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 .
REJECTIONS WITHDRAWN
All previous rejections have been withdrawn.
REJECTIONS REPEATED
There are no rejections repeated.
NEW REJECTIONS
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.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gu et al. (US 2016/0087250, cited by applicant) in view of Zakikhani et al. (US 5,980,776).
Claim 4 recites an extrusion step which is a method limitation in a product claim and has been given little to no patentable weight since the method by which a product is made is not germane to the patentability of a product in a product claim (MPEP 2113).
Gu discloses a container comprising: a container wall having an interior surface and an exterior surface, the container wall defining an interstitial space, wherein the container is sealable, wherein the container material that forms the container wall comprises a polymeric resin functionalized with phosphonic acid or 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1,-diphosphonic acid associated with the interior surface of the container (paragraphs [0009], [0017-0018], [0028], [0031-0034]).
Gu does not disclose wherein the polymeric resin functionalized with the phosphonic acid is a vinylidene diphosphonic acid or a copolymer of vinylidene diphosphonic acid, wherein the polymeric resin functionalized with the phosphonic acid is crosslinked.
Zakikhani discloses wherein the polymeric resin functionalized with the phosphonic acid is a vinylidene diphosphonic acid or a copolymer of vinylidene diphosphonic acid, wherein the polymeric resin functionalized with the phosphonic acid is crosslinked (column 2, lines 1-17) in order to provide improved adhesion (column 1, lines 8-15).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time applicant’s invention was made to have provided wherein the polymeric resin functionalized with the phosphonic acid is a vinylidene diphosphonic acid or a copolymer of vinylidene diphosphonic acid, wherein the polymeric resin functionalized with the phosphonic acid is crosslinked in Gu in order to provide improved adhesion as taught or suggested by Zakikhani.
Gu also discloses wherein the polymeric resin functionalized with the phosphonic acid is coated onto the interior surface of the container, wherein the polymeric resin functionalized with the phosphonic acid is embedded into the interior surface of the container, herein the container material is a polypropylene, a polyethylene, a polypropylene and polyethylene copolymer or a polyethylene and polypropylene blend, further comprising an outer coating or layer applied to the exterior portion of the container (paragraphs [0009], [0017-0018], [0028], [0031-0034]).
ANSWERS TO APPLICANT’S ARGUMENTS
Applicant’s arguments of 7/22/26 have been carefully considered but are moot in view of the new grounds for rejection set forth above. With regards to Gu, applicant has argued that the phosphate containing of Gu does not form the container wall itself. However, Gu discloses the copolymer layer (4 from Fig. 2) which forms at least part of the container wall and the copolymer layer containers vinyl phosphonic acid copolymer (paragraphs [0032-0033]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL C MIGGINS whose telephone number is (571)272-1494. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 1-9 pm EST.
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.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Aaron Austin can be reached at 571-272-8935. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL C MIGGINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1782
MCM
August 23, 2026
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