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 .
This Office action is in response to the amendment filed 3/30/2026. Claims 1 and 13 are amended; and claims 7 and 9 are cancelled. Accordingly, claims 1-6, 8 and 10-13 are currently pending in the application.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-6, 8, and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo et al (WO 2022/265466 A1).
It is noted that WO 2022/265466 A1 (WO) is being utilized for date purposes. However, since WO is not in English, US equivalent for WO, namely, Woo et al (US 2023/0381744 A1) is referred to in the body of the rejection below. All column and line citations are to the US equivalent.
Woo et al disclose a superabsorbent polymer exhibiting excellent absorption properties (abstract). The content of secondary dry water-containing gel polymer having a particle size of less than 150 microns is less than 0.2% by weight with respect to total weight of the secondary dry water-containing gel polymer. In general, the content of fine particles in the secondary dry water-containing gel polymer is almost the same as the content of fine particles in the superabsorbent polymer finally prepared by surface crosslinking treatment (paragraph 0176) which reads on amount of polymer particles having a diameter of less than 150 microns in present claim 13.
Woo et al are silent with respect to properties.
However, superabsorbent polymer, in Woo et al, is prepared by a substantially similar process including polymer preparation step (paragraphs 0296-0297 of present application), micronization and neutralization step (paragraph 0298-0300 of present application), drying step (paragraphs 0301-0302 of present application), pulverization and classification step (paragraphs 0303-0304 of present application) and surface crosslinking step (paragraphs 0305-0307 of present application). Specifically, in example 5, of Woo et al, acrylic acid (i.e., not neutralized and in acid form) and internal crosslinking agent were mixed and polymerized to obtain a water containing gel (paragraph 0227) and processed in the same manner as in example 1 (paragraph 0228). To the obtained water-containing gel is added a surfactant glycerol monolaurate and pulverized by placing in a micronizer (paragraph 0211), dried (paragraph 0211 and 0216), pulverized after drying (paragraph 0219), classified to recover particles having a size of 150 microns to 850 microns (paragraph 0221) and surface crosslinked (paragraph 0223). In method 2 of step 1, the process of neutralizing at least a part of the acidic groups of the polymer may be conducted in the presence of surfactant sequentially or alternately or simultaneously (paragraph 0127). The polymer may be subjected to neutralization and primary water-containing gel pulverization by simultaneously adding the neutralizing agent and the surfactant to the polymer. Alternatively, the surfactant may be first added, and then the neutralizing agent may be added (paragraph 0128). The drying may be performed in a moving type dryer for uniform drying (paragraph 0145). Therefore, in light of the teachings in general disclosure of Woo et al and given that poly(acrylic-acid (salt)-based superabsorbent polymer, of Woo et al, is formed by a substantially similar process as in the present invention including a step of polymerizing acrylic acid monomer in acid form in combination with an internal crosslinking agent, and neutralizing obtained water-containing gel in the presence of surfactant and micronizing, drying, pulverizing, classifying and surface crosslinking, one skilled in art would have a reasonable basis to expect the polyacrylic acid (salt) based superabsorbent polymer, of Woo et al, to exhibit the presently claimed properties (such as storage modulus (Pa) of 4,000 Pa or greater after the polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer has been subjected to 50% swelling, wherein an absolute value of a rate of change in storage modulus at 50% and 100% swelling derived by Equation 1 is 62 or less and when 1 g of polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer is free-swollen for 30 seconds with water having an electrical conductivity of 100 μS/cm to 130 μS/cm, free swell capacity is 70 g or more as in present claim 1; storage modulus after the polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer has been subjected to 50% swelling is 6,000 Pa or less as in present claim 2; absolute value of a rate of change in storage modulus at 50% and 70% swelling derived by Equation 2 is 70 or less as in present claim 3; absolute value of a rate of change in storage modulus at 70% and 100% swelling derived by Equation 3 is 70 or less as in present claim 4; storage modulus (Pa) after the polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer has been subjected to 70% swelling is 3,000 Pa to 5,000 Pa as in present claim 5; storage modulus after the polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer has been subjected to 100% swelling is 1,500 Pa to 3,000 Pa as in present claim 6; polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer has a permeability of 3 ml/min or greater as calculated by equation 4 in present claim 8; when 1 g of polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer is free-swollen for 120 seconds with water having an electrical conductivity of 100 μS/cm to 130 μS/cm, free swell capacity is 200 g or more as in present claim 10; when 1 g of polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer is free-swollen with water having an electrical conductivity of 100 μS/cm to 130 μS/cm, as average absorption rate from 0 seconds to 30 seconds is 2.5 g/g/sec or greater as in present claim 11; and when 1 g of polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer is free-swollen with water having an electrical conductivity of 100 μS/cm to 130 μS/cm, an average absorption rate from 30 seconds to 120 seconds is 1.4 g/g/sec or greater as in present claim 12), absent evidence to the contrary. Since PTO cannot conduct experiments, the burden of proof is shifted to the applicants to establish an unobviousness difference, see In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 195 USPQ 430 (CCPA 1977). Additionally, it is the examiner’s position that instantly claimed vortex time of 26 sec or less and that taught by Woo et al i.e. 28 sec (in example 5, Table 2) are so close to each other that the fact pattern is similar to the one in In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990) or Titanium Metals Corp. of America v. Banner, 778 F.2d 775, 227 USPQ 773 (Fed. Cir. 1985) where, despite a slight difference in the ranges, court held that such a difference did not “render the claims patentable,” or, alternatively, that “a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed range and prior art range do not overlap, but are close enough so that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties
Claims 1-6, 8, and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woo et al (WO 2022/265466 A1) in view of Chung et al (WO 2022/265477 A1).
It is noted that WO 2022/265466 A1 (WO) is being utilized for date purposes. However, since WO is not in English, US equivalent for WO, namely, Woo et al (US 2023/0381744 A1) is referred to in the body of the rejection below. All column and line citations are to the US equivalent.
It is noted that WO 2022/265477 A1 (WO) is being utilized for date purposes. However, since WO is not in English, US equivalent for WO, namely, Chung et al (US 2023/0338925 A1) is referred to in the body of the rejection below. All column and line citations are to the US equivalent.
Woo et al disclose a superabsorbent polymer exhibiting excellent absorption properties (abstract). The content of secondary dry water-containing gel polymer having a particle size of less than 150 microns is less than 0.2% by weight with respect to the total weight of the secondary dry water-containing gel polymer. In general, the content of fine particles in the secondary dry water-containing gel polymer is almost the same as the content of fine particles in the superabsorbent polymer finally prepared by surface crosslinking treatment (paragraph 0176) which reads on amount of polymer particles having a diameter of less than 150 microns in present claim 13.
Woo et al are silent with respect to properties; and differs with respect to the vortex time.
However, regarding properties, superabsorbent polymer, in Woo et al, is prepared by a substantially similar process including polymer preparation step (paragraphs 0296-0297 of present application), micronization and neutralization step (paragraph 0298-0300 of present application), drying step (paragraphs 0301-0302 of present application), pulverization and classification step (paragraphs 0303-0304 of present application) and surface crosslinking step (paragraphs 0305-0307 of present application). Specifically, in example 5, of Woo et al, acrylic acid (i.e., not neutralized and in acid form) and internal crosslinking agent were mixed and polymerized to obtain a water containing gel (paragraph 0227) and processed in the same manner as in example 1 (paragraph 0228). To the obtained water-containing gel is added a surfactant glycerol monolaurate and pulverized by placing in a micronizer (paragraph 0211), dried (paragraph 0211 and 0216), pulverized after drying (paragraph 0219), classified to recover particles having a size of 150 microns to 850 microns (paragraph 0221) and surface crosslinked (paragraph 0223). In method 2 of step 1, the process of neutralizing at least a part of the acidic groups of the polymer may be conducted in the presence of surfactant sequentially or alternately or simultaneously (paragraph 0127). The polymer may be subjected to neutralization and primary water-containing gel pulverization by simultaneously adding the neutralizing agent and the surfactant to the polymer. Alternatively, the surfactant may be first added, and then the neutralizing agent may be added (paragraph 0128). The drying may be performed in a moving type dryer for uniform drying (paragraph 0145). Therefore, in light of the teachings in general disclosure of Woo et al and given that poly(acrylic-acid (salt)-based superabsorbent polymer, of Woo et al, is formed by a substantially similar process as in the present invention including a step of polymerizing acrylic acid monomer in acid form in combination with an internal crosslinking agent, and neutralizing obtained water-containing gel in the presence of surfactant and micronizing, drying, pulverizing, classifying and surface crosslinking, one skilled in art would have a reasonable basis to expect the polyacrylic acid (salt) based superabsorbent polymer, of Woo et al, to exhibit the presently claimed properties (such as storage modulus (Pa) of 4,000 Pa or greater after the polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer has been subjected to 50% swelling, wherein an absolute value of a rate of change in storage modulus at 50% and 100% swelling derived by Equation 1 is 62 or less, and when 1 g of polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer is free-swollen for 30 seconds with water having an electrical conductivity of 100 μS/cm to 130 μS/cm, free swell capacity is 70 g or more as in present claim 1; storage modulus after the polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer has been subjected to 50% swelling is 6,000 Pa or less as in present claim 2; absolute value of a rate of change in storage modulus at 50% and 70% swelling derived by Equation 2 is 70 or less as in present claim 3; absolute value of a rate of change in storage modulus at 70% and 100% swelling derived by Equation 3 is 70 or less as in present claim 4; storage modulus (Pa) after the polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer has been subjected to 70% swelling is 3,000 Pa to 5,000 Pa as in present claim 5; storage modulus after the polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer has been subjected to 100% swelling is 1,500 Pa to 3,000 Pa as in present claim 6; polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer has a permeability of 3 ml/min or greater as calculated by equation 4 in present claim 8; when 1 g of polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer is free-swollen for 120 seconds with water having an electrical conductivity of 100 μS/cm to 130 μS/cm, free swell capacity is 200 g or more as in present claim 10; when 1 g of polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer is free-swollen with water having an electrical conductivity of 100 μS/cm to 130 μS/cm, as average absorption rate from 0 seconds to 30 seconds is 2.5 g/g/sec or greater as in present claim 11; and when 1 g of polyacrylic acid (salt)-based super absorbent polymer is free-swollen with water having an electrical conductivity of 100 μS/cm to 130 μS/cm, an average absorption rate from 30 seconds to 120 seconds is 1.4 g/g/sec or greater as in present claim 12), absent evidence to the contrary. Since PTO cannot conduct experiments, the burden of proof is shifted to the applicants to establish an unobviousness difference, see In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 195 USPQ 430 (CCPA 1977).
Regarding vortex time, Chung et al teach a micronizing apparatus for hydrogel of super absorbent polymer (abstract). Since hydrogel particles may be miniaturized, the subsequently grinding process may be omitted, and slowing of vortex may be prevented (paragraph 0021). In the micronizing step, super absorbent polymer particles of smaller particle size distribution may be realized (paragraph 0146). The superabsorbent polymer particles may comprise fine particles having particle diameter less than 150 microns in content of about 5 wt% or less based on the total weight (paragraph 0148). See example 2 and 3 wherein, the vortex is less than 26 seconds (Table 1, paragraph 0165). Therefore, in light of the teachings in Chung et al, it would have been obvious to one skilled in art prior to the filing of present application to use the micronizing apparatus of Chung et al in the process of Woo et al, to obtain a superabsorbent polymer with a vortex time of less than 26 sec, absent evidence to the contrary.
Response to Arguments
The objections, and rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 as set forth in paragraphs 4 and 9-10, of Office action mailed 12/11/2025, are withdrawn in view of amendments and/or applicant arguments and/or new grounds of rejection set forth in this Office action, necessitated by amendment.
While the grounds of rejection are changed, it was still deemed appropriate to address some of the arguments which would be pertinent to new grounds of rejection in this office action (See paragraph 11 below).
Applicant's arguments filed 3/30/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Specifically, applicant argues that (A) as described in the present specification, free swell capacity of the super absorbent polymer is related to the internal-cross linking properties of the super absorbent polymer and neutralization process affects the absorption rate and absorption performance of the super absorbent polymer, and hence free swelling capacity of super absorbent polymer. Neutralization in Examples of the present specification occurs during the micronization step. In contrast, Woo teaches that the neutralization step can occur before or after the polymerization step. Example 5 of Woo, which was cited by the Office, does not describe when the neutralization step takes place. Furthermore, in Example 1 of Woo, neutralization occurs before polymerization. Accordingly, the neutralization step of Woo does not necessarily occur after the polymerization step and the method of Woo is not substantially identical to the method of preparing polymer of present application; (B) small changes in the micronization step and surface-crosslinking step affect the free swell capacity of the superabsorbent polymer (see examples 1-3 and comparative examples 1-4). In example 1, of Woo, the micronizer operated at a rotation speed of only 1500 rpm. This is close to comparative example 4, of present application. The surface crosslinking solution includes propylene glycol, ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate which are not used in examples of present application.
With respect to (A), applicant attention is drawn to example 5, of Woo, wherein acrylic acid (i.e. not in neutralized form is polymerized) and a water-containing gel polymer is formed. A superabsorbent polymer is prepared in the same manner as in example 1 (paragraph 0227-0228). This would indicate to one skilled in art that the polymerization is of acrylic acid that is not neutralized but the rest of the steps are similar to the one in example 1. Additionally, Woo teaches that polymer may be subjected to neutralization and primary water-containing gel pulverization by simultaneously adding the neutralizing agent and the surfactant to the polymer (paragraph 0128). See example 1, of Woo, wherein the surfactant is added and water-containing gel is pulverized (paragraph 0211). Hence, given that there is no neutralization during polymerization in example 5, of Woo, neutralization can occur during the micronization step based on the teachings in general disclosure of Woo et al.
With respect to (B), it is the Office’s position that the unexpected results being attributed to the surfactant and its amount, micronization speed, neutralization, amount of neutralizing agent is not convincing, since the process of Woo includes all the steps with varying degrees of neutralization, use of surfactant, and neutralization in the micronization step. It is not clear from these examples that the claimed properties cannot be seen in the superabsorbent polymer of Woo et al. If micronization speed is critical, there is no data comparing the properties with micronization speed being the only variable. Even, if the results are unexpected, the showing is not commensurate with scope of present claims. Specifically, the free swell capacity in exemplary embodiments is 112, 119 and 120 g after 1 g of superabsorbent polymer is free-swollen for 30 seconds. In fact, 70 g is closer to that of 66 g in comparative example 4.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KARUNA P REDDY whose telephone number is (571)272-6566. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arrie (Lanee) Reuther can be reached at 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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/KARUNA P REDDY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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