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.
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) 1-3 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong et al. KR20210076436 A2 in view of Sooho et al. KR20210047177 A and optionally further in view of Sup et al. KR102123584 B1 for claim 6.
Yong et al. discloses a fire extinguishing microcapsule with a double shell structure according to the present invention comprises: (i) a core (1) made of perfluoro 2-methyl-3-pentanone, (ii) a first shell (2), which surrounds the core (1) and is made of gelatin, and (iii) a second shell (3), which surrounds the first shell (2) and is made of melamine. According to the present invention, the fire extinguishing microcapsule with the double shell structure is manufactured by (i) a process of preparing a solution for forming the second shell (3) by reacting and stirring, in water, melamine and a reactant, which converts the melamine to an emulsion-polymerizable precursor; and (ii) a processing of adding, to the solution for forming the second shell (3), an emulsifier and a fire extinguishing microcapsule with an one-shell structure in which the first shell (2) made of gelatin surrounds the core (1) made of perfluoro 2- methyl-3-pentanone, and then stirring, reacting, pH adjusting, and drying the resultant solution. The fire extinguishing microcapsule with the double shell structure according to the present invention has the excellent solvent resistance and compatibility with a fire extinguishing paint when the paint is prepared, has a uniform diameter due to a narrow particle size distribution width, achieves the excellent fire extinguishing performance without damaging the ozone layer, so that the fire extinguishing microcapsule is useful as a material for preparation of the fire extinguishing paint, a fire extinguisher powder material, etc., see abstract.
Yong et al. further discloses that the polymerizing reactant for the melamine is selected from formaldehyde and/or glutaraldehyde in order to form a melamine- formaldehyde polymer or melamine-glutaraldehyde polymer for the second shell layer, see claim 3 and Example 1.
Yong et al. thus discloses applicant’s claimed invention in almost all aspects except that there is not a directly disclosure to where the first shell material comprises a mixture of gelatin with inorganic nanoparticles, such as silica, alumina and/or titanium dioxide, and to where the second shell material is urea-formaldehyde.
The secondary reference to Sooho et al. discloses a fire extinguishing agent complex and an autonomous fire extinguishing apparatus comprising the same. The fire extinguishing agent complex comprises: microcapsules (size ranges from 1 micron to 2,000 microns) containing the fire extinguishing agent as a core material; a decapsulation agent for removing the capsule of the microcapsule; a decapsulation catalyst for accelerating the decapsulation of the decapsulation agent; and a polymer material that is mixed with the microcapsule, the decapsulation agent and the decapsulation catalyst. Fire extinguishing agent complex is selected from [Formula 1] C x H y O z Halk (x,y,z,k are 0,1,2……), (Hal is Br, I, F, and a mixture of at least one selected from these), see claim 4. Please note that Applicant’s claimed methoxynonafluorobutane fire-extinguishing core material of dependent claim 2, falls directly within said Formula 1 when x=5, y=3, z=1 Hal=F and k=9. Sooho et al. further discloses that the shell material coating the core material can be selected from polymers, such as gelatin, gum arabic etc. and/or other materials such as silica, see claim 5. Please note that the particle size of the silica particles could easily fall within Applicant’s nano size range and would have to fall within the nano size range when the microcapsules themselves have a very small particle size range (e.g. 1 micron, 10 microns etc.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use the disclosure of the secondary reference to Sooho et al., that it is known in the art to make microcapsules wherein a combination of water-soluble polymer, such as gelatin, with nano-silica, can be employed as the shell material for the core material, as strong motivation to actually incorporate nano-silica into the gelatin water-soluble polymer to make Yong et al.’s disclosed fire extinguishing microcapsules having a double shell structure for the benefits they would impart (e.g. increase structural integrity of the shell material).
It would also have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use urea-formaldehyde resin as the second shell coating material. It is held that applicant’s claimed urea-formaldehyde resin second shell material would function basically the same as Yong et al.’s melamine-glutaraldehyde resin second shell material and would thus be at once envisaged by one having ordinary skill in the art. In any case, the optional disclosure of Sup et al. KR102123584 B1 can be used for the disclosure that the use of a urea-formaldehyde resin as a shell material to make fire extinguishing microcapsules is well known in the art. It is well known in the art that it is not inventive to merely follow the direct disclosure of a prior-art reference.
Claim(s) 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong et al. KR20210076436 A2 in view of Sooho et al. KR20210047177 A and said combination further in view of Harkabus et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2013/0012623 A1.
The above described combination of Yong et al. with Sooho et al., does not directly disclose wherein the silica particles are surface modified with acrylic group(s).
Harkabus et al. directly discloses the encapsulation of silica aerogel powder wherein the silica aerogel has first been functionalized with acrylic acid, see Examples 1-2, and paragraphs [0051] and [0064]. Said functionalization will increase the hydrophobic properties of the silica aerogel powder.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use Harkabus et al.’s said disclosure of functionalizing silica aerogel particles with acrylic acid, as strong motivation to actually employ acrylic acid functionalized nano-silica particles in combination with gelatin to form the first shell layer around Yong et al.’s core in the process of making their microcapsules for the benefits such would impart to the first shell layer (e.g. increasing the hydrophobic properties of the silica particles).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH DAVID ANTHONY whose telephone number is (571)272-1117. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10:00AM-6:30PM.
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/JOSEPH D ANTHONY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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