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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by SAWAKI (WO-2021/117786).
NOTE: The US publication US-2023/0002565, an English equivalent of SAWAKI, is used herein as the English translation. The citations below are taken from the US Publication.
Claims 1-2: Sawaki teaches a coated resin particle comprising a water-absorbent resin particle and a coating that coats at least a part of the surface of the water absorbent resin particle (abstract). Sawaki measured the absorption rate of the coated resin particles when immersed in physiological saline for 5 minutes (para. 0122 and Page 10, Table 1); however, Sawaki does not measure the pH of the immersing saline liquid. However, it is expected that the coated resin particles of Sawaki would necessarily influence the pH of the immersing saline liquid within the claimed range under the same test conditions because the coated particles of Sawaki are made by a process substantially identical to the process disclosed in the instant specification. Compare the process of making the water-absorbent resin particles of Sawaki at paragraphs 0084-0090 to that of the instant specification at paragraphs 0065; and compare the coating step in Example 5 of Sawaki (para. 100) to the coating step in the instant specification in Example 1, para. 0066. Namely, both coating processes involve a coating liquid comprising ethylene-sodium acrylate copolymer neutralized with PEG6000 and diluted in water, then 500 g of the water absorbent resin particles were injected into a granulator and hot air at 50oC, subjecting the resin particles to spraying coating and drying at 50oC for 30 minutes. Because the coated resin comprises the same water-absorbent resin particle and are coated with th esame coating liquid under the same coating conditions, it is expected that the coated resin particles of Sawaki influence the same pH changes in the immersing liquid of physiological saline as claimed.
Claim 3: Sawaki teaches a coated resin particle wherein the polymer comprises a carboxy group derived from (meth)acrylic acid and/or its salt (Sawaki, para. 0030).
Claim 4: The polymer having a carboxy group also comprises a monomer unit derived from a substituted or unsubstituted alkene, i.e. polyalkylene oxide, polyalkylene glycol or polyoxyalkylene alkyl either (Sawaki, para. 0047).
Claims 5-7: Sawaki teaches a water absorbent reisn composition comprising the coated resin particles and other resin particles having water absorption properties and absorbent comprising the coated resin particles and/or with other resin particles (para. 0057).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOA (Holly) LE whose telephone number is (571)272-1511. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.
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HOA (Holly) LE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1788
/HOA (Holly) LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1788
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