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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I, claims 1-7, 14-18 and 20 in the reply filed on 06/08/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the subject matter of all claims is sufficiently related that a thorough search for the subject matter of any one Group would encompass a search for the subject matter of the remaining Groups, therefore search and examination of the entire application could be made without serious burden.
Despite applicants’ statement that a thorough search for the subject matter of any one Group would encompass a search for the subject matter of the remaining Groups, therefore search and examination of the entire application could be made without serious burden, applicants have not substantiated such a statement. Furthermore, in response to applicants’ position, for example, the search for the polyol embodiments requires the searching of different classes of invention and the use of different search strategies, as compared to the search for the process steps; this position is sufficient to establish that a serious burden exists if all Groups were required to be searched and examined.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-3, 14, 16-17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 3,368,985 to Wismer et al.
As to claim 1, Wismer discloses a polyol represented by the following that contains urea groups, tertiary amines (catalyst function), and at least two hydroxyl groups:
PNG
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108
314
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Greyscale
As to claims 2-3, Wismer discloses wherein the tertiary amine function is derived from triisopropanolamine (Polyol XIII-A). The polyol reaction product has a hydroxyl value of 710, an amine equivalent of 205, a nitrogen content of 13.24% and a free urea content of 6.67% (Col. 30, ll. 7-Col. 31, ll. 54).
As to claims 14 and 16, Wismer discloses a polyurethane foam comprising the reaction product of a polyisocyanate and 100% by weight, relative to the total polyol component, of the polyol containing urea groups (Table 1).
As to claim 17, Wismer discloses a reaction product that is free of tin catalysts (Table 1).
As to claim 20, Wismer discloses the reaction products are suitable in coating applications (5:30-33).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 and 15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL L LEONARD whose telephone number is (571)270-7450. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 7:00-4:00.
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/MICHAEL L LEONARD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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