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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5-12, 17 and 26-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Hanan et al. (US 2020/0308366).
The limitation, “formed by injection stretch blow molding of a preform,” in claim 1 is a method limitation in a product claim which has been given little to no patentable weight since the method by which a product is made is not germane to the patentability of a product in a product claim.
Claims 5-10, in their entirety, recite method limitations in a product claim which have been given little to no patentable weight since the method by which a product is made is not germane to the patentability of a product in a product claim.
Hanan discloses A container for storing product therein, the container comprising: recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET); and graphene (paragraphs [0011-0019], [0039-0042]).
Hanan discloses further comprising virgin PET (paragraphs [0011-0019], [0039-0042]), wherein the graphene is 0.0025% to .05% of the container, wherein the graphene is 0.01% to 0.035% of the container (since a range of 0.0015 to 0.1 weight percent, paragraph [0039]), wherein the graphene is in the form of graphene nanoplatelets (paragraphs [0011-0019], [0039-0042]).
Hanan does not disclose wherein the container is configured to withstand at least 60 lbs., or 65 lbs., or 40 lbs. of top load force when filled and capped before being disfigured. However, the limitation is inherent in Hanan since Hanan discloses the same container as recited by applicant in claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 2, 4, 13 and 26-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hanan et al. (US 2020/0308366) in view of Bhat et al. (US 2021/0340371).
Hanan does not disclose wherein at least 99.5% of the container consists of the recycled PET, wherein up to 75% of the container consists of the virgin PET and wherein the container has a crystallinity of at least 30%.
Bhat discloses wherein at least 99.5% of the container consists of the recycled PET, wherein up to 75% of the container consists of the virgin PET and wherein the container has a crystallinity of at least 30% (paragraphs [0003 – 0004], [0048], [0057], [0067], Table 9, [0086] and Table 10) in a container comprising PET and graphene for the purpose of providing improved recycled content and strength (paragraph [0002]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time applicant’s invention was made to have provided wherein at least 99.5% of the container consists of the recycled PET, wherein up to 75% of the container consists of the virgin PET and wherein the container has a crystallinity of at least 30% in Hanan in order to provide improved recycled content and/or strength as taught or suggested by Bhat.
Hanan does not disclose wherein the container is configured to withstand at least 60 lbs., or 65 lbs., or 40 lbs. of top load force when filled and capped before being disfigured. However, the limitation is necessarily present in Hanan since Hanan discloses the same container as recited by applicant in claim 1. It would have been obvious to have provided wherein the container is configured to withstand at least 60 lbs., or 65 lbs., or 40 lbs. of top load force when filled and capped before being disfigured in order to provide improved strength (see Bhat Tables 9-10 and paragraphs [0085 – 0086]).
Claim(s) 14-16 and 18-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hanan et al. (US 2020/0308366) in view of “xGnP Graphene Nanoplatelets – Grade R”, XG Sciences INC., March 2018 (cited by applicant).
Hanan does not disclose wherein the graphene has a bulk density of 0.03 - 0.1 g/cc. 10, wherein the graphene has an oxygen content of less than 5%, wherein the graphene has a residual acid content of less than 0.5 wt.%, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a surface area of 30 to 60m2/g, and an average particle diameter of one of 7, 10, and 25 microns, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a density of 2.2 g/cm3, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a loss on ignition of greater than, or equal to, 99.0 wt.%, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a thermal conductivity of 3,000 W/mK parallel to a surface and 6 W/m.K perpendicular to the surface, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a thermal expansion of 4-6x10-6 parallel to a surface and 0.5-1.0x10-6 perpendicular to the surface, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a tensile modulus of 1,000 MPa, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a tensile strength of 5 MPa, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have an electrical conductivity of 107 S/m parallel to a surface and 10% perpendicular to the surface.
“xGnP Graphene Nanoplatelets – Grade R”, XG Sciences INC., March 2018 discloses wherein the graphene has a bulk density of 0.03 - 0.1 g/cc. 10, wherein the graphene has an oxygen content of less than 5%, wherein the graphene has a residual acid content of less than 0.5 wt.%, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a surface area of 30 to 60m2/g, and an average particle diameter of one of 7, 10, and 25 microns, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a density of 2.2 g/cm3, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a loss on ignition of greater than, or equal to, 99.0 wt.%, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a thermal conductivity of 3,000 W/mK parallel to a surface and 6 W/m.K perpendicular to the surface, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a thermal expansion of 4-6x10-6 parallel to a surface and 0.5-1.0x10-6 perpendicular to the surface, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a tensile modulus of 1,000 MPa, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a tensile strength of 5 MPa, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have an electrical conductivity of 107 S/m parallel to a surface and 10% perpendicular to the surface (see entire document) in a polymer mixture for the purpose of providing improved strength and lower weight.
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time applicant’s invention was made to have provided wherein the graphene has a bulk density of 0.03 - 0.1 g/cc. 10, wherein the graphene has an oxygen content of less than 5%, wherein the graphene has a residual acid content of less than 0.5 wt.%, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a surface area of 30 to 60m2/g, and an average particle diameter of one of 7, 10, and 25 microns, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a density of 2.2 g/cm3, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a loss on ignition of greater than, or equal to, 99.0 wt.%, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a thermal conductivity of 3,000 W/mK parallel to a surface and 6 W/m.K perpendicular to the surface, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a thermal expansion of 4-6x10-6 parallel to a surface and 0.5-1.0x10-6 perpendicular to the surface, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a tensile modulus of 1,000 MPa, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have a tensile strength of 5 MPa, wherein the graphene nanoplatelets each have an electrical conductivity of 107 S/m parallel to a surface and 10% perpendicular to the surface in Hanan in order to provide improved strength and lower weight as taught or suggested by “xGnP Graphene Nanoplatelets – Grade R”, XG Sciences INC., March 2018.
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL C MIGGINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1782
MCM
December 13, 2025