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
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 and 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Loos et al (US 20120202928) in view of Aoshima et al (JP 2005298548), cited in IDS as evidences by Takeo et al (US 20150045532).
Loos teaches a composition based on polybutylene succinate sebacate (PBSSe) (see 0102), where the copolyester has the acid numbers ranging from 0.01 to 1.2 mg KOH/g and molecular weight in the range from 9000 to 75 000 g/mol (see 0103), used for film manufacturing (see 0127).
Note that Loos fail to teach reduced viscosity values.
However, the position is taken that Loos’s polymer broad molecular weight range above covers the reduced viscosity range from 0.5 to 4 dl/g.
Loos fails to teach sodium and sulfur content.
Aoshima teaches a polyester having a reduced viscosity of 1.6 or more mainly comprising a diol unit and an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid unit, and containing a group 1 metal element of the periodic table in a range of 0.1 ppm to 50 ppm (see claim 1).
In particular, Aoshima discloses a polyester predominantly based on 1,4-butanediol and succinic acid, which includes small amount (about 5% wt.) of lactic and malic acids.
The theoretical content of sodium and potassium in the obtained polyester was 5 ppm in total, the reduced viscosity (ηsp / c) was 2.4, and the YI value representing the degree of coloration was 3.4 (see Example 1).
Aoshima teaches that sebacic acid can be also present in the copolymer (see chapter Aliphatic dicarboxylic acid unit).
Takeo discloses a polyester- polyamide for film production based on a diamine and sebacic acid, having reduced viscosity equal to 1.35, acid value of 0.09243 eq/g and Mn=12,723 (see Example 5 at 0080).
Takeo teaches that a sulfur atom concentration of the polymer is from 1 to 200 ppm (see 0043) and sodium atom concentration is preferably from 1 to 500 ppm (see 0045), which is favorable for reducing yellowness (YI) of the film.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use Aoshima’s amount of sodium and Takeo’s amount of sulfur in Loos’s PBSSe in order to minimize yellowness of the film.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Loos in view of Aoshima as evidences by Tashima as applied to claims 1 and 5-9 above, and further in view of Iwaya et al (EP 0647668).
Loos, Aoshima and Tashima do not define the ratio of succinic and sebacic acids in the polymer.
Iwaya discloses a copolyester formed from 1,4 butanediol , succinic and sebacic acids used for film production, where the molar ratio between succinic and sebacic acids is within the ratio 1:0.01 to 1:0.3 (see 0037 and 0045).
Iwaya discloses that the applied amount of the additional acid does not affect an excellent biodegradability and physical properties of polybutylene succinate (i.e., PBS) (see 0039).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use relatively low amount of an additional sebacic acid residue in PBS-based polyester to preserve excellent biodegradability and physical properties of the base polymer.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY LISTVOYB whose telephone number is (571)272-6105. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Heidi Riviere Kelley can be reached at (571) 270-1831. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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GL
/GREGORY LISTVOYB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765
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