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 .
The amendment dated 03/23/2026 has been considered and entered. The amendment requires that the polyoxyalkylene group in the polar monomer is less than 5 mol.% which Yamamoto et al. (WO 2020/246445 A1) does not teach. Therefore, the previous rejections are withdrawn and new grounds of rejections are made below.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/23/2026 has been entered.
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 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.
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.
Claims 1 – 3, 5, 7 – 18, 20, 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kinker et al. (BR 9811959 B1)
In regards to claim 1, Kinker teaches lubricating oil composition comprising 0.03 to 3% of a first polymer (P1) and a second polymer (P2) at ratios of 5/95 to 75/5, and wherein P2 comprises 0 to 15 mol% of C1-C6 alkyl methacrylate, 75 to 100% of C7 to C15 alkyl methacrylate, 0 to 25% of C16 to C24 alkyl methacrylate having molecular weights of from 10,000 to 1,500,000 (analogous to monomers a of the claim), and wherein P2 can comprise optional monomers at from 0 to 10% such as cyclohexyl acrylate, vinyl aromatic monomers, i.e., vinyl aromatic methacrylate (analogous to monomer c of the claim) and C1-C6 alkyl hydroxy methacrylate (analogous to monomer b of the claim) and further recites the method of preparing the polymer (see specification).
In regards to claim 2, Kinker teaches the composition having the claimed limitation.
In regards to claim 3, Kinker teaches the composition having the structural units b1 containing hydroxy group.
In regards to claim 5, Kinker teaches the composition having the vinyl aromatic methacrylate which comprises a methacryloyl group as claimed.
In regards to claims 7, 8, Kinker teaches the composition wherein the optional monomers such as the hydroxy methacrylate (i.e., monomer b) or the vinyl aromatic methacrylate (i.e., monomer c) at amounts of up to 10% as previously stated.
In regards to claim 9, Kinker teaches the composition having the claimed additive which provides the friction modifier of the claim.
In regards to claims 10, 11, Kinker teaches the composition having the claimed additive and lubricating oil and thus provides the method of modifying the friction of a lubricant by blending the polymer in the oil.
In regards to claim 12, Kinker teaches the composition and polymer having the monomers analogous to A to C of the claim, and thus provides the method of producing the copolymer.
In regards to claims 13 – 16, Kinker teaches the composition having the monomers analogous to structural units a) at amounts overlapping the claim.
In regards to claims 17, 18, 20, 21, Kinker teaches the composition having the claimed limitations as previously stated.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 19 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Kinker does not particularly recites the ratios of both c/a and b/a as claimed.
Conclusion
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/TAIWO OLADAPO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771
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