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 .
Claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 21-24, 26, 28-30, 32-34 and 37-52 are pending in the application.
This action is in response to applicants' amendment dated March 17, 2026. Claims 1 and 1, 7 and 30 have been amended and claim 5 has been canceled.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's arguments filed March 17, 2026 have been fully considered with the following effect:
With regards to the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph rejections, labeled paragraph 3a), b), c) and d) of the last office action, the applicant’s amendments and remarks have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
a-d) The applicants’ stated that definiteness of a claim language must be analyzed, not in a vacuum, but in light of: (A) The content of the particular application disclosure; (B) The teachings of the prior art; and (C) The claim interpretation that would be given by one possessing the ordinary skill in the pertinent art at the time the invention was made. The applicants point to paragraph [0097] of the Patent Application Publication 2022/0195196 which states that "[a]s understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, a compound described herein may exist in ionized form, e.g., -CO2, -SO₃ or -O-SO₃⁻. If a compound contains a positively or negatively charged substituent group, for example, SO₃, it may also contain a negatively or positively charged counterion such that the compound as a whole is neutral. In other aspects, the compound may exist in a salt form, where the counterion is provided by a conjugate acid or base.” However, the applicants are claiming compound of Formula (I), a salt or a mesomeric form. A compound is neutral, a salt would contain a counterion and the mesomeric effect is the polarity that develops in a compound as a result of interaction between two bonds or a bond a lone pair of electrons. If the only charged atom is the nitrogen of the R1 variable the result is a cation not a compound. For example, a sodium ion is the positive cation where the sodium atom loses one electron and the neutral compound sodium chloride is electrically neutral.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 21-24, 26 and 28 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 applicant regards as the invention, for reasons of record and stated above.
The applicant's amendments and arguments are sufficient to overcome the 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1), anticipation rejection, labeled paragraphs 4) through 15) in the last office action, which are hereby withdrawn.
The applicant's amendments and arguments are sufficient to overcome the nonstatutory double patenting rejection, labeled paragraphs 16) and 17) in the last office action, which are hereby withdrawn.
This application contains claims 29, 30, 32-34 and 37-52 are drawn to an invention nonelected without traverse in the reply filed on October 7, 2025. A complete reply to the final rejection must include cancellation of nonelected claims or other appropriate action (37 CFR 1.144) See MPEP § 821.01.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENDA L COLEMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-0665. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10-6 (flex).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey H. Murray can be reached at 571-272-9023. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRENDA L COLEMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1624
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