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 1-3 and 5-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakagawa et al. (US 2013/0338330 A1).
As to claims 1-3 and 5-9, Nakagawa discloses the modification of 1,5-pentamethylene diisocyanate in a solvent (0337-0338), wherein the preferred modification is the trimerization of the diisocyanate to yield a product containing isocyanurate groups. The reference further discloses that the product contains 35 to 95 mass%, preferably 50 to 75 mass%, of trimer groups and further discloses that the isocyanate groups within the resulting composition may be blocked with oximes, amines, or lactams including cyclohexaneoxime, 3-5-dimethylimidazole, or caprolactam corresponding to those claimed. The composition may contain solvent. See paragraphs [0277], [0279], [0330], [0337], [0338], and [0345, 0349, 0352, 0360-0365]. Nakagawa discloses wherein the blocked isocyanate is obtained by blending the polyisocyanate composition with an excess of blocker relative to the isocyanate group in the polyisocyanate composition, which results in at least 50% reaction of isocyanate groups with blocking agent (0360). Oximes are disclosed within paragraph [0359] as a blocking agent that dissociates at a relatively low temperature. Accordingly, the position is taken that one would have been motivated to trimerize pentamethylene diisocyanate to obtain a product having a content of trimer groups that fall within the disclosed range and block the remaining isocyanate groups with an oxime, suitable for further reaction upon heating.
Regarding claim 9, it has not been established that the process of producing the blocking agent yields a patentably distinct product.
As to claims 10-11, Nakagawa discloses coating materials obtained by the blocked polyisocyanate and at least one polyol component in a one component system (0463-0464).
As to claims 12-14, Nakagawa discloses a process for preparing a coatings and coatings thereof on suitable substrates comprising applying the polyisocyanate component and the polyol component to a substrate (metals, 0488 or plastics, 0489) and curing at temperatures ranges between room temperature and 200°C (0476).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakagawa et al. (US 2013/0338330 A1) in view of U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2023/0365741 to Usui et al.
As to claim 4, Nakagawa discloses the modification of 1,5-pentamethylene diisocyanate in a solvent (0337-0338), wherein the preferred modification is the trimerization of the diisocyanate to yield a product containing isocyanurate groups. The reference further discloses that the product contains 35 to 95 mass%, preferably 50 to 75 mass%, of trimer groups and further discloses that the isocyanate groups within the resulting composition may be blocked with oximes, amines, or lactams including cyclohexaneoxime, 3-5-dimethylimidazole, or caprolactam corresponding to those claimed. The composition may contain solvent. See paragraphs [0277], [0279], [0330], [0337], [0338], and [0345, 0349, 0352, 0360-0365]. Nakagawa discloses wherein the blocked isocyanate is obtained by blending the polyisocyanate composition with an excess of blocker relative to the isocyanate group in the polyisocyanate composition, which results in at least 50% reaction of isocyanate groups with blocking agent (0360). Oximes are disclosed within paragraph [0359] as a blocking agent that dissociates at a relatively low temperature. Accordingly, the position is taken that one would have been motivated to trimerize pentamethylene diisocyanate to obtain a product having a content of trimer groups that fall within the disclosed range and block the remaining isocyanate groups with an oxime, suitable for further reaction upon heating.
Nagakawa does not expressly disclose a mixture of pentamethylene diisocyanate with another diisocyanate component.
However, within the same field of endeavor, Usui discloses a isocyanurate modified diisocyanate (Abstract, 0050-0060) component that may be blocked comprising a mixture of 40 to 90% by mass of 1,5-pentamethylene diisocyanate a second diisocyanate including 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (0080-0099).
At the time of filing it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include the second diisocyanate component to the isocyanate component of Nagakawa as taught in Usui to obtain a polyisocyanate having excellent curability, water dispersibility, and pot life (0102).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL L LEONARD whose telephone number is (571)270-7450. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 7:00-4:00.
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/MICHAEL L LEONARD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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