DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are pending.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected.
Claim(s) 10 is/are withdrawn from consideration.
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 .
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 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.
Response to Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-9) in the reply filed on 08/28/2025 is acknowledged.
Claim(s) 10 is/are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08/28/2025.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Table 1 in the specification contains multiple illegible entries because of: (i) excessive small text size; and/or (ii) excessive pixelation.
MPEP 608.01 requires that the specification (including the abstract and claims), and any amendments for applications must have text presented in a form having sufficient clarity and contrast between the paper and the writing thereon to permit the direct reproduction of readily legible copies in any number by use of photographic, electrostatic, photo-offset, and microfilming processes and electronic capture by use of digital imaging and optical character recognition; and only a single column of text. See 37 CFR 1.52(a)
Applicant should carefully review any new submissions to ensure full compliance with legibility requirements (e.g., that ALL text is in black, and not gray or otherwise highlighted; etc.)
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.
Claim(s) 4 is/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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 4 is vague and indefinite because it is unclear whether the phrase “General Formula” means:
(i) the represented group conforms mostly (but not necessarily completely) to the recited chemical formula;
or
(ii) the represented group conforms to the recited chemical formula most of the time (but not necessarily always).
Claim 4 is vague and indefinite because it is unclear whether “S” in Formula (1) represents: (i) sulfur; or (ii) is a placeholder. Language such as “S* represents sulfur with a bonding site” should be used to clarify the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 (AIA )
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• ARAI ET AL (US 2017/0281124),
in view of TPX RT18 - MITSUI CHEMICALS AMERICA - PROSPECTOR,
and in view of INVESTIGATION OF METHYLPENTENE POLYMER (TPX) MOLDING RESIN.
ARAI ET AL ‘124 discloses a compression plate comprising polymethylpentene (PMP) resin, wherein the compression plate can be utilized in a medical imaging device comprising: a radiation emitting section (25); an ultrasound probe (36); the compression plate (32); an imaging table (31); a radiation detector (30); and an imaging table (31) between the radiation emitting section (25) and the radiation detector (30). (entire document, e.g., Figure 1, etc.; paragraph 0049-0055, etc.) However, the reference does not specifically mention PMP resin compositions with specific physical properties or sulfur content.
TPX RT18 - MITSUI CHEMICALS AMERICA - PROSPECTOR provides evidence that TPX RT18 is a polymethylpentene (PMP) polymer exhibiting:
(i) a flexural modulus (corresponding to the recited “bending elastic modulus”) of 1450 MPa (1.45 GPa);
(ii) a thermal deflection temperature (corresponding to the recited “thermal deformation temperature”) of 127 °C;
(entire document).
INVESTIGATION OF METHYLPENTENE POLYMER (TPX) MOLDING RESIN discloses that commercially available polymethylpentene (PMP) polymers (e.g., TPX RT-18 resin produced by Mitsui; etc.) are known to contain minor amounts of sulfur (e.g., about 100 ppm, as a residue from a common sulfur-containing antioxidant for olefin resins). (page 7, Table 1, etc.)
Regarding claims 1-3, 5-9, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize known, commercially available polymethylpentene (PMP) resins (e.g., TPX RT-18, by Matsui) containing effective minor amounts of sulfur-containing additives (as disclosed in INVESTIGATION OF METHYLPENTENE POLYMER (TPX) MOLDING RESIN) to form the compression plate of ARAI ET AL ‘124 in order to produce a component for medical imaging devices with desirable mechanical properties and heat-resistant properties.
Regarding claim 2, one of ordinary skill in the art would have utilized commercially available PMP resins with very minor amounts or no olefin comonomers to form the compression plate of ARAI ET AL ‘124 in order to provide molded articles with high crystallinity, which in turns results in higher flexural modulus (corresponding to the recited “bending elastic modulus”) and thermal deflection temperature (corresponding to the recited “thermal deformation temperature”) flexural modulus and heat distortion temperatures.
Regarding claim 5-6, one of ordinary skill in the art would have incorporated effective minor amounts of other thermoplastic resins (e.g., polyolefins such as ethylene / alpha-olefin copolymers, etc.) in the PMP-based compression plate of ARAI ET AL ‘124 in order to optimize various performance properties e.g., (stiffness, flexibility, impact resistance, etc.) for specific applications and/or imaging apparatus.
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• ARAI ET AL (US 2017/0281124), in view of TPX RT18 - MITSUI CHEMICALS AMERICA - PROSPECTOR, and in view of INVESTIGATION OF METHYLPENTENE POLYMER (TPX) MOLDING RESIN,
as applied to claims 1-2 above,
and further in view of TANAKA ET AL (US 2021/0139622).
TANAKA ET AL ‘622 discloses that it is well known in the art to incorporate minor amounts (e.g., 0.1-30 wt%) of other thermoplastic resins (e.g., thermoplastic polyolefins such as polyethylene; polypropylene; ethylene / α-olefin copolymers, wherein the α-olefins are defined as 3-20 carbon atoms; etc.) into poly-4-methyl-1-pentene (PMP) resin compositions to produce useful molded articles (e.g., sheets, plates, etc.) for various applications (e.g., medical, etc.). (paragraph 0034, 0084-0085, 0087, 0124-0125, 0133, etc.)
Regarding claim 5-6, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate effective minor amounts of other thermoplastic resins (e.g., polyolefins such as ethylene / alpha-olefin copolymers, etc. as suggested in TANAKA ET AL ‘622) in the PMP-based compression plate of ARAI ET AL ‘124 in order to optimize various performance properties e.g., (stiffness, flexibility, impact resistance, etc.) for specific applications and/or imaging apparatus.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 4 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a compression or pressure plate comprising a polymethylpentene (PMP)-containing resin composition containing a polymethylpentene compound has one or more of the recited sulfur-containing terminal group(s) (claim 4).
ARAI ET AL (US 2017/0281124) and TANAKA ET AL (US 2021/0139622) and UEKUSA ET AL (US 2012/0220728) do not specifically disclose or suggest PMP resins containing polymethylpentene compound with specific sulfur-containing terminal group(s).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
UEKUSA ET AL (US 2012/0220728) and UEKUSA ET AL (US 2017/0298160) disclose PMP compositions for molding.
JP 06-345916 disclose PMP compositions with high flexural modulus and heat distortion temperatures.
KAN ET AL (US 5,922,812) and TANAKA ET AL (US 2019/0048109) disclose PMP compositions blended with other polyolefin resins.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Vivian Chen (Vivian.chen@uspto.gov) whose telephone number is (571) 272-1506. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 6 PM. The examiner can also be reached on alternate Fridays.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Callie Shosho, can be reached on (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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January 24, 2026
/Vivian Chen/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787