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 .
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.
Status of Application
Claims 1-12 are pending and presented for examination. Claims 1 and 3-5 were elected without traverse in the response dated 27 March 2026 which is acknowledged and entered. As such claims 2 and 6-12 are withdrawn by the Examiner as they are non-elected. As such, THIS RESTRICTION REQUIREMENT IS MADE FINAL.
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of applicant's request for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d). Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
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 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO2008010533 to Hashimoto et al. (hereinafter, “Hashimoto at __”; cited by Applicants with citations to the attached English machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Hashimoto discloses a metal oxide dispersion (Hashimoto at “Production Example 2”) comprising:
A carboxylic acid having at least 9 carbon atoms (neodecanoic acid has ten, Id.);
A metal oxide nanoparticle surface treated with a capping agent (neodecanoic acid is a capping agent, nothing in the claim sets worth that the capping agent cannot be the carboxylic acid, Id., the Instant Specification actually suggests that this is the case per [0022]); and
A solvent (toluene, Id.).
As to claim 3, a surfactant can be added (hydroxystearic acid, Id.).
Concerning claims 4 and 5, 9 g of toluene, 1.5 g of surfactant, 1.9g of carboxylic acid (as it represents 19% of the 10g of the metal oxide) and 8.1 g of zirconia totals 8.1/20.5=39.5% by mass.
Claims 1 and 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US PG Pub No. 20200139433 to Matsumoto et al. (hereinafter, “Matsumoto at __”).
Regarding claim 1, Matsumoto discloses a metal oxide dispersion (Morita at “Example 1”) comprising:
A carboxylic acid having 9 or more carbon atoms (C12 per “Chem 114”);
A silane coupling agent surface coated metal oxide nanoparticle (Id.); and
A solvent (MEK, Id.).
With respect to claim 3, a surfactant can be added ([0498] & [0653)).
Turning to claim 4, 10 ppw of carboxylic acid is added to 100 ppw of zirconia so 100/110=90.9% zirconia in the solid content.
As to claim 5, titania is utilized (Id.).
Conclusion
Claims 1 and 3-5 are rejected.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD M RUMP whose telephone number is (571)270-5848. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 06:45 AM to 04:45 PM.
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RICHARD M. RUMP
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1759
/RICHARD M RUMP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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