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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/23/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed on 1/23/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-45 remain pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6, 14-16 and 45 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by United States Application Publication No. 2014/0154786, hereinafter Labarre.
Regarding claim 1, Labarre teaches an exothermic composite (abstract), comprising: a reactive material (RM) (paragraph [0089], exothermic chemicals) that undergoes an exothermic reaction upon contact with an oxidizer (paragraphs [0052]-[0056] and [0089]), and a phase-changing thermal storage material (PCM) (paragraph [0089]) having a phase change temperature (paragraph [0089]), wherein RM and PCM are intermixed with one another (paragraph [0089], homogenous mixture).
Regarding claim 2, Labarre teaches wherein RM comprises a metal or a metal alloy (paragraphs [0052]-[0056]).
Regarding claim 3, Labarre teaches wherein RM comprises calcium oxide (paragraph [0053]) or iron (paragraph [0054]).
Regarding claim 4, Labarre teaches wherein PCM comprises wax (paragraph [0089]) or a thermoplastic (paragraph [0089]).
Regarding claim 5, Labarre teaches wherein the composite, following contact with sufficient oxidizer (paragraphs [0052]-[0056]), maintains for a time interval a substantially isothermal temperature (TI1) (paragraph [0089]) that is sufficient to support a selected biological, physical, or chemical process (intended use MPEP § 2114 (II)).
Regarding claim 6, Labarre teaches wherein TIl is from about 35 deg. C. to about 95 deg. C (paragraph [0089]).
Regarding claim 14, Labarre teaches wherein the oxidizer is water (paragraphs [0053]-[0054]) or oxygen (paragraph [0054]).
Regarding claim 15, Labarre teaches further comprising a removeable seal (paragraph [0085]) that separates RM from the oxidizer (paragraph [0085]).
Regarding claim 16, Labarre teaches wherein the exothermic reaction is initiated by removing a seal (paragraph [0085]).
Regarding claim 45, Labarre teaches a container comprising a composite according to claim 1 (paragraph [0089]).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 7-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Labarre in view of Goertz et al., “Multi-stage chemical heating for instrument-free biosensing”, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2018) DOK: 10.1021/acsami.8b11611, hereinafter Goertz.
Regarding claims 7 and 8, Labarre teaches wherein RM is denoted RMA (see supra), wherein PCM is denoted PCMA (see supra), wherein RMA and PCMA define a composite material ECA (see supra).
Labarre fails to teach wherein the composite comprises an additional phase-changing thermal storage material (PCMB) that has a phase change temperature that differs from the phase transition temperature of PCMA and the PCMB is at least partially enclosed within ECA.
Goertz teaches a multi-stage chemical heating device which utilizes multiple phase-change materials in partitions so that an automated nucleic acid amplification device can be created (Goertz, page 7, column 1, paragraph 2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have added an additional phase-change material inside one of the reaction chambers of Labarre which has a different phase change temperature because it would allow for an automated nucleic acid amplification device can be created (Goertz, page 7, column 1, paragraph 2).
Regarding claims 7 and 9, Labarre teaches wherein RM is denoted RMA (see supra), wherein PCM is denoted PCMA (see supra), wherein RMA and PCMA define a composite material ECA (see supra).
Labarre fails to teach wherein the composite comprises an additional phase-changing thermal storage material (PCMB) that has a phase change temperature that differs from the phase transition temperature of PCMA and an additional reactive material RMB, and wherein (1) RMB and PCMB are intermixed with one another to form a composite ECB or (2) one of RMB and PCMB is interpenetrated with the other to form the composite ECB.
Labarre further teaches that optimization and use of multiple exothermic reaction chambers, the time needed to ramp up the temperature can be shortened (paragraph [0054]).
Goertz teaches a multi-stage chemical heating device which utilizes multiple phase-change materials in partitions so that an automated nucleic acid amplification device can be created (Goertz, page 7, column 1, paragraph 2).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have added an additional phase-change material which has a different phase change temperature and an additional reactive material with the reactive material interpenetrated with the phase change material because it would allow for an automated nucleic acid amplification device can be created (Goertz, page 7, column 1, paragraph 2) and to achieve the ramp time required (paragraph [0054]).
Regarding claim 10, modified Labarre teaches wherein ECB is at least partially enclosed within ECA or ECA is at least partially enclosed within ECB (see supra).
Regarding claim 11, modified Labarre teaches wherein PCMB has a phase change temperature in the range of from about 35 deg. C. to about 45 deg. C (Goetz, page 6, column 1, paragraph 1), and wherein PCMA has a phase change temperature in the range of from about 55 deg. C. and about 75 deg. C (Goetz, page 6, column 1, paragraph 1).
Regarding claim 12, modified Labarre teaches wherein the composite, following contact with sufficient oxidizer, maintains for a time interval a substantially isothermal temperature TI2 that is sufficient to support a selected biological or chemical process (Goetz, page 5 column 2, paragraph 3).
Regarding claim 13, modified Labarre teaches wherein TI2 is from about 35 deg. C. to about 98 deg. (Goetz, page 5 column 2, paragraph 3).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-9, filed 1/23/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-6, 14-16 and 45 under 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Labarre.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW D KRCHA whose telephone number is (571)270-0386. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Maris Kessel can be reached at (571)270-7698. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW D KRCHA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1796
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