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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 8/10/2026 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein for JP2016-020085A has not been considered.
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.
Claims 1-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han et al. (WO2023/080498A1) in view of Kim et al. (WO2023/068594A1).
Regarding claim 1, Han discloses a package film comprising a laminate comprising a first layer, and a second layer disposed on the first layer, wherein the first layer comprises a polyester resin, wherein the second layer comprises a vinyl alcohol-based copolymer resin (BVOH or EVOH), and wherein the package film has an oxygen permeability of 10 cc/(m2∙day∙atm) or less at 23oC (see abstract; paragraph [0170]).
Han fails to disclose the polyester resin comprising a diol residue and a dicarboxylic acid residue.
Kim teaches a barrier film for packaging material that comprises polyester resin and the polyester resin comprises a diol residue and a dicarboxylic acid residue for the purpose of forming an eco-friendly biodegradable packaging material that has excellent heat resistance (abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the polyester resin in Han to be a polyester resin comprising a diol residue and a dicarboxylic acid residue as suggested by Kim in order to form an eco-friendly biodegradable packaging material that provides excellent heat resistance.
Regarding claim 2, the packaging film of Han, as modified by Kim, inherently has a moisture permeability of 50 g/(m2∙day) or less, since the materials of the packaging film are substantially identical to that of the claimed packaging film.
Regarding claim 3, Han discloses the vinyl alcohol-based copolymer resin is a butenediol vinyl alcohol copolymer resin or an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resin (paragraphs [0035-0037]).
Regarding claim 4, the vinyl alcohol-based copolymer resin of Han inherently has a pyrolysis temperature of 210oC to 230oC, since the vinyl alcohol-based copolymer resin is either EVOH or BVOH which is substantially identical to that of the claimed vinyl alcohol-based copolymer resin.
Regarding claim 5, Han discloses the first layer is located in at least one of the two outermost layers of the laminate (paragraph [0157]).
Regarding claim 6, Han discloses the laminate having a light transmittance of 80% or more in the visible light of wavelengths 380 nm to 780 nm (paragraph [0176]).
Regarding claim 7, Han discloses the laminate has a haze of 30% or less (paragraph [0173]).
Regarding claim 8, Han discloses the laminate comprising 3 to 225 alternating layers of the first layer and the second layer (paragraphs [0149-0151]).
Regarding claim 10, Han discloses a packaging material for packaging a food product comprising the package film of claim 1 (paragraph [0228]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Han fails to teach or reasonably suggest the distinct feature of the package film has a maximum thickness deviation (MTD200) of 10 µm or less, as represented by the equation recited in claim 9.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CATHERINE A SIMONE whose telephone number is (571)272-1501. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-4pm.
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CATHERINE A. SIMONE
Examiner
Art Unit 1781
/Catherine A. Simone/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1781
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