polybutylene succinate (PBS);
• optionally further comprising polylactic acid (PLA), wherein PLA is not required;
• at least one inner layer (16, 22, 24) comprising:
• cellulose diacetate;
• a plasticizer (e.g., triacetin, polyethylene glycol, polycaprolactone triol, etc.);
• a second outer layer (14) comprising PBS or polybutylene succinate adipate (PBSA), PLA, or mixtures thereof, wherein the second outer layer (14) can, but is not required to, have the same composition as the first outer layer (12);
wherein inner layer(s) (16, 22, 24) can be in direct contact with one or more outer layers (12) and/or (14). The multilayer sheets or films can have any suitable thickness (e.g., an illustrative, non-limiting, thickness of 40 microns) and can be used to form a biodegradable package (e.g., bag, pouch, etc.), wherein the package can be formed by heat-sealing two or more parts of the same sheet or by heat-sealing two or more separate sheets. The multilayer sheets can be formed by cast film extrusion. he multilayer sheets or films are designed to overcome one or more known disadvantages related to biodegradable films (e.g., high haze, physical strength, etc.) (entire document, e.g., line 29, page 1 to line 11, page 2, line 5-28, page 5; line 4-10, page 7; line 23-31, page 9; line 23, page 10 to line 15, page 11; line 19, page 13 to line 24, page 13; line 24-28, page 14; line 6-20, page 15; line 5-31, page 17; line 25-31, page 19; etc.)
OSTERGREN ‘409 discloses that it is well known in the art that polybutylene succinate (PBS) can be used as a sealant layer for compostable film laminates. The reference further discloses that: (i) flexible compostable film laminates can have, but is not limited to, a typical overall thickness of 30-130 microns; and (ii) one of ordinary skill in the art would understand how to modify the thicknesses of individual layers in a compostable film laminate in order to obtain a desired rigidity or flexibility. (paragraph 0044, 0046, 0051, etc.)
Regarding claims 1-3. 5, 7-9, 11, 18-19, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize heat-sealable PBS-containing compositions (as suggested on OSTERGREN ‘409) to form at one least outer layer (12, 14) in the multilayer sheets or films of LANCRY-WO ‘703 to provide heat-sealability for forming known packaging structure for encasing or wrapping products.
Regarding claim 6, one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize effective amounts of plasticizer in the cellulose diacetate-containing at least one inner layer(s) (16, 22, 24) in the multilayer sheets or films of LANCRY-WO ‘703in order to obtain the flexibility and/or other physical properties required for specific applications.
Regarding claim 12, one of ordinary skill in the art would have selected the thickness of the outer layer(s) (12, 14) containing PBS in the multilayer sheets or films of LANCRY-WO ‘703 in order to obtain the heat-sealing characteristics of at least one outer layer(s) (12, 14) required for specific applications (e.g., thinner layers for film-to-film bonding; thicker layers for bonding porous or fibrous materials; etc.).
Regarding claim 13, one of ordinary skill in the art would have selected the composition (e.g., omitting opacity-increasing or haze-increasing additives, etc.) of the multilayer sheets or films of LANCRY-WO ‘703 in order to obtain the optical properties (e.g., transparency, etc.) desired for specific applications.
Regarding claim 14, one of ordinary skill in the art would have selected the composition of the outer layer(s) (12, 14) containing PBS in the multilayer sheets or films of LANCRY-WO ‘703 in order to obtain the heat-sealing characteristics (e.g., seal strength, etc.) required for specific packaging applications.
Regarding claims 15-16, one of ordinary skill in the art would have selected the composition of the multilayer sheets or films of LANCRY-WO ‘703 in order to obtain the mechanical properties (e.g., tensile strength; tear strength (as represented by tear propagation); stiffness and/or flexibility (as represented by the Young’s modulus); etc.) required for specific packaging applications.
Regarding claim 17, one of ordinary skill in the art would have selected the composition of the multilayer sheets or films of LANCRY-WO ‘703 in order to obtain the biodegradation and/or composting properties required to satisfy established regulatory or test standards (e.g., EN 13432; etc.).
The Examiner cautions that if Applicant chooses to argue that the physical properties recited in claims 14-16 cannot be obtained by one of ordinary skill in the art using known improvement and/or modification techniques or methods (e.g., as mentioned above) using routine experimentation, this may raise significant issues under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) with respect to scope of enablement, and that Applicant’s arguments and/or assertions may be used as admissions or supporting evidence with respect to rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) with respect to scope of enablement.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• WO 2023/209703 (LANCRY-WO ‘703), in view of OSTERGREN (US 2021/0237409),
as applied to claims 1-3, 6-9, 11-19,
and further in view of TIYAPIBOONCHAIYA ET AL (US 2019/0345311).
TIYAPIBOONCHAIYA ET AL ‘311 discloses that it is well known in the art to incorporate plasticizers in preferred amounts 1-120 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of polymer in order to improve the processability and flexibility of polymers (e.g., cellulose esters, etc.). (paragraph 0002, 0014, 0023, 0028, 0031, etc.)
Regarding claim 6, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate effective amounts of known plasticizers (as suggested in TIYAPIBOONCHAIYA ET AL ‘311) in the cellulose diacetate-containing layers of the multilayer sheets or films of LANCRY-WO ‘703 in order to obtain the mechanical properties (e.g., flexibility, softness, etc.) required for specific applications.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• WO 2023/209703 (LANCRY-WO ‘703), in view of OSTERGREN (US 2021/0237409),
as applied to claims 1-3, 6-9, 11-19,
and further in view of DALIBEY ET AL (US 2020/0199354).
DALIBEY ET AL ‘354 discloses that it is well known in the art to incorporate additives which provide compostability in accordance with EN 13432 for polymers. (paragraph 0021, 0028, 0075, 0079-0083, etc.)
Regarding claim 17, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate known biodegradation and/or composting enhancing additives as suggested in DALIBEY ET AL ‘354 in the multilayer sheets or films of LANCRY-WO ‘703 in order to obtain the biodegradation and/or composting properties required to satisfy established regulatory or test standards (e.g., EN 13432; etc.).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• WO 2023/209703 (LANCRY-WO ‘703), in view of OSTERGREN (US 2021/0237409),
as applied to claim 1,
and further in view of VERSLUYS (US 2022/0072761).
VERSLUYS ‘761 discloses that it is well known in the art to produce biodegradable composite articles which comprise:
• a liner film comprising a cellulose-based acetate film, optionally with a adhesion-improving layer or coating (e.g., heat-sealable, etc.);
• a molded fiber substrate (e.g., paper fiber, bagasse fiber, etc.) with a three-dimensional shape;
wherein the composite article is formed by bonding the liner film to a surface of the molded fiber substrate using heat and pressure in order to produce composite articles with desirable performance properties (e.g., oil resistance, water resistance, moisture barrier properties, etc.). (paragraph 0002-0004, 0008, 0019, 0022, 0024-0025, 0030, 0036, 0043-0044, 0050-0052, etc.)
Regarding claim 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 the multilayer sheets or films of LANCRY-WO ‘703 as the liner film in the composite articles of VERSLUYS ‘761 in order to produce molded composite articles with desirable mechanical properties and durability for specific applications.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
DOU ET AL (US 2024/0066847) and DOU ET AL (US 2024/0066848) disclose heat-sealable biodegradable layers.
LAURIN (US 2023/0159241) claims molded composite articles.
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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August 8, 2026
/Vivian Chen/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
Prosecution Insights