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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Claims 1-8 in the reply filed on 7/27/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 9-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is indefinite because it recites “short-chain fluorine” in line 3. It is unclear how short a fluorine compound must be in order to be considered a short-chain fluorine. For the purposes of examination, a short-chain fluorine will be considered specifically formulas (1) and (2) wherein m is 3 to 20 and n is 4 to 21.
Claim(s) 2-11 are further rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) because they ultimately depend on claim 1 and therefore inherit the deficiencies thereof.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or (a)(2) as being anticipated over WO2020/213691 to Okui et al. (as found on the IDS dated 10/11/2024). For the purposes of examination, citations for Okui are taken from a English translation equivalent of the document EP3957656 to Okui et al.
Regarding Claim(s) 1, 4, 5, Okui teaches a method for producing fluoropolymer powder [title] such as a low molecular weight PTFE powder having a molecular weight of 600,000 or less [0792] (reading on low molecular weight PTFE powder as defined as less than 600,000 g/mol in instant specification [I.S., 0022]) that is obtained by dispersing a polymerization initiator and surfactant in an aqueous medium [0793] (reading on emulsion radical polymerization of claim 4). Okui teaches that obtaining the fluoropolymer powder with a hydrocarbon surfactant causes the fluoropolymers to contain fluorine-containing compounds of general formula (1) and (2) [0077] (i.e., short chain fluorine compound) that are preferably removed from the fluoropolymer [0042]. General Formula (1) is
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234
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wherein m is 3 to 19, M1 is H, a metal atom, NR54, where R5 may be the same or different, H or an organic group having 1-10 carbon atoms, imidazolium optionally having a substituent, pyridinium optionally having a substituent, or phosphonium optionally having a substituent; and p is 1 or 2 [0003] (reading on instantly claimed formula (1)). General Formula (2) is
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51
291
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wherein m is 4 to 20, M2 is H, a metal atom, NR54, where R5 may be the same or different, H or an organic group having 1-10 carbon atoms, imidazolium optionally having a substituent, pyridinium optionally having a substituent, or phosphonium optionally having a substituent; and q is 1 or 2 [0003] (reading on instantly claimed formula (2)).
Okui’s synthesis example 2 [0976] is dried at 210°C [0978] (reading on heating at 170°C or higher of claim 5) producing the PTFE powder of Example 1 [0980] comprising general formula (1) and general formula (2) in amounts at quantification limit or lower [table 7] wherein quantification limit of the powder is 13 ppb/PTFE (thereby reading on 179 ppb or less of formula (1) and 6900 ppb or less of formula (2).
Regarding Claim(s) 2, Okui teaches the method of claim 1, comprising a fluorine-containing surfactant in the aqueous medium of 10 ppm or less [0430] wherein the fluorosurfactant is perfluoropolyethercarboxylic acid [0449] (i.e., not perfluorooctanic acid and its salt).
Regarding Claim(s) 3, Okui teaches the method of claim 1 comprising a chain transfer agent such as saturated hydrocarbons [0698].
Regarding Claim(s) 6, Okui teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the low-molecular weight has a melt viscosity at 380°C of 1 x 102 to 7 x 105 Pa*s [0797].
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(s) 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2020/213691 to Okui et al. (as found on the IDS dated 10/11/2024). For the purposes of examination, citations for Okui are taken from a English translation equivalent of the document EP3957656 to Okui et al.
Regarding Claim(s) 7 and 8, Okui teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising 10 ppm or less of fluorine-containing surfactants such as perfluorocarboxylic acid as represented by formula (I) F(CF2)n1COOM wherein n1 is 3-14 and M is H or a metal atom [0430] (i.e., carboxylic acid and its salt that is not perfluorooctanoic acid).
Okui does not explicitly teach reducing the perfluorocarboxylic acid and its salt.
However, Okui teaches the polymerization of fluoropolymers without using the fluorine-containing surfactants.
Before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to remove the fluorine-containing surfactant in Okui’s process.
The motivation would have been that Okui’s production method of the present disclosure allows for obtaining a fluoropolymer powder having a reduced content of the specific fluorine-containing compound without using the fluorine-containing surfactant.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner
should be directed to Devin Darling whose telephone number is (703) 756-5411. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arrie Lanee Reuther can be reached on (571) 270-7026. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEVIN MITCHELL DARLING/Examiner, Art Unit 1764
/ARRIE L REUTHER/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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