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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto (JP 2016/169027 A).
Regarding Claims 1 and 4, Yamamoto discloses a multilayer bottle comprising outermost and innermost layers each comprising polyester resin and a barrier layer (para 0008), wherein the barrier layer comprises polyamide (A) (para 0009, 0010).
The polyamide (A) contains a diamine unit containing 70 mol% or more of a unit derived from xylylenediamine, and a dicarboxylic acid unit containing a constituent unit derived from an alpha, omega-linear aliphatic dicarboxylic acid having 4 to 20 carbon atoms (para 0011), which are preferably adipic acid (i.e. C6 unit) and/or sebacic acid (i.e. C10 unit) (para 0014), such as 70 mol% or more adipic acid unit (para 0015).
In light of the overlap between the claimed composite and that disclosed by Yamamoto, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to produce a composite that is both disclosed by Yamamoto and is encompassed within the scope of the present claims, and thereby arrive at the claimed invention.
Regarding Claims 2-3, Yamamoto discloses all the limitations of the present invention according to Claim 1 above. Yamamoto further discloses the polyamide (A) comprises dicarboxylic acid unit containing 70 mol% or more, preferably 80 mol% or more, of adipic acid unit (i.e. C6 unit), where the other dicarboxylic acid units are selected from another alpha, omega-linear aliphatic dicarboxylic acids having 4 to 20 carbon atoms other than adipic acid (para 0015).
Yamamoto discloses that adipic acid and sebacic acid are preferred because they are available at low cost and are excellent in processability as polyamide (para 0014). Therefore it would have been obvious to use sebacic acid (i.e. C10 unit) as the other 30 mol% or less (preferably 20 mol% or less) dicarboxylic units besides adipic acid.
Regarding Claims 5, 10, and 13, Yamamoto discloses all the limitations of the present invention according to Claims 1-3 above. Yamamoto further discloses the polyamide (A) contains diamine unit containing 70 mol % or more of a structural unit derived from xylylenediamine, which is preferably meta-xylylenediamine (para 0012).
Regarding Claim 6, 11, and 14, Yamamoto discloses all the limitations of the present invention according to Claims 1-3 above. Yamamoto further discloses the polyester resin of the outermost and innermost layers is a polyester containing a dicarboxylic acid unit containing 80 mol% or more of terephthalic acid units and a diol unit containing 80 mol% or more of ethylene glycol units (para 0063). There may be (20 mol% or less) dicarboxylic acid unit other than the terephthalic acid unit, such as isophthalic acid or its ester-forming derivative (para 0065).
Regarding Claim 7, Yamamoto discloses all the limitations of the present invention according to Claim 1 above. Yamamoto further discloses the multilayer bottle is stretched (paras 0104, 0106).
Regarding Claim 8, Yamamoto discloses all the limitations of the present invention according to Claim 1 above, including that the product is a multilayer bottle (i.e. container) (para 0001).
Regarding Claims 9, 12, and 15, Yamamoto discloses all the limitations of the present invention according to Claims 2-3 and 6 above, including that the alpha, omega-linear aliphatic dicarboxylic acid units having 4 to 20 carbon atoms are preferably adipic acid (i.e. C6 unit) and/or sebacic acid (i.e. C10 unit) (para 0014).
Regarding Claim 16, Yamamoto discloses all the limitations of the present invention according to Claim 6 above. Yamamoto further discloses the polyamide (A) contains diamine unit containing 70 mol % or more of a structural unit derived from xylylenediamine, which is preferably meta-xylylenediamine (para 0012).
Regarding Claim 17, Yamamoto discloses all the limitations of the present invention according to Claim 11 above, including that the alpha, omega-linear aliphatic dicarboxylic acid units having 4 to 20 carbon atoms are preferably adipic acid (i.e. C6 unit) and/or sebacic acid (i.e. C10 unit) (para 0014).
Yamamoto further discloses the polyamide (A) contains diamine unit containing 70 mol % or more of a structural unit derived from xylylenediamine, which is preferably meta-xylylenediamine (para 0012).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BETHANY M MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-2109. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-4:00.
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/BETHANY M MILLER/Examiner, Art Unit 1787
/CALLIE E SHOSHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1787