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 statements (IDS) submitted on 21 November 2024, 12 September 2025, and 23 March 2026 have been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because at Line 4, the sentence “The recyclable structure 85% by subjecting the structure to …” is incomplete. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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.
1. Claims 17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or (a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2022/0112663 to Boswell et al., (“Boswell”).
With regard to Claim 17, Boswell teaches a method of providing a recyclable packaging material comprising applying adhesive to a paper layer and applying a polymeric coating thereon (see Abstract; FIG. 3; ¶¶ [0008], [0069], [0149]).
With regard to Claim 19, Boswell teaches spraying and/or extruding layers (see ¶ [0414]).
With regard to Claim 20, Boswell teaches recycling produced materials wherein nearly all paper cellulose fibers are recovered (see ¶¶ [0464], [0518]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-16 are allowed. Claim 18 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: Boswell is deemed to be the closest prior art; however the reference does not teach or suggest applying an adhesive layer in a thickness sufficient to prevent the coated polymer layer from encapsulating exposed fibers of the fiber-based substrate, and fracturing of layers as claimed when exposed to mechanical stress during recycling, per Claims 1 and 12. Similarly, Boswell does not teach or suggest the feature of Claim 18 wherein mechanical stress causes adhesive layer fracture such into first and second portions of the claimed relative size.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael P Rodriguez whose telephone number is (571)270-3736. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 - 6:00 Eastern M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Cleveland can be reached at 571-272-1418. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Michael P. Rodriguez/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1712
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