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 .
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 1-15 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 recites the limitation "component a)" in line 26. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. There is no reference to “component a)” earlier in the claim which may have given the limitation in question proper antecedent basis. The examiner notes there is a component “A).” However, based on the structure of the claim, there does not appear to be support for such a reference or reasonable interpretation of the applicant’s intention. The examiner suspects the intent of the applicant was to have line 26 from claim 1 recite “g/10 min higher than the MFR2 of the first ethylene homopolymer, measured according to ISO 1133,” which is a first component or “component a)” from the claimed first and/or second multimodal ethylene copolymer (CP1 and/or CP2). This amendment would overcome this rejection, and will be examined on the merits as such.
Claims 2-15 are included based on their ultimate dependency from claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-15 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
The closest prior art of record Semaan (US 2022/0097351 – US publication of WO 2020/207940 A1), and Aarila (US 2019/0300630) while broadly teaching the limitations of the presently claimed invention, do not teach or suggest the combination of limitations as presently claimed in claim 1.
Regarding lines 1-20 from claim 1, Semaan teaches a multilayer film comprising a core layer B) (core layer (C)) sandwiched by two outer layers A) (first outer layer (O1) and second outer layer (O2)) (see abstract and paragraph [0152]). Semaan teaches the layer A) (first outer layer (O1) and/or second outer layer (O2)) comprises component a1) meeting the limitations of claimed component A1) (see abstract; and paragraphs [0010] and [0041]). Semaan teaches the layer A) (first outer layer (O1) and/or second outer layer (O2)) comprises component a2) meeting the limitations of claimed component A2) (see paragraphs [0084], [0097], and [0155]). Semaan teaches the layer B) (core layer (C)) comprises component b1) meeting the limitations of claimed component B1) (see paragraphs [0144], [0149], and [0150]). Semaan teaches the layer B) (core layer (C)) comprises component b2) meeting the limitations of claimed component B2) (see paragraphs [0084], and [0094] – [0097]).
Regarding lines 21-33 from claim 1, Semaan teaches the layer A) (first outer layer (O1) comprising the first multimodal ethylene copolymer (CP1) and/or second outer layer (O2) comprising the second multimodal ethylene copolymer (CP2)) comprises a multimodal polyethylene polymer including component a3) which comprises a LDPE homopolymer (analogous to the claimed first ethylene homopolymer or the second ethylene homopolymer) (see paragraphs [0110] – [0115]). Semaan teaches the multimodal polyethylene polymer also includes component a2) comprising a lower molecular weight fraction being a polyethylene homopolymer (analogous to the other of the claimed first ethylene homopolymer or the second ethylene homopolymer) and a higher molecular weight fraction being a terpolymer of ethylene and at least two alpha olefin comonomers having 4-10 carbon atoms, such as a terpolymer including ethylene, 1-butene, and a C6-C12-alpha olefin (analogous to the claimed third ethylene copolymer with at least a first C4-C12 alpha-olefin comonomer) (see paragraphs [0085] and [0086]). However, the multimodal polyethylene polymer disclosed by Semaan fails to meet the claimed concentrations of the first ethylene homopolymer (10-30 wt% amount), the second ethylene homopolymer (15-35 wt% amount), and the third ethylene copolymer (35-75 wt%), where the amounts are based on the total weight of the multimodal polyethylene polymer (see paragraphs [0084] and [0113] from Semaan). Upon further consideration of the prior art, Aarila was found which teaches a multimodal ethylene polymer composition which meets the limitations of the claimed trimodal ethylene copolymer (CP1 and/or CP2) (see abstract and paragraph [0123]). However, there does not appear to be any apparent reason or motivation for why a person having ordinary skill in the art would modify components a2) and a3) from Semaan with the trimodal ethylene polymer composition of Aarila to arrive at the claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN HANDVILLE whose telephone number is (571)272-5074. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, from 9 am to 4 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Veronica Ewald can be reached at (571) 272-8519. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRIAN HANDVILLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783
