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 .
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ORTS et al (US 2018/0215914). ORTS et al disclose a composition containing a stereocomplex hat is formed when D-PLA is melt blended into a L-PLA matrix at a concentration between 1 and 50% D-PLA. (See Paragraph [0023].) Such process would inherently form a composition comprising L-PLA and D-PLA. The difference between the composition disclosed by ORTS et asl, and that recited in claims 23-25, is that ORTS et al do not disclose that some of the PLA would have a proportion of 50% to 67% of L-lactic acid monomer units and a proportion of 33% to 50% of D-lactic acid monomer units, and a second polylactic acid would have a proportion of )% to 5% of DF-lactic acid monomer units. It would have been obvious to provide a polylactic acid compound wherein some of the PLA would have a proportion of 50% to 67% of L-lactic acid monomer units and a proportion of 33% to 50% of D-lactic acid monomer units, and a second polylactic acid has a proportion of )% to 5% of DF-lactic acid monomer units. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so, since ORTS suggests in Paragraph [0023] that the concentration of D-PLA is below 50%, and it is unlikely that all the PLA would have concentrations of D-lactic acid monomer units and L-lactic acid monomer units. ORTS et al further disclose in Paragraph [0026] that the D-PLA comprises from about 5 to 20 percent of the total weight of the composition. In any event, it would have been obvious to provide mixtures of the stereomplex disclosed in Paragraph [0023] of ORTS with different ratios of L-PLA and D-PLA, since one would expect that mixtures of the stereoisomers would function for its use as a biodegradable cardstock composition, as well as compounds having a given proportion of L-lactic monomer units and D-lactic acid monomer units.
Regarding claims 24 and 25, it would have been obvious to provide the first polylactic acid in a proportion of 10% by weight to 20% by weight and the second polylactic acid in a proportion of 80% by with to 90% by weight in the composition of ORTS et al, since ORTS et al disclose in Paragraph [0026] that the composition comprises from about 5 to 20 percent of the total weight of the composition, which would indicate a greater level of the polylactic acid having a lower concentration of D-lactic acid monomer units.
Claim Objections
Claim 25 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 (b) in failing to differ substantially from claim 24. Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-22 and 26-31 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
JP 2001064090 (A) discloses a slow-acting fertilizer including a film of lactic acid wherein the ratio of L-lactic acid to D-lactic acid is within the range of 3 to 6. (See the English translation.) However there is no teaching, disclosure or suggestion in JP 2001064090 (A) that a first polylactic acid should have a proportion of 50% to 67% of L-lactic acid monomer unites and a proportion of 33% to 50% of D-lactic acid units, and that a second polylactic acid should have a proportion of95% to 100% of L-lactic monomer units and a proportion of 0% to 5% of D-lactic acid units , as recited in claims 17-22 and 26-31. Nor would there be any motivation from the prior art to modify the composition of JP 2001064090 (A) such that a first polylactic acid would have a proportion of 50% to 67% of L-lactic acid monomer unites and a proportion of 33% to 50% of D-lactic acid units, and that a second polylactic acid would have a proportion of 95% to 100% of L-lactic monomer units and a proportion of 0% to 5% of D-lactic acid units. Applicant’s specification discloses on page 3, lines 25-28 that it has been found that specific coatings having at least one first polylactic acid, wherein the first polylactic acid has a proportion of 50% to 67% of L-lactic acid monomer units and a proportion of 33% to 50% of D-lactic acid monomer units, are surprisingly well-suited for the coating of particulate fertilizers. Accordingly claims 17-22 and 26-31 are not rejected over JP 2001064090 (A).
JP 1995309689 (A) is made of record for disclosing fertilizer coated with polymers of lactic acid and lactic acid copolymers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE A LANGEL whose telephone number is (571) 272-1353. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 8:15 am to 4:15 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Zimmer can be reached at 571-270-3591. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WAYNE A LANGEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1736
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