DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
2. The Applicants submitted claim amendments on 9/4/2026 in response to the office action mailed on 7/14/2026. The status of the claims are as follows.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
3. The 112 rejection of claim 4 is hereby withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by (WO 2021/069514 A1) to Mondol et al. (hereinafter Mondol).
The above noted rejection is hereby withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (WO 2021/069514 A1) to Mondol et al. (hereinafter Mondol).
The above noted rejection is hereby withdrawn.
NEW Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (WO 2021/069514 A1) to Mondol et al. (hereinafter Mondol) in view of the teachings of (US 2020/0048439 A1) to Ganesan et al. (hereinafter Ganesan).
Mondol is directed to a cross-linkable rubber composition for tires. Mondol discloses at page 2 the cross linkable rubber formulation. Mondol discloses at page 5 the addition of terepene phenolic resins. Mondol discloses at page 6 the rebound is 50% to 70%, which reads on Applicants range of 65% to 75%. Mondol discloses at page 6 the tan delta at 70 °C of > 0.05 to < 0.15, which reads on 0.06 to 0.09.
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Mondol discloses above that SSBR is greater than 50 phr, which reads on Applicants range of 80 to 90 phr. Mondol discloses at page 5 that a filler of carbon black or silica may be added at 60 to 130 phr, which reads on Applicants 55 to 75 phr.
Mondol discloses at page 4 that
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This reads on Applicants ratio first and second coupling agents with a total range of 1 to 15 phr, which reads on 5 to 10 phr.
Ganesan is directed to a cross-linkable rubber composition for tires. Mondol and Ganesan are both directed to a cross-linkable rubber composition for tires and therefore are analogous art. Ganesan teaches at paragraph [0006] that the tires are optimized for both winter and wet performance. Ganesan teaches at paragraph [0008] that this is optimized by having 1 to 99 phr of crosslinkable rubber. Ganesan teaches at paragraph [0016] that the composition is 1 phr to 99 phr of an SSBR made by the solution process. One skilled in the art would be motivated to increase the amount of SSBR content to include the range of 80 phr to 90 phr to optimize winter and wet performance.
It would be obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the filing of the disclosure of Mondol in view of Ganesen to select each and every element of claims to form a prime facie case of obviousness for claims 1-13.
Response to Arguments
9. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. The obviousness rejection presented may use either reference as the primary and the range of 50 phr would not prevent one skilled in the art to increase to Applicants range of 80 to 90 phr as the Gansen reference teaches that this provides a desirable mix of properties.
Conclusion
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY D WASHVILLE whose telephone number is (571)270-3262. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
11. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
12. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached at 571-272-1302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEFFREY D WASHVILLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
