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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment dated 3/16/2026 has been considered and entered into the record. Independent claim 1, from which all other claims depend, has been amended to require a compound having a phenol backbone and an amide bond, wherein the compound has a molecular weight of from 200 to 700 and has a melting point of at least 200oC. This amendment overcomes the previous rejection as the applied prior art fails to provide for the newly claimed compound. As such, the previous rejection based upon the combination of Yamamoto and Irie is withdrawn. Additionally, the previous indefinite rejection of claim 1 has been withdrawn due to amendment. Claim 4 has been cancelled and new claims 9 and 10 have been added. Claims 1–3 and 5–10 are pending and examined below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1–3 and 5–10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto (US 2013/0071591 A1) in view of Soga (US 2020/0172770 A1) as evidenced by N,N′-bis[3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionyl] hydrazine MSDS.
Yamamoto teaches a silicone rubber composition for coating airbag textiles, wherein the composition comprises (A) 100 parts by weight of an organopolysiloxane having one or more silicon atom-bonded alkenyl groups on average per molecule and having a viscosity at 25oC of 100 to 1,000,000 mPa*s; (B) an organosiloxane having at least three silicon atom-bonded hydrogen atoms per molecule, wherein the silicon atom-bonded hydrogen atoms are 0.8–2.5 moles per one mole of alkenyl groups in (A); (C) enough hydrosilylation catalyst to cure the composition; (D) 0.1–50 parts by mass of a reinforcing silica fine powder; and (E) 0.05–5 parts by mass of an adhesion promoter. Yamamoto abstract, ¶¶ 29, 46–47. Component (B) comprises components (B-1) and (B-2), which are blended together to arrive at a silicon atom-bonded hydrogen atom level of less than 0.5 mass percent. See id. ¶¶ 70–71. The airbags are formed when a woven fabric is coated with the silicone rubber composition, which is then cured. Id. ¶¶ 8, 31.
Yamamoto fails to teach the use 0.001 to 5 parts by mass of a compound having a phenol backbone and an amide bond, wherein the compound has a molecular weight of from 200 to 700 and has a melting point of at least 200oC.
Soga teaches the use of a curable resin composition that achieves both low-temperature curability and low compression set. Soga abstract. The curable resin composition comprises polysiloxane, a catalytic amount of hydrosilylation catalyst, silica particles, and a heavy metal deactivator selected from hydrazide compounds. Id. abstract, claim 15. A combination of heavy metal deactivator and the other composition components enables both low-temperature curability and compression set, and offering excellent storage stability. Id. ¶ 76. The hydrazide compound is not particularly limited, but may include N,N′-bis[3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionyl] hydrazine at more preferred levels of 0.01 to 7 parts by mass. Id. ¶¶ 80–81. The hydrazide compound N,N′-bis[3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionyl] hydrazine has a molecular weight of ~553 and a melting point in the range of 227–232oC. See N,N′-bis[3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionyl] hydrazine MSDS. The curable composition of Soga may further comprise hydrosilylation retardants as rate regulators, such as 3,5-dimethyl-1-hexyne-3-ol, and 1-ethynyl-1-cyclohexanol, at levels of 0.2 parts by mass. Id. ¶¶ 85, 116.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have added N,N′-bis[3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionyl] hydrazine at claimed levels to the composition of Yamamoto motivated by the desire to enable both low-temperature curability and compression set, and offering excellent storage stability. Id. ¶ 76. Additionally, it would have been obvious to have added the rate regulator 3,5-dimethyl-1-hexyne-3-ol or 1-ethynyl-1-cyclohexanol at the claimed levels motivated by the desire to better control the rate of reaction within the composition.
Claim 2 is rejected as the adhesion promoter (E) in Yamamoto may be an organotitanium compound. Yamamoto ¶ 47.
Although Yamamoto and Soga fail to explicitly teach the claimed feature of having an elongation at break of the cured product after heat aging of at least 80% relative to the elongation at break of the cured product before heat aging is inherent to the combination of prior art teachings. Support for said presumption is found in the use of like materials (i.e. the claimed silicone rubber composition for textile coating). The burden is upon Applicant to prove otherwise. In re Fitzgerald 205 USPQ 594. In addition, the presently claimed elongation at break property would obviously have been present one the Yamamoto and Sago product is provided. Reliance upon inherency is not improper even though rejection is based on Section 103 instead of Section 102. In re Skoner, 517 F.2d 947 (CCPA 1975).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1–3 and 5–10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 MATTHEW D MATZEK whose telephone number is (571)272-5732. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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/MATTHEW D MATZEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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