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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by “Synthesis and antioxidant activity study of new mannich bases from vanillic acid” to Hayun et al.
As to claim 17, Case law holds that a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. See MPEP 2111.02, In re Casey, 152 USPQ 235 (CCPA 1967) and In re Otto, 136 USPQ 458, 459 (CCPA 1963). Hayun discloses Mannich Bases represented by the following:
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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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2014/0107313 to Burckhardt et al. in view of “Synthesis and antioxidant activity study of new mannich bases from vanillic acid” to Hayun et al.
As to claims 1-20, Burckhardt discloses a hardener composition for epoxy resins and cured epoxy resins prepared therefrom comprising an amine of formula (I) (Abstract) and additional amines such as phenalkamines (Mannich bases) (0035). Burckhardt prefers secondary containing amine because they have little tendency to blushing effects and yield films of especially high quality with epoxy resins (0038).
Burckhardt does not expressly disclose the secondary amines of formula (I).
However, Hayun discloses Mannich Bases represented by the following:
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At the time of filing it would have been obvious to substitute one Mannich base (taught in Burckhardt) for another type of Mannich base (taught in Hayun) with the expectation that the new Mannich base containing secondary amine groups would provide the same high quality epoxy resins with less tendency to blushing effects desired by Burckhardt.
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL L LEONARD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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