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 without traverse of Group I Claims 1-7 and 17 in the reply filed on 12/16/2025 is acknowledged. Claims 8-16 and 18-20 are currently withdrawn from consideration as non-elected invention.
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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oneil et al. (DE 3635636 A1).
Claim 1: Oneil teaches a triazole compound represented by the following formula IV (page 5, line 25 of foreign patent DE3635636 A1).
PNG
media_image1.png
155
781
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Oneil teaches n is 2, 3 or 4 (see page 4 line 23-24 of the machine translation). The Chemical formula (I) reads on Formula IV of Oneil when R3 and R4 represent a hydrogen atom.
Claim 2: The process by which the triazole compound is formed is not dispositive of the issue of the patentability of the instant product claim.
Claims 3 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oneil et al. (DE 3635636 A1).
Claim 3: Oneil teaches a triazole compound represented by the following formula IV (page 5, line 25 of foreign patent DE3635636 A1).
PNG
media_image1.png
155
781
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Oneil teaches n is 2, 3 or 4 (see page 4 line 23-24 of the machine translation). The Chemical formula (I) reads on Formula IV of Oneil when R3 and R4 represent a hydrogen atom.
Claim 17: Oneil teaches the triazole compound can be mixed or combined with additional such as polymethacrylate and sodium nitrate (see page 11, lines 19, 33 and 34 of machine translation). The polymethacrylate meets the claimed resin and the sodium nitrate meets the claimed inorganic material.
Claims 4, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oneil et al. (DE 3635636 A1).
Claim 4: Oneil teaches a triazole compound represented by the following formula IV (page 5, line 25 of foreign patent DE3635636 A1).
PNG
media_image1.png
155
781
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Oneil teaches n is 2, 3 or 4 (see page 4, line 23-24 of the machine translation). The Chemical formula (I) reads on Formula IV of Oneil when R3 and R4 represent a hydrogen atom.
Claim 5: Oneil teaches the triazole compound can be applied to a copper substrate as a corrosion inhibitor (see page 5, lines 18-19 of the machine translation).
Claim 7: Oneil teaches the triazole compound can be applied to a copper substrate as a corrosion inhibitor (see page 5, lines 18-19 of the machine translation).
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.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oneil et al. (DE 3635636 A1) as applied to claim 4, and further in view of Fukuda et. (US 2020/0123422 A1).
Oneil teaches the claimed invention as set forth above.
Claim 6: Oneil does not teach using the triazole based corrosion inhibitor with an adhesive agent. However, Fukuda teaches a triazole based corrosion inhibitor in adhesive agent composition [0102]. Oneil and Fukuda are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor that is the triazole based corrosion inhibitor. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the adhesive agent of Fukuda with the invention of Oneil, and the motivation for combining would be to enhance the adhering property of the triazole based corrosion inhibitor.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BETELHEM SHEWAREGED whose telephone number is (571)272-1529. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday 7am-4:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Ruthkosky can be reached at 571-272-1291. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
BS
February 6, 2026
/BETELHEM SHEWAREGED/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1785
Prosecution Insights