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 statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 7/30/2024 & 8/25/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of the preliminary amendment(s) filed 7/30/2024.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because a claim that covers both statutory and non-statutory embodiments (under the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim when read in light of the specification and in view of one skilled in the art) embraces subject matter that is not eligible for patent protection and therefore is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Such claims fail the first step (Step 1: NO) and should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101, for at least this reason.
For example, machine readable media can encompass non-statutory transitory forms of signal transmission, such as, a propagating electrical or electromagnetic signal per se. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 84 USPQ2d 1495 (Fed. Cir. 2007). When the broadest reasonable interpretation of machine readable media in light of the specification as it would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art encompasses transitory forms of signal transmission, a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 as failing to claim statutory subject matter would be appropriate. Thus, a claim to a computer readable medium that can be a compact disc or a carrier wave covers a non-statutory embodiment and therefore should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Regarding claim 15, this stands rejected under 35 USC 101 because the claimed computer readable medium can encompass non-transitory non-statutory transitory forms of signal transmission, the claims stand rejected under 35 USC 101 for not clearly falling into one of the four statutory categories. In order to overcome the rejection, it is suggested to state a non-transitory computer readable medium instead of a computer readable medium. (See MPEP 2106 (I) - i. transitory forms of signal transmission (for example, a propagating electrical or electromagnetic signal per se), In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1357, 84 USPQ2d 1495, 1503 (Fed. Cir. 2007))
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Sung et al (KR 20230141279 A) discloses predicting physical properties of a polymer resin. More a technique for predicting the degree of miscibility of a resin from the weighted relaxation spectrum of a polymer resin to be measured having a single component system, thereby effectively predicting properties that affect processability and quality when manufactured into a target product family. (Abstract)
Coger et al (WO 0204938 A2) discloses an apparatus and methods for determining the viscoelastic (rheologic) properties of materials. The apparatus and methods of the present invention are particularly advantageous for determining the viscoelastic properties of extracellular matrices (ECMs) that are becoming increasingly important for accurate predictive modeling of biological systems. In one aspect the present invention provides a piezoelectrically actuated linear rheometer (PALR) designed to remedy the problems currently associated with rheometric methods when measuring the surface and bulk viscoelastic properties of hydrated materials. The novel apparatus comprises a cantilever that applies an oscillating load to the viscoelastic material in order to sense the material's deflection. (Abstract)
Lee et al (WO 2025005788 A1) discloses an apparatus investigating or analyzing materials by determining their physical properties, in particular rheological properties, a method of measuring extensional rheology of a material, in particular a high throughput method, and a computer program for carrying out the method of measuring extensional rheology of a material. (Abstract)
The cited pertinent art does not anticipate nor render obvious a polymer rheological characterization method by optimizing a frequency range by deleting at least one measurement frequency of a plurality of specific measurement frequencies within a lower half of the frequency range resulting in a first optimized frequency range; and optimizing the first optimized frequency range by determining a value of measurement frequencies present per decade of frequency within at least a subrange of the frequency range and reducing the determined value of measurement frequencies present per decade within the at least one subrange of the frequency range by deleting at least one measurement frequency of the at least one subrange resulting in a second optimized frequency range.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KR 20240078708 A Method and apparatus for predicting the starting point of processing instability of polymer resins
US 10345210 B2 Method to estimate strain rate dependent elastic modulus of materials using dynamic mechanical analysis data
EP 1921436 A2 Method for determining the molecular weight distribution in a polymer
US 20020191686 A1 Signal spectrum measurement method for mobile communication devices, involves selecting spectrum measurement portion that correspond to identified frequency band of spectrum to be measured
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDRE J ALLEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2174. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 9am-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kristina M Deherrera can be reached at (303) 297-4237. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDRE J ALLEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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