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 Objections
Claims 23 and 24 are objected to because of the following informalities: “filing” on lines 1 and 19 of claim 23 and on line 1 of claim 24 should read “filling” (as in claims 25-35). Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 23-35 are 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. Claim 23 recites, “wherein the crosslinked (meth)acrylic copolymer comprises (meth)acrylic copolymer segments comprising: 10-90 % by weight of copolymerized vinyl aromatics; and 90-10 % by weight of copolymerized (meth)acrylate monomers” (emphasis added) on lines 24-27, however, given that the claim does not recite a basis for said weight percentages, e.g., based upon the total weight of the (meth)acrylic copolymer segments, based upon a total of just the weight percent of the copolymerized vinyl aromatics and the weight percent of the copolymerized (meth)acrylate monomers, based upon the total weight of the crosslinked (meth)acrylic acid copolymer, etc., and given that the limitation utilizes “comprising” with respect to the “segments” and does not require the recited weight percentages of the copolymerized vinyl aromatics and the copolymerized (meth)acrylate monomers to total 100wt%, one having ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the claimed invention and could not interpret the metes and bounds of the claim so as to understand how to avoid infringement.
It is also noted that claim 23 recites that the bond strength is “according to ASTM F904” on line 28, however, given that ASTM standards may change over time between versions, and that there are several versions or editions of ASTM F904 with the current edition F904 – 22 superseding F904 – 16 which published on June 2016 (a year before the foreign priority filing date) and superseded F904 – 98 (2008), with both the F904 – 98 (2008) and the F904 -16 editions allowing for different methods of separation to be utilized such that one of the required reporting items is “Method of separation” (Item 13.1.6 of Section 13. Report), with other required items to report including “Statement of conditions” (13.1.2), “Name and model number of tensile machine used” (13.1.3), and “Method of supporting unseparated portion of test specimen” (13.1.4), each of which the Examiner notes may affect the obtained results, the claimed “bond strength, according to ASTM F904, of at least 2.0 N/15 mm” (and similarly as in claims 34-35) is considered a relative limitation that renders the claim(s) indefinite, particularly given the incomplete information provided in the claim (or specification) with respect to the “ASTM F904” limitation. Hence, one having ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the claimed invention and could not interpret the metes and bounds of the claim so as to understand how to avoid infringement.
Dependent claims 24-35 do not remedy the above and hence are indefinite for the same reasons.
Claim 33 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. Claim 33 recites the limitation "the aliphatic polyisocyanate" in lines 1-2 (emphasis added). There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Similar to the 112(d) rejection in the parent application (Appl. No. 16/954181) of claim 25 as recited in the office action dated 10/2/2023 (see paragraph 5), it is noted that instant claim 31 recites that “the crosslinked (meth)acrylic copolymer comprises one or more moieties selected from the group consisting of urethane, amide, isocyanurate, urea, allophanate, and isocyanate, linking (meth)acrylic copolymer segments,” however, claim 23, from which claim 31 depends, recites, “each of the adhesive layers…comprise crosslinked (meth)acrylic copolymers, wherein the adhesive layers are obtained from a water-based (meth)acrylic copolymer emulsion and a polyisocyanate in an amount ranging from 1 to 20% by weight of the total weight of (meth)acrylic copolymer and polyisocyanate,” and given that the reaction of the (meth)acrylic copolymer with the polyisocyanate functioning as a crosslinking agent would result in a crosslinked (meth)acrylic copolymer comprising moieties as recited in claim 31 linking (meth)acrylic copolymer segments, claim 31 does not further limit claim 23. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
Claims 23-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takasugi (JP2016068533A, please refer to the attached machine translation for the below cited sections) in view of Takeda (US2009/0082488A1) or D’Ignoti (US2020/0199417A1, cited in parent application). Takasugi teaches a packaging material and packaging container for alkali solution which has excellent alkali resistance and low elution, wherein the packaging material comprises a substrate or base layer (1), a barrier layer (2), an alkali resistance adhesive layer (3), and a heat-sealable resin layer (4), laminated in this order as shown in Fig. 1, with the heat-sealable resin layer (4) being an innermost layer of the packaging container, and the alkali resistance adhesive layer (3) being formed from an adhesive resin composition containing a terpolymer of an alkene-(meth)acrylic ester-unsaturated carboxylic acid (Abstract, Paragraphs 0010, 0018 and 0098, Fig. 1). Takasugi teaches that the packaging material may further include an optional intermediate layer (5) laminated between the substrate layer (1) and the barrier layer (2) as shown in Fig. 2, and/or a reinforcing layer (6) laminated between the barrier layer (2) and the heat-sealable resin layer (4) via an alkali-resistant adhesive layer (3) made of the acrylic terpolymer adhesive resin composition as shown in Fig. 3 (Paragraphs 0019, 0082 and 0093). Takasugi teaches that the substrate layer (1) may be any of the substrate materials recited in Paragraph 0021 including a polyamide resin film, a polyester film or composite films made by laminating two or more of the exemplified substrates recited in Paragraph 0021, and particularly a biaxially oriented nylon film or a polyethylene terephthalate film when the packaging material is used in the form of a self-standing bag (reading upon the claimed “first polymer layer is selected from the group consisting of polyester and polyamide” as recited in instant claim 23, as well as “in the form of a sachet, pouch, bag” as in instant claim 32); and preferably has a thickness of 5 to 300 µm (Paragraph 0022; reading upon the claimed thickness of the first polymer layer as recited in instant claim 27). Takasugi teaches that the barrier layer (2) can be any barrier membrane or film that has gas barrier properties that prevent the permeation of oxygen gas, water vapor, etc., and more preferably has barrier properties against alkaline solutions (Paragraph 0023), with examples thereof including “metal foils such as aluminum foil, vapor-deposited films of inorganic substances or inorganic oxides, vapor-deposited films having such vapor-deposited films on resin films, and layers made of barrier resins such as ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl alcohol, and MXD6, which may be used alone or in combination” (Paragraph 0024), and working examples specifically utilizing a 7 µm thick aluminum foil (reading upon the claimed “barrier layer comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of an aluminum foil, a metal oxide layer, a metallized polymer layer…” as recited in instant claim 23, and particularly “wherein the barrier layer is aluminum foil” as in instant claim 25 and “wherein the barrier layer comprises an aluminum foil and the thickness of the aluminum foil is between 5 and 20 µm” as recited in instant claim 29).
Takasugi teaches that the heat-sealable resin layer, which forms an innermost layer of the packaging container (Paragraph 0098) is a layer made of a heat-sealable resin (Paragraph 0079) that can be selected from the heat-sealable resins recited in Paragraph 0080, such as polyethylene resins, polypropylene, ionomer resin, modified polyolefin resins, cyclic olefin (co)polymers, and polyacrylonitrile (as in the instantly claimed invention with respect to the second polymer layer which “is in contact with the alkaline filing material” as recited in instant claim 23, and more particularly, reading upon the polyolefins recited in instant claim 26); and preferably has a thickness to 5 to 500 µm, more preferably 10 to 250 µm (Paragraph 0081, reading upon the claimed thickness range of between 20 and 250 µm as recited in instant claim 28). Takasugi teaches that the intermediate and reinforcing layers may be any functional layer that imparts desired physical and chemical properties, such as the use of a polyamide film in order to improve the functions of the laminate such as bending resistance and impact resistance (Paragraph 0083), with preferred polyamides recited in Paragraphs 0084-0089, and a preferred thickness being 1 to 100 µm (Paragraph 0091), wherein the recited polyamides may be used as a film sandwiched between a barrier layer and a heat-sealable resin layer using an adhesive resin composition of the invention (Paragraph 0090, reading upon the claimed “third polymer layer, adhesively sandwiched between the barrier layer and the second polymer layer by adhesive layers” as in instant claim 23 and particularly “the third polymer layer is a polyamide layer” as in instant claim 24), and a polyamide resin film is particularly preferred as an intermediate layer between the base layer and the barrier layer when the packaging film is used as a self-supporting bag for alkaline solution, in order to obtain the stiffness and strength necessary for the bag to stand on its own (Paragraph 0092).
With respect to the alkali-resistant adhesive layer(s), Takasugi teaches that the adhesive resin composition containing the alkene-(meth)acrylic ester-unsaturated carboxylic acid terpolymer has functional groups such as carboxyl groups which chemically bond to the surfaces of the barrier layer and the heat-sealable resin layer via reactive groups, thereby exhibiting alkali resistance and allowing the composition to maintain high interlayer strength even after long-term exposure to a strong alkaline solution (Paragraph 0061). Takasugi teaches that the adhesive resin composition may consist solely of the terpolymer, or may further contain, in addition to the terpolymer, a modifying resin such as those as recited in Paragraph 0063 as desired, wherein the adhesive resin composition does not contain any organic solvent (Paragraph 0062) and various compounding agents and additives can be added to the adhesive resin composition for the purpose of improving or modifying various properties as recited in Paragraph 0064, in an amount ranging from a very small amount to several tens of percent, depending on the purpose, with common additives including crosslinking agents and other additives as recited in Paragraph 0064 (hence, teaching and/or suggesting adhesive layers that “comprise crosslinked (meth)acrylic copolymers” as in instant claim 23, as well as an amount of crosslinking agent reading upon and/or suggesting the claimed 1 to 20% by weight of polyisocyanate as the crosslinking agent). Takasugi teaches that with respect to the comonomers for producing the terpolymer, examples for the alkene include those as recited in Paragraph 0065, examples for the (meth)acrylic acid ester include those as recited in 0066 (reading upon the instantly claimed “copolymerized (meth)acrylate monomers”), and examples of the unsaturated carboxylic acid include those as recited in Paragraph 0067, such as (meth)acrylic acid (also reading upon the instantly claimed “copolymerized (meth)acrylate monomers” in light of the present specification); wherein the terpolymer may actually contain comonomers other than those mentioned in Paragraphs 0065-0067 provided that the object of the invention is not impaired (Paragraph 0068) and polymerization may be carried out by various convention methods using the comonomers as raw materials (Paragraph 0068). Takasugi teaches that preferably the (meth)acrylic acid ester is used in an amount such that the (meth)acrylic acid ester (residue) is 5 to 40 mass%, relative to the total mass of the adhesive resin composition; with the unsaturated carboxylic acid component, e.g., (meth)acrylic acid (residue) being 0.5 to 3.0 mass%; and the remainder being alkene-derived components (residues), modifying resins, additives, etc. (Paragraphs 0071-0072), with examples utilizing a terpolymer having 19.3 mass% of (meth)acrylate monomers (Examples, thus teaching and/or suggesting a content of copolymerized (meth)acrylate monomers within the claimed range of 90-10% by weight).
Takasugi teaches that the packaging material for alkaline solution “is obtained by laminating the above-mentioned base material layer, (intermediate layer), barrier layer, (reinforcing layer) and heat-sealable resin layer”; wherein the substrate or base layer, intermediate layer, and barrier layer can be laminated together by any method using a convention adhesive resin or by using the alkali-resistant adhesive resin of the invention; while the barrier layer, optional reinforcing layer, and the heat-sealable resin layer are laminated by sandwich lamination via an alkali-resistant adhesive layer made of the adhesive resin of the invention (Paragraphs 0093-0094, reading upon the claimed “barrier layer, adhesively sandwiched…by adhesive layers” and “a third polymer layer, adhesively sandwiched between the barrier layer and the second polymer layer by adhesive layers” as in instant claim 23). Takasugi teaches that the packaging material for alkaline solutions has high interlayer adhesive strength, and exhibits excellent resistance to contents, particularly alkali resistance, and is prevented from delaminating over a long period of time and thus can be suitably used as self-standing bags and refill stand-up pouches for alkaline solutions (Paragraphs 0098-0099), with working examples providing pouches filled with a chlorine bleaching agent having a pH of 11, that were stored for 1 week, 2 weeks, and 30 days at 60°C, and evaluated for alkali resistance and interlayer adhesive strength, wherein Takasugi teaches that if the interlayer adhesive strength after storage for 30 days (i.e., “after 1 month”) is 5 N/15 mm or more, more preferably 6 N/15 mm or more, and even more preferably 9 N/15 mm or more, measured in accordance with JIS K6854 (similar to ASTM F904), then the film is judged to have sufficient durability for practical use, not suffer from interlayer delamination, and to be alkali resistant (Paragraphs 0118-0119; thus reading upon the claimed “wherein the multilayer structure has a bond strength, according to ASTM F904, of at least 2.0 N/15 mm after a month contact at 55°C. with a solution having a pH of 8 or more” as in instant claim 23, and more particularly at least 2.5 N/15 mm as in instant claim 34 and at least 3.0 N/15 mm as in instant claim 35).
Hence, with respect to the claimed invention as recited in instant claim 23, Takasugi teaches a “packaged alkaline filling material” comprising a multilayer structure that comprises the same layer structure and layer materials as instantly claimed including a barrier layer (e.g., an aluminum foil) adhesively sandwiched between a first polymer layer (e.g., polyester or polyamide) and a second polymer layer (e.g., a polyolefin, cyclic olefin (co)polymer, etc.) by adhesive layers, and a third polymer layer (e.g., a polyamide layer) adhesively sandwiched between the barrier layer and the second polymer layer by adhesive layers, wherein the second polymer layer (innermost heat-sealable layer) is in contact with the alkaline filling material, wherein each of the adhesive layers between the barrier layer and the second polymer layer (innermost heat-sealable layer) is an alkali-resistant adhesive layer formed from an adhesive resin composition containing an alkene-(meth)acrylic acid ester-unsaturated carboxylic acid terpolymer, i.e., a (meth)acrylic copolymer, that may be crosslinked by a crosslinking agent, i.e., a crosslinked (meth)acrylic copolymer, with the (meth)acrylic acid ester and unsaturated carboxylic acid comonomers reading upon the claimed copolymerized (meth)acrylate monomers and in a content reading upon the claimed 90-10% by weight; and wherein the multilayer structure has a bond strength of 5 N/15 mm or more after a 1 month contact at 60°C (higher than the claimed 55°C and hence more harsh) with a solution having a pH of 11 as determined by JIS K6854, thereby reading upon and/or suggesting the claimed bond strength, according to ASTM F904, of at least 2.0 N/15mm after a 1 month contact at 55°C with a solution having a pH of 8 or more; such that the only differences between the teachings of Takasugi and the claimed invention is that Takasugi does not specifically teach that “the adhesive layers are obtained from a water-based (meth)acrylic copolymer emulsion [Difference 1] and a polyisocyanate [as the optional crosslinking agent – Difference 2] in an amount ranging from 1 to 20% by weight of the total weight of (meth)acrylic copolymer and polyisocyanate [Difference 3], and wherein the crosslinked (meth)acrylic copolymer comprises (meth)acrylic copolymer segments comprising:10-90 % by weight of copolymerized vinyl aromatics [as the “alkene” or comonomers other than those mentioned in Paragraphs 0065-0067, Difference 4], and 90-10 % by weight of copolymerized (meth)acrylate monomers” (emphasis added) as instantly claimed.
However, it is first noted that the “water-based…emulsion” limitation of Difference 1 is a process limitation in the product claim that as broadly recited does not provide any additional material or structural limitations to the resulting adhesive layers or crosslinked (meth)acrylic copolymer given that the water and the emulsion are not part of the final multilayer product. Additionally (or alternatively), given that Takasugi clearly teaches that the (meth)acrylic terpolymer does not contain any organic solvents and that the polymerization reaction of the comonomers can be carried out by various conventional methods using the comonomers as raw materials (Paragraph 0068), the Examiner takes the position that the “obtained from a water-based (meth)acrylic copolymer emulsion” or Difference 1 would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention given that water-based emulsion polymerization is an obvious conventional polymerization process in the art (as evidenced by Takeda, Paragraph 0004; or D’Ignoti, Paragraph 0012).
It is also noted that with respect to Difference 4, Takasugi does not specifically limit the “alkene” to be used as a comonomer to any specific “alkene” monomer and although Takasugi recites that examples thereof “include ethylene, propylene, butene, isobutene, pentene, and hexene” with “α-olefins such as ethylene and propylene [being] particularly preferred” (Paragraph 0065), the Examiner notes that the term “alkene” in its broadest sense in the art (i.e., a hydrocarbon compound containing a carbon-carbon double bond) includes styrene - a cyclic/aromatic alkene or a “vinyl aromatic” as in the claimed invention (as evidenced, for example, by Gonnissen, US2004/0126611A1, see Paragraphs 0010-0011, 0029, and Claims 1 and 10-12, which refers to the “alkene” of an alkene-acrylic acid copolymer or an alkene-acrylate copolymer as being ethylene or styrene), and/or the Examiner takes the position that styrene – a vinyl aromatic – is an obvious comonomer similar to ethylene and propylene to be utilized in producing (meth)acrylic copolymer resins, particularly for acrylic resin adhesives (as evidenced by Takeda, Abstract, Paragraph 0023; or D’Ignoti, Abstract, Paragraphs 0012-0013), such that absent any clear showing of criticality and/or unexpected results, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize styrene as the “alkene” comonomer and/or “comonomer other than” the “mentioned” alkene, (meth)acrylic acid ester, and unsaturated carboxylic acid comonomers in the invention taught by Takasugi in a content as taught and/or suggested by Takasugi as discussed above falling within the claimed range of 10-90wt%, thereby rendering Difference 4 obvious to one skilled in the art given that it is prima facie obviousness to simply substitute one known element for another to obtain predictable results.
Lastly, with respect to Differences 2 and 3, as discussed in detail above, Takasugi clearly teaches that the adhesive resin composition utilized to form the alkali-resistant adhesive layers may contain a crosslinking agent as a common additive, wherein Takasugi specifically teaches that the “amount of such additives can be any amount ranging from a very small amount to several tens of percent, depending on the purpose” (Paragraph 0064), and although Takasugi does not teach that the crosslinking agent is a polyisocyanate as instantly claimed, particularly an aliphatic polyisocyanate or aliphatic diisocyanate as in instant claim 33, present in an amount ranging from 1 to 20% by weight of the total weight of (meth)acrylic copolymer and polyisocyanate, the Examiner notes that a polyisocyanate, particularly an aliphatic diisocyanate, is a known crosslinking agent for acrylic adhesive compositions in the art as taught by D’Ignoti (Paragraphs 0015-0018) or by Takeda (Background, Paragraphs 0003-0006, and also Paragraphs 0105 with respect to known diisocyanate compounds in the art including known aliphatic diisocyanates), such that absent any clear showing of criticality and/or unexpected results, the Examiner takes the position that it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize any known crosslinking agent in the art, such as a polyisocyanate crosslinking agent – an obvious species of crosslinking agent in the art as taught by D’Ignoti or Takeda, or more particularly an aliphatic diisocyanate – an obvious species of polyisocyanate (as in instant 33), in the invention taught by Takasugi, in a content as taught and/or suggested by Takasugi reading upon and/or rendering obvious the instantly claimed 1 to 20% by weight, particularly given that said amount is typical in the art as evidenced D’Ignoti (Paragraphs 0018 and 0024), thereby rendering Differences 2 and 3 obvious over the teachings of Takasugi in view of D’Ignoti or Takeda given that it is prima facie obviousness to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Thus, given the above, the Examiner takes the position that the claimed invention as recited in instant claim 23, as well as claims 24-29 and 32-35, the limitations of which are discussed in detail above, would have been obvious over the teachings of Takasugi in view of D’Ignoti or Takeda.
With respect to instant claim 30, Takasugi teaches that the thickness of the adhesive layer(s) is 0.1-200 µm (fully encompassing the claimed adhesive layer thickness as recited in instant claim 30), preferably 1 to 100 µm (Paragraph 0077), with working examples at 7 µm, and hence, the claimed invention as recited in instant claim 30 would have been obvious over the teachings of Takasugi in view of D’Ignoti or Takeda for the same reasons as discussed above with respect to instant claim 23 from which claim 30 depends.
With respect to instant claim 31, the Examiner again notes that the use of a polyisocyanate or more particularly, an aliphatic diisocyanate, as a crosslinking agent in the invention taught by Takasugi would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as discussed above, and given that the reaction or crosslinking between the (meth)acrylic terpolymer taught by Takasugi and the polyisocyanate or diisocyanate crosslinking agent would naturally result in a crosslinked (meth)acrylic copolymer comprising “one or more moieties selected from the group consisting of urethane, amide, isocyanurate, urea, allophane, and isocyanate, linking (meth)acrylic copolymer segments” as in instant claim 31 (as generally discussed above with respect to the 112(d) rejection), the claimed invention as recited in instant claim 31 also would have been obvious over the teachings of Takasugi in view of D’Ignoti or Takeda.
Citation of pertinent prior art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Grams (WO2005092611A2) teaches a multilayer film, a packaging article such as a pouch or casing made from or comprising the multilayer film, as well as a packaged product comprising a product surrounded by a package comprising the multilayer film, wherein the multilayer film comprises a general layer structure including an oxygen barrier layer such as a polyvinylidene chloride layer positioned between first and second polymer layers, particularly a first outer layer serving as a heat sealing layer and a second outer serving as an abuse layer, and one or more inner layers such as a polyamide layer positioned between the oxygen barrier layer and the first outer layer and/or between the oxygen barrier layer and the second outer layer.
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/MONIQUE R JACKSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787