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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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, 3, 5, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (NPL, “Evaluation…Applications”) in view of Horton et al. (2021/0304921).
Re-claims 1, 3, and 6, Zhou et al. discloses a composition comprising a non-crosslinked (Zhou does not disclose the composition being crosslinked) polypropylene (PP) and a polyolefin elastomer (POE) as a base resin, wherein the content of the non-crosslinked PP and the content of the POE are each independently 25 to 75 parts by weight (wt%) based on 100 wt% of the base resin (Table 1) (re-claim 1). Zhou et al. does not disclose the composition being a semiconductive composition comprising 30 to 60 wt% based on 100 wt% of the base resin a conductive additive which comprises carbon black (re-claims 1 and 3). Horton et al. discloses a composition which can be used for insulating layer or semiconductive layer ([0079], the inner semiconductive layer 4, the insulating layer 5, and the outer semiconductive layer 6 are all formed of the same polymer, with the proviso that the semiconductor layers comprise a conductive filler), wherein the semiconductive composition comprises 30 to 60 wt%, based on 100 wt% of the base resin, a conductive additive which comprises carbon black ([0062] & [0064]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to add 30 to 60 wt% of carbon black, based on 100 wt% of the base resin, in the composition of Zhou et al. to form a semiconductive composition as taught by Horton et al. It is noted that since the modified semiconductive composition of Zhou et al. comprises material as claimed, it would have a crystallinity of 20% to 70% (re-claims 1 and 6).
Re-claim 5, Horton et al. discloses the composition further comprising 0.5 to 3 wt%, based on 100 wt% of the base resin, of an antioxidant ([0066]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to include 0.5 to 3 wt%, based on 100 wt% of the base resin, of an antioxidant in the modified composition of Zhou et al. to further improve the physical properties of the same.
Re-claim 6, Zhou et al., as modified, discloses the semiconductive composition as claimed, but does not disclose such semiconductive composition being used as inner or outer semiconductive layer in a power cable. Horton et al. discloses a power cable comprising at least one conductor; an inner semiconductive layer configured to enclose the conductor; an insulating layer configured to enclose the inner semiconductive layer; an outer semiconductive layer configured to enclose the insulating layer (Fig. 1); and a sheath layer configured to enclose the outer semiconductive layer ([0084]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to use the modified semiconductive composition of Zhou et al. as an inner or outer semiconductive layer in a power cable as taught by Horton et al. since such semiconductive composition has improved physical properties and recyclable.
Claims 1, 3, and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gkourmpis et al. (2024/0002647) in view of Zhou et al.
Gkourmpis et al. discloses a power cable comprising at least one conductor; an inner semiconductive layer configured to enclose the conductor; an insulating layer configured to enclose the inner semiconductive layer; an outer semiconductive layer configured to enclose the insulating layer ([0168]); and a sheath layer configured to enclose the outer semiconductive layer ([0170]), wherein at least one of the inner and outer semiconductive layers is formed from a semiconductive composition, wherein the semiconductive composition comprises a non-crosslinked polypropylene resin and an elastomer as a base resin ([0054], preferred the semiconductive composition not crosslinked) and a conductive additive in an amount of 30 to 60 wt% based on 100 wt% of the base resin (re-claims 1 and 6). Gkourmpis et al. also discloses the conductive additive comprising carbon black (abstract) (re-claim 3); the composition further comprising 0.5 to 3 wt%, based on 100 wt% of the base resin, of an antioxidant ([0040]-[0041]) (re-claim 5); and the insulating layer being formed from an insulating composition comprising a non-crosslinked polypropylene resin as a base resin ([0172]) (re-claim 7).
Gkourmpis et al. does not disclose the base resin comprising, based on 100 wt% of the base resin, 25 to 75 wt% of polypropylene and 25 to 75 wt% polyolefin elastomer, wherein the crystallinity of the composition is 20% to 70% (re-claims 1 and 6).
Zhou et al. discloses a base resin comprising, based on 100 wt% of the base resin, 25 to 75 wt% of polypropylene and 25 to 75 wt% polyolefin elastomer (Table 1).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to use the base resin as taught by Zhou et al. for the base resin of Gkourmpis et al. since the base resin taught by Zhou et al. not only have improved physical properties, it's also recyclable. It is noted that since the modified semiconductive composition of Gkourmpis et al. comprises material as claimed, it would have a crystallinity of 20% to 70% (re-claims 1 and 6).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 6 have been considered but are moot in view of new ground of rejection.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAU N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1980. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 7am to 5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani N Hayman can be reached at 571-270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHAU N NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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