DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Preliminary Amendment 2. The preliminary amendment filed on September 21, 2023 has been entered in the above-identified application. Claims 3-14 and 16-21 are amended. Claims 1-21 are pending and under consideration. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) 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. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 3. Claims 1, 3-5, 7-11, and 14-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)( 2 ) as being anticipated by Jourdain et al. (US 2018/0319961 A1). Jourdain et al. disclose a thermoplastic vulcanizate composition (equivalent to the polymer blend of the claimed invention) that includes a thermoplastic vulcanizate, a functionalized polymer, and an inorganic filler. The composition further may comprise (i) about 5 wt. % to about 85 wt. % of a thermoplastic resin component and in one or more embodiments, the thermoplastic resin is a polypropylene (equivalent to the thermoplastic polymer of claim 14 and further meeting the limitations of claims 15 and 16) and (ii) about 15 wt. % to about 95 wt. % of a dispersed and at least partially vulcanized rubber component (equivalent to the (a) thermoplastic elastomer of the claimed invention and meeting the concentration limitations as recited in claims 2 and 4) , based on the total weight of the thermoplastic resin component and the rubber component. The “thermoplastic vulcanizate” is defined as any composition that includes a dispersed, at least partially vulcanized, rubber component within a thermoplastic resin component. A thermoplastic vulcanizate is sometimes referred to herein by the abbreviation “TPV” (meeting the limitations of claim 5). Examples of useful thermoplastic vulcanizates may include those commercially available under the trade name Santoprene™ (identical to the ones used in the instant invention as described in the Examples of the Specification). In addition, the compositions comprise one or more inorganic fillers. Inorganic fillers that have good interfacial adhesion to the TPVs are more effective than those where no adhesion is present, because loads are more efficiently transferred from the TPVs to the filler. Very small inorganic fillers with high aspect ratios have high surface areas. They are highly efficient at sharing loads with the surrounding polymers. In many of the embodiments, the inorganic filler may be present at 0.1 to 50 wt. % (preferably 1 to 40 wt. %, preferably 2 to 30 wt. %, preferably 5 to 20 wt. %), based on the weight of the total composition. Desirable filler includes glass beads (equivalent to the glass beads of the claimed invention and meeting the limitations of claim 10). In preferred embodiments, the inorganic filler has a median particle diameter of 0.1-100 microns (preferably 0.5-50 microns, preferably 1 to 20 microns) (meeting the limitations of claim 11). Additive oils include a variety of hydrocarbon oils and also include certain plasticizers, e.g., ester plasticizers and can be added to the composition in amounts from about 5 to about 300 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the blend of rubber and thermoplastic components. Many additive oils are derived from petroleum fractions and examples include paraffinic, naphthenic, or aromatic oils (meeting the limitations of claims 3 and 7) . (see Abstract and paragraphs 0010-0012, 0033-0051 0078-0083, 0085, 0090-0094). With regards to the limitation that the plasticizer oil has a density from 0.82 g/cm³ to 0.87 g/cm³, the plasticizer oil has a viscosity from 20.5 mm²/s to 57 mm²/s at 40 °C., the polymer blend (i.e., composition) has a Shore A hardness greater than or equal to 10 and less than or equal to 95, a compression set greater than or equal to 10% and less than or equal to 45% as measured in accordance with ISO 815 at 23 °C., an odor less than or equal to 3 as measured in accordance with VDA 270, and a fogging value less than 2.0 mg as measured in accordance with DIN 75201, the Examiner takes the position that such properties are inherent in the plasticizer oil and the composition given that the type of oil used and the components of the composition as taught by Jourdain et al. and that of the claimed invention are identical. With regards to the limitations that recycled materials are used in the composition, t he use of "recycled" materials is not a patentable distinction, as it merely goes to the source of the materials not anything materially distinct about the materials. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) 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. 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. 4 . Claims 2, 6, 12, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jourdain et al. (US 2018/0319961 A1) . Jourdain et al. , as discussed above, do not teach the conce ntration of the plasticizer oil or the shape of the glass beads. However, w ith regards to the concentration of the plasticizer oil, and the size and shape of the g lass beads, the Examiner would like to point out that workable physical properties (such as size and shape) and concentrations are deemed to be obvious routine optimizations to one of ordinary skill in the art, motivated by the desire to obtain the required properties. Conclusion 5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT SHEEBA AHMED whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-1504 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Thursday 7am-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 CALLIE SHOSHO can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-1123 . 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. /SHEEBA AHMED/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787