Detailed Office Action
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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 § 112
2. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
3. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Applicants’ means of claiming the prepolymer is confusing, because the recited species are polyisocyanates as opposed to prepolymers; applicants should specify that the prepolymer is derived from polyisocyanate selected from the groups consisting of the claimed polyisocyanate species.
Prior Art Rejection
4. 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.
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.
5. Claims 1-7 and 9-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Marauska et al. (US 2017/0355862 A1).
Marauska et al. disclose a polyurea based binder composition comprising as reactants polyisocyanates (see paragraphs [0023]-[0026]), which may include prepolymers (see paragraph [0027]), corresponding to applicants’ component (B); polyols and polyamines (see paragraphs [0029]-[0073]), corresponding to applicants’ component (A); components functioning as a source of chemically bound water, such as aluminum hydroxide, zeolites, and ettringite (see paragraphs [0085] and [0087]), corresponding to applicants’ component (C); and catalysts (see paragraphs [0077] and [0078]), corresponding to applicants’ component (D). The compositions may be in the form of a single or multiple composition (see paragraph [0092]).
6. Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marauska et al. (US 2017/0355862 A1) in view of CN 102807812 A and O’Connor (US 3,341,488).
Marauska et al. disclose a polyurea based binder composition comprising as reactants polyisocyanates (see paragraphs [0023]-[0026]), which may include prepolymers (see paragraph [0027]), corresponding to applicants’ component (B); polyols and polyamines (see paragraphs [0029]-[0073]), corresponding to applicants’ component (A); components functioning as a source of chemically bound water, such as aluminum hydroxide, zeolites, and ettringite (see paragraphs [0085] and [0087]), corresponding to applicants’ component (C); and catalysts (see paragraphs [0077] and [0078]), corresponding to applicants’ component (D). The compositions may be in the form of a single or multiple composition (see paragraph [0092]).
7. Though the primary reference fails to specifically disclose the use of a carbon dioxide scavenger, it was known at the time of invention that moisture curable polyurethanes are prone to producing bubbles in the composition due to the evolution of carbon dioxide resulting from the reaction of amine and isocyanate groups. However, to remedy this, it was known to add calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide as a carbon dioxide scavenger (see paragraph [0005] within the translation of CN 102807812 A). Accordingly, the position is taken that it would have been obvious to incorporate carbon dioxide scavengers within moisture curable polyurea compositions at the time of invention to prevent/control foaming. Furthermore, within column 7, lines 10-14 of O’Connor, it is disclosed that the use of a water reactant in the form of being bound within zeolites has the effect of promoting stability and prolonging pot life. Accordingly, this teaching serves to teach the advantageous use of components having bound water as curing agents within the primary reference.
Conclusion
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Rabon A Sergent whose telephone number is (571)272-1079. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM, ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Heidi Riviere Kelley, can be reached at telephone number 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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Examiner interviews are available via a variety of formats. See MPEP § 713.01. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/InterviewPractice.
/RABON A SERGENT/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765
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