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.
Claims 1 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 4,559,370 to Blanpied.
As to claims 1 and 5-8, Blanpied discloses copolyester polyol resins comprising an aromatic component selected from recycled PET (bis-2-hydroxyethyl terephthalate), terephthalic acid (Example 2) an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid, diethylene glycol, and propylene glycol (Example 1), wherein the mole ratios of glycols to aromatic plus aliphatic dicarboxylic acid components is 1.3 to 2:1 (Abstract) and the content of recycled PET is 31.4% (Example 1, Example 2).
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.
Claims 1-2 and 5-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2022/0372217 to Howell et al.
As to claims 1-2 and 5-7, Howell discloses a polyester copolymer composition comprising an process that includes introducing terephthalic acid, ethylene glycol, and recycled PET (that contains bis-2-hydroxyethyl terephthalate) into a heated tank, followed by introducing 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol and diethylene glycol to a total glycol:TPA molar ratio of 1:1 to 4:1 and reacting the monomers to prepare the polyester copolymer composition (0065-0074). In one example, the content of rPET is 13% (0386).
The mol ratio of glycol:dicarboxylic acid component overlaps the claimed range. Therefore, a prima facie case of obviousness exists. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to use contents of glycol and dicarboxylic acid within the claimed range based on the desired viscosity and film properties of the polyester copolymer composition of Howell.
As to claim 8, Howell discloses diethylene glycol residue amounts of 12.2, 12.5, and 11.1 (0394).
As to claim 10, Howell discloses an intrinsic viscosity of 0.5 to 0.9 dl/g (0022).
As to claim 11, Howell discloses a % haze of less than 1 (Tables 8-9).
As to claim 12, Howell discloses a polyester composition of the instant claim 1, therefore would possess the property of (Hunter L color value)-(Hunter b value) of a polyester specimen with a thickness of 6 mm of 80 or more.
As to claims 13-20, Howell discloses film prepared from the polyester copolymer composition that has a shrinkage at 70°C of 36.5% and a shrinkage at 95°C of 79.0% (0396).
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2022/0372217 to Howell et al. in view of U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2016/0068629 to Lim et al.
As to claims 3-4, Howell discloses a polyester copolymer composition comprising an process that includes introducing terephthalic acid, ethylene glycol, and recycled PET (that contains bis-2-hydroxyethyl terephthalate) into a heated tank, followed by introducing 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol and diethylene glycol to a total glycol:TPA molar ratio of 1:1 to 4:1 and reacting the monomers to prepare the polyester copolymer composition (0065-0074). In one example, the content of rPET is 13% (0386).
Howell does not expressly disclose the cyclohexanedimethanol derivatives.
However, within the same field of endeavor, Lim discloses polyester based copolymers capable of having an excellent shrinkage rate and being heat-shrunk at a low temperature derived from glycol components that include a residues derived from 0.1 to 5 mol% of 4-(hydroxymethyl)cyclohexylmethyl 4’(hydroxymethyl)cyclohexane carboxylate and 0.1 to 12 mol% of 4,4-(oxybis(methylene)bis)cyclohexane methanol (Abstract, 0013).
At the time of filing it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to add the diol residues of Lim to the polyester copolymer of Howell to provide excellent shrinkage rate and low temperature heat shrinkability (0007).
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL L LEONARD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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