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 claims 1 and 4-7 in the reply filed on 05/12/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 4-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Irie Shinichi (JP 201800345) (hereinafter Irie) and further in view of Eric Bartholomew (US Pub. No.: 2018/0112021 A1) (hereinafter Bartholomew).
Regarding claim 1, Irie discloses an adhesive set comprising: a main agent comprising a decomplexing agent; and an initiator comprising an organoborane complex (¶003, ¶0011), wherein the decomplexing agent comprises maleic anhydride (¶0046, ¶0049), at least one of the main agent and the initiator further comprises a compound having a radically polymerizable group (¶0011, ¶0028). Batholomew is silent about at least one of the main agent and the initiator further comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a metal halide salt and a compound having a thiocarbonyl thio structure.
Bartholomew also discloses an adhesive. The adhesive comprises a presence of a metal halide and thiocarbonyl- thio group (¶0102, ¶0104). The benefit of doing so would have been to control the polymerization of the adhesive.
Given the wealth of knowledge, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize metal halide and thiocarbonyl thio as taught by Bartholomew within the adhesive set as taught by Irie. The benefit of doing so would have been to control the polymerization of the adhesive.
Regarding claim 4, Irie discloses the use of additives such a fillers (¶0063).
Regarding claims 5 and 6, Iris discloses the filler can be organic and inorganic (¶0063).
Regarding claim 7, Irie discloses the use of plasticizer (¶0045).
Conclusion
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/VISHAL I PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
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