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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of group I, claims 1-4, in the reply filed on May 29, 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)).
Claims 5-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 May 29, 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Doi et al. (JP 2012-21101). Note: The machine translation provided by the applicant on September 28, 2023 is being used for JP 2012-21101.
Considering Claims 1-3: Doi et al. teaches a resin that is a copolymer formed from a fumaric acid diester having a C1-C12 alkyl or cycloalkyl group on the ester (¶0008), which reads on formula 1, and an acrylate monomer having an aryloxy ester group (¶0012), which reads on formula 2, where a and b are zero and R4-R6 are hydrogen. Doi et al. teaches an example comprising a copolymer having fumaric diisopropyl ester units/formula 1 where R1 and R2 are branched C3 alkyl groups and benzyl methacrylate units/formula II where a and b are zero, S1 is a methylene group, and A is structural formula (I), and R4-R6 are hydrogen in a ratio of 93:7 (Example 1).
Considering Claim 4: Doi et al. teaches a polystyrene equivalent number average molecular weight determined by gel permeation chromatography of 50,000 to 500,000 (¶0017). The instant polymer is prepared by living radical polymerization (¶0018), which results in low polydispersity, and a weight average molecular slightly above the number average molecular weight.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Application 18/710,380 is not suitable for obvious type double patenting, as a methacrylate of the formula 2 is not disclosed.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIAM J HEINCER whose telephone number is (571)270-3297. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:00.
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/LIAM J HEINCER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1767
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