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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 8/6/2024, 8/07/2024, and 1/16/2026 have been fully considered. Initialed copies of said IDSs are enclosed herein. The 8/6/2024 IDS has been “X”’ed out because it is essentially a duplicate of the disclosure of the “corrected” IDS filed 08/07/2024.
Drawings
The drawings filed 5/17/2024 are accepted.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2020-158554 (herein referred to as Prime Polymer) in view of WO2021/124871 (herein referred to as “Showa”) and Tse et al (US 2011/0136982).
With regards to claims 1 and 9, Prime Polymer teaches an automobile exterior member obtained by injection molding or press molding a propylene -based reins composition comprising (a) 5-47 parts by mass of a propylene based polymer having a melt flow a rate (at 230C under a load of 2.16kg) of 50-150g/10min and a decane soluble content of 6-15mass% (claims; 0020); (b)0-30 pats by mass of a propylene homopolymer having a melt flow rate of 10-500g/10min; (c) an ethylene-alpha olefin random copolymer comprising ethylene and a C4-8 olefin and having a density of 0.850-0.890g/cm3 and a melt flow rate of 0.5-30g/10min; and (d) 30-40 pbm of an inorganic filler having an average particle diameter of greater than 8um and an aspect ratio of more than 9.0 ; wherein the sum of A-d is 100 parts by mass, and wherein the melt flow rate of the whole composition is 25-60g/10min.
Prime Polymer is relied upon as above, but does not teach the application of a urethane-based adhesive to the molded composition. However, Showa teaches integrally forming a propylene injection molded by with a urethane-based adhesive (0038; 044). Said adhesive is applied and then cured. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to apply a urethane-based adhesive to the injection molded composition of Prime Polymer. The motivation for doing so would have been because Showa teaches the application of urethane-based adhesive to such molded automotive components is common in the art for providing adhesion.
Prime Polymer also does not teach the claimed ethylene copolymer should have the claimed melting point. However, Tse teaches an ethylene copolymer meeting the claimed density range which as a melting point in the range of 100-30 degrees (0077). Said copolymer exhibits improved shear thinning and long elongation (0016). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to utilize the copolymer of Tse in place of the copolymer disclosed in Prime Polymer. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve shear thinning and elongation.
With regards to claim 2, none of the references teach that the layered structure should a hot shear test strength at 90°C of more than 1.5 MPa in a primerless adhesion test. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to optimize the hot shear test strength of said laminate in order to insure the laminate maintains integrity
With regards to claim 3, Prime Polymer teaches the propylene-based polymer (A) is a block copolymer of propylene and ethylene (0081), and an intrinsic viscosity [n] of a decane-soluble portion of the copolymer is 2 to 9 dl/g (0021).
With regards to claim 4, Prime Polymer teaches the inorganic filler (D) is talc and has an aspect ratio of more than 9 (see Solution paragraph), herein understood to read on the claimed “3 or more and less than 15.”
With regards to claim 5, Showa renders obvious the resin cured layer comprising the curable resin (E) having a urethane bond is a cured product of a urethane-based adhesive containing a urethane prepolymer having a polyether skeleton and an aliphatic isocyanate derivative.
With regards to claim 6, Prime Polymer teaches the molded body (i) is an injection molded body or a press molded body (see Solution paragraph).
With regards to claims 7 and 8, Prime Polymer teaches the layered structure is used for an automobile exterior member (see Solution paragraph).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN R KRUER whose telephone number is (571)272-1510. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Callie Shosho can be reached at (571) 272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN R KRUER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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