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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 5-16 are objected under 37 CFR 1.75(c) as being in improper form because a multiple dependent claim cannot depend from any other multiple dependent claim. See MPEP § 608.01(n). Accordingly, the claims 5-16 have not been further treated on the merits.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO 2022/042447 A1 in which US 2023/0323099 A1 to Zhang et al. is uses below as the US equivalent. (hereinafter Zhang).
Regarding claims 1-4, Zhang teaches a polypropylene composition comprising (a) a homo-polypropylene continuous matrix phase and (b) an ethylene-propylene elastic copolymer that forms a dispersed rubber phase in the continuous matrix phase (See abstract). Specifically, in Example A1, the component (B) ethylene-propylene elastic copolymer is in an amount of 7.66 wt% of the composition, (See Table 1, Example A1), and the component (B) ethylene-propylene elastic copolymer contains 31 wt% of ethylene content (See Table 1, Example A1), which correlates to about 40.1 mol% of ethylene in the ethylene-propylene elastic copolymer. Zhang further teaches the intrinsic viscosity of the homo-polypropylene phase is 1.96 dL/g and the intrinsic viscosity of xylene solubles (i.e. IV of ethylene-propylene copolymer), is 1.94 dL/g, (See Table 1, Example A1), which correlates to a ratio of 1.94/1.95=0.99, and a MFR of the homo-polypropylene phase of 10.1 g/10 min (See Table 1, Example A1). The above meets the claimed polypropylene composition of claims 1, 2, and 4.
In regard to the MWD of the polymer matrix, one skilled in the art would have a reasonable expectation for the polypropylene composition of Zhang to have the claimed MWD of the polypropylene matrix properties of the claimed invention because Zhang teaches a substantially identical polypropylene composition to the claimed invention such as a polypropylene composition comprising a homo-polypropylene continuous matrix phase and an ethylene-propylene elastic copolymer that forms a dispersed rubber phase in the continuous matrix phase, wherein the ethylene-propylene elastic copolymer is in an amount of 7.66 wt% of the composition, the component (B) ethylene-propylene elastic copolymer contains 40.1 mol% of ethylene in the ethylene-propylene elastic copolymer, an IV of ethylene-propylene copolymer of 1.94 dL/g, and a IV ratio of 0.99, and wherein the polypropylene matrix has a MFR of 10.1 g/10 min, and similarly, the above is within all the claimed ranges of the Applicant’s polypropylene matrix having a MFR of range of 0.5-30 g/10 min, an IV of ethylene-propylene copolymer range of 1.5-3 dL/g, and an IV ratio of 0.8-1.1, and furthermore, it is known in the art for the MWD of the polypropylene matrix to be directly related to the MFR and intrinsic viscosity properties of polypropylene matrix. (See MPEP 2112.01. (Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established. In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977)).
Conclusion
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/HA S NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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