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 .
Applicant state in the 2nd paragraph on pg.7 In their REMARKS (filed on December 1, 2025), applicant state that the inclusion of “stable” as a characteristic of the coordinated metallic atoms clearly indicates that the coordinated metallic atom cannot be degraded, released, decomposed, ionized into any derivative. In view of applicant’s such clarification, previous 112(b) rejection on claims 6-8, 10, 12-16 and 26 is hereby withdrawn.
Due to the terminal disclaimer filed, previous double patenting rejection on claims 6-8 and 16 over claims of co-pending Application No. 16/963,009 is hereby withdrawn.
In view of applicant’s argument filed on December 1, 2025, previous 103 rejection over Lopez-Goerne et al (“Uso de la nanoparticula de SiO2-TiO2 en el tratamiento de ulceras en pie diabetic: comunicacion preliminar”, Clinical Study, vol.58(3), (2015), pg.5-12) in view of (i) Lopez et al (“Catalytic nanomedicine technology: copper complexes loaded on titania nanomaterials as cytotoxic agents of cancer cell”, International Journal of Nanomedicine, vol.8 (2013), pg.581-592), (ii) Ko (US 2007/0122463 A1) or Burrell et al (US 6,333,093 B1) and (iii) Petito (US 2015/0216946 A1) is hereby withdrawn. Thus, applicant’s argument concerning the previous 103 rejection is now moot.
As previously indicated (see Non-Final Rejection mailed on August 27, 2024), the provisional application 62/534,747 (filed on July 20, 2017) does not adequately support the subject matter of instant claims 6 and 26 because the metallic atoms “rhodium” and “cobalt” are not supported in the provisional application. Thus, the effective filing date of the claimed invention is July 18, 2018 (not July 20, 2017).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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(s) 6, 10, 14, 16 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez et al (“Ag/TiO2-SiO2 Sol Gel Nanoparticles to use in Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAI)”, Journal of Material Sciences & Engineering, vol.4(6) (September 2015), pg.1-6, obtained from the website: https://www.hilarispublisher.com/open-access/agtio2sio2-sol-gel-nanoparticles-to-use-in-hospitalacquired-infectionshai-2169-0022-1000196.pdf) in view of Veiga et al (“Antimicrobial hydrogels for the treatment of infection”, Biopolymers, vol.100(6) (2013), pg.637-44, obtained from the website: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3929057/pdf/nihms550763.pdf) and Petito (US 2015/0216946 A1).
Lopez teaches (see abstract and the paragraph under “Conclusions”) Ag/TiO2-SiO2 nanoparticles (containing 0.1, 1.0, 5.0 and 10 wt.% of silver) synthesized using a so-gel process and teaches that the Ag nanoparticles supported in TiO2-SiO2 provide an effective treatment for hospital-acquired infections.
Lopez describes (see Figure 1, last paragraph on pg.1, and 1st paragraph following Figure 1 on pg.2) the sol gel process used to prepare its Ag/TiO2-SiO2 nanomaterial as shown below:
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In the process, deionized water, silver nitrate, GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) and ammonium sulfate were added in a glass reflux system at room temperature with constant stirring. Afterwards, titanium t-butoxide mixed with ethanol and TEOS were added drop by drop during 4 hours. After that, the constant stirring was maintained for 24 hours until gel formation: The gel thus formed would be nanostructured, biocompatible (due to the amine functional groups from GABA and sulfate functional groups from ammonium sulfate) and biocatalytic (due to the antimicrobial activity of silver). Finally, water and alcohol were removed at 70oC to obtain dry nanostructured materials. Thus, as shown above, in Lopez, a single process (not a multi process) one-pot sol-gel synthesis method was used to obtain the nanostructured Ag/TiO2-SiO2 sol gel. Applicant also use a single process, one-pot sol-gel synthesis method to form their nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic inter-knit inorganic network gel. Thus, it follows that Lopez’s nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic Ag/TiO2-SiO2 gel formed in the one-pot sol-gel synthesis method as described above would also be an interknit inorganic network gel where the metal (silver) is stably coordinated within the network (besides, present specification (pg.9, lines 2-3) clearly states that when the sol particles inter-knit into a network, a gel is formed. Since a gel was formed in the procedure of Lopez, it follows that the gel obtained in Lopez is an inter-knit inorganic network gel). Furthermore, Lopez also teaches (see the paragraph under “Conclusions”) that Ag nanoparticles “supported in” TiO2-SiO2 provide an effective treatment for Hospital-acquired infections, which means that the silver is not released from the interknit inorganic network gel.
The obtained gel in Lopez was subsequently converted into dry nanostructure materials (xerogel) by removing the water and alcohol from the gel. However, as evidenced by Veiga (pg.2, 2nd and 4th paragraphs) and Petito ([0021]), it is well known in the art that a gel form of an antimicrobial composition has added advantage of providing a moist, hydrate environment to the wound site (e.g., a surgical wound site), thus facilitating cellular immunological activity essential to the wound healing process, and staying positioned where applied. Thus, antimicrobial gels are known to be extremely attractive materials for use as wound dressings and fillers (see Veiga, pg.2, 2nd paragraph). It would be obvious to one skilled in the art to apply Lopez’s Ag/TiO2-SiO2 in the form of a gel in a wound dressing to an hospital acquired infection site (such as surgical wound site) in order to keep the wound site moist (so as to help heal the wound faster and better) and ensure that the gel stays positioned where applied (so as to provide ease of handling and convenience). Besides, by not having to remove the water and alcohol from the gel obtained in Lopez, one can save time and cost.
Thus, Lopez in view of Veiga and Petito renders obvious instant claims 6, 10, 14, 16 and 26 (since Lopez in view of Veiga and Petito teaches instant step of administering to a wound tissue instant nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic inorganic network gel comprising instant components (i)-(iii), such administration to the wound tissue would naturally promote granulation, regeneration, angiogenesis or epithelization of the wound tissue as recited in the preamble of instant claim 26).
Claim(s) 7, 8 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez et al (“Ag/TiO2-SiO2 Sol Gel Nanoparticles to use in Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAI)”, Journal of Material Sciences & Engineering, vol.4(6) (September 2015), pg.1-6, obtained from the website: https://www.hilarispublisher.com/open-access/agtio2sio2-sol-gel-nanoparticles-to-use-in-hospitalacquired-infectionshai-2169-0022-1000196.pdf) in view of Veiga et al (“Antimicrobial hydrogels for the treatment of infection”, Biopolymers, vol.100(6) (2013), pg.637-44, obtained from the website: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3929057/pdf/nihms550763.pdf) and Petito (US 2015/0216946 A1), as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Ko (US 2007/0122463 A1) or Burrell et al (US 6,333,093 B1).
Although Lopez does not teach the use of platinum or copper, as evidenced by Ko ([0005]) or Burrell et al (col.4, lines 40-43), noble metals, such as silver, gold, palladium, platinum, copper, zinc and iridium, are all well known in the art as anti-microbial metals commonly used in wound dressings due to its ability to kill microbes and its biocompatibility. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to use platinum or copper to form a nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic Pt/TiO2-SiO2 or Cu/TiO2-SiO2 by using Lopez’s single process one-pot sol-gel synthesis method and apply them in the form of a gel in a wound dressing to an infection site (such as surgical wound site) with a reasonable expectation of killing microbes and treating Hospital-acquired infections. Thus, Lopez in view of Veiga and Petitio, and further in view of Ko or Burrell renders obvious instant claims 7, 8 and 15.
Claim(s) 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez et al (“Ag/TiO2-SiO2 Sol Gel Nanoparticles to use in Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAI)”, Journal of Material Sciences & Engineering, vol.4(6) (September 2015), pg.1-6, obtained from the website: https://www.hilarispublisher.com/open-access/agtio2sio2-sol-gel-nanoparticles-to-use-in-hospitalacquired-infectionshai-2169-0022-1000196.pdf) in view of Veiga et al (“Antimicrobial hydrogels for the treatment of infection”, Biopolymers, vol.100(6) (2013), pg.637-44, obtained from the website: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3929057/pdf/nihms550763.pdf) and Petito (US 2015/0216946 A1), as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Lopez-Goerne et al (“Uso de la nanoparticula de SiO2-TiO2 en el tratamiento de ulceras en pie diabetic: comunicacion preliminar”, Clinical Study, vol.58(3), (2015), pg.5-12).
It Is to be noted that for the discussion of Lopez-Goerne et al (Clinical Study) (a Spanish document), its English Translation (as provided by applicant in the IDS of October 26, 2020) is used.
The Examiner established above that based on the teachings of Lopez in view of Veiga and Petito, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art to apply Lopez’s Ag/TiO2-SiO2 in the form of a gel in a wound dressing to an infection site (such as surgical wound site) in order to keep the wound site moist and ensure that the gel stays positioned where applied. As discussed above, Lopez teaches that its Ag/TiO2-SiO2 nanomaterial provides an effective treatment for Hospital-acquired infections but does not teach that the Ag/TiO2-SiO2 nanomaterial can be used in treating wound or local infection which is a consequence of Diabetes Mellitus, such as diabetic foot ulcer. Lopez-Goerne teaches (see 1st, 3rd and last paragraphs under ABSTRACT, the paragraph under OBJECTIVE and 2nd paragraph under MATERIAL & METHOD in the English translation) that wounds resulting from complications of Diabetes Mellitus (in particular, diabetic foot ulcer) can be treated by using SiO2-TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by the sol-gel technique. Since Lopez’s Ag/TiO2-SiO2 is also SiO2-TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by a sol-gel technique, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art to apply Lopez’s Ag/TiO2-SiO2 in the form of a gel in a wound dressing to an wound/infection site resulting from complications of Diabetes mellitus (in particular, diabetic foot ulcer) with a reasonable expectation of success. Thus, Lopez in view of Veiga and Petito, and further in view of Lopez-Goerne renders obvious instant claim 12.
Claim(s) 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez et al (“Ag/TiO2-SiO2 Sol Gel Nanoparticles to use in Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAI)”, Journal of Material Sciences & Engineering, vol.4(6) (September 2015), pg.1-6, obtained from the website: https://www.hilarispublisher.com/open-access/agtio2sio2-sol-gel-nanoparticles-to-use-in-hospitalacquired-infectionshai-2169-0022-1000196.pdf) in view of Veiga et al (“Antimicrobial hydrogels for the treatment of infection”, Biopolymers, vol.100(6) (2013), pg.637-44, obtained from the website: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3929057/pdf/nihms550763.pdf), Petito (US 2015/0216946 A1) and Ko (US 2007/0122463 A1) or Burrell et al (US 6,333,093 B1) as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Lopez-Goerne et al (“Uso de la nanoparticula de SiO2-TiO2 en el tratamiento de ulceras en pie diabetic: comunicacion preliminar”, Clinical Study, vol.58(3), (2015), pg.5-12).
It Is to be noted that for the discussion of Lopez-Goerne et al (Clinical Study) (a Spanish document), its English Translation (as provided by applicant in the IDS of October 26, 2020) is used.
The Examiner established above that based on the teachings of Lopez in view of Veiga, Petito and Ko or Burrell, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to form a nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic Pt/TiO2-SiO2 or Cu/TiO2-SiO2 (by using Lopez’s single process one-pot sol-gel synthesis method) and apply them in the form of a gel in a wound dressing to an infection site (such as surgical wound site) with a reasonable expectation of killing microbes and treating Hospital-acquired infections. Lopez in view of Veiga, Petito and Ko or Burrell does not teach using Ag/TiO2-SiO2, Pt/TiO2-SiO2 or Cu/TiO2-SiO2 nanomaterial in treating wound or local infection which is a consequence of Diabetes Mellitus, such as diabetic foot ulcer. Lopez-Goerne teaches (see 1st, 3rd and last paragraphs under ABSTRACT, the paragraph under OBJECTIVE and 2nd paragraph under MATERIAL & METHOD in the English translation) that wounds resulting from complications of Diabetes Mellitus (in particular, diabetic foot ulcer) can be treated by using SiO2-TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by the sol-gel technique. Since Pt/TiO2-SiO2 or Cu/TiO2-SiO2 that is formed by using Lopez’s one-pot sol-gel synthesis method is also SiO2-TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by a sol-gel technique, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art to apply Pt/TiO2-SiO2 or Cu/TiO2-SiO2 in the form of a gel in a wound dressing to an wound/infection site resulting from complications of Diabetes mellitus (in particular, diabetic foot ulcer) with a reasonable expectation of success. Thus, Lopez in view of Veiga, Petito and Ko or Burrell, and further in view of Lopez-Goerne renders obvious instant claim 13.
It is to be noted that the following 103 rejections (involving Lopez Goerne et al (published in October 2017)) shown in Paragraphs 12-13 below can be overcome by deleting “rhodium, cobalt” from instant claims 6 and 26, thereby making the effective filing date of present application July 18, 2017 (see Paragraph 5 above).
Claim(s) 6, 8, 10, 12-16 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez Goerne et al (“Copper nanoparticles as treatment of diabetic foot ulcers: A case report”, Global Advanced Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences (ISSN: 2315-5159), vol.6(10) (October 2017), pg. 267-270, obtained from the website:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343750354_Copper_Nanoparticles_as_Treatment_of_Diabetic_Foot_Ulcers_A_Case_Report) in view of Lopez et al (“Catalytic nanomedicine technology: copper complexes loaded on titania nanomaterials as cytotoxic agents of cancer cell”, International Journal of Nanomedicine, vol.8 (2013), pg.581-592), Veiga et al (“Antimicrobial hydrogels for the treatment of infection”, Biopolymers, vol.100(6) (2013), pg.637-44, obtained from the website: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3929057/pdf/nihms550763.pdf) and Petito (US 2015/0216946 A1).
Lopez Goerne teaches (see title and abstract) copper nanoparticles prepared by the sol-gel process. Such copper nanoparticles was used to treat a diabetic foot ulcer in a 58 years old male patient who presented type 2 diabetes mellitus with 13 years of evolution, with macro and micro vascular complications. Lopez Goerne describes (see pg.268, paragraph under “METHODOLOGY”) the sol-gel process used to prepare its copper nanoparticles as shown below:
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As shown above, in Lopez Goerne, a single process (not a multi process) one-pot sol-gel synthesis method was used to obtain the Cu/TiO2-SiO2 nanomaterial. Applicant also use a single process, one-pot sol-gel synthesis method to form their nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic inter-knit inorganic network gel. Thus, it follows that Lopez Goerne’s Cu/TiO2-SiO2 gel formed (before the gel was dried) in the one-pot sol-gel synthesis method as described above would also be an interknit inorganic network gel where the metal (copper) is stably coordinated within the network (besides, present specification (pg.9, lines 2-3) clearly states that when the sol particles inter-knit into a network, a gel is formed. Since a gel was formed in the procedure of Lopez Goerne, it follows that the gel obtained in Lopez Goerne is an inter-knit inorganic network gel). Furthermore, Lopez Goerne teaches (pg.268, left-hand column, 3rd paragraph) that when incorporating an active metal (such as Cu) in the sol during the gelation state, the metal will be in the external surface as well as in the internal surface (of the support), and the metal is bonded to the support (TiO2-SiO2) by Van der Walls forces and possess special catalytic properties. Thus, it is implied that the copper is not released from the interknit inorganic network gel.
The gel formed in Lopez Goerne’s sol-gel process (before the gel is dried) would be nanostructured and biocatalytic (since Lopez Goerne teaches that the metal (Cu) bonded to the support possess special catalytic properties), but Lopez Goerne does not teach instant one or more functional groups selected from sulfate, amine or phosphate. However, as evidenced by Lopez et al (see Conclusion, item no.2 and pg.588 – the 1st paragraph under Discussion), it is already known in the art that functionalizing the surface of nanomaterial with sulfate, phosphate or amine (GABA) molecules makes the nanomaterial highly biocompatible. Since Lopez-Goerne’s Cu/TiO2-SiO2 nanomaterial is to be in direct contact with the wounds of diabetic foot ulcer patients, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art to functionalize the surface of SiO2-TiO2 of the Cu/TiO2-SiO2 nanomaterial with sulfate, phosphate and amine (GABA) groups so as to make Lopez Goerne’s Cu/SiO2-TiO2 nanomaterial highly biocompatible. Thus, the gel formed in Lopez Goerne’s sol-gel process as modified by Lopez et al would be nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic inter-knit inorganic network gel.
The gel obtained (before the gel is dried) in Lopez is subsequently dried. However, as evidenced by Veiga (pg.2, 2nd and 4th paragraphs) and Petito ([0021]), it is well known in the art that a gel form of an antimicrobial composition has added advantage of providing a moist, hydrate environment to the wound site, thus facilitating cellular immunological activity essential to the wound healing process, and staying positioned where applied. Thus, antimicrobial gels are known to be extremely attractive materials for use as wound dressings and fillers (see Veiga, pg.2, 2nd paragraph). It would be obvious to one skilled in the art to apply Lopez Goerne’s ’s Cu/TiO2-SiO2 in the form of a gel in a wound dressing to an infection or wound site of diabetic foot ulcer patients in order to keep the wound site moist (so as to help heal the wound faster and better) and ensure that the gel stays positioned where applied (so as to provide ease of handling and convenience). Besides, by not having to dry the gel obtained in Lopez Goerne’s sol-gel process and not having to prepare a separate polymeric gel matrix to incorporate the dried Cu/TiO2-SiO2 nanoparticles, one can save time and cost.
Thus, Lopez Goerne in view of Lopez, Veiga and Petito renders obvious instant claims 6, 8, 10, 12-16 and 26 (since Lopez Goerne in view of Lopez, Veiga and Petito teaches instant step of administering to a wound tissue instant nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic inorganic network gel comprising instant components (i)-(iii), such administration to the wound tissue would naturally promote granulation, regeneration, angiogenesis or epithelization of the wound tissue as recited in the preamble of instant claim 26).
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez Goerne et al (“Copper nanoparticles as treatment of diabetic foot ulcers: A case report”, Global Advanced Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences (ISSN: 2315-5159), vol.6(10) (October 2017), pg. 267-270, obtained from the website:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343750354_Copper_Nanoparticles_as_Treatment_of_Diabetic_Foot_Ulcers_A_Case_Report) in view of Lopez et al (“Catalytic nanomedicine technology: copper complexes loaded on titania nanomaterials as cytotoxic agents of cancer cell”, International Journal of Nanomedicine, vol.8 (2013), pg.581-592), Veiga et al (“Antimicrobial hydrogels for the treatment of infection”, Biopolymers, vol.100(6) (2013), pg.637-44, obtained from the website: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3929057/pdf/nihms550763.pdf) and Petito (US 2015/0216946 A1) as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Ko (US 2007/0122463 A1) or Burrell et al (US 6,333,093 B1).
Although Lopez Goerne does not teach the use of platinum, as evidenced by Ko ([0005]) or Burrell et al (col.4, lines 40-43), noble metals, such as silver, gold, palladium, platinum, copper, zinc and iridium, are all well known in the art as anti-microbial metals commonly used in wound dressings due to its ability to kill microbes and its biocompatibility. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to use platinum (in place of copper) to form Pt/TiO2-SiO2 in Lopez Goerne by using its single process one-pot sol-gel synthesis method (as modified by the teaching of Lopez to further include a sulfate, amine or phosphate functional group) and apply it in the form of a gel in a wound dressing to an infection or wound site of a diabetic foot ulcer patient with a reasonable expectation of killing microbes and treating the diabetic foot ulcer. Thus, Lopez Goerne in view of Lopez, Veiga and Petito, and further in view of Ko or Burrell renders obvious instant claim 7.
Claim(s) 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez Goerne (WO 2010/150036 A1) in view of Lopez-Goerne et al (“Uso de la nanoparticula de SiO2-TiO2 en el tratamiento de ulceras en pie diabetic: comunicacion preliminar”, Clinical Study, vol.58(3), (2015), pg.5-12), Veiga et al (“Antimicrobial hydrogels for the treatment of infection”, Biopolymers, vol.100(6) (2013), pg.637-44, obtained from the website: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3929057/pdf/nihms550763.pdf) and Petito (US 2015/0216946 A1).
It Is to be noted that for the discussion of Lopez-Goerne et al (Clinical Study) (a Spanish document), its English Translation (as provided by applicant in the IDS of October 26, 2020) is used.
In its claim 1 (see also Examples 1-3), Lopez Goerne (WO’036) teaches a sol-gel process for manufacturing a nano-material of silica-titania oxides, which are functionalized in order to get a biocompatible nanostructured materials and having coordinated platinum dispersed on the surface and bonded in the network of the material. Such sol-gel process comprises the steps of: (a) mixing deionized water, solvent, carboxylic acid, EDTA, gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) and platinum compound, such as platinum acetylacetonate; (b) adjusting the pH of the solution; (c) adding a mixture of metal alkoxides (such as TEOS and titanium n-butoxide as used in Examples 2 and 3), which provide silica-titania (SiO2-TiO2) nanomaterials to the solution; (d) refluxing the colloidal solution over a period from 1 hr. to 40 days until the gel was formed (see Examples 1-3); (e) drying under vacuum conditions in order to remove excess water, alcohol and organic residual at different temperatures and time; and (f) adding a desired amount of platinum.
Thus, as shown above, Lopez Goerne’s sol-gel process is a single process (not a multi process) one-pot sol-gel synthesis method. Applicant also use a single process, one-pot sol-gel synthesis method to form their nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic inter-knit inorganic network gel. Thus, it follows that Lopez Goerne’s nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic Pt/TiO2-SiO2 gel formed in the one-pot sol-gel synthesis method as described above would also be an interknit inorganic network gel where the metal (platinum) is stably coordinated within the network (besides, present specification (pg.9, lines 2-3) clearly states that when the sol particles inter-knit into a network, a gel is formed. Since a gel was formed in the procedure of Lopez Goerne, it follows that the gel obtained in Lopez Goerne is an inter-knit inorganic network gel). Furthermore, Lopez Goerne clearly teaches (see claims 1 and 2) that in its nano-material of silica-titania, the coordinated platinum are dispersed on the surface and bonded in the network of the nano-material.
Lopez Goerne (WO’036) does not teach that its Pt/TiO2-SiO2 nanomaterial is used in treating wound or local infection in a subject. Lopez-Goerne (Clinical Study) teaches (see 1st, 3rd and last paragraphs under ABSTRACT, the paragraph under OBJECTIVE and 2nd paragraph under MATERIAL & METHOD in the English translation) that wounds resulting from complications of Diabetes Mellitus (in particular, diabetic foot ulcer) can be treated by using SiO2-TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by the sol-gel technique. Since Lopez Goerne (WO’036)’s Pt/TiO2-SiO2 is also SiO2-TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by a sol-gel technique, and also since platinum is an antimicrobial atom, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art to apply Lopez Goerne (WO’036)’s Pt/TiO2-SiO2 nanomaterial in treating wounds resulting from complications of Diabetes Mellitus (in particular, diabetic foot ulcer) with a reasonable expectation of success in killing microorganisms found in the wounds of Diabetes Mellitus patients.
The obtained gel in Lopez Goerne (WO’036) was subsequently converted into dry solid (see Examples 1 and 2). However, as evidenced by Veiga (pg.2, 2nd and 4th paragraphs) and Petito ([0021]), it is well known in the art that a gel form of an antimicrobial composition has added advantage of providing a moist, hydrate environment to the wound site (e.g., a surgical wound site), thus facilitating cellular immunological activity essential to the wound healing process, and staying positioned where applied. Thus, antimicrobial gels are known to be extremely attractive materials for use as wound dressings and fillers (see Veiga, pg.2, 2nd paragraph). Thus, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art to apply Lopez Goerne (WO’036)’s Pt/TiO2-SiO2 in the form of a gel in a wound dressing to the wound site of diabetic foot ulcer patients in order to keep the wound site moist (so as to help heal the wound faster and better) and ensure that the gel stays positioned where applied (so as to provide ease of handling and convenience). Besides, by not having to dry the gel obtained in Lopez Goerne (WO’036), one can save time and cost.
Thus, Lopez Goerne (WO’036) in view of Lopez-Goerne (Clinical Study), Veiga and Petito renders obvious instant claims 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 26 (since Lopez Goerne (WO’036) in view of Lopez-Goerne (Clinical Study), Veiga and Petito teaches instant step of administering to a wound tissue instant nanostructured, biocompatible and biocatalytic inorganic network gel comprising instant components (i)-(iii), such administration to the wound tissue would naturally promote granulation, regeneration, angiogenesis or epithelization of the wound tissue as recited in the preamble of instant claim 26).
Claim(s) 8, 13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez Goerne (WO 2010/150036 A1) in view of Lopez-Goerne et al (“Uso de la nanoparticula de SiO2-TiO2 en el tratamiento de ulceras en pie diabetic: comunicacion preliminar”, Clinical Study, vol.58(3), (2015), pg.5-12), Veiga et al (“Antimicrobial hydrogels for the treatment of infection”, Biopolymers, vol.100(6) (2013), pg.637-44, obtained from the website: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3929057/pdf/nihms550763.pdf) and Petito (US 2015/0216946 A1) as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Ko (US 2007/0122463 A1) or Burrell et al (US 6,333,093 B1).
Although Lopez Goerne (WO’036) does not teach the use of copper, as evidenced by Ko ([0005]) or Burrell et al (col.4, lines 40-43), noble metals, such as silver, gold, palladium, platinum, copper, zinc and iridium, are all well known in the art as anti-microbial metals commonly used in wound dressings due to its ability to kill microbes and its biocompatibility. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to use copper (in place of platinum) to form Cu/TiO2-SiO2 in Lopez Goerne (WO’036) by using its single process one-pot sol-gel synthesis method and apply it in the form of a gel in a wound dressing to an infection or wound site of a diabetic foot ulcer patient with a reasonable expectation of killing microbes and treating the diabetic foot ulcer.
Thus, Lopez Goerne (WO’036) in view of Lopez-Goerne (Clinical Study), Veiga and Petito, and further in view of Ko or Burrell renders obvious instant claims 8, 13 and 15.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIN J. LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-1333. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9 am-5:30pm.
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/SIN J LEE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1613March 4, 2026