Ex Parte Vedage et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Mar 25, 2016

12196535 (P.T.A.B. Mar. 25, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
12/196,535 08/22/2008
23543 7590 03/28/2016
AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS, INC
PA TENT DEPARTMENT
7201 HAMILTON BOULEVARD
ALLENTOWN, PA 18195-1501
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Gamini Ananda Vedage
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
07219 USA 1569
EXAMINER
KARST, DAVID THOMAS
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
1767
MAILDATE DELIVERY MODE
03/28/2016 PAPER
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte GAMIN! ANANDA VEDAGE,
COURTNEY THOMPSON THURAU, MARK DAVID CONNER,
and ELLEN MARGARET O'CONNELL1
Appeal2014-006143
Application 12/196,535
Technology Center 1700
Before KAREN M. HASTINGS, DONNA M. PRAISS, and
WESLEY B. DERRICK, Administrative Patent Judges.
PRAISS, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellants seek our review under 35 U.S.C. § 134 of the Examiner's
final decision rejecting claims 1, 4, and 20-32. We have jurisdiction over
the appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We AFFIRM.
1 The real parties in interest are identified as the Inventors and Air Products
and Chemicals, Inc. App. Br. 1.
Appeal2014-006143
Application 12/196,535
Claims 1, 25, 27, and 28 are independent. We select claim 1 as
representative of the subject matter before us on appeal. Claim 1 reads:
1. An epoxy curing agent comprising a compound
having the following Formula I:
Fommia 1
wherein Ri comprises an alkyl group comprising from 1 to 20
carbon atoms and R2 comprises hydrogen.
Claim 25 recites "[a] curing agent comprising alkylates of 4-
aminobenzyl-4-aminocyclohexane wherein said alkylate comprises a
cycloaliphatic group and a cycloaromatic group." Accordingly, claim 25
requires the compound of Formula I where Ri and R2 are alkyl groups.
Appeal Br. 25 (Claims Appendix).
Claim 27 is directed to an epoxy curing agent comprising the
compound of Formula I and recites "at least one of Ri and R2 is an alkyl
group", "an alkyl group comprising from 1 to 20 carbon atoms", and that the
agent comprises "at least one polyamine." Id.
Claim 28 recites "[a] partially alkylated diamine epoxy curing agent
obtained by reductively alkylating 4-aminobenzyl-4-aminocyclohexane with
at least one of an aldehyde or a ketone while in presence of a hydrogenation
catalyst and hydrogen." Thus, claim 28 requires the compound of Formula I
where Ri and R2 are separately hydrogen and an alkyl group. Id.
The Examiner maintains the following rejections under 35 U.S.C.
2
Appeal2014-006143
Application 12/196,535
§ 103(a) (Ans. 2--4; 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18):
(a) claims 1, 4, 20-24, 31, and 32 as unpatentable over Vratsanos et
al. (US 5,414,067, published May 9, 1995) (hereinafter "Vratsanos") and
House et al. (US 5,312,886, published May 17, 1994) (hereinafter "House"),
(b) claims 25 and 26 as unpatentable over Vratsanos and House,
( c) claims 25 and 26 as unpatentable over Vratsanos and Scott, Jr. et
al. (US 4,801,674, published Jan. 31, 1989) (hereinafter "Scott"),
(d) claim 27 as unpatentable over Vratsanos and House,
(e) claim 27 as unpatentable over Vratsanos and Scott, and.
(f) claims 28-30 as unpatentable over Vratsanos and House.
Appellants present separate arguments for each of Rejection (a}-(f)
above in the Appeal Brief ("App. Br.") and also present arguments in a
Reply Brief ("Reply Br."). Arguments for Rejection (a) encompass
arguments for Rejections (b), (d), and (f). Arguments for Rejection (c)
encompass arguments for Rejection (e). Accordingly, we focus our
discussion on Rejections (a) and (c). Claims argued separately will be
addressed separately. Claims 4, 20-24, 31, and 32 stand or fall with
independent claim 1. Claim 26 stands or falls with independent Claim 25.
Claims 29 and 30 stand or fall with independent Claim 28.
ANALYSIS
After thoroughly reviewing each of Appellants' arguments for
patentability, we determine that a preponderance of the evidence supports
the Examiner's§ 103(a) rejections of the claims on appeal. Accordingly, we
sustain all of the Examiner's rejections for the reasons expressed in the
Answer and we add the following for emphasis.
3
Appeal2014-006143
Application 12/196,535
We begin with a brief overview of the prior art. The Examiner relies
on the following compounds and disclosures in Vratsanos, House, and Scott
as the bases for the rejections (Final Act. 3, 10):
Vratsanos
House
Scott
Vratsanos discloses an epoxy curing agent comprising "cycloaliphatic
amines and cycloaliphatic-aromatic derivatives" and, specifically, the
compound 4-4' -aminobenzyl)cyclohexylamine as an example of a mixed
cycloaliphatic aromatic amine. Vratsanos, col. 4, 11. 55-68.
House discloses diamines for curing a polymer comprising the
compound in the above table. House, col. 1, 1. 66-col. 2, 1. 1. House
specifically discloses the compound in the table above where Ri and R2 are
each independently an alkyl group comprising from 1 to 10 carbon atoms,
preferably 3 or more carbon atoms, with the butyl group "particularly
favored". Id. at col. 6, 11. 3-33. House also discloses that "cure time as a
function of Ri and R2 increases in the order R =primary alkyl