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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I in the reply filed on July 1, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that all claims include a composition as in claim 1. This is not found persuasive because claim 1 requires 1-10 wt% porous aluminosilicate based on the weight of the organic binder, whereas claim 9 requires 0.05-2 wt% porous aluminosilicate compound based on the weight of dry ingredients which also contains cement and an inorganic filler. The combination of a water-dispersible organic binder and a porous aluminosilicate is not a special technical feature, as evidenced by the rejections below.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haerzschel (US 6,166,113).
Haerzschel exemplifies adding to a mortar, dispersion powders prepared by mixing 10 wt% of an anticaking agent with a powdered polymer mixture of vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymers stabilized by polyvinyl alcohol (col. 5, ll. 40-65).
Haerzschel teaches the anticaking agents to include finely milled aluminum silicate, silica gel, precipitated silica, etc. Silica gel and precipitate silica are known for being porous. Therefore, choosing a porous aluminum silicate as the anticaking agent is prima facie obvious, as Haerzschel clearly teaches aluminum silicate anticaking agents and porous anticaking agents.
Haerzschel is prima facie obvious over instant claims 1 and 3-4.
As to claim 2, Haerzschel exemplifies the vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymers as having a Tg=-13°C and -15°C, which falls within the claimed range of -20°C to 30°C.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2017/140781, as evidenced by Berg (US 3,617,504); however, for convenience, the machine translation will be cited below.
WO ‘781 teaches premixes containing one or more stabilizers, specifically listed to include zeolite, and one or more polymers in the form of water-dispersible powders (p. 7). The zeolites are described as aluminosilicate species with pores.
WO ‘781 teaches that the polymer compositions contain 1-700 wt% of the stabilizers, based on the total weight of the water-dispersible polymers (p. 7), and overlaps with the claimed range of 1-10 wt%, and it has been held that overlapping ranges are sufficient to establish prima facie obviousness. See MPEP 2144.05.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have selected from the overlapping portion of the range taught by the reference because overlapping ranges have been held to establish prima facie obviousness.
WO ‘781 is prima facie obvious over instant claims 1 and 5.
As to claim 2, WO ‘781 teaches the Tg of the polymers as -25°C to 25°C (p. 6).
As to claims 3-4, WO ‘781 teaches the preferred polymers as copolymers of vinyl acetate with ethylene (p. 6).
As to claim 6, WO ‘781 teaches the zeolites as having an average pore size of 1-10 angstroms (p. 4), which overlaps with the claimed range of 3-15 angstroms, and it has been held that overlapping ranges are sufficient to establish prima facie obviousness. See MPEP 2144.05.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have selected from the overlapping portion of the range taught by the reference because overlapping ranges have been held to establish prima facie obviousness.
As to claim 7, WO ‘781 teaches the zeolites to include synthetic zeolites, and faujasite (p. 4), which is known as being made up of two classes: X and Y, as evidenced by Berg (col. 5, l. 69 to col. 6, l. 10).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIEANN R JOHNSTON whose telephone number is (571)270-7344. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM EST.
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/Brieann R Johnston/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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