DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
Claim(s) 1-14 is/are pending.
Claim(s) 1-6, 14 is/are rejected.
Claim(s) 7-13 is/are withdrawn from consideration.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 Group I (claims 1-6, 14) in the reply filed on 01/19/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim(s) 7-13 is/are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 01/19/2026.
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) 1-6, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• DOU ET AL (US 2011/0244185).
and in view of KRISHNASWAMY ET AL (US 2015/0132512),
DOU ET AL ‘185 discloses polylactic acid (PLA)-based film compositions with reduced noise levels, wherein the reduced noise PLA-based film composition comprises:
• 90-60 wt% PLA;
• 10-40 wt% (preferably 20-30 wt%) of modifying polymer A with a Tg of 0 C or less (e.g., polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) copolymers such as polyhydroxybutyrate-valerate, PH(R)A with R=C2-C10, etc.);
• optionally 1-10 wt% of elastomer to further absorb or dampen noise energy
wherein biaxially oriented films made from the PLA-based film composition can exhibit noise level reductions of 5 dB or more (compared to unmodified biaxially oriented PLA films) (e.g., 10 dB or more, etc.) -- for example 85 dB or less (e.g., 82 dB or less). The PLA-based films have a typical thickness of 5-250 microns (preferably 8-50 microns or 10-30 microns, for packaging applications), and can exhibit: (i) a thickness variation in the transverse direction (TD) of the film of less than 10%; and/or (ii) a machine direction (MD) and TD shrinkage of 10% or less (preferably 5% or less) after heating to 120 °C for 15 minutes; and/or (iii) a tensile strength of preferably 68.9 MPa or more. The reference further discloses that the higher stiffness of PLA films contributed to increased higher noise levels, and that reductions in stiffness and increased flexibility provided by the inclusion of more flexible, low Tg polymers (e.g., PHA, elastomers, etc.) in PLA-based compositions helps to dampen noise generated by “noisy” PLA resins. (entire document, e.g., paragraph 0006, 0016-0020, 0026-0045, 0051-0054, 0056-0060, 0064-0071, etc. ; Table 2-2, 4-2, etc.)
KRISHNASWAMY ET AL ‘512 discloses that it is well known in the art to incorporate low Tg (e.g., -5 °C to -50 °C) polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) copolymers comprising: (i) 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) units (corresponding to the recited “Formula 1” in claim 5); and (ii) about 25-85 wt% comonomer (e.g., 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB); 5-hydroxyvalerate (5HV); 3-hydroxyhexanoate (3HH); 3-hydroxyoctanoate (3HO); (corresponding to the recited “Formula 2” in claim 6)) units; in polylactic acid (PLA)-based blends to produce biodegradable and/or compostable bio-based products with good tear strength, puncture resistance, and toughness, combined with soft pliable properties, which can provide low noise levels when handled or manipulated, wherein the PLA-based blends typically contain 95-50 wt% PLA and 5-50 wt% low Tg PHA copolymer. (paragraph 0009-0011, 0014, 0018, 0024, 0026-0029, 0032-0033, 0040-0041, 0048, 0051-0052, 0063, 0068-0076, 0120-0121, etc.)
Regarding claims 1, 4-6, 14, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize minor amounts (e.g., 30 wt% or less) of known low Tg PHA copolymers as disclosed in KRISHNASWAMY ET AL ‘512 as the modifying polymer A in the reduced-noise PLA-based films in DOU ET AL ‘185 in order to produce highly flexible or pliable (as represented by a low loop stiffness) environmentally friendly (e.g., biodegradable and/or compostable) bio-based films with excellent performance properties (e.g., tensile strength, tear resistance, shrinkage resistance, puncture resistance, etc.) for specific packaging applications.
Further regarding claims 1-2, since both DOU ET AL ‘185 and KRISHNASWAMY ET AL ‘512 indicate that the incorporation of low Tg modifying polymers which increase film “softness” and “flexibility” generally provides a reduction in noise levels (compared to unmodified PLA films); the Examiner has reason to believe that PLA / PHA films in accordance with DOU ET AL ‘185 formulated for high flexibility would exhibit loop stiffness values and noise levels (and therefore LSN values) which at least partially overlap the LSN range recited in claim 1 and loop stiffness range recited in claim 2, therefore the Examiner has basis for shifting the burden of proof to applicant as in In re Fitzgerald et al., 205 USPQ 594. Additionally and/or alternatively, one of ordinary skill in the art would have selected the amount and type of low Tg PHA copolymer in the PLA-based films of DOU ET AL ‘185 to produce highly flexible (as represented by a low or very low loop stiffness of 0.23 gf or less) PLA-based packaging film materials with low noise levels (e.g., 85 dB or less) (corresponding to the recited “LSN“ of “20 or less”) for specific packaging applications.
Further regarding claim 3, since: (i) both DOU ET AL ‘185 and KRISHNASWAMY ET AL ‘512 indicate that the incorporation of low Tg modifying polymers in PLA-based compositions will generally increase film “softness” and “flexibility” and therefore reduces loop stiffness; and (ii) the films of DOU ET AL ‘185 preferably exhibit tensile strength values of 68.9 MPa or more (about 7 kgf/mm2 or more); the Examiner has reason to believe that PLA / PHA films in accordance with DOU ET AL ‘185 formulated for high flexibility (and therefore low or very low loop stiffness -- e.g., 0.1 gf or less) are capable of exhibiting Molding index (FI) values which at least partially overlap the Molding index (FI) range recited in claim 3, therefore the Examiner has basis for shifting the burden of proof to applicant as in In re Fitzgerald et al., 205 USPQ 594. Additionally and/or alternatively, one of ordinary skill in the art would have selected: (i) the amount and type of PLA resin; (ii) the amount and type of low Tg PHA copolymer; and (iii) the amount and type of additional polymers (e.g., elastomers as suggested in DOU ET AL ‘185; etc.); in the PLA-based films of DOU ET AL ‘185 to produce highly flexible (as represented by a low or very low loop stiffness -- e.g., 0.10 gf or less) PLA-based packaging film materials which also exhibit excellent tensile strength (e.g., 7 kgf/mm2 or more) (corresponding to the recited “Molding index (FI)“ of “65 or more”) for specific packaging applications.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
OHKURA ET AL (US 2002/0160201) disclose high flexibility biodegradable wrapping films.
NODA ET AL (US 2002-0143136) and DOU ET AL (US 2010/0330382) disclose PLA / PHA blend compositions.
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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March 21, 2026
/Vivian Chen/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787